The ability to properly communicate, let alone through writing, is an imperative skill, no matter who you are or what you do. Writing is the most transferable skill and yet remains one that requires practice, trial and error, as well as curated adaptability depending on what it is being used for.

I have written about this topic before, and even though I am an arts & humanities/social sciences kind of person, I believe writing is a necessary skill applies to every field. Many of us don’t realize how much we write in our daily lives. I’m talking about everything from email correspondences, your resume, cover letters to course work, applications, and infamously, thesis (or dissertation for all of you in graduate programs). Now, I actually have the word “writer” in my job title (wow!), and experience on a daily basis on the importance of writing skills. Here are some of the things I have learned about professional and workplace writing.

Who are you representing? When you write for your job, your words serve a purpose to communicate a mission, a brand, a way of doing. How can you make sure you are staying aligned with the messaging? If you don’t already, read your company’s published work, from the website, newsletter, press releases, case studies — anything you can read that your company produced (even how your supervisor interacts with external groups like clients or other companies over email).The more you can sharpen your writing tool kit and adapt a different kind of voice, the more successful you will be at communicating in different roles and contexts.

Templates, Boilerplate, Messaging. This will depend on what type of field  you work in. For example, in the proposal world, we use templates and boilerplates, BUT they are always a starting point. The details always change depending on the proposal and the client. Along with in-person interactions and connecting, our messaging is literally in our proposals and what we use to convince an agency to give us their work. In other instances, your company’s messaging is in templates and boilerplates, from online material, to press releases. Templates and boilerplates are used as starting points for all sorts of things. It’s why when you read about a new product release, you eventually run into the same handful or so iterations of how it is marketed. It’s why when you read about a politician’s press release about a certain topic, it doesn’t seem too different from when you last read about it. It’s why when you read a blog and could name the author or where it came from without knowing the name (It’s why I’ve used the same template for some of my posts!).

Keep it simple. Albert Einstein once said, “If you cannot explain it simply, then you do not understand it well enough.” Sometimes, the more entrenched someone is in the technical aspects of their work or area of expertise, the more they get bogged down with hard to understand details or terminology that only other experts would understand. Your company might be selling a product, service, or software, which has its own state-of-the-art nuts and bolts, but how you’re going to write about it to sell it isn’t going put that info front and center. What should be but front and center is why your product, service, or software is unique and will benefit whoever you are trying to sell it to. If you’re a technical person (i.e. programmer, software developer, engineer, etc.) and can also write about your work in easy to understand terms, you probably make your media department and or proposal team very happy. Remember, it’s just another form of communication!

Practice. Along with getting the feel of your company’s messaging and style, practice is what will actually sharpen those writing skills and make them adaptable. If your position does not have a strict writing aspect, consider reaching out to someone in your company who does. Ask what the process for creating materials is like, how many drafts there usually are, how many people (and what are their roles) read through drafts. Remember to look for opportunities to improve your writing, because they are everywhere. Like I said, everything from email communication, to your LinkedIn summary and job descriptions are small opportunities to improve your professional writing skills. Even if you are not planning to make a job change, revisit your resume every once in while, to update the content and practice creating succinct, informative statements about your experiences.  Everything you write can be of benefit to you down the line as a portfolio to draw from; your thesis or final paper for an application to a job or graduate school, press releases or social media posts from one job to help show your experience for another, and so on.

I hope some of these insights help to build writing skills! Remember, writing was, is, and will always be the most transferrable skill!