Writing Without Bullshit Lib/E: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean

by Josh Bernoff (Reader)

Joining the ranks of classics like The Elements of Style and On Writing Well , Writing Without Bullshit helps professionals get to the point to get ahead. It’s time for Writing Without Bullshit. Writing Without Bullshit is the first comprehensive guide to writing for today’s a noisy environment where everyone reads what you write on a screen. The average news story now gets only 36 seconds of attention. Unless you change how you write, your emails, reports, and Web copy don’t stand a chance. In this practical and witty book, you’ll learn to front-load your writing with pithy titles, subject lines, and opening sentences. You’ll acquire the courage and skill to purge weak and meaningless jargon, wimpy passive voice, and cowardly weasel words. And you’ll get used to writing directly to the reader to make every word count. At the center of it all is the Iron treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own. Embrace that, and your customers, your boss, and your colleagues will recognize the power and boldness of your thinking. Transcend the fear that makes your writing weak. Plan and execute writing projects with confidence. Manage edits and reviews flawlessly. And master every modern format from emails and social media to reports and press releases. Stop writing to fit in. Start writing to stand out. Boost your career by writing without bullshit.

Genres: Writing, Business, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Communication, Professional Development, Self Help

Audio CD

Published September 13, 2016

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kindly received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I should know better than to read "help" books. All they ever help me with is raising my blood pressure.

This book is focused around the idea of treating your reader's time as more valuable than your [the writer's] own. This idea is one that I'm behind 110%. It's how Bernoff executes the idea that is flawed.

First of all, don't tell me that as a reader my time is valuable and then proceed to give me multiple examples of why you're right. Trust me. I got it after the first example and congratulations, you have violated your own tenet by wasting my time.

Second, when you're writing a book about writing and grammar, it's super hard for me to take you seriously when the book contains multiple grammar/mechanics mistakes.

Third, I'm pretty sure this book was sponsored by Google. The amount of press releases and other written information that was taken from Google is ridiculous. And, of course, Google was always doing it "right". Seriously. I'm sure there are other companies out there besides Google that are writing things "right". Go find one of those.

Fourth, as a woman, I did not enjoy Bernoff's little paragraph/aside about how he was asked to write about women in the business world and that he had never taken into consideration how hard women have it. Then, instead of completely addressing concerns that women have when writing in the business world, he proceeds to sweep said concerns under the rug as unimportant and just keeps on going with his point.

This isn't to say that Bernoff's book doesn't make good points: it does. He's dead-on when it comes to the passive voice. He makes a few other good points; however, to find the good in this book you have to shift through a lot of shit.

[Denis Vasilev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Как писать дельные тексты. Как и ожидал, писать по плану, готовить материал, понимать цель, начинать заранее, редактировать. «Пиши, сокращай». Из любыпытного - писать первый текст, это всего 10% времени, остальное время - другие этапы

[o n o · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally, this book is pure bullshit

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. It's 'ight. If you've read Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers and use your critical thinking skills to apply it to business content creation, then this book will probably only be of value during analysis paralysis. If you haven't read Writing Without Teachers, you should, but if you're in a content creation position and need advice now, this will do. The very first few chapters describe how I teach my college students as they start to write college papers, and I thought that was a good start, so maybe it'll provide something new I hadn't considered. But I'm already doing everything here. So, it's underwhelming for me, but it's probably worth the read to someone who doesn't have almost a decade of marketing experience and a master's degree in rhetoric and composition.

[Magda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first ~40% was focused on a daily written business communication and it was the best business book I've ever read. A must read in a remote work setup. To the point, very actionable. This framework made a huge impact on my writing and our startup's remote culture.
I didn't finish yet as the second part is about producing a bigger piece of writing (e.g. a book). I'll get back to it when needed.

[Eli Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book to someone looking to improve their writing efficiency in a business/professional environment. This book discusses techniques on how to follow the "Iron Imperative," in other words "Treating the reader's time as more valuable than your own."

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author suggest not wasting your reader's time with extraneous stuff, and taking an active voice. Another suggestion - daily practice. Not too surprising, with plentiful examples (perhaps over-plentiful). Good for a refresher - you already know these things.

