What they won’t tell you because they shouldn’t have to
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Last week, I gave a presentation on Speechwriting Mastery (http://thinkitcreative.com/services/speaking/#mastery) . You might think that much of my time there would have been focused on writing tips and techniques.
But it wasn’t. And I have a couple of reasons for that.
First, this was an experienced group of writers who are already working in the field, and my golden rule about presentations is don’t waste your audience’s time telling them what they already know.
Second, no amount of raw creative talent you have is going to make anything of value unless you first pay attention to craft that goes into your work.
That’s why instead I spent a lot of time talking about expectations and research.
Expectations aren’t just about covering your rear.
Managing expectations are important, yes. It’s why I recommend doing an outline first for just about every creative job you take on—be that for writing or design.
But when I’m talking about expectations, it’s not just limited to the ones you have with a client.
You have expectations to meet with your reader and your audience too.
They are counting on you to give them professionally crafted work: where somebody has given a damn about the small details that go into making something reliable and worthy of their trust.
They will not tell you this. They shouldn’t have to.
You are responsible for what you make. And that starts with the advice you give that goes into creating work that has value. This is as true for designing software as it is for writing webcopy or building a great speech.
Research is your job.
Meeting expectations means you have to take time and research your product, your messages and your audience.
Even if it’s a topic you’ve worked on countless times before.
Even if someone else has done the legwork and provided you with background information.
In fact, that’s especially when you need to do it.
The only facts that belong to you are those you’ve arrived at from research that you have conducted on your own. Otherwise, at best, you are relying on someone else’s work. And at worst, you’re just a mouthpiece for someone else’s advice. Either way, you’re on the hook, hoping someone else took the time to get the facts right.
Maybe they did. Maybe.
Be sure. Be true to your craft and to the value behind your work.
Check the facts and the sources you’ve been given. Are they accurate? Are they up to date? Are they contradicted by other sources?
Don’t settle for making it someone else’s job to look after this. Do the extra work.
If you design or write something that is loose on the facts, you risk violating the trust between you and your audience, as well as between you and your customer.
Be the Swiss army knife of knowledge.
You’d think that this advice is all pretty obvious stuff. But as Warren Buffett likes to remind “it’s trite because it’s true.”
I conduct independent research on every project I take on and without fail, I get comments from new clients to the effect that they’ve never seen such level of detail before.
I don’t just do it because it’s a valuable differentiator in the marketplace (although that’s a pretty nice benefit).
I do this because I really give a damn (http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=89226eb68936fc712577977b8&id=2de8bd5841) about the work I do and I have a stake in every project. I’m curious by nature about every subject area I work on.
The world is full of problems and there’s no shortage of bad choices out there that are being made with little or no research.
Don’t let your work be part of that.
Make the choice to be true to your craft and to your audience.
Very best, Patrick
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