Writing activity reports

These reports typically occasion the biggest groans. Whether a weekly, monthly, or annual review of their activity is required, many people begrudge the time to write them as a distraction from their “real” work and treat them as busy-work imposed by inconsiderate managers.

Resist that feeling! If you think writing reports is boring, you’re bound to produce dishwater documents that serve you badly. Consider why someone wants the information involved. If it’s your supervisor, she may want to know:

• Your progress (and everyone else’s) in carrying out department initiatives
• The need for course correction to meet goals and deadlines
• Problems looming on the horizon — and opportunities
• How well the staff is coordinating tasks and whether things are humming along smoothly

Especially when a staff consists of more than a few people, it’s hard for the bigger-picture decision-makers to keep track of what’s happening under their watch. Group meetings and written reports become important. Keep in mind, too, that your boss needs grist for his own report mill. He must in turn report to his superiors, and needs information from team members to do so. Good material enables him to write better reports. And some of your input may rise all the way up the line, perhaps to the top.

Managers base decisions on staff reports more often than you may suspect. Ideally, activity reports collectively add up to the larger perspective their roles demand and provide clues to help them deploy their resources more successfully. When you contribute informed observations and ideas, they’re valued because you’re closer to the action, whatever that is, and speak for that piece of reality. Reports keep those further from the ground in touch.

Accordingly, recognize that activity reports offer excellent chances to show off your capabilities and prove your value. Take the trouble to make them well-organized, well-strategized, informative, and concrete. And use good writing to make them as interesting as you can. If you suggest your own boredom through a rote delivery, what does that say about how you feel about your job and how you do it?

Just as with writing email, which is covered in Chapter 6, start with the perennials: goal and audience. Your goal is to provide useful information and perspective to the reader, and no less important, to present yourself as the thoughtful, skilled, resourceful, creative professional you are. Your audience is the manager who asks for the report as well as the whole ladder of managers above him or her.

Look at your report from your supervisor’s viewpoint to gauge the appropriate content, level of detail, and style of writing. Take his informational preferences and decision-making style into account (see Chapter 2 on how to do this). A report’s orientation also varies according to company culture and your role. If you manage a unit or department, you’re responsible for reporting on the team’s performance as well as your own.

Reporting project results

While the process for writing project reports is similar to writing activity reports, a project report may call for a different structure according to the subject. Here, too, aim to tell a story with a logical beginning, middle, and end.

Often the challenge of a project report is how to present an abundance of data and concepts in a way that holds together for readers. Faced with masses of poorly sorted information, most people will either stop reading or draw their own conclusions. Neither outcome is good for you. Take the time to determine your central message — and how you want your reader to react. Use the questions you draft in “Focusing reader attention” earlier in this chapter to guide you, but start with these:

• What was the reason for undertaking this work?
• What did I want to find out and why?

Identify the project’s goal as closely as you can. For example, did you want to supply a basis for decision-making? Provide support? Question a current position? Predict outcomes from various scenarios? Justify an action? Or just keep specific audiences updated? A basic reporting sequence like this one suits many purposes:

• What we wanted to know and why (the problem or mission)
• What we did and how (abbreviated; this may not interest most readers)
• What happened
• What we learned and the evidence (as appropriate)
• Our conclusions (what we recommend, problems, next steps)

Section by section, create an engaging lead based on your most important result from the reader’s perspective. When you have good news, flaunt it, don’t bury it. On the other hand, don’t obscure any bad news so it’s overlooked or comes as a shock.

A good report, like any major document, doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t position yourself to start from scratch when the deadline is tomorrow. Consider collecting information for the report gradually in a folder or on your computer or desk (or both), for each section. Add to the folders over time so you’re not overwhelmed at the last minute desperately trying to remember what happened, where the figures are, and what it all means. Before you draft, give yourself time to read through all the material you gathered and decide on your message.

Here’s a good way to cut through complex masses of information to the bottom line: After scanning your material, put it away for a few hours or days. Then without referring to it, summarize it orally or in writing. You may find that your brain filters out what matters, given a little distance.

For more help, see the sections later in this chapter on writing executive summaries and using editorial and graphic devices to energize your material.

