Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

VAF Newsbot · #1 (**permalink**) 09-26-2009

I’m a Virgo, so all the following may be forgiven if you know astrology.

This post is about accuracy in communications. I don’t know why it’s not talked about more, but writing is a really crucial skill for online communications. Nonetheless, it’s a fact that many people who seek to make an income through online exposures are not skilled writers.

It’s important that the net includes peeps who offer all different kinds of gifts. Skill in writing can hardly be expected of everyone who participates online. But there is one practice that could make a big difference in how well you are understood when you post that blog, or make that comment, or answer that question on a forum.

This one practice is not easy, because it slows us down a little. Slowing down means relinquishing your agenda, means letting life control (rather than you). It’s a release we’re reluctant to do.

But it can make all the difference to your effectiveness. How often have you asked a question that doesn’t get answered? Is it because of the way you stated your query? How often have you requested information that you just didn’t get? Is it because...Click here to read the rest of this post at the Virtual Assistance and You Blog.

The Virtual Assistance and You Blog is authored by VAF member Mary of Virtual Writing and Communications Solutions.

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Action Jackson VA · #2 (**permalink**) 09-27-2009

I read this article from beginning to end and it gives such great advice. Thank you so much for sharing it! You always write really thought provoking articles.

Andrea

virtual writing · #3 (**permalink**) 09-27-2009

So nice of you to comment, Andrea. Thank you!
I've noticed what an excellent writer you are, by the way. No problems with communications there!

StephanieP · #4 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009

Proofreading is very important and a practice that I hope all of us do every day. For me, it's almost a bad habit because I'll read an email over and over before I ever send it out, usually making a change or two after almost every sweep (even after I send it out, I find myself going back to reread it sometimes lol). I'm usually not quite as careful with some of my IMs or Tweets, so thanks for bringing up the importance of proofreading any type of online communication.

virtual writing · #5 (**permalink**) 09-30-2009

Stephanie - We're birds of a feather. How I have worded any communication at all is critically important to me ... as if my happiness depended on it! It's a curse ...

Balancing Act · #6 (**permalink**) 09-30-2009

This is something I definitely need to work on. I'm great at proofreading other people's work, but not my own. It's almost as if I get really bored reading it, and my eyes begin to gloss over. Not a good problem to have!

virtual writing · #7 (**permalink**) 09-30-2009

April - I know that glossed-over-eyes bit!! Maybe it would help to remember that what you're really doing, down deep, is having a care for your reader, trying to make things as easy and accessible as possible. If you think of it as a caring act toward your readers, as being compassionate, maybe you can concentrate on it more easily.

JoCarole · #8 (**permalink**) 09-30-2009

Mary, I agree with you 100% on this. Proofreading is not done enough. I include myself in this group. I am not saying I don’t try to proofread because I do. Just sometimes I may overlook something. I have my own proofreading system that works most of the time but sometimes I notice after I hit the ‘send button, that something was not exactly the way I meant it to be. I have been researching ‘editing software’ and maybe that will help. I haven’t decided on any particular program yet but it is useful software for people who work on their computer as much as we do.

Also helpful is to have a proofreading buddy. Back in the old j.o.b. days we always had someone sitting down next to us to help us proofread our work.

I am glad that you posted this topic as it is one that I am very much interested in and yet I don’t see it being discussed anywhere. I feel when we open the Internet door and let the world in, we better make sure that we are ready first or just keep the door closed until we are. The plain fact is once you put something out in cyberspace, you can’t get it back. Our ‘ words will outlast us’ far after we are gone. So it is well worth the effort to spend a little time before you click on that ‘send button’. Make sure what you say is exactly what you intend to say. Just like the age old saying ‘your eyes are the windows to your soul’, can it not be said ‘what you write is truly a direct reflection of who you are’? (or at least how you will be perceived).

virtual writing · #9 (**permalink**) 10-01-2009

In my mind, to be honest, it's a precarious issue. So many times a post with numerous typos is still discussed avidly. I mean, despite your typos, we may understand you perfectly well. BUT, there's still a small underlying current of mistrust/lack of respect if the writing's poor. If we let writing go completely laissez-faire (you know, like those paragraphs you've seen where the words are all mis-spelled but you can understand it anyway), surely we'll end up in Babylon.

I guess mostly, my post was about slowing down enough to make sure you haven't made dumb mistakes, because dumb mistakes make you look dumb, right?

Bernice · #10 (**permalink**) 10-01-2009

Mary,
What a great article! Clear communication with your clients is key to strong client/VA relationship. If they are happy with your work and trust you they will call you back. Too often we underestimate just how words can convey a tone. Choose your words carefully and if in doubt, save a draft overnight and see how you feel the next morning.

Thanks for bringing up this topic.

Cheers!!