The Writing Docs

How do you avoid editing mistakes? What are some of the worst editing mistakes? What does all of this mean for writing clearer and more concise documents? Join The Writing Docs and Hurley Write Executive Consultant, Jared Daigle to discover editing secrets.

Season Two of Lion in the Mirror kicks off with a fighter. Pam Hurley—President & CEO of Hurley Write, technical-writing renegade, and self-proclaimed rebel—sat down with us to talk through the wreckage, the redemption, and the raw truth of becoming herself. Pam didn’t take the clean path. She missed out on UNC Chapel Hill, thrived at UNCG, then—like so many born in this state—jumped at the chance to wear Carolina blue when it finally came calling. The decision, as she tells it, was glorious, ill-advised, and powered by pure Tar Heel mythology. One Winnebago joyride, one judgmental landlord, and one catastrophic brush with college math later… she flunked out. Hard. Drifting. Directionless. Bruised. And then she stood up. UNCW became the ground she rebuilt from. There, Pam found her innate necessary: the power of giving people the validation they’ve been starved of. She leaned into it, grew into it, and eventually carried it all the way into her Ph.D.—where she rejected the old sacred cow of Composition Studies and reframed technical writing as problem-solving rather than literary analysis. Today, she’s the CEO she never met growing up. A survivor who refuses to let victimhood name her. A rebel who insists on seeing people clearly—and teaching them to see themselves. From Pam, you’ll walk away with a handful of hard-earned truths: Seeing someone is not small. It can reroute a life. If something isn’t your fit, stop trying to shrink yourself into it. Change the thing. Proving your worth to people who don't think you're worthy is a fool’s economy. Your rebellion is a tool—aim it. Conventional wisdom is often just someone else’s fear dressed up as advice. Talk to yourself with the same decency you give the people you love. Your upbringing, even the violent parts of it, does not get to write your destiny. And maybe the line that sums Pam up best: “Do not be afraid.”

In this episode, Pam Hurley, PhD, President of Hurley Write, Inc., discusses the value of clear communication in leadership with Heather Walker, PhD, the podcast host of Lead with Levity. 

Your team needs time and space to produce effective documentation; listen to this podcast episode to learn more. 

If you've ever wondered why your team isn't producing quality documents quickly, it's because effective writing requires time and space. Learn what that means in this engaging podcast. 

It's a common complaint: why can't my employees write well? The answer: blame it on academia. That's right--the writing courses they took in college didn't prepare them to write for the workplace and the feedback their professors gave them on writing did little to improve their writing. The good news? Improving your team's writing is possible with the right tools! 

Many organizations call us complaining about their team's writing and blame it on poor grammar. But knowing where to put a comma or how to make the subject and verb agree isn't the issue: the issue is that your team doesn't think about writing strategically. 

Effective documentation requires time and space: time to think critically about the writing problem and ways to solve it and space to consider options to meet readers' needs and expectations. Too many organizations. however, expect their teams to produce effective documentation quickly and that's a problem. Listen to our cohosts discuss ways that organizations can help their teams write more effectively by giving them the time and space they need.  

 Many organizations overlook the importance of having an effective review process in place; a poor review process creates bottlenecks, can lower employee morale, and often doesn't result in "better" documents. Listen as our cohosts  discuss the importance of an effective review process and how to create one. 

Scott Hanselman discusses what writers and businesses need to know about artificial intelligence (AI), how to build a community, and tackles the BIG question.

How do you give good writing feedback? How do you give writing feedback that doesn't take forever to give? How do you give writing feedback that actually makes a positive difference in your team's writing?   Listen to expert Elizabeth Preston, Executive Consultant at Hurley Write, explain.

Clear writing isn't easy, but it's crucial for growing as a business, surviving in the business world, and developing a community and following on social media. So, why do people struggle with clear writing and messaging? Why is clear writing so hard and what can you do to improve your writing and messaging as a business and as an individual? How can you improve your social media presence, communication style, and writing?   Erica Breuer reveals how to craft clear messages that will actually work for businesses’ social media platforms.

Too many people believe that writing is subjective when the reality is that it's not! Effective writing is based on science. Learn more from expert MJ Hurley, an executive consultant at Hurley Write. 

If your organization is like most, measuring time and money lost to poor writing and reviewing isn't a "thing." You assume that poor writing is just "part of the job" and that reviewers are consistently reviewing and providing actionable feedback. What we've found is that lack of standards and/or processes for writing and reviewing could be costing you money, time, and lost opportunities. 

Michael Hoagland, Founder and President of Hoagland Management and Consulting, LLC, talks about some of the communication pitfalls he's experienced during his career. 

Taking the time to analyze your readers is crucial, yet many professionals don't how to do it or how to do it so it matters. Listen to our panel of experts discuss the why and how of analyzing your readers.

Expert Matt Carlson discusses ways to make the transition from academic writing to workplace writing.

If your organization's proposals aren't winning, listen to our experts talk about strategies to change that! 

Listen to our panel of experts discuss various ways to help your team improve their communication skills!