Writing formal proposals

Most RFPs (request for proposals) require formal, standardized responses. This is true in most big-business situations, and also for many grant applications. You may have a list of specifications to meet and a prescribed format. If you do, follow those specifications to the letter, especially if you’re bidding for a government contract. At other times, you may have more leeway to organize your document as you like, or to interpret a set of guidelines.

For help with preparing a long-form, high-stakes proposal, check out Internet resources and business management books. You can find abundant good advice on formatting and specific buzzwords to use, but you probably can’t find much about the process of writing the proposal itself. Not to worry. Here are several tips for answering RFPs that can make the difference between winning a bid and losing out:

• Tell a story. Even if the prescribed format makes storytelling tough, use the space to communicate a cohesive picture of what you recommend, what you’ll do, and why you’re the best person or company to do the job. True, specialists may scrutinize only a few sections, but key readers review the whole document and want it to make sense cumulatively — with as little repetition as possible. (See Chapter 9 for storytelling tips.)
• Know your audience’s goal. If you’re pitching for a complex contract, take the time to understand the company and the problem it’s trying to solve — it’s always there. Read the RFP exhaustively between the lines and research the organization to see how the requested work fits into the company’s overall needs — and by extension, how you can fit in. In doing this, you’ll pick up keywords to incorporate and better understand the company’s “voice” so you can respond in kind and show you’re on the same wavelength.
• Give your audiences what they need. Include content and details that specifically match audience expectations. Remember that most businesspeople want to increase profitability or efficiency. All reviewers want to know a project’s timetable, how you measure success, the budget, who will do the work and their credentials, and your track record and specific qualifications for the job.
• Write simply and conversationally. Use a slightly more formal tone than you’d use for everyday communication — fewer contractions, for example — but don’t sound overly academic and stuffy. It’s best to write in the third person, with the company as an entity, unless you are the central or the only person involved. A two-person organization can use “we,” and if you have a virtual team to call on, “we” is also okay. Make your language lively but jargon-free. See Chapter 4 for more tips about how to do this.
• Speak their language. Notice any statements that are emphasized or repeated. These are clues to the organization’s hot buttons and perhaps sensitivities honed by experience. Incorporate key phrases and ideas in your responses, but don’t come across as if you’re parroting back their words rather than providing the answers they hope for. And be sure to explain how you’ll measure outcomes!
• Remember the decision is about you. Whatever you’re proposing, you’re asking someone to choose you and your team. Never skimp the biographical section. Show why each team member is right for the role, how the team works together, its accomplishments, and why you in particular can be trusted to deliver on time, within budget, and to specification.
• Go for the proof. Don’t say “the team is creative, reliable, and efficient.” Cite examples, case histories, statistics, and testimonials that demonstrate these points, as appropriate. Impress with substance rather than empty claims. “Tests show that our concrete lasts 16 percent longer than other varieties” is better than “our concrete lasts forever.”
• Edit and proof your work. After writing, review and correct your document in several stages. (See Chapters 4 and 5 for more about this process.) One error costs you your credibility. Ask a friend with sharp eyes to proof for you, too. If you fail to showcase your ability to communicate well and correctly within the document itself, you lose ground regardless of what you’re trying to win.
• Make it look good. Your competitors will. Use all the graphic options to help your proposal read well and easily. Give your readers opportunities to rest their eyes. (See Chapter 3 for advice on using graphic tools.) Include relevant graphics — images, graphs, charts, infographics — but they must never be extraneous. If a lot rests on this document, ask a friend with design ability for guidance. Or find a good model and adapt elements of its design or the whole layout.

Often, those issuing the RFP provide a route for asking questions. Don’t be too proud to do take advantage of this! If you’re not sure whether you’re eligible, better to find out first. If you don’t understand a requirement, say so. If you don’t know what supporting materials are welcome, ask. Take care to sound intelligent, listen, and follow up on the clues. The process is necessarily impersonal, but like all business, relationships matter — a lot. Use available opportunities to build those relationships as well as pinpoint helpful information.

Always do a big-picture review of your document before sending out a proposal. Ask yourself (or a colleague) the following questions:

• Did I demonstrate my understanding of the problem or goal?
• Did I explain who we are and why we’re the best choice?
• Did I clearly state what I will do to address the problem and the expected outcomes?
• Did I clearly spell out what “success” will look like and how it will be measured?
• If different people worked on the proposal, has the whole piece been edited to read consistently and well?

