Write Up the Corporate Ladder: Successful Writers Reveal the Techniques That Help You Write with Ease and Get Ahead [Paperback]

Kevin Ryan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2003

Most books on business writing focus on stale rules and mechanics, without emphasizing the inspiration and energy needed to produce truly effective writing. Write Up the Corporate Ladder features comprehensive interviews with well-known professional business writers, showing how the techniques they use can result in clear, persuasive writing in the workplace.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Most guides to business writing focus on a rigid set of rules and fail to acknowledge the intuitive process involved in all good writing. As a writing-training consultant, Ryan teaches how to break out of the traditional dry, hard-to-decipher writing of typical corporate documents. This book is presented in three parts. In part 1, "The Plan Then Write Method," Ryan offers a straightforward approach to transferring thoughts and ideas to paper. It's the same method that professional writers use to convey their messages in a simple, concise fashion. Part 2 features interviews with well-known business writers such as Ken Blanchard, Gail Evans, and Michael Lewis, who talk about the challenges of the creative process. In part 3, Ryan interviews Fortune 500 executives about the importance of good writing skills. He reminds us how the computer has transformed our correspondence, particularly through the use of e-mail. There are examples of good and bad writing, tips on editing and proofreading, and information on using templates. Ryan has followed his own advice to create a very useful guide. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Readers will walk away having identified their strengths and weaknesses in their own writing& be prepared to make lasting improvements." -- OfficePro

Burnish your business writing skills to bring value to self, company... tips on clarity, getting started, cleaning up your drafts. -- USA Today, September 2, 2003

Ryan offers simple techniques to writing clearly and concisely. -- Journal Gazette Ft. Wayne, IN

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (July 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814471501
• ISBN-13: 978-0814471500
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,627,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do you need a mentor to think and write effectively?, October 17, 2003

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Write Up the Corporate Ladder: Successful Writers Reveal the Techniques That Help You Write with Ease and Get Ahead (Paperback)

Clever title. Also, Ryan and his contributors really do reveal various techniques that will help anyone to "write with ease and get ahead." However, I think it would be a serious mistake to determine the value this book wholly on the basis of its relevance to career success. It offers more, far more than that. Ryan carefully organizes his material within three parts. In the first, he explains what he calls the "Plan Then Write Method"; next, he provides a series of interviews with ten successful business authors; finally, he provides a series of "views" from corporate executives. The "Plan Then Write Method" is explained step-by-step. Think of Ryan as a personal tutor who helps his reader to understand the importance of Subject, Audience, and Purpose. Basis stuff, yes, but presented with a crisp style and in sharp focus. (Would we expect less from an expert on effective writing?) He has chosen his collaborators well. More to the point, with uncommon skill, he elicits from them their most valuable advice concerning so-called "secrets" to effective writing. All agree with Ryan that the ultimate objective is successful communication.

Time Out. Within the classical tradition, there are four levels of discourse: Exposition which uses information to explain, reveal, "expose," etc.; Description which makes vivid with compelling details; Narration which tells a story with a plot or explains a process or sequence; and Argumentation which convinces with logic and/or evidence. The best writers of both fiction and non-fiction operate effectively on all four levels.

Here are a few brief excerpts from various interviews:

"The first thing I ask myself is: What do I want to focus on, what do I want to teach? I always try to break my subject into three or four main points, the most teachable concepts, because I don't think people can grasp more than that. The second question I ask is: How do I want to teach it? Do I want to write it like a regular book, a parable, a quotation book?" Ken Blanchard

"The act of writing is the process of clarifying thought. Not just for the reader, but for the writer....There needs to be momentum, and you have to create that; you have to set up the questions at the beginning. That's actually one of the fun things to think about, How am I going to get the reader to turn the page? Now we're on quest together!" Marcus Buckingham

