Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Improving Your Messages to the Community

Whether it's an outage, scheduled maintenance or an announcement about a new technology resource, the pressure is on you to create effective and readable messages. Henry David Thoreau once said that he had received no more than one or two letters in his life that were worth the postage. To be sure, most of your communications don't require postage and won't be cherished forever. However, they should be worth the time it takes to read them. University faculty, staff, and students are bombarded with hundreds of messages every day, from multiple sources. They appreciate it when your communications are organized, concise, and understandable. This paper discusses ways to improve written content for emails, blogs, and other communication channels. It concentrates on how to cut the flab from writing and strategies for organizing information. It also covers how to choose the best words for promoting an organization's resources and services.