Many candidates focus proposals on process and short-sell results. For example, a training proposal to update staff technology skills should talk less about how many workshops the program includes and more about the gains that result in efficiency, problem-solving, and error-reduction after the training. When possible, give the client a vision of how much better his people will function, or how his processes will improve, or how life and the world will be better if you are awarded the opportunity. But the vision must have “feet” — a solid grounding in actual possibility, not pie in the sky.

And, remember the professional proposal writer’s mantra: Be SMART — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-sensitive.

Writing informal proposals

In fast-moving times, few consultants or contractors want to do more than necessary to win the job. If you’re vying for a government or big-industry contract or a grant, you usually have no choice other than to follow the given specifications. But in many other situations, you can save yourself a bundle of time.

One way is to build the proposal into the selling process and make it a simple agreement — confirmation of a plan already discussed. You can create a logical sequence to cover what’s necessary, or even use a letter format. This approach requires a different selling process because it builds on a personal discussion of the job at hand rather than analysis of a written request.

The first step is to achieve that conversation. As any sales professional can tell you, aim for a face-to-face meeting with your prospect. Then write the proposal based on what you discover. Proposals based on phone conversations, or worse yet, written exchanges, are harder sells. Ideally, you want to gain a second appointment to present your solution — that is, your proposal.

At the first meeting, rather than aggressively selling your qualifications, hold a conversation. Encourage the prospect to talk. A beginning that often works well is, “I’d love to know how you came to this position.” Listen very carefully and use friendly prompts to keep the person talking and gently steer the direction. Ask open-ended questions:

• What problem would you most like to solve?
• How is this problem affecting your business?
• What difference would solving it make for you?

Watch for clues as to how you really can help the organization and how much problem fixes will be valued. It’s unlikely that you’ll be told the problem you were brought in to discuss is not important, but it’s perfectly possible that exploring the fit between you and the prospect will reveal that it’s not a good match. It’s better to find this out before you’re highly invested.

If the conversation indicates a mutually beneficial arrangement is possible, you can prepare your informal written proposal. This can cover

• The problem you propose to address
• Why that problem is important
• What you recommend
• How you will carry the program out step by step
• What will result
• Mutual obligations, time frame, and so on
• Your fee

At the end, you can add, “Agreed to by …” with room for signatures and date.

Here’s an example of a common-sense proposal to pitch for an opportunity in my business of teaching business writing:

• A Workshop Proposal for Whiteflag, Inc.
• From CC Writing Workshops
• I am pleased to propose a series of writing workshops to help Whiteflag customer service representatives handle customer complaints more effectively and actively build customer relations through email and letters.
• The Problem: Alienated customers
• Your recent review of 24 representatives’ interactions with customers showed:
  • A growing number of complaints from customers unhappy with how their problems were handled
  • An abrupt, sometimes rude tone in many outgoing messages
• (This list can be longer, but keep it no more four or five)
• Impact of the problem on Whiteflag:
• The situation is adversely affecting your company. In your own analysis, it is a major factor in a recent 4 percent decline in your customer base.
• CC Writing Workshops proposes:
• (A step-by-step outline of the proposed workshop series — specific but very concise — goes here.)
• Program goals:
• The workshop series will achieve …
• (List the outcomes you aim for that correspond to the problems and note if possible how results will be measured.)
• How we will work together:
• (Describe the collaborative planning, time frames, and obligations of each party.)
• The presenters:
• (Indicate who will deliver the program and their credentials.)
• Fee structure:
• (State your project fee or hourly rate, which should protect you from “scope creep”; for example, cite extra charges for work that exceeds the parameters you set.)
• Agreed to by: ______________________

The entire document can be just a few pages. If you want it to be really informal, format it as a letter that begins with a salutation — “Dear Jane” or “Dear Ms. Brown.” Some more standard sections, like the “presenters” section that describes staffing and credentials, can be done as a separate add-on.

Your tone and language for an informal proposal are just as important as for a formal one. After all, you’ve spoken personally with the individual who might hire you. You’ve also seen how he presents, what his office looks like, how he communicates, what sparks his interest and concern, and how important the problem is to him. Be alert to all these clues and picture him in your mind as you write. (Chapter 2 gives you ways to consciously analyze your audience and align with it in your writing.)

