Scott Flood established Scott Flood Writing in 1995 after 13 years with advertising agencies in Chicago and Indianapolis. The Chicago native is a frequent author on copywriting and marketing topics for business websites and publications, has authored two books of local interest, and is also the author of 100 Years: The Story of the Western States Machine Company.
An active community volunteer, Scott has served on the School Board for the Plainfield Community School Corporation since 2000, was honored as Indiana’s outstanding local school board member in 2021, and named Hendricks County Leader of the Year in 2007 by Leadership Hendricks County. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications & Theatre Arts from St. Joseph’s College.
Isn't business writing supposed to be grammatical?
That's one of the great misconceptions. Let me step back and say that I absolutely love and adore English teachers. They're amazing people and anybody who can get bored sophomores to get interested in literature and poetry deserves my praise. But one of the unfortunate things that comes out of English class is that people learn a particular way to write. They learn the highly grammatical academic style of writing, which is used nowhere but the academic world. When you get out into the business world, really what's far more effective is to communicate in a more informal way, particularly a very conversational way. So I always advocate for conversational copy.
Is there a simple way to tell that something I've written is conversational?
I think the easiest way to do it is to read it out loud. Once we get out of grade school, we don't often read what we write out loud. But it's good practice because if you pick up something that you've written and you read it out loud, or even let's just say it's a paragraph from you're writing a blog post and you're not sure if it's doing a good job, read that paragraph out loud.
If you find it's easy to read it out loud, if you find that everything comes easily, you've probably done it great. But if you find yourself stumbling or pausing or running out of breath, you probably need to rewrite. It's probably too complex for the situation. That's the easiest trick I can give people.
Connect with Scott!
https://sfwriting.com/
The Smarter Strategy for Selecting Suppliers
sflood@sfwriting.com
256: Change the Way you Communicate - with Cynthia Kane
255: Network with a Mindset of Curiosity - with Ariel Kopac
254: Put yourself out there and try new things - with David Splitgerber
253: Live Life with Margin - with Tommy Thompson
252: The Magic Connection Method - with Brandon Fong
251: Stop trading time for money - with Tracy Brinkmann
250: Match what's on the inside with the outside - with Andy Gallion
249: Don't be afraid to reach out - with Chris Larsen
248: Data and Analytics: What to focus on - with Lori Highby
247: Make the most of every opportunity - with Takeyla Tyson
246: Focus on where you want to grow - with Dr. Susan Lovelle
245: Digital Marketing Research Fundamentals - with Lori Highby
244: Network in bite-sized pieces - with Dr. Jim Bohn
243: Start Building Your Bank - with Debbie Seeger
242: Join a Virtual Community - with Tanya Stanfield
241: Be willing to try new things - with Jennifer White
240: All things LinkedIn - with Wayne Breitbarth
239: Grow and support yourself - with Heather Breedlove
238: Deliver value - with Agostino Pintus
237: Don't be afraid to fail - with Lyle Stoflet
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