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Joined: 05 Apr 2006
Affiliations: HHonors Diamond, BGS Honor Society
Posts: 5916
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2009
WE:Business Development (Consumer Products)
Re: Tips on beating word limits?
[#permalink]
15 Aug 2011, 09:18
tip: write less
Jokes aside, the biggest mistake I see people make is they spend 80% of their time (or space so to speak) 'setting up' the story.
For instance, you might write:
"In 2002, I was staffed to a project with Widget Bunko Inc in Topeka Kansas. I was placed in charge of managing the strategic direction of Widget Bunko's Product Development team. AT the time, a number of manufacturing problems in Manila were causing Bunko's Automated Product Delivery Chevron Of Moooooo (BAPDCOM) to slow down throughput. I knew these problems were difficult. I was not directly responsible for this product line but decided that I knew how to make it work. I approached my boss and told him that I wanted to go to Manila and fix the BAPDCOM. I had a plan and I wanted him to know that, but he knew that six months ago another Associate had gone to the BAPDCOM and managed to make things worse, turning the BAPDCOM into a machine that spewed arsenic on its operator. The factory in Manila had decided that "management" was not to be trusted, especially since the BAPDCOM now killed someone every three hours. I knew I was going to have to convince the factory floor that they shouldn't be afraid of me. I had previously worked on a FONTIFOO, a device used in the emulsification of opiates on another project with the Columbian Cartel. I knew I would be able to use my experiences on the FONTIFOO to help fix the BAPDCOM but I had to convince people. My boss was skeptical so I had to ask a few times and present a powerpoint and excel file. As an added challenge, Manila is far away from my home town of Topeka, so flying there was going to be tricky and I had to plan ahead as much as possible. I developed a plan of what I was going to do and I brought it to my boss on a Tuesday. On Wednesday he read it and emailed me about it and I revised it based on his advice. On Thursday, the BAPDCOM became self-aware and started taunting the employees in Manila, so I knew I was running out of time. BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA.... and then I got there and I fixed it and wow it was awesome and we sold 12 more widgets in 2003. "
You write that, I read it and I spend another thousand hours trying to invent a way to stab people through the internet.
Instead write:
"In 2002, while consulting to a Fortune 500 Widget Manufacturer I approached my manager about ..... "
My point is that, usually, the background to a story is really one four of five sentences, not three paragraphs. I generally find that you can cut 50% of whatever people said as "background info" and still retain the gist of the story.