Ultimately, most contracts and assignments are won in person — see Chapter 8 for ways to prepare for this — but writing is the essential first step toward most opportunities. You rarely get in the door without a first-rate proposal. Good writing and the good thinking it reflects can be a great leveler. I know personally many cases where a small David beat a smug Goliath to win stellar opportunities, and companies that have built their entire success on very good writing.

A good letter introducing yourself — another kind of proposal — can work wonders in many circumstances. This may seem like a simple task, but often, the less room you have to frame an “ask,” the better you need to think it out.

Applying for grants

In most ways, applying for grants is similar to answering business RFPs. Grants bestowed by government agencies, foundations, and large corporations typically involve completing very explicit questionnaires that must be followed to the letter. Smaller grant-givers, such as volunteer-run organizations that award modest amounts to local nonprofits, typically supply their own application forms. These vary widely in both the nature of the information required and how to present it. However, following some common-sense guidelines will maximize your chance of winning a grant.

Partly to make the process as efficient for themselves as possible, and help ensure that the most deserving projects are selected, most givers sponsor applicant training sessions. Even if attendance isn’t mandatory, be there. The whole application process is a chance to build relationships with the grant giver. In addition to showing up when asked, you can pose good, thoughtful questions by telephone, or in writing as the second choice, to humanize the interaction. Financing a nonprofit initiative involves a lot of trust: Investing in an organization to support a good cause is more personal than hiring a service or investing in a product where ROI (return on investment) is the main consideration.

Therefore, ask questions, judiciously, that enable givers to provide you with the most useful information. Never ask a question that a close reading of the instructions answers. And use your best writing and editing skills to communicate credibility, expertise, and integrity. Here are some specific ideas about applying for grants to supplement my advice on drafting formal business proposals. (I’m assuming you want to fund a project or program. If you’ve worked in the nonprofit arena for any length of time, you know that funders generally prefer investing in a new project or extend a successful program rather than contribute to operating expenses like staff salaries and facilities.)

• Align with the funder’s mission. Thoroughly understand “what’s in it for them.” Why is this company or foundation or government agency investing in this set of projects? Each giver has its own mission to accomplish. A foundation focuses on one or many causes, carefully articulated in its print and digital materials, so always scour these. Many companies support causes that align with their own commercial interests. An eyeglass manufacturer, for example, may choose to help sight-impaired children live fuller lives; or it might adopt a community cause, or one that resonates with its employees. A governmental entity typically identifies unmet needs of its citizens.

  Once you identify the funder’s mission, align with it as closely as you can. How will your activity help the giver fulfill its own mission? Build your application on the answer to that question. If you can’t do this, you may not be applying to an appropriate funder.

• Aim not to bore your reader. I’ve written grant applications and also screened them. Both processes are hard work. Whether the readers are paid professionals or volunteers, plenty of red-eye activity is usually called for. The requestor pile is big. When a reviewer becomes bored, the application gets a skimming at best. Therefore, consider these guidelines:
  • Frame your information as a story. Know your core message — what you want to achieve, who you are, what you will do, and what this will accomplish. Even when using a formal prescribed format, figure out how to tell the story in that framework, even if it must be told in increments by answering questions in the order given. (See Chapter 9 for story-building approaches.)
  • Let your conviction shine through. As in every sales situation, your own belief in your cause, and the project you want funded, is your greatest selling point. Don’t mask it with complicated abstract writing. Show heart and energy. If you don’t feel that for your project, why should anyone else?
  • Avoid information repeat. Don’t start all over again for every question if there’s any way around it. Different people may or may not evaluate various parts of your proposal, but it works better to assume one or a series of readers will evaluate the whole document. If you must repeat, find another way to angle the idea or reword it. The dull repetitive proposals usually lose.
  • Establish the problem without dwelling on it. If hundreds of sight-impaired children live in your community and need help with vision aids, certainly say so, with good documentation. But write about the program that will address this challenge rather than unnecessary details that crowd out your solution. If you can, assure the funder that the program will be sustainable — something you can build on rather creating a flash in the pan.
  • Stress outcomes, not process. Funders are usually more interested in what will change or improve than in the details of how you will do it. If you want to train the sight-impaired children to use special devices, for example, do explain how you’ll accomplish that — for example, with a series of free small group workshops — but don’t over-present the logistics: where the workshops will be held, how the instructors will be hired, and so on. Rather, paint a full picture of how 175 children’s lives will be improved.
  • Use good graphics to support your words. Well-presented material is always more closely read and given more credibility. Take the trouble to make your application look good. Charts, graphs, or tables can make data more easily understood. Relevant photographs and video can be effective for many good causes — but they may be prohibited on the application, so be sure to check.
• Think long range. As always, building relationships takes time. A grant application tells the funder who you are and what you do. Be sure you represent your own organization effectively in what you write and how you write it. In the suitable place, explain your mission, what you’ve accomplished, and what you hope to accomplish. Introduce the key players well and their relation to the project. Include a carefully developed budget as requested.

