Susan B. Weiner's Blog, page 37

MISTAKE MONDAY for Aug. 20: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment.

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for Aug. 20: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

George Orwell’s writing rules and financial writing

George Orwell proposes five rules for writing that will benefit any financial writer. Here they are, excerpted from his essay, “Politics and the English Language”:

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

I confess that I break rule #1, but I wish I could observe it. After all, the idea of volatility as a roller coaster ride gets boring after a while.

I am a huge fan of rules #2 and #3. I’d also add “Never use a long sentence when a short one will do.” A big part of my professional editing work consists of shortening sentences or breaking them into two or three shorter sentences, in addition to simplifying the writers’ vocabulary.

Active verbs generally best passive verbs. Not sure you could recognize or fix a passive verb? Check out the tips in this post about passive verbs.

Investment and wealth management are rich in the jargon referred to in #5. Orwell says that “If you simplify your English…., when you make a stupid remark its stupidity will be obvious, even to yourself.” This relates to my post on “Why experts love bad writing.”

Still, there are always times when it makes sense to break the rules, as Orwell says in #6.

Thank you, Doug Tengdin of Charter Trust for suggesting Orwell’s rules as a topic for this blog!

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MISTAKE MONDAY for Aug. 13: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. I think someone forgot to proofread this one. They should know better. (Of course, I’ve made careless mistakes like this too many times.)

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

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Why there’s no apostrophe in writers room

I’ve long wondered why there is no apostrophe in words like “writers room,” ‘homeowners association,” or “teachers college.”

Is the noun descriptive or possessive?

I found a good explanation in Emmy J. Favilla’s A World Without “Whom.”

Do not use an apostrophe when a word is primarily descriptive rather than possessive…. The word is acting more like an adjective than a possessive noun.

Grammar Girl agrees with this approach in her post on “Apostrophes.” Here’s how she explains the lack of an apostrophe in farmers market:

The market is used by the farmers, populated by the farmers, but generally not owned by the farmers. So it seems reasonable to conclude that you don’t use an apostrophe because the word farmers is there to identify the type of market. It’s acting like an adjective.

Exception for nouns that don’t end in s

There’s a word for these nouns that act as adjectives. They’re “attributive nouns,” according to Amy Einsohn in The Copyeditor’s Handbook.

And here’s a twist in the use of punctuation with attributive nouns. “If the plural form of the head noun does not end in s, however, the apostrophe is always used: the people’s republic, a children’s hospital,” says Einsohn.

English grammar sure is complicated.

 

Disclosure:  If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I link only to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

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MISTAKE MONDAY for Aug. 6: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. This is a mistake that bugs me.

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for Aug. 6: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Top posts from 2018’s second quarter

Check out my top posts from the last quarter!

They’re a mix of practical tips on marketing (#1 & #8), writing (#2, #5, & #7), punctuation (#3), grammar (#4 & #6), proofreading (#9), and newsletter (#10).

I’m only listing one Mistake Monday post, although more were among the most viewed, because one Mistake Monday post is much like the others. Check out my Mistake Monday posts if you’d like to improve your proofreading skills!

My posts that attracted the most views during 2018’s second quarter

Is there a place for influencer marketing in asset management? This is a guest post by Joe Polidoro of Jove.

No more conclusions, please I feel strongly about this topic, which affects white papers, blog posts, and anything you write that includes a conclusion.

MISTAKE MONDAY for April 9: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Only my latest grammar mistake

Glossaries for investment and economic jargon

Getting things as right as you can with a BuzzFeed copyeditor

Does your article pass these writing tests?

Use LinkedIn for a mass email without angering your connections

Avoid this embarrassing mistake in your publications

My newsletter experiment with confirmation requests

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MISTAKE MONDAY for Jul. 30: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. Unfortunately, this mistake is too common.

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for Jul. 30: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Writing and preventable mistakes

“Does your advice stick?” is the title of an article by Moira Somers in the Journal of Financial Planning (May 2018). Based on her book, Advice That Sticks: How to Give Financial Advice That People Will Follow, it describes why clients fail to follow financial advice, and what advisors can do about it. Somers lists preventable mistakes that advisors make in their personal relationships with clients and prospects.

