Video Transcript: Written Communication
Alright, here we are, again, hope you're doing well. We're in the effective communication class. I keep saying this, we're going to keep saying, you have to practice what you hear. You can take this class, you can get credit for the class. But if you want to learn something, you have to use what you learn, use it, or you will lose it, or you will never gain it in the first place. So keep practicing these things. Look at some of the headings, you don't have to listen to the whole message again, just look at some of the headings that will remind you maybe put the headings on a card, and every day, just go through them make this a habit in your life. This whole communication thing is the one thing that, you know, if you work on it could change everything about your life, your marriage, your friendships, your family connections, your walk with God, your connection in the church world, with non Christians, in the workplace, in your society in the world. Communication is really everything. And so if you want, if you want to expand and grow in all these arenas of your life, communication is the key. In John 1, Jesus is referred to as the word, the communication of God's, when God created the world, he spoke it into existence. That's how powerful communication is. So effective communication. In this session, we're going to look at written communication. A lot of most of what I've been talking about is spoken the spoken word, but I want to talk about written communication, whereas written communication, still important. Number one, digital media communication, emails are written down and you type them out. messages, tweets, Facebook, Instagram, websites, all these things are written materials. I mean, there's some video and so on, that people watch. But a lot of times when people go to a site, they don't want to take the time to watch the whole video. They want some, you know, a short and sweet words that will help them do whatever it is that they want to do. Number two business agendas are written down, reports, job descriptions, proposals, resumes, and he's trying to get a job you need to write out a resume. Who are you? What have you learned? What have you done? Why should we hire you? These are written materials, people will often want to see what you write before they hear what you say. Number three brochures pamphlets, newsletters, books, these things still, people make access to the to what arenas nonprofit sports church community, written materials still is probably the number one form of communication. wedding vows are written down. Love Letters, songs. Alright, how written communication reflects its author. You should not judge a book by its cover. But people do judge an author by his or her written word. No matter where the words are written. Whether you're writing an email, people will judge you by how well you write those words. If you have all kinds of misspelling words, misspelled words, people will have a certain view of you. He's kind of lazy. He's not very smart, are sentences that don't make any sense that are incomplete. It's a sentence, a sentence that doesn't have a verb in it. And people will make judgments about you based on how you write, you write this thing and it doesn't make any sense.
You're trying to get a job and your resume doesn't make any sense. That's not gonna go well. How written communication reflects on its author. Number one, is the writing interesting. If you're going to bore people to death with what you write, people won't read it. Especially written communication. I mean, if the first two or three sentences does not grab them. They're done. They're moving on. People do not have patience. You know, if you read old books, you'll see that the sentences are really really, really long. People don't have time for that. They don't have the patience to read a long sentence. It has to be short, has to be sweet has to be to the point has to be interesting. Does it do what it should? does it communicate? Does it logically say something? Or is it this hodgepodge of things? I don't know what this guy is trying to say. Does it make sense to someone? Does it hold together? Like there's a certain logic to it? I want to talk to you today about the five most important things that parents can do to affect their children so that your children can can succeed in life. Number one, number one effective thing. And then I say what it is. And then number two, effective thing. Number three, effective thing, what am I talking about effective things? And how do I know because I keep saying it over and over again, effective thing one, effective thing two, effective three, but some people they're talking about effective thing. And then they all of a sudden go on into certain different direction. And they're not repeating this effective thing, thing. And it's like, I don't know what you're doing. At the end of the thing, I don't know what you're saying. Does it look like someone cared. If you write something, and it looks like you spent two minutes on it, people will know that you spent two minutes on it. And and they conclude, I'm not important enough for you to take some time to actually say it and put it in a nice manner. You don't capitalize things, you don't put periods at the end of the period. You don't put commas in. So you can't be bothered with all those details. Like I'm not important enough for you to bother with that. Advantages written communication, number one, you can put a lot of thought and time into what you say. You know, if you're just talking, you just say things and these things come to your mind, but you're not putting a lot of thought into it. When you write it down, you know, it forces you to get it right. And you have to think about what is the point of this whole thing? Why do I have this, especially if you reread it, or you read it to somebody, to you can rework what you write. I mean, all the best authors in the world that have written books and become famous, they rewrite. They would say that writing is rewriting, rewriting and rewriting, you read it, you write it, then you rewrite it. That's not, you know, I have all this fluff by is I'm going down in a whole different direction. And here's the thing, when you're talking about something, one thing relates to another. So if you listen to conversation, people are talking eight people are talking, this person says one thing, and then that person takes a different thing from what they say. And the conversation goes here, and it goes eight different places in 10 minutes, which is how conversation goes, and it works in the conversation.