A good application that doesn’t get funded is still a door to future possibility. You may well get a better reception next year, or the year after. Reviewers do notice your persistence and sustained interest. In some cases, it’s acceptable to inquire why your project wasn’t chosen and how you might do better next time. Some funders supply this information routinely, and if so, scrutinize it carefully.

If your proposal is funded, don’t number among the great majority of grant recipients who fail to say “thank you.” Express appreciation. And follow up! The people who gave you money want to know how well your program succeeded and they deserve to. In practical terms, demonstrating results is much more likely to help you qualify again in the future.

Giving perspective to complex material

Good reports, proposals, and other business documents are read and often acted upon. Bad, boring ones are trashed faster than yesterday’s fish. They may even be used to wrap the fish.

A strong executive summary makes the difference. It starts you off on the right foot with your audience and can keep you there by establishing interest in the rest of your material.

A helpful writing sequence is to first write your document, then write the executive summary, then review the main document to ensure that it lines up with the summary and thoroughly supports it. Or, you can write your executive summary first, and then back it up with the full document.

Both processes work because developing the summary helps you figure out your real story. This truth applies to a range of reports and proposals as well as white papers, grant applications, business plans, and most other business documents.

Your aim in the executive summary is to predigest the information and give the reader a meaningful perspective. You accomplish these goals by understanding your own material in depth.

Suppose you’re reporting on what you did last month. Two quick tricks presented earlier in this chapter can trigger your thinking for the summary:

• Without looking at the already-written report, ask yourself: What settles out as important, interesting, provoking, promising, or enlightening about what you covered? Write that down.
• Imagine your partner or a good buddy was away for the last month and upon return asks, “What happened in your work while I was gone?” What would you say? Write that down.

If you’re following a report format that your company or department prescribes — with preset categories (trends, new projects, profits and losses, and so on) — try one of these shortcut processes for each category. Also, take time to determine what matters with a bigger-picture brainstorming so that you know what perspective to give the full report.

Determining what matters

Your executive summary should not march through a series of mini-versions of the larger document’s sections. After the opening statement — think of it as the summary of the summary — follow the document’s sequencing and integrate the material and ideas for a crystallizing statement.

Figure out what’s important — what is most worth sharing — especially in terms of your readers’ interests. If you’re writing a report, review your answers to the questions presented in “Focusing reader attention” earlier in this chapter; if it’s a proposal, look back at “Writing informal proposals.”

For models of how to handle an executive summary, check out the best. Warren Buffett, the financier, is justly famous for his crystal-clear communication of tough material. His “To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway” letters strike readers as honest, but at the same time, present a point of view very persuasively. Back in 2007 when the U.S. housing market was beginning to implode, his letter began:

• Our gain in net worth during 2007 was $12.3 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 11 percent. Over the last 43 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $78,008, a rate of 21 percent compounded annually.
• Overall, our 76 operating businesses did well last year. The few that have problems were primarily linked to housing, among them our brick, carpet, and real estate brokerage operations. Their setbacks are minor and temporary. Our competitive position in these businesses remains strong, and we have first-class CEOs who run them right, in good times or bad.
• Some major financial institutions have, however, experienced staggering problems because they engaged in the “weakened lending practice” I described in last year’s letter. John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo, aptly dissected the recent behavior of many lenders: “It is interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money when the old ways seemed to work fine.”

Buffett goes on to explain the housing crisis in a paragraph, then moves on with sections titled: “Turning to happier thoughts, an acquisition”; “Finally our insurance business”; and “That party is over,” warning investors to anticipate lower insurance earnings, and more.

