Can you handle the truth?

Focusing on the day-to-day creation of the corporate pub, a communicator can sometimes lose track of her audience. Here’s how one writer found hers.

Since I recently started my current job, I’ve been making a point of asking each person I interview what he or she thinks about our company newsletter, of which I am the writer. It’s a loaded question, granted, but I am truly interested in discovering what it is they look for in the newsletter. Where do they first go when reading? What is a section they never miss? What are some topics they’d like to read about that aren’t being included?

They don’t hold back at all. I’m not sure if it’s just the personality of someone who works in the timber manufacturing industry, but they don’t sugarcoat anything. At all. Ever.

Such was my reality a few weeks ago when I met with John, the safety officer and supervisor for one of our largest plywood mills. He was giving me a tour of the plant, and in between the lathe, the dryer and the wood chipper, I asked a lot of questions.

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