Some of the mistakes could seep into your writing, making it harder for clients and prospects to feel a connection with you. I highlight two of them below, with comments on how to address them.

Mistake 1. “Using incomprehensible jargon”

If people can’t understand what you’re saying, they can’t follow your advice.

If you’re not sure about the jargon level of your writing, you can run tests using Hemingway, the app I describe in “Free help for wordy writers!” You’ll find more tools in “Does your article pass these writing tests?”

Even better, get a member of your target audience to read what you’ve written. Then, don’t just ask them, “Do you understand what I’ve written?” Ask them to summarize it in their own words. That’s the gold-standard test.

Somers suggests that you ask even more from members of your target audience. She says:

Start by taking every piece of written information you might give to a typical client and hand it over to four or five people—either existing clients or people who would be similar to them in major ways. Equip them with a marker and ask them to highlight every sentence whose content they do not fully understand. Compare the results. Redo those documents in client-friendly language.

That seems as if you’re asking a lot of those people. However, it would be a valuable exercise.

When you rewrite your documents, you may find it helpful to use the techniques in “How to make one quarterly letter fit clients at different levels of sophistication” and “Plain language: Let’s get parenthetical.” You can also consult “Glossaries for investment and economic jargon.”

Mistake 2. “Allowing disapproval, disappointment, or disdain to taint the relationship”

Somers’ suggestion for this point focuses on in-person meetings. “Do a warmth audit of your team,” looking at “eye contact, nodding, and smiling.” Look at your writing through a similar lens.

Tone matters. Your blog posts and articles can suggest that your readers are making mistakes, but you shouldn’t imply “Oh, you idiot, stop making such stupid moves!”

I struggle with hitting the right tone as I write blog posts. It’s not easy. By saying that many people grapple with similar issues, I hope to avoid shaming people. After, most of my readers aren’t professional writers. It’s not reasonable to expect them to know the ins and outs of grammar, white papers, and the like.

Show empathy. You can do this focusing on the reader, suggests The Search Guru in “Discover how to show empathy in writing and why it’s important.” That means showing that you understand and empathize with the wants and/or needs of a relevant group of people.”

I offer more tips on this in “How to add personality and warmth to your financial writing—”How to add personality and warmth to your financial writing—Part One” and “How to add personality and warmth to your financial writing—Part Two.”

 

Purge these preventable mistakes from the writing you put in front of your clients and prospects! You’ll like the results.

 

Disclosure:  If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I link only to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

 

 

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MISTAKE MONDAY for Jul. 23: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. I bet this week’s mistake jumps out at you.

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for Jul. 23: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Investment commentary–5 ways to outsource

Market and portfolio performance commentary is an important part of communications strategy for most investment and wealth managers. But sometimes writing that commentary becomes a drag on the firm’s employees. Or perhaps the firm realizes that its employees are better at strategy and portfolio management then writing. If this describes your firm, it may be time for you to outsource your investment commentary.

I see five main models for commentary outsourcing, depending on the kind of commentary you need. These vary in terms of how much control you give up over the content and the process.

Option 1: Completely surrender control of your investment commentary

If investing isn’t a core part of your firm’s expertise, you may not feel the need to express insights specific to your firm or your portfolios. In this case, you can simply buy ready-to-use commentary or commission a trusted financial writer to create the market recap and outlook that goes to your clients.

Buying commentary from a provider who sells the same text to multiple clients is likely to be easy on your budget. You can find the names of providers on my list at “Ready-to-use content for financial advisors.”

Alternatively, there are writers—not me—who specialize in writing marketing commentary based on their own research. Both the content providers and the writers may allow you to customize their content. Before you edit or slap your name on their content, check the terms of your agreement with the provider.

Option 2: Hire someone to write interview-based market commentary

When you have distinctive, well developed views and the evidence to back them up, then this is a good option for you. Firms that struggle to find time to generate commentary also find this helpful, in my experience.

To ease your quarterly crunch, schedule your interview prior to the quarter’s end. I usually suggest seven to 10 days prior, so you have a good sense of how the quarter is shaping up.

