As a sign from the Universe that I should continue teaching you how to think and write like a lawyer, I received a letter from my health insurance carrier today.

This is a perfect example of how NOT to write like a lawyer.

My last post said you should always begin with this first sentence — “the purpose of this letter is to”.

This will:

• Get to the heart of the matter
• Eliminate much verbal throat clearing and three-page letters about who is, and who is not, returning phone calls
• Streamline your message

The health insurance began its letter with a sentence telling me what a good company it had been during its many years of service.

What if I wrote you letter telling you my law firm was great and had served the public for over 50 years? I almost stopped reading.

The purpose of a letter or email can be to:

educate,

explain,

inspire,

teach,

persuade,

call for action,

or any other purpose.

But it you can’t come up with a purpose, maybe think twice about writing it.

Three paragraphs later, I found the purpose of the insurance company writing me was to explain benefit changes next year and that I needed to take no action.

To be continued.