Writing skills for engineers are important

Over the past few months I’ve seen emails to management too wordy, and ideas by engineers dismissed, because they couldn’t get their message across. Dense paragraphs nobody wants to wade through. As engineers, we’re trained to think precisely. We rarely spend time learning to write precisely. This is holding us back. Will you spend five minutes to fix your writing? Read on!

The fundamentals

I recently sat down with my coach to discuss writing. We explored what we love about it and why it matters - to get noticed, to be heard, to get your message across. That conversation was so much fun it sparked this post.

Shortly after that discussion, this old post on the Dilbert blog ‘The day you became a better writer’ appeared in my timeline in which Scott Adams shares how to achieve brevity and clarity in business writing. Simple advice, that clicked with me and that I’ll share in the future.

Runner-up to brevity and clarity for me is ‘The Rule of Three’ method - organising information that we want to share in groups of three. Studies suggest this is easier for the brain to digest. This alone will make your next PowerPoint slide deck stand out and help you share your core messages. Here are the three frameworks that I use regularly in my communication:

• Bottom Line Up Front - or BLUF, the idea of placing the most important piece of information at the beginning of your message. I use this when I need my manager to jump into action or make them aware of something.
• PREP (Point, Reason, Example, Point) - The idea of reinforcing your point by giving reason and example and reiterating. I use this in impromptu discussions with peers and fellow engineers.
• The AIDA Model - stemming from ad copywriting with the goal to persuade a potential customer into buying your product. I use this to get buy-in from other departments and keep tech jargon to a minimum.

Beyond basics - why rhythm matters

The above example brings brevity and clarity to your communication. I argue this gets you 80% of the way. Beyond business english, say, writing for blog posts or for talks you need to explore style, rhythm and flow.

When I first reflected on my writing and scoured the internet for help, I found this Gary Provost text “This sentence has five words” and I always love coming back to it. This humorous list of “How to write good” is equally helpful and fun.

I like those because they deal with style. We don’t care about this when dealing with BLUF or PREP. When we built the career framework at Mister Spex we also talked in length about how to write a good self development story, an impact story. Something that would engage a third party, an outside manager to view your development the way you see it. And suddenly writing something engaging became relevant to engineers.

When I discuss writing style I often give examples of writing that I like. Writing that everyone immediately understands as sharp, witty, pointed. I cite “You can’t handle the truth!” — something everyone has heard about, and if they haven’t, they’re one of the lucky ten thousand. That line was written by Aaron Sorkin, writer of (the above cited) “A few good men”, “The social Network” or “West Wing”. He’s been hailed for his rhythmic writing style and has been analysed in this Insider video essay ‘10min. of perfection’.

Back at university, my English professor shared this long sentence in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. You can see how it has a certain musicality — one long, exasperating sentence, a crescendo of sorts. I’ve never had occasion to write a sentence this long, and I don’t need to. The point is: you could, if your readers are engaged enough.

How to begin? Think about what kind of story you want to tell. I recommend this lesson by the great Kurt Vonnegut: On the shape of stories. And then figure out a great way to begin your story. I love Conor Neil’s take on how to begin a speech. His approach works for speeches, presentations, and blog posts alike.

Your next steps

So try it out for yourself this week:

• Start your next email with the conclusion and lose filling words
• Vary your sentence lengths in technical docs
• Group your arguments in threes

Make sure that what your have to say, has a chance of being heard. And I hope my above examples will put the odds in your favor.