6 Steps to Better Cannabis Writing and Communications

Communicate better, make more money

I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time
Blaise Pascal, French Philosopher & Mathematician

A while back I wrote about the cannabis industry’s Tower of Babel - or how poor speaking and writing can hamper strategy development and execution ability.   Recently published research in the HBR illuminated the financial cost of ineffective communications.  

Simply put, communicating directly in plain English can help firms better transmit their story, information and value - and make more money.  As many know, writing effectively is also a hallmark of clarity of thought. According to the late author and polemicist Christopher Hitchens, “if you can’t write, you can’t think.”

Cornell researchers found that writing simply and directly will boost your audience’s understanding of what you are promoting and trust in you and your company.  In studying press releases, the researchers found that companies lose readers due to the low “processing fluency” of their documents. “Processing fluency” is a measure of readability used by neuroscientists and psychologists. Verbose, opaque, and overly-complex messages decreased the reader’s interest, understanding and trust in what was written in the press releases.  

Poor communicating also has a significant financial impact.  Studies from MIT, Cornell, the Paris School of Business and the University of Massachusetts linked poor readability of financial disclosures in SEC form 10-Ks to higher costs of capital, lower available trade credit, more difficulty in securing investment, as well as higher audit fees.

These challenges affect many types of communications including financial disclosures, strategic plans, investor decks and marketing materials. Improving readability is not difficult but takes effort.  

Here are 6 things I do to write better-

1. Know your audience – Deliver your thoughts in prose that is within their lexicon and ability to comprehend.
   
2. Deconstruct your sentences – Run-on and conjunctive sentences are tiring to read and understand.  Break up your major ideas into shorter sentences.  Use language tools such as italics and bullets.

3. Cut the caveats – Some are necessary, but most are self-evident, extraneous and could be perceived as disingenuous.  Get to the point, fast.

4. Minimize use of ‘Ad…’ words - Adverbs and adjectives often hinder clarity.  Instead, use stronger verbs and nouns.

5. Avoid jargon – Overusing jargon increases message opacity (i.e. decreases trust) and reduces understanding & readability. Still, some corporate-speak is inevitable. For example, how do you explain ‘synergy’ in a pithy fashion? 

6. Keep it brief – Your readers are not interested in your corporate War and Peace. Communicate no more than is absolutely necessary to achieve your objective.

#cannabis #communications #investorrelations #SEC #financialdisclosure #capitalmarkets #publiccompanies