But it doesn't work when you write things. What's the one thing that we're talking about here? You can craft your content. I wrote a book on the Titanic. And I wanted to say things in a certain way. She was only seven years old when it happened. shivering in lifeboat number 13. She watched as the great ship, it's radiance, exhausted, slid out of sight with the weight of a dislodged mountain. She didn't realize it at the time. That realization came many years later, out of the voices. In the darkness came a cry of 1500 people drowning in the icy waters. And what she didn't realize is that one of those voices must have been her drowning father. she last saw him on the rail when she was handed to her mother. Okay, so anyway, I can go on and on with that I have it memorized. But time to write that out. I wanted to say it in such a way, I wanted it to have an emotional impact. And I can craft it, I could put it in the right order, rather than just me trying to tell the story. And then I might get it wrong. That's what you can do when you write things down. You can collaborate with others on one written project. Hey, this is what I've written. What do you think? What would you do differently? I can't do this with this talk. I'm doing this talk. And when it's done, it's recorded. It's finished. Okay, so I can't craft it. I can't make out. You know, when I listen back, it's like, I should have said this or I would like to change that. But in written material, you can easily go back and do that. You can send the finished product to as many people as you want over a long period of time. You write something down. I wrote this Titanic book. People have read it for 10 years. Then they can read it. 50 years later. I have a book that my great uncle Cecil de Boer wrote on philosophy he's been Dead for 62 years, I still have the book why this form of communication is becoming less. Number one, people read less. I said, people don't read the long sentences anymore. But people aren't reading sentences at all anymore. People don't put as much time into their communication, written communication, people fire off an email, they don't even we reread it. To check it, we have spellcheck and other things AutoCorrect. But how frustrating is autocorrect it doesn't think like you think it picks words and chooses things you didn't want to communicate. Communication is more throw away Snapchat, Instagram, we say it and it's gone. I get an email, I look at it and it goes down the list. I don't delete emails, I have like, you know, 280,000 emails. But they go down the list, I never see them again. Facebook you look at so I don't have enough time in a day to see everyone's posts on my own site. It's gone. If I didn't read it, if I didn't somehow catch it, look at it. And right, the moment it's gone, I'll never see it again. Everything is very instant. Everything is very removable. We only take it for a bit, and then it's gone. Alright, but as I said in the beginning, there still is a need for writing. And the more that you improve in this communication style, it still will help you even though it's becoming less of a thing, basic writing tip number one, be clear on the purpose for writing. Know what you're trying to say that you have to start with that? What is the one thing I want to do? Do I want to communicate something? Do I want to persuade
someone of something? Do I want someone to do something at the end of this thing? Do I just want to entertain people with what I'm writing? What is the purpose of writing? When people do service? I'm just going to do John 3:16. Yeah, but why? What's the purpose of you doing John 3:16? What do you hope will happen at the end of whatever it is that you write or are saying about this, you've got to understand your purpose. That will influence everything that you do in creating the subtext of what you're writing. Number two, keep it simple. Make it clear, your job is to make something clear, not make something complicated. Life is complicated. And one thing relates to another but if he's take people on all these different trails, they'll lose the big picture. eliminate the clutter, don't tell a story that doesn't directly impact a point that you're trying to say, don't tell a story that makes another point. And now you just you have them going down a trail and all of a sudden they're going down a different trail and you think you're going to get them back. And sometimes the story that you tell is so powerful, and it has a side message and that side message Oh, such overpowers what you're trying to say that they lose every you know, your main point. Be clear on your logic. And I find the best way to do that is to make an outline. Here's what I'm trying to say. How to effectively parent children. Okay, that's my goal. