When you're sharing complex ideas or writing long memos, use sign posting to guide your reader. Use this for internal memos and external customer-facing messaging.
One of the "signposts" you used in your piece but didn't call out: *boldface* text. That's a visual rather than a verbal cue, but it's effective at pointing to the important bits. I used to avoid it because in formal written English (like academic papers, analysis reports) it's frowned upon. But these days, with all the content flowing in every direction, that little visual cue helps people spot the important words or ideas and it gives "texture" to medium-length bodies of text -- the bolded words act like little anchors in the open ocean (or lake, pond, or stream) of text.
I pride myself on being a clear, articulate and direct writer (years as an MBB consultant really drove this thinking into me) and thought I had seen it all, but this was some of the most actionable advice on writing at work that I've read anywhere. Well done and thank you!
I did my MBA nearly 15 years back. Evert trimester, we had a full credit subject on communications. I may not have applied everything I learned during the 2 years, but boy, the comms training has helped me a lot. Signposts have always been a big part in the my communication toolkit.
For example, I have resolved client AND internal issues by crafting sensible emails using appropriate signposts.
So, thank you for articulating the concept so well 😊.
Great post! The section about when signposting is most valuable is particularly important. I think we’ve all read long Slack messages where we thought to ourselves “I don’t know whether they shared good or bad news” because the writer hasn’t communicated the emotional subtext.
It's already been said here but I really appreciated how actionable this piece was and the emphasis it has on respecting your readers and their experience. I have been marveling this week about the amount of written communication I both receive and provide in my work these days and some of the fatigue I experience as the writer in trying to get it "just right." A couple things I am going to take forward after reading this is assessing my communications for the level of complexity and if the corresponding signposting is there, also explicitly calling out the emotional context. Extra important in anything asynch. Thank you!
Oh my gawd, I love all of this. Restacking with more thoughts, but one of the reasons everyone thinks my husband is so smart is he verbally signposts when he converses on nearly every topic... We've always called it "speaking in paragraphs." You've laid things out beautifully--with sign posts!
One of the "signposts" you used in your piece but didn't call out: *boldface* text. That's a visual rather than a verbal cue, but it's effective at pointing to the important bits. I used to avoid it because in formal written English (like academic papers, analysis reports) it's frowned upon. But these days, with all the content flowing in every direction, that little visual cue helps people spot the important words or ideas and it gives "texture" to medium-length bodies of text -- the bolded words act like little anchors in the open ocean (or lake, pond, or stream) of text.
I’ve played a bunch with this in my posts! I rather like using it sparingly…
I pride myself on being a clear, articulate and direct writer (years as an MBB consultant really drove this thinking into me) and thought I had seen it all, but this was some of the most actionable advice on writing at work that I've read anywhere. Well done and thank you!
This means a lot, Luke! I appreciate your kind words and am so happy this is resonating with you.
I did my MBA nearly 15 years back. Evert trimester, we had a full credit subject on communications. I may not have applied everything I learned during the 2 years, but boy, the comms training has helped me a lot. Signposts have always been a big part in the my communication toolkit.
For example, I have resolved client AND internal issues by crafting sensible emails using appropriate signposts.
So, thank you for articulating the concept so well 😊.
Great post! The section about when signposting is most valuable is particularly important. I think we’ve all read long Slack messages where we thought to ourselves “I don’t know whether they shared good or bad news” because the writer hasn’t communicated the emotional subtext.
Great advice! Your highlighting of the importance of considering the reader is great.
It's also not the usual generic advice of "make your writing clear".
The article contains very actionable, concise, and straightforward advice, that I will definitely highlight and keep a note of!
Thank you for sharing this, Wes!
It's already been said here but I really appreciated how actionable this piece was and the emphasis it has on respecting your readers and their experience. I have been marveling this week about the amount of written communication I both receive and provide in my work these days and some of the fatigue I experience as the writer in trying to get it "just right." A couple things I am going to take forward after reading this is assessing my communications for the level of complexity and if the corresponding signposting is there, also explicitly calling out the emotional context. Extra important in anything asynch. Thank you!
Oh my gawd, I love all of this. Restacking with more thoughts, but one of the reasons everyone thinks my husband is so smart is he verbally signposts when he converses on nearly every topic... We've always called it "speaking in paragraphs." You've laid things out beautifully--with sign posts!
I use signposts all the time in emails. I've even gotten compliments for how readable my emails are.
This is a great breakdown of how to do it easily.
I hope this is the cure to wall-of-text syndrome.
I love the ‘because’ rationale and use it regularly in negotiations. Give someone a reason to say yes!
This is really good advice. I am a Gramerly user and find it is always trying to take my attempts at sign posting away from me.
That’s fascinating! I wonder why?