[Wendi Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gotta tell you, I feel a little pressure reviewing and recommending a book about effective, clean writing. This is a really good book and if I don’t convey it well, it’s not the book’s fault. It’s challenging to constantly look at your words and ask, “is that what I meant and no more?” Cutting the crap from your writing forces you to be honest with yourself and your readers. Muddy, showy writing deceives by confusing and camouflaging.

The Iron Imperative – Treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own – summarizes Josh Bernoff’s objective and methods. He advises removing jargon, weasel words (vague words like “many” and “most”), and passive voice while being direct and honest. He also breaks down the clear writing process for emails, reports, and missives. No burying the lede. Get to it and get out.

Frequently, I stopped reading in order to apply the techniques to my articles, blog, and book reviews. The ROAM technique is spot on: "After reading this piece, [Readers] will realize [Objective] so they will [desired Action] and think of me/us as [desired Impression]."

This is exactly what I wished to learn about nonfiction writing and couldn’t find in college writing classes. ENG100 includes audience and context but does not respect the reader’s time or get to the purpose of writing – to communicate! Bernoff’s message is simple and brilliant. Every education, business, and news organization should adopt the Iron Imperative.

Writing Without Bullshit is a keeper for regular reminding to stay on the path of clarity.

[Samuel Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as professional development for work and was even able to lead a discussion group about it. It's a great resource with lots of handy, practical tips for writers in the business world!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward book on the dos and don't of business writing.

Well written and informative, but it does not break any new ground.

Rating: an overly generous 4 out of 5 Stars.

[Mugren Ohaly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this was mainly meant for business writing.

[RZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

读的中文版。里面有很实用的写作技巧和日常可能会踩的雷区。第二部分内容最为实用。总结起来最核心的思想：把读者的时间看得比自己的时间更加宝贵！

[Ben Gillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will be a great reference tool throughout my career and one worth sifting back through from time to time.

[Stephanie Sherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read once that if a book gives you one new concept you didn't know or think about before then the read was worth it. That applies to this book. I actually got two major takeaways from this book!
1. The readers time is more valuable than your own! I found this to be the gem of the book and something I aim to practice without ceasing.
2. Have a goal when you write. He uses an acronym in the book R.O.A.M which stands for Readers. Objective. Action. Impression. Then he shows you how to tie all of that into a single target sentence. This way you never lose sight of your purpose when you write.
I found those two things to be extremely valuable and useful, they are simple concepts but ones we often overlook due to haste and writing for selfish reasons.
I gave the book 3 stars because outside of the two themes listed above, this book definitely went on more than it should. The principals of the book were for a very beginning audience and not those who live in business reports and emails like he originally positioned the book. It's worth reading if you need a refresher on the purpose of writing and how to stay goal-oriented. After chapter 13 it loses some luster and the various rules don't seem as crucial or memorable.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great advice in Part 1, you can get more details about the advice (and what not to do) in Part 2. Part 3 is not worth your time unless you have nothing better to do.

The writing is great, as you would expect from a writing advice book. Unfortunately, it's a book when it should have been a pamphlet or a blog post, which counters the advice that the author gives to his readers (the iron imperative). You're gonna want to skip most of the content near the end and in the middle, and you'll do fine without it, and you'll ask yourself, why was this put into the book in the first place?

The author also rips on young people who use emojis and exclamation marks, like some boring corporate boomer, emojis are fine. Emojis can convey ideas and emotions in way less words and in ways that words just can't. This guy can't fathom that for some reason.

This old guy was told that women are treated differently in the corporate world and that's reflected in how they communicate, and he simply did not care. It's a non-issue for him and actually he thinks we should rise above it.

There's good advice in this book, but the author doesn't act on the advice in writing this book. There are also bad takes in this book, so take the whole thing with a grain of salt.

[Filip Tepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

[EN] Wszystko świetnie, rady ciekawe, ale dlaczego są w kółko powtarzane?

[Satyajit Ranjeev · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started with good intentions but lost me on failing to keep up with it's recommendations. The author tells you to be succinct yet the book goes on for 24 chapters. My review is based on the 11 chapters I read. I just couldn't go further. The author provides good tips but tends to repeat himself. I would suggest reading Part 1 of the book which has some good insights.

