Top 5 Tips to write like an Amazonian
At Amazon, there are no slides or PowerPoint presentations, all documents are written in prose. Jeff Bezos believes this forces a clarity of thinking that can be masked if one uses bullet points in slides.
It’s not easy to follow these rules, but if you do, your communication in the workplace will be better understood and received.
Top 5 tips for ‘Writing like an Amazonian’:
Tip 1: Use less than 30 words per sentence:To achieve this eliminate clutter words.
Examples:
Tip 4: Use subject-verb-object sentences with “doers” and “action”
Tip 5: Avoid jargon and acronyms as much as possible
Due to the fact → Because
During the course of → During
Came in contact with → Met
During the time that → While
We’re in the process of learning → We’re learning
Tip 2: Replace adjectives with data:
Examples:
We made the performance much faster → We reduced server-side tp90 latency from 10 ms to 1 ms
Nearly all customers → 90% of our customers
Tip 3: Does your writing pass the “so what” test?:
Has the reader learned anything to help them make a better decision at the end of your document?
Tip 4: Use subject-verb-object sentences with “doers” and “action”
Tip 5: Avoid jargon and acronyms as much as possible
as they exclude newcomers and non-experts. Always explain technical terms, acronyms, and abbreviations the first time they appear
Example:
After we sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) ...
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