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna have five things. Five tips. Right now I'm doing tips, right. Basic writing tips. Tip number one, tip number two. Tip number three, so you know where I am. You know what I'm talking about? What am I talking about tips for writing is right there. And every time I mentioned the number, I reiterate the whole point tips for writing tips for writing tips for writing. This is how we parent, you know. Be clear on your logic. Make an outline, follow the outline, make your points follow the big heading, the big idea. Number five, check your spelling. Tip for writing. Check your spelling don't put up communication out there with misspelled words, today we have all these spelling helps. Read through it, make sure it helps someone else read through it. Check your spelling, because there are people out there who will be reading along. You're emotionally grabbing them. You're logically persuading them and then they hit a misspelled word and everything is lost. Because that's all they can think about. Now I'm not one of those. I can read something it's misspelled word I just go right on. I don't think about it, but for some, probably half the population. And if you have too many misspelled words, you just upset them that they can't get over it. They want to email you they want to write to you and say hey, fix this because they want it fixed. Read it aloud, you think it's good, read it aloud. And you'll find out whether it's good whether it really communicates or not. Rewrite, again said that before. get others to read it and give feedback. You have a certain logic, you write the sentence, and you have all kinds of other information behind that sentence. And that sentence makes sense. But does a person who doesn't have all that information that you haven't written in the background? Can they get the same thing when they read that sentence? Let
someone else read it. Let them comment, I didn't get what this is. I don't get where you're going. And you're like, how can you not get it is because they don't understand the same things that you understand. So you may have to explain certain things that you thought everyone understood. Number nine, don't be afraid to just get something down. You can always refine it later, in writing some people they they were, you know, when I, for example, when I have a couple that wants to get married, I make them write their vows. And then I don't know what to say, I don't know what to write. And then they tried to write out the perfect thing, you know, how will I start? And what are the No, I just tell them look, just get a piece of paper and write down in random, maybe it's just words, love concern. I want to believe in you a little phrases, just write it on a piece of paper, no order, no sentences that are completed doesn't matter, just get something down on paper. Now, once you have something down on paper, you can start looking at, you can see these three sound the same. And this one, oh, I liked this sentence, maybe going to start with this. See, then you can work it and put it together. But just get going just your resume, just start randomly putting everything that you think is relevant down on a piece of paper, organize it later. Practice writing, poetry, short story, children's book, I've written two children's book, books, one on Christmas, one on Easter, and I took a team of people to the Holy Land to take pictures. I want it to be authentic looking and so on. So we're at the picture point. But I've never written a children's book, what do I know about children's books. So I bought children's books and started reading them and looking at them. And trying to understand how this really works. And I wanted it to be, you know, most of the children's books, just don't tell a good story. I wanted to tell a good story. So I put the people in the, in the scene and they you know, they wake up and they're in a field and they don't know what's going on. And, you know, so is this my livelihood? Is this how to make a living? No. It's just something. I try to be creative. I'm trying to get things out. I want to communicate. And you can't learn to be communicate without doing it without practicing. It doesn't matter if my book is a success or not success, or someone buys it or they don't. It was just good for me to do. Get out there, write. Use a thesaurus. Okay, a thesaurus, you look up one word, and it will give you a list of words that are similar. expand your vocabulary. More tips, number one, brainstorm what you want to write about, what do you want to say? What do you want to do? Is this a book? What's its purpose? Try to find a common theme or question or problem that emerges out of the brainstorming. What are the things I'm interested in? I write them on a piece of paper now what's the problem in this stuff? See, unless you're solving a problem, so even my children's book, that kid goes to sleep, he's in this country, the next day is Christmas. Can't wait for the morning and the Christmas tree and the presents and all of that. And they wake up and they're in some house from 2000 years ago. The mom was dressed like 2000 years ago, and the dad says Come on, we gotta go. Where are we going?