"There are three steps to writing well in my opinion., regardless of what you are writing. Step one: how to end. Step two: where to begin. Step three: what to leave out. Also, I only write one draft that I keep changing until I don't believe it needs to be changed anymore. When I'm finished, there may not be a word left of what I originally wrote down." Roy Williams

Later in the interview, Williams shares what I consider to be especially valuable observations about effective writing:

"The most valuable tip that I can give anybody is: If you want to be a brilliant writer, truly a brilliant writer, then you need to read books of poetry. Poets are the most confident group of writers I know. Let me explain. The simple truth is that a poet is the only writer whose goal is to persuade and cause you to see things with different eyes, and to communicate that new perspective in a very brief, tight economy of words. Poets use unusual combinations of words in a very unpredictable way. Poets have the freedom to put together sentences and utterly break the rules of communication."

As I have attempted to indicate in this brief commentary, Ryan's book is really less about using effective writing to advance one's career (i.e. to climb the corporate ladder) than it is about effective thinking which is communicated through effective writing to achieve whatever results the writer may seek. All of the techniques which Ryan and his collaborators so carefully examine are but means by which to achieve that ultimate objective.

One final point: Ultimately, the effectiveness of communication with others depends almost entirely on how honestly one first communicates with one's self. In this context, I am reminded of Polonius' advice to son Laertes:

"This above all: To thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Can Write Clearly Now The Pain is Gone, May 3, 2004

By 

Robin Hendricks (Rotonda West, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Write Up the Corporate Ladder: Successful Writers Reveal the Techniques That Help You Write with Ease and Get Ahead (Paperback)

Professionals everywhere should soon be singing the praises of the straight-forward, common sense advice imparted from the author and an impressive showing of well known writers and executives in Kevin Ryan's, Write Up the Corporate Ladder. Void of the antiquated, worn out writing adage we've had our fill of-it's a fresh look at what experts concur is one of the most essential skills in business today.

According to Ryan, an easily achievable and winning combination of confidence, commitment and focus takes the anticipatory (and sometimes painful) pressure off of writing performance in an era of increasing volubility.

From Waterloo to the space race to modern day memos, Ryan presents a number of well excerpted communication examples to reinforce key concepts and keep readers interested and engaged. His reader-friendly style is sure to put even the most timid writing protégé at ease.

Cleverly, Ryan begins by justifying the importance of clear and effective business writing (in case you still had any doubt!) Then, after a step by step introduction to the Plan Then Write method of composition, we're reminded by the expert interviewees once again just how valuable good writing skills are in today's competitive marketplace.

As a writer and editor, I mightily concur that the Plan Then Write method does indeed produce great results and Ryan's helpful instruction is among the best I've read in this area.

My favorite chapter? Definitely chapter 5. The Art of Writing: How to Solve Problems Using Your Writer's Intuition, in which Ryan explains that, "We all have a writer's intuition. It consists of our innate logic, common sense, and everything we've internalized about writing and reading after doing both-almost daily-since the age of five." If you "get" this concept, you're well on your way to becoming a better writer and will most certainly gain an impressive advantage over those around you who don't!

Robin Hendricks, M.Ad.Ed.
Managing Editor

Medical Education Broadcast Network

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For all MBA Students, September 14, 2003

By 

Erik Chavez (Chicago, IL.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Write Up the Corporate Ladder: Successful Writers Reveal the Techniques That Help You Write with Ease and Get Ahead (Paperback)

Write up the Corporate Ladder is a must read for all MBA students. As future leaders in the business world, we need to be very good communicators. Kevin Ryan provides us with the tools to grow to be very strong business communicators. His book also teaches us how to avoid many common mistakes that lead to wasted time and energy. Not only do I recommend that all MBA students read this book, I think it is crazy to not keep this book on your desk as a reference. My writing has improved a great deal thanks to the techniques taught by Kevin. This is a great opportunity to add value to our MBA skill set.

Erik Chavez
University of Chicago GSB
MBA Candidate 2005