Heliotrope Learning Limited

06/03/2021

Meet Robert.

Robert is 45 years old and a project manager responsible for a team of ten.

Each month, his team has to report to the Board. There’s a tight timeframe between the end of month figures being finalised and the date when he needs to submit his report. And it is his report. He has to present it to the Board but it may not be as clear as he feels it ought to be.

Part of the problem is that he’s required to use a template. This means that each department submits their results in a consistent format. But that’s only any good if the template is fit for purpose.
People assume that the word ‘template’ means it must be good. I’ve looked at many templates over the years and that’s rarely the case. Over time, the emphasis of the report may change but the template doesn’t keep up. So people end up trying to shoehorn their data into a format that doesn’t really work.

Should Robert try something different to prove a point? Lay things out so that they’re easier to read? Focus just on the key messages that are relevant to the Board? Well, if it means his readers understand his message more easily than it’s worth a go, surely.

But how should he start? I can help by coaching Robert to decide what he has to include and, also, what he can leave out to make things clearer and more concise.

How could I help you?

30/10/2020

Writing is as easy as ABC, isn’t it? Well, I guess we can physically do it aged 6 or 7.

But, we also need to get the tone of voice right, so ABC is a mnemonic for 3 styles of writing: Academic, Business and Creative. Each has its rules, depending on who will read it.

Academics get away with long sentences and a healthy dollop of jargon. Their papers are written for specialists who can absorb the latest research.

Creative writing seeks to tell a story, building tension or emotion depending on the genre.

Business writing is different. We can’t leave our key points to the end, as in the denouement of a thriller. Our aim should be to write simply to keep our reader informed throughout. We must make our messages obvious. I help you develop a clear style so you communicate with ease and your readers understand what you are saying first time.

As Ernest Gowers said in The Complete Plain Words: ‘To be clear is to be efficient; to be obscure is to be inefficient. Your style...is to be judged not by literary conventions or grammatical niceties but by whether it carries out efficiently the job you are paid to do.’

And so he urges us to ‘be clear; be brief; be human’. Wise words, indeed.

01/09/2020

What are there more of? Trees or stars?

What a great question – straight out of an episode of QI, don’t you think? My initial hunch is that it must be stars because the universe just keeps on going. But then I think it’s a trick question and it must be trees, because they are more countable so there’s probably a reasonable range of possible answers.

Either way, I’m curious to know not only which is correct but also how you’d find out. Years ago, a friend who studied engineering at university told me about a maths tutorial he’d attended as part of his course. They had been asked to come up with the volume of a vertical section of earth going from the crust right down to the lower mantle. Obviously, there’s a formula. And once the mathematicians had calculated it, they wanted to move on. But not Alan. Oh no, he wanted to know how you’d get it out, how many dumper trucks it would take and so on – a different and infinitely curious mindset. His story has stuck with me for more than 30 years and often floats to the surface when I query the world around me. I’m always curious and I hope, as a result, I’m always learning. So, what do you think? Trees or stars?

27/07/2020

Do you tell your clients they are wrong? Is it rude or is it your obligation when they are paying for your expertise?

I feel compelled to point out mistakes in people’s writing. I’ve been dragged out of Vision Express by my husband for trying to amend an apostrophe on one of their in-store signs. I thought I was helping; he said I was committing criminal damage. It was probably both.

As a business writing coach, with an eye for detail, I can’t bear the thought of others assuming my clients are sloppy or stupid simply because there’s an error in what they have written.

I’m often bemused by signwriters who don’t seem to have the same skill. Sometimes it’s individuals producing their own signs, but professionals should know better. Surely they notice before committing mistakes in letters 30cm high? Judging by the howlers on ‘The Redundant Proofreaders Society’ page it would appear not, even when we have spell checkers.

There’s always the inappropriate autocorrect or an incorrect homophone (eg their/they’re/there) that might get through. Which is why it is so important to take time to review your writing. Better still, get someone else to review your work – they might see what you have missed. Either way, when communicating a message clearly, quality is everything.

23/07/2020

Meet Robert.

Robert is 45 years old. He is a senior manager in a large organisation and he is in charge of a team of 10. He has two sons, aged 15 and 13 and his wife is a GP.

He’s an accountant by training, so he understands and feels comfortable with numbers. But his role, now, is about communicating his results and key performance indicators to others. And that causes him stress. Not because he doesn’t understand them himself – far from it. He’s all over the numbers but he’s not sure his audience is. And he wishes he could put himself across better.

I help people like Robert.

I offer one to one Zoom sessions so that Robert can get just-in-time feedback on his documents. Together we can improve their impact; together we can work on Robert’s skills so he feels more confident about his writing style.

Robert gets a better response from whatever he writes. As a result, he feels less stressed. This means he can switch off from work more easily knowing that he has got his message across clearly first time. And the relief spills over into spending more quality time with his wife and family.

Message me if you are like Robert.

07/07/2020

Some great advice if you’re developing a coaching mindset.

All of you know your advice monster. Somebody starts telling you about something. Even though you don’t really know the situation or the people involved and you certainly don’t have the full contex…

28/06/2020

So, a post for the weekend. Favourite films: what’s yours? What does it say about you?

I have a top three (way too many to choose from) which hasn’t changed in decades, although the order depends on my mood.

They are High Society (over The Philadelphia Story any day), Pretty Woman and The Sound of Music. I can watch them again and again and I’m probably word- and note-perfect as a result!

The female leads demonstrate strong values, sass and class - I’ll leave you to decide which word applies to which character. But, at their heart, they’re all good old-fashioned romances with some great music thrown in. Sounds alright to me!