In my last blog , I talked about my sixth grade English teacher, and her comment on the relationship between writing and women's clothing. That's one of the two writing lessons that have stuck with me from my days in middle school at McDonogh School. Here's the other one.

There are certain moments in life that you never forget, and for me, it's seventh grade English class, when Mrs. Kathy Corcoran – who at that point must have been in her late forties – was talking with the class about effective writing. In order to make her point that one needed to be descriptive in one's use of language, Mrs. Corcoran jumped up on her desk, and started jumping up and down, screaming “Show, don't tell about!   Show, don't tell about!”

Obviously, the point of the story is that Mrs. Corcoran was showing us her passion, instead of just saying, “I am passionate about this topic.” And she did make her point – the image of her jumping on her desk, with her glasses falling off her nose, and her blond hair flying all directions has been burned indelibly into my memory.... much more so than if Mrs. Corcoran simply said “I am passionate that you be descriptive in your writing.”

At the risk of being pedantic, the lessons here are twofold. First, a good writer is descriptive. He or she brings the reader on a journey and shares the details that complete the picture. How does this apply to business writing? Easy. Instead of saying, “This new security software reduces cost and eliminates risk,” try writing, “This new security software reduces administration cost by 25% and makes you 30% less likely to be hacked.” Those details make the story, and the reader will keep those numbers in his or her mind. Business writing is full gobblety-gook – hence I am always telling everyone to Degeek the Speak (another of my pet phrases) – and the writer who can replace the bland corporate language with compelling details will stand out in the mind of the reader.

The second lesson from Mrs. Corcoran is that passion matters. If you are not passionate about a topic, it will come through in your writing. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't grow up dreaming of selling enterprise infrastructure software. When I was in high school, I didn't even know what enterprise infrastructure was! But I think if you ask anyone at Novell , I am absolutely passionate about my job, and it comes through everyday. I am passionate about the problems that we solve for our customer to help them improve their data center operations or their security infrastructure. I am passionate about the quality of our products and Novell's 26-year record of helping customers. And I am passionate about the practice of marketing – communicating our value to customers and prospects in clear, easy-to-understand langauge. Most of all, I am passionate about the people inside Novell – both my peers in our other organizations, and my teammates inside Solution & Product Marketing. I am passionate about helping all Novell employees succeed and reach high levels of achievement. I wear my passion on my sleeve and on my face.... and I'd submit to you that it's the primary driver of my success.

And to think I got all of that from a middle school English class.