Each "Communication Corner" essay is self-contained; however, they build on each other. For best results, before reading this essay and doing the exercise, go to the first essay "How an Ugly Duckling Became a Swan," then read each succeeding essay.

Who has not discovered to their dismay that no one wants to read their most carefully crafted, meritorious, compelling, and passionate writings? Think of all the proposals you have written that no one was interested in. Or the web pages, the blog posts, news releases, company brochures, etc. that fell flat. Chances are, such mishaps are linked to producing texts that fail to connect with what your readers would be interested in reading.

This article was originally published by Ubiquity in 2009 as a single contribution. It is now being republished as part of Communication Corner, the author's interrelated series of essays curated to help computer professionals communicate more effectively with each other and the general public.