The whole introduction occupies seven paragraphs. It sets readers up to read the full report, with all the statistics, charts, and financial detail — in the frame of mind Buffett chooses.

Notice how Buffett’s quoted statement aligns with the principles of good writing as shared in this book. His goal is obvious: to reassure his investors that his company is on solid ground despite troubling financial events. To make that view convincing, he takes account of the negatives as well so the picture he presents appears to be balanced. Understanding his audience — Hathaway investors — makes obvious why he chose a fact-rich lead as his first paragraph. While not catchy, the comparative numbers are nevertheless riveting to those whose eyes are glued to his (and their own) bottom line.

Buffett’s use of colloquial language helps everyone relate to his subject. His assurance that “we have first-class CEOs who run them right, in good times or bad” is both conversational and confident. The 2007 letter ends with a paragraph about how lucky he and his partner feel: “Every day is exciting to us; no wonder we tap-dance to work.” You’re never too successful or sophisticated to share your passion and enthusiasm. In fact, it’s essential for getting where you want to go.

Try This: Check out a bunch of Buffett’s letters online at www.berkshirehathaway.com. Even if you have no interest in the financial details, you can appreciate his clear, concise word choices and organized presentation style. This complex information is delivered at a tenth-grade reading level. Notice how much better this simplicity works than if he used the impenetrable prose we expect from a financial wizard. Notice too how he creates each letter’s tone, and spend ten minutes analyzing what makes him such a credible writer and how he conveys trustworthiness, even when reporting bad news.

One more recommendation for executive summaries: Don’t call it “Executive Summary,” which is sleep-inducing. Give it a real headline that says something concrete about your content, positions it, and promotes reader interest. You can still use the words but amplify them:

Executive Summary: How the Audit Shifts Company Priorities for Next Year

The next section looks specifically at using headlines and subheads.

Putting headlines to work

To make all your business documents more engaging and reader-friendly, adapt some good journalism techniques. One energizing approach is to stop thinking of section headings as labels and to start writing these elements as headlines.

The difference is that labels are static, dull, and uninformative. Headlines, on the other hand, tell readers what’s happening right now and pique curiosity for what they’re about to read. Headlines have a feeling of action and movement.

You can use headlines to begin sections of reports, proposals, white papers, and business plans. They are easy to write when you think about delivering information rather than naming a category. Here are some labels transformed into headlines:

• Label: Admissions: Results compared to forecasts
• Headline: September admissions exceed forecast by 10%
  
  Label: Overall financial results
• Headline: June starts disappoint — collaborative action needed
  
  Label: Calumet Program case history
• Headline: How the Calumet program turned an oil company's image from black to green

If you’re responding to given categories and must use them, simply add a headline after the label. Adding a colon at the end of the standardized label line can help:

• Admissions Performance:
• This year’s enrollment leaps 19 percent over last

Most reports, proposals, and business plans benefit hugely from working in subheads as well as headlines. Try this method to solve organizational problems. As I suggest in Chapter 6, write a series of subheads before drafting the material itself and then add the appropriate information and ideas under each.

Breaking long sections of big documents into sequences of smaller sections with subheads pulls readers along and helps them make sense of what you’re presenting. Plant these guideposts to help focus your audience on what is most important for them to know, and what you want them to know.

If you have a multipage section on financial indicators, for example, write a headline to capsulize the whole picture and then a set of action subheads for each topic. For example:

• March Indicators Promise Much, Move Little
• Skilled worker recruitment loses traction: down .5 percent from plan
• Stock price climbs to 126, up 2 percent
• Sales jump to 2012 levels, led by Jumex breakthrough
• Company economists feel cautious confidence for April

You may question whether the preceding headlines and subheads are too specific, encouraging readers to not look past them. Actually, the more specific and compelling you can be, more of the “right” readers — the ones you target — find your material, and the more they’ll read.

The more clearly you signal where you’ve located specific types of information in your document and why that information matters, the better the response. People are extremely selective about investing their energy and time. Helping them choose what to read is an excellent technique. Further yet: The headline/subhead technique makes your material look more interesting and helps you look like a more take-charge, action-oriented leader. This is true even when the news you’re delivering is bad!

Strong headlines are especially crucial to blogs, so for more grounding in the art, see Chapter 12.