This book is the one I recommend to clients who say to me “Mica, what book can I buy to help boost my written communication skills?”

But before I tell you why, a little quiz.

Where do you think I bought this?

1) Did I get it on my honeymoon?
2) Did I win it in a debating competition?
3) Or did I buy it in the largest language bookstore in Mumbai?

But why is this book so great? And I recommend it to people whether they want to improve their written communication skills for email, for reports or for presentations. Because it’s that good.

Well, first up, Neil Taylor who wrote it practices it what he preaches. It’s very conversational in tone and it does feel like you’re sitting down having a chat with him rather than reading the book.

It’s simple and it’s direct and often the best kind of communication is direct and conversational. But let me give you 3 tips, my top tips, that I took from this book.

1) State as clearly and as early as you can in your writing why you are writing. What’s your purpose? Share that with your audience.

2) The first thing that you write doesn’t need to be in the final version, I’ll say that one again, the first thing you write does not need to be in the final version. Writing is a process, you’re going to go back, you’re going to take words out, put words in and shape it for your audience, so remember that one.

3) Writing is about…your audience. It’s not about you, it’s about your audience and that can be a really tricky thing to remember at times.

So watch out for the follow up to this video because I’m going to give you a couple of neat tricks that you can try to help remind you of that that writing is about your audience.

But back to the book?

Where did I get it?

I got it on my honeymoon. And yes, I had a great honeymoon and I’m still happily married to the same guy.