CHAPTER 5

Your Potential

We’ve covered a lot of ground in this book. We’ve glanced at lin-

guistic theory, and we’ve studied some practical applications. Out of
all that material, what are the most important things to remember?
What are the essential steps to make sure you write in the language
of success? You’re entitled to decide that for yourself, but here are
five points that I think are critical:

1. Tell the truth. Life is too short to do anything else. And telling
the truth makes it a lot easier to write clearly and concisely.
2. Say it in your own voice. To the extent possible, allowing for
the differences between spoken and written language, write it
the way you would say it.
3. Reject the languages of Fluff, Guff, Geek, and Weasel. They
don’t communicate. They don’t impress other people. They don’t
work.
4. Remember the “first time right” rule. If your readers can under-
stand what you wrote as soon as they read it, you wrote it well.
If your readers have to go back and reread what you wrote, you
didn’t.
5. Know why you’re writing before you start so you can use the
right pattern. Whether you’re writing to inform, to evaluate, or
to persuade, using the right structural pattern will increase your
effectiveness.

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198 The Language of Success

Writing is a skill. Like other skills we may have—cooking, rid-

ing a bicycle, playing the piano—our ability will improve if we prac-
tice a lot and if we acquire more knowledge. Some people also have
unique talents, which is why we have the Julia Childs, Lance Arm-
strongs, and Oscar Petersons of our world. Don’t tell yourself that
you can’t write because you don’t have the talent for it. If you can
talk, you can write. The more you practice and the more you learn,
the better you’ll be at it.
You have the potential to become fluent in the language of suc-
cess. Good luck in achieving your potential.