Involve your key decision-makers in the interview. Sometimes that means only your investment strategist. Other times that may mean your investment policy committee, or one person who’s an expert on stocks and another who’s an expert on bonds. A good interviewer will give you questions to mull over prior to your call. This will help to find your commentary’s focus.

Here are some sample questions for your interviewer:

What is the most important message you want readers to take away from your commentary?
How did your clients’ portfolios perform relative to the market—and why?
What factors most influenced the market during the period? Do you expect their influence to continue?
Are there a few statistics that you’d like to highlight?
How have you adjusted your portfolios during the period under discussion and do you anticipate more changes?

Above all, it’s helpful to focus on how the information in your commentary affects your clients’ portfolios. After all, that’s their biggest concern.

After the interview, your writer will digest the information to create an outline or draft for your review. She will highlight questions or data gaps that she’d like you to fill. Then it’s your turn to provide the missing information and give feedback.

If multiple people give feedback, I suggest that you consolidate it in one document, with Microsoft Word’s “Track Changes” turned on. “Track Changes” will help your writer identify text to be proofed for grammar and related issues. If two of the evaluators disagree on a substantive issue, please reconcile your views before you forward your document to the writer.

What if significant new data comes in between the time of your interview and when you’re giving feedback to your writer? I ran into that with congressional negotiations over the sequester in 2012. One option is to discuss potential scenarios at the time of your interview, so your writer is prepared. Another option is to jot down your take on the news as part of your feedback to the writer, who can smooth out the words to make them more compelling, clear, and concise. Another possibility is to request a brief update call with your writer. Prior to that call, it’s helpful if you can send her some bullet points with your take on the news, so she can focus her questions to make the most efficient use of your time.

This interview-driven approach isn’t right for everyone. If your commentary typically changes significantly between the first and final drafts—or if it relies heavily on data that comes in late—you’re more likely to find option 3 more helpful.

Option 3: Hire an editor for your commentary

For investment professionals at some firms, putting their ideas into writing is a useful exercise. It helps them to discover their opinions and collect the supporting evidence. This is a form of writing to learn, as writing expert William Zinsser discusses in his book, Writing to Learn: How to Write – and Think – Clearly About Any Subject at All.

However, the folks who generate this commentary become so engrossed in the details that they may find it difficult to edit themselves. It’s hard to get distance from material when you’re immersed in it. Plus, a financial education usually doesn’t include intensive training in copyediting or in understanding the reader’s perspective.

One of the most valuable things that an editor can do is to reframe and reorganize the flow of your information. For example, she can expand on the WIIFM—“What’s in it for me”—of the content. She can also improve logical flow of the piece, and apply my first-sentence-check test.

Other valuable functions that your editor can perform include adding informative headings, streamlining text, and checking grammar and punctuation issues. Headings make it easier for skimmers to absorb your opinions and perhaps even be drawn into the details of your commentary. Sentences that average 14 to 22 words and lack distracting errors also help with reader comprehension and retention.

Option 4: Hire a writer for attribution-driven performance commentary

In contrast with market commentary, attribution-driven performance commentary is specific to your firm’s funds or portfolios. Mutual funds’ annual and semiannual reports also fall into this category.

The components of this commentary may include:

Your portfolio’s returns versus the benchmarks for the relevant periods
Attribution analysis—for stock funds, this would include the impact of sector allocations, stock selection, and possibly the cash position
Discussion of specific holdings that contributed to or detracted from performance relative to the benchmark
Optional: market commentary, transactions during the relevant period, and investment strategy

Some companies provide all of the necessary data directly to their writer, while others incorporate research or portfolio manager interviews conducted by the writer.

Option 5: Commissioning a critique for the DIY commentary writer

Some firms can boost the quality of their commentary simply by implementing suggestions they receive from a one-time critique of their writing. A writer-editor who’s familiar with commentaries can identify your commentary’s strengths and weaknesses, and provide guidelines for improvements.

For an assessment of your current commentary or newsletter, you can hire me to critique one example of your work or to coach you.

 

What’s next for you?

If you’re rethinking your firm’s approach to your commentaries, contact me to learn how I can help.

 

Disclosure: If you click on the Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

Note: I am re-publishing this post in 2018 because it remains relevant. I edited this piece on Dec. 21, 2014 to correct some typos.

 

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