You can't make a point if no one understands what you said

In the September 1, 2008 issue of Newsweek, essayist Steve Tuttle wrote about readers' reactions to an essay he had written for the August 11 issue about his dislike of Crocs rubber clogs. Mr. Tuttle shared some quotes from some of the people who responded to the essay. Perhaps not exactly Mr. Tuttle's message, but what I took away from reading the September 1 piece is that there are a lot of people with access to written communication tools who can't communicate in writing. For example, Mr. Tuttle shares with us this: "A reader with the name Castanee was 'amased of myself that was capable of reading through the lines.' " Another reader thought Mr. Tuttle should be more " 'revenant.' " And another reader wondered how Mr. Tuttle ever got " 'publicated.' "

You may think these are aberrations, communications from the uncommon few who have literacy problems. And you'd be wrong.

I review legal documents every day that are prepared by professionals with advanced degrees. The language skills demonstrated in the drafts I get from those professionals are on par with the writing Mr. Tuttle received in his messages. These are from people who somehow managed to obtain degrees from some of this country's highest learning institutions. And these people are smart - "scary smart," I lovingly call them. They are engineers of the highest caliber, and they are people who manage billion-dollar projects. And yet many of them cannot put a simple sentence together that is meaningful and grammatically correct.

It's not that they don't have cogent thoughts; they do. What they seem to have forgotten, if they ever knew it, is that all the knowledge in the world won't do society any good if it is imprisoned behind non-existent communication skills. How can you make a point, persuade someone to do something your way, share a valuable idea if you can't communicate it so someone else will understand it?