[Silvia Tavares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for people focused on business and marketing, not so much for academics, although there are some very good points such as the 'weasel words'.

[Lingfan Liang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary

The book has an appealing title and introduction section. You have to admit that both today's professional verbal and written communications are full of bullshit. People want to brag their expertise in their work by providing lengthy introduction and reasoning. Sometimes, a 1000 words report can be abstracted to 3 sentences.

This book provide a refreshing view of approaching professional communication, be direct, be data-driven and cut off the bullshit. However, the book lacks depth in implementing the direct approach of communication.

Raw Reading Notes

1. Seize your opportunity:
1. quickly get to the point
2. say what you mean
3. Being criticized was better than being invisible
2. Write short:
1. Treat the reader's time as valuable as yours
2. Edit everything
3. Start boldly, first paragraph should intrigue readers
3. No passive voice
1. Who is doing what for whom
4. No Jargon
1. No big words, define nomenclature upfront if you use them often
5. No Weasel words
1. No. Very, quite, a little. Use researched data instead
2. Use number:
1. Provide percentage with base number
2. compare numbers with something familiar
6. Front loading your writing
1. deliver the main idea up front, as few words as possible
7. Structure
1. No multiple paragraphs
2. numbered list
3. Graph separating words
4. table over list
8. Writing process
1. Create a fat outline: headers with descriptions
2. Craft a title before outline
9. Collaboration
1. Editors and reviewers are here to reveal what you cannot see. You own the final decision
2. Be specific on what you want to get from the reviewers
10. Reports
1. story telling is key.
11. Email/slack
1. read before send
2. involve only the key ppl i.e. do not spam other folks inbox
3. Define ROAM
1. Readers , objective, action, iMpression
2. After reading this piece, [readers] will realize [objective], so they will [desired action] and think of me/us as [desired impression].

[Warwick Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean by Josh Bernoff is the book that transformed my daily grind of emails into something far more productive and less overwhelming.

As key account managers, our inboxes are often battlegrounds of communication, filled with endless threads of emails where we’re constantly putting out fires, answering queries, and trying to foster relationships, all while trying to make our messages stand out in a sea of information overload.

This book is the beacon of clarity in the chaos of corporate communication.

The core lesson I carry with me every day from Bernoff’s guide is:

The Iron Imperative: Treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own.

This principle has revolutionized the way I approach every email, ensuring that my communication is always clear, concise, and respectful of the recipient's time. It’s about getting to the point without losing the human touch that’s so crucial in maintaining and expanding key account relationships.

Bernoff doesn’t just stop at telling you to be brief; he equips you with the tools to effectively streamline your communication. From crafting compelling subject lines that ensure your emails are opened, to mastering the art of active writing that engages and persuades, this book covers all the bases.

You'll learn how to format your emails for easy readability, how to cut down on wordiness, and even the nuances of email etiquette that can make or break your professional relationships.

After reading ‘Writing Without Bullshit’, I’ve seen a marked improvement not just in how my emails are received and responded to, but also in how I perceive and construct every piece of communication. Bernoff has turned what used to be one of my most dreaded tasks into an area where I now feel confident and effective.

For anyone drowning in their inbox or struggling to make their communications count, this book is a must-read. It promises—and delivers—a way to become a communication powerhouse, ensuring your ideas are not just heard, but respected and acted upon.

[Amelia Storck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing Without Bullshit is a sharp, practical, and refreshingly honest guide for anyone who wants to write with clarity, precision, and impact. Josh Bernoff cuts through the clutter of modern business communication, teaching readers how to respect their audience’s time and deliver messages that actually get read. In a world where attention spans are short and most writing is skimmed on screens, Bernoff’s approach feels not only relevant but essential.

The book excels at showing readers how to eliminate jargon, passive constructions, vague statements, and the “weasel words” that weaken professional writing. Bernoff’s signature principle treating the reader’s time as more valuable than your own provides a powerful foundation for transforming the way we communicate, whether in emails, reports, presentations, marketing materials, or social media.

Clear, witty, and filled with real world examples, Writing Without Bullshit empowers professionals at any level to write boldly, effectively, and with confidence. It’s a must-read for business leaders, marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants their writing to stand out in today’s noisy digital world.

