I disagree. Poor organization is the least of a writer’s ills. It’s also one of the easiest ways to communicate.
In my experience, when you write good, hard writing you are more likely to be a better communicator than a better writer. It’s easy to get caught up in your words, but even a good communicator cannot be trusted to translate good writing to good communication.
That’s because communication is more than just verbal communication. It is more about the written word than the spoken word. When I think of a great communicator, I think about their ability to be able to convey a message, when it matters, with clarity and without a hint of being obvious. In fact, a good communicator is usually the one you read their email first and wonder, “What does that even mean?” before reading their words.
That’s why communication experts, like many other professionals, believe that there are many different levels of writing. A really good communicator will have a good ability to communicate clearly, and then be able to communicate that same message in different ways so they can convey it in different ways. Good communicators are able to be able to convey their ideas with confidence and clarity, and then be able to convey that same message in different ways so they can convey it in different ways.
In the world of business, there is always going to be “a level of communication” that is at least somewhat different from the next level. This means that there are always going to be situations where you will have to communicate in a way that a business person might not. You must be able to distinguish between the two when communicating with your customers, and you must be able to communicate in the same way with your boss.
The world of business is full of these situations. When you are dealing with someone you don’t know very well, you must be able to communicate through different means. You have to be able to communicate through your body language, gestures, tone, and facial expressions. You have to be able to communicate in a way that doesn’t sound like babbling to someone who doesn’t know you very well.
It is difficult to understand how important eye contact is in business communication. To the casual observer of a meeting, you will probably convey a lot of information through body language, body posture, and facial expression, but to someone who doesnt know you you have to convey much more, through body language, gestures, tone, and facial expressions.
Now I am not a communications expert, but I would certainly agree that bad organization can make a meeting that much more difficult to understand. I have had numerous meetings where the speaker has spent much of the time trying to explain what they did and why they did it, but had not actually come prepared with a good case for why they did it. My own experience has been that the speaker always comes with good case, but I have never once been impressed with the quality of the presentation.
My theory: bad organization is a failing of business writers. I’m not saying it’s all bad, but it’s not all good either. There are countless books out there that try to teach how to organize meetings effectively. But I don’t think most professional writers take the advice seriously. In fact, I’m pretty sure my colleagues do.
Well, one thing that is most telling in the book is how well your organization is doing. Just because you’re not doing well doesn’t mean this isn’t bad.