Well, it's your first day out, I'm in the field, what field? What are we talking about? And the father takes the little girl by the hand. And she ends up, you know, being a shepherd. What is this? I don't know. Where am I? What's going on? So I'm taking them on a I'm taking the reader on a journey. What is going on? I'm gonna find out. I can't wait to get to the next page because I want to know the solution to this problem. Your books or the thing or your poetry, or your song or whatever it is has to solve some problem. It has to take us on some journey. We're interested in finding solutions. We're interested in knowing where a journey goes or what the purpose is. Try to arrange the pieces under one central idea. Here's what I'm trying to say. Here's my ultimate goal. Now how does each piece contribute to that one goal, don't have five goals don't have five topics. People will, they won't be able to follow it. They need one topic. Let's say I had. I just wanted to talk about stuff. Okay, so I'm going to arrange my stuff under Steve's interesting stuff. I have five interesting stuff, things to talk to you today about five interesting stuff. Stuff number one. I was almost killed when I was 12 years old by putting my hand through a glass door, and a little sliver came up and hit me right in this artery. That's interesting stuff. Number one. Interesting stuff. Number two, I met my wife. Now I tell some interesting story. See, I'm telling random stories. But they all fit under five interesting stuff, things from my life. If it logically fits, make your points fit. And reiterate. I'm saying this over and over again. Because whenever I read to people, sermons, and so on are all over the place. They don't follow that one thing that they're trying to say, at the end of the sermon, I'm like, I don't know what you want. Do you want us to do something? Do you want us to know something? Do you want us to believe something, I have no idea what you're trying to get us to do? Add examples and stories that go with each piece. So part one, now I tell the story. Part two, I tell the story. Point three, I tell the story. Point four, I tell the story, sermons are really easy. But they have to follow what you're trying to do. Add an intro and conclusion. So you have this main point, you have all these sub points that go under and follow that my main point and, and sort of help you communicate and verify the big point that you're trying to make. And then you need a way to start. And then you need a way to end. And my one of my favorite ways of starting and ending, I start with a problem. Have you ever been frustrated with church? Okay, well, today, we're going to talk about five things that we can do as a church that will take away that frustration, number one, communication. Number two, worship at home because it makes worship at church better. Number three, okay, so then I go through my points. And then what's my conclusion? My conclusion is church doesn't have to be frustrating does it? I started with the problem. I'm trying to solve the problem, and then I'm reiterating the solution. You know, we had a problem. And did we solve it? That's the question. All right. So I know that written communication is a struggle for many. And many will blame the written communication, well, I just can't write. The truth is, maybe you
can't communicate. Writing it down just brings to light your problem. You think you're real logical, and you're making sense when you're talking? But if you wrote down what you said, you would look at it and go, that doesn't make any sense. So the written thing only brings to light. What is so my encouragement to you is do a little writing. In fact, you know, I don't write out my sermons, I make an outline, and I follow that outline. That way I can look at people. And I can look you right now, wherever you're at, and I can look you in the eye, okay. But for one year, when I was preaching, it was my first church for one year, I wrote every single sermon, and I had two every week, so that was 104 sermons that year that I wrote every single word. Yeah, I don't recommend that. You do that all the time. But I'm telling you that one year writing it helped me write sermons helped me understand logic helped me to see where I'm missing things, and what makes sense and what doesn't. So my encouragement again, you have to practice these things, or you're going to gain nothing from them. Write something, I don't care what it is. Maybe it's a love letter to the person you're in love with. Maybe it's a note to your children. Maybe it's a note to your parents. Sometimes the written word communicates in a way that the spoken word doesn't. Tell them how much they mean to you. I mean, try to write something in a winning logical, emotional way, and see what it does for you. Thanks for listening.