It's a lot easier for most of us to explain benefits in person, but there's no way around it-with some audiences you've got to be able to say it in print or on email.

Talk to a good friend.

Try writing like you speak. Imagine you're explaining how great your service or product is to a good friend.

Just get it all down on the screen. Don't slow down to worry about grammar or punctuation or any of those rules your high school English teacher paralyzed you with. Just "say" it.

Keep going until you've said it all. Then, if you have time, save it and re-read it a day later. Then you can go through and do a little tinkering.

Correct the glaring errors, but remember that when it comes to business writing, short, active, punchy, and understandable trumps grammar.  A second pair of eyes can help make sure what you've written makes sense.

Abolish bland corporate speak!

The other advantage to writing like you're speaking to a friend, is that it's easier to avoid the brain-numbing corporate speak that a reader can't help but tune out. Once she's tuned out, she's moved on. Your email's deleted, the sales letter's tossed.

You've tuned out yourself when you've seen this language in other company's collateral. It seems like everybody offers a "flexible solution for taking your business to the next level." This kind of language is so vague and overused that it doesn't mean anything anymore.

The more specific and concrete you can be, the more likely your document will be read. Here's an example: "Business owners come to us when they've reached a revenue plateau. We help them grow from a $1 million to a $10 million company."

Writing will be a little easier-and a lot more effective-if you try these two tricks the next time you need to speak powerfully in print.