The email nobody answers
Farida rewrites three real listener emails that went unanswered, showing how to put the ask first, cut the apology and make it possible to reply in one line.
The report that hides its point on page nine, with speechwriter Arif Chowdhury
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Show notes
Say it on page one
A listener sent a 14-page internal report, with permission, whose single recommendation appears in the final paragraph. Farida is joined by Arif Chowdhury, who wrote speeches for two Bangladeshi ministers and knows how to make a decision-maker hear the point before they stop listening.
- Writing the conclusion first and the evidence second
- The one-paragraph summary a director will actually read
- Headings that tell the story on their own
- Why Arif cuts every sentence that starts with it is important to note
The rebuilt report is on the show page so you can compare the before and after.
Transcript
Welcome back to The Second Draft, I am Farida Haque. Today I have a report in front of me. Fourteen pages. A listener sent it with permission and asked why her director never acted on it. I read it twice before I found the answer: the only recommendation in the whole document is in the last paragraph on page fourteen. Her director never got there. To fix it I have brought in someone who writes for the most impatient readers alive. Arif Chowdhury wrote speeches for two ministers, and he has very strong views on where the point goes. Together we are going to take this report apart and rebuild it so a busy person understands it in one minute. The before and after are on the show page. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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