Customer Reviews

The Language of Success

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a writer and editor, and a friend who recently got promoted asked me for a book that would help her writing. There are stylebooks, handbooks, and business format/pattern books, but with Tom Sant's latest we finally have the book that my friend needs. In fact, lots of my friends need this book -- I need to buy about 10 copies. This book makes it clear that good writing starts with knowing your message and your audience. Dr. Sant warns against common pitfalls in writing and guides his readers to a place where they can write clearly, concisely, and pointedly in their own voices. Well done.

I am extremely pleased that I got this book. It offers both concrete tips and more general concepts for writing clearly -- especially emails and other business communications -- and it's written in just the right tone. I've read another of Sant's books and I can't praise him highly enough for the help I feel I've received in my writing from his advice. I intend to recommend this book around the office.

This book will help your writing. I'll say again, this book will help your writing.

Tom's first book, Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts, is a classic and the only book you need to read on proposals if you are only going to read one. The Language of Success: Business Writing That Informs, Persuades, and Gets Results is now the only book on business writing you need to read if you are only going to read one.

Tom focuses on email in this one because it is, "the dominant mode of communication all over the world." Tom quickly offers up eight tips for better email right at the beginning of the book then uncovers and explains the four types of writing most commonly found in the majority of business writing - Fluff, Guff, Geek and Weasel.

Since no firm or company I know of gives decent training in writing, The Language of Success is a book that should be given to new college graduates as they head out into the work world. The 70 or so pages of examples are perfect for those new to the workplace as well as seasoned vets who need some help.

A great book that will help all of your writing from emails to proposals.

BTW, four stars is my highest rating!

The Language of Success: Business Writing That Informs, Persuades, and Gets Results

Halfway through Tom's introduction I found myself searching for the sticky post it arrows. Reading Tom Sant has always been a delightful experience but this books evokes the feeling of having a quiet and intense conversation with a master. Having read all his previous books it seemed only fitting that this master linguist and business accumen would share his unique perspective on the condition of business communications and gently persuade the reader to make a few shifts that change words into true communiques. Bravo. Another 5 star addition to the Sant compendium.

I planned to skim The Language of Success for a few minutes last night and ended up spending two delightful hours reading and benefiting from the many tips and suggestions. Of course the language is crisp and concise, that is Sant's forte. However, I was surprised by the frequent humor and by his ability to write as if speaking to a friend. I found many ideas that were new to me and will be immediately useful. This is the first Sant book I have read but it won't be the last.

The fun from Sant's book was that I was able to use his suggestions and observations right away in my daily email writing. The pain was that so many of his examples of poor writing hit close to home. I've shared a couple of copies with colleagues in my office. Now we all think we're qualified critics of others. It's a good game that is making all of us think a bit more as we write. The book continues to be a great help.

Tom Sant is a giant in the field of effective business writing. Years ago I first learned how to write effective business proposals from his book of the same name. I have subscribed to his newsletter for years learning how to better proposals as well as how to ¨template¨¨proposals, saving time in a big way. This book is a welcome addition to his previous work. Regardless of what type of writing you need to do to be successful at work and home, he has collected in one place a terrific asset. For example he gives you the ¨before and after ¨experience for all that he talks about. You and your business will benefi from Tom Sant? experience. This is a library ¨keeper¨

Has a business colleague ever sent you a rambling e-mail chock full of misspelled words, acronyms, text message abbreviations and even emoticon smiley faces? Or have you had to wade through an incomprehensible report filled with technical terms, industry jargon and run-on sentences? Both these experiences indicate a larger problem: bad writing. Many people need to write as part of their jobs, but few of them do it well. Communication expert Tom Sant identifies four problematic writing styles that obstruct clear, functional communication: "Fluff, Guff, Geek and Weasel." Sant attacks the problem, beginning with eight tips for composing better e-mails. He tells you how to tailor clear, succinct, accurate documents to your audience. His generous use of examples helps illustrate the rights and wrongs of business writing. Thankfully, this how-to-write book is well written and at times even humorous. getAbstract suggests keeping it next to your dictionary and thesaurus, and referring to it often.

As a general rule, I borrow books from the library whenever possible. If worth keeping for the long term, then I buy it. This book might meet require purchase.

I think of myself as a good writer, but I learned a lot from this book. There are certain traps I fall into that I can now avoid. I skimmed most of the last chapter - it provided examples of how to write different types of letters and emails. The comments and examples are great for reference but didn't make sense to read if I wasn't about to write that type of a letter.

One interesting tip - turn on "Show readability statistics" in Microsoft Word (Tools|Options|Spelling & Grammar). You want your writing to be at 10th grade level or lower. This might seem low, but the Wall Street Journal is written at that level.

One tip that will be hard to implement - draft all of your emails in Word so you can use all of its tools, and then copy and past to Outlook. That would be hard for me to do.

I read this book in preparation for a new editing job. Sant's specific examples and clear explanations make this book incredibly useful. He covers everything from emails to executive summaries, but this is much more than a book about writing for business success. I wish he had written this book years ago when I was an assistant professor teaching writing courses. His friendly tone, sense of humor, and clear understanding of writing's pitfalls and how to avoid them would have gone a long way toward preparing my students for communicating in the real world. As it is, I take every opportunity to recommend this text to former teaching colleagues as well as new business associates.