[Vineeth Pothulapati · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem for effective writing and to have an opinion on the articles and content we read. It just gives you an honest opinion on how should effective writing should be. I have learned the power and impact of the writing.

1. Iron Imperative: Treat the reader's time as more valuable than your own.
2. Learn to front load the subject and the content you would like to express in your writing.
3. Use as few words as possible without jargon and weasel words.
4. Do not use passive voice try to be as specific as possible by being to the point.
5. Use ROAM principle in all your writings to concentrate on Readers, what is the Objective, what is Action post-reading, and the iMpression you want on you from the readers.

In today's world writing has become very common and the internet is full of written content. As an author, you should express the content with minimal words without the fluff and save readers time.

[Greg Burrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be extremely helpful. I'll return to it again and again. Note that its about writing for business situations which is different from academic or creative writing. I've found that a lot of writers at work adopt what they think is a "professional" writing tone. I've done it too. We read each others' (bad) writing and make ours sound similar. But after reading this book I've come to realize that my writing is full of fluff, meaningless adjectives, passive voice (because active voice sounds too bold), and lots of vague weasel words that sound impressive but don't really add anything. If you read this book and adopt its suggestions then your writing will stand out at work.

[Nikhil Kamath · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason I picked this book up was just because the title sounded promising.

In today's world that is full of noise, who wouldn't want to write and communicate with bullshit?

The book acts as a perfect guide for writers to express themselves clearly and get their message to the right people in the best way possible. I love how the author has also provided guidelines on how to write social media posts and blogs well and not just restricted business communication to emails.

I really loved how the book is so well planned and gets the message of writing without bullshit to the reader clearly.

For budding writers or for people looking to improve their business communications, this is a good book to read.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billed as a book to help you boost your career by saying or writing what you mean, this is capable of being much more besides! Whether beginner or more-experienced, there is a lot of potential waiting for you here.

The author believes that workplaces are full of bullshit, when different types of communications are considered, and inefficiency and disorganisation is rife. By cutting out the crap, focussing on what you really need to communicate and streamlining your delivery you will stand-out from your colleagues. Yet you need to shape up and change your attitude and it is quite possible that we all could do with a little change and refocus, even if we are not specifically sinners.

Within a couple of dozen short chapters, the author explains the so-called “Iron Imperative” principle, whereby you treat the time of everybody else as more valuable than your own, so you need to edit and focus your communications accordingly. Examples of problems and guidance about how to resolve matters are, of course, given. This is not like many other similar “self-help” books; it is positively different, it doesn’t patronise and neither does it resort to hyperbole or insincere energy to get its message across. Even as a fairly experienced writer, this book was interesting and capable of possibly teaching an old dog some slightly better, new tricks. Even the best machines can go rusty and run sub-optimally from time to time without a bit of ongoing maintenance.

It is definitely worth a look. It will have you think about all your communications, whether writing reports, emails, website copy, brochures, speeches and maybe it can even impact on your personal life too. If anything, the book is hiding a lot of its potential so if you only glance at it you then you may miss out on rather a lot. Highly recommended!

Autamme.com

[Wendy He · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of this book as well as the chapters about emails and reports were great. The others were not as relevant to me.

• Be direct - have the courage to say what you mean
• Front loading - put the conclusion up front
• Eliminate weasel words - e.g. don't tell us that many people do something, tell us which people do it
• Reveal structure with the use of bullets, headings, and lists
• Email thoughtfully - know the objective of the email and what you want the recipient to do about it
• Craft actionable reports - Goal is to make readers understand what you've learned. Stories help.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about how to write with absolute clarity in the business world. I highly recommend it.

Some of the best writing tips in this book include:
#1 Treat the readers' time as more valuable than your own. If you can share a message in 30 words, don't use 100 words
#2 Business writing is to get things done, not to show off or entertain
#3 Be direct in your writing
#4 Replace jargon
#5 Visualize your reader and write directly to them
#6 Add creativity to your writing, such as use stories and pictures, etc.
And many more essential and helpful tips are included in the book.

[Joseph L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book taught me something that should have been obvious years ago: what is interesting to write, and that your English professors encouraged, is a slog for your readers. Think about what catches your attention when you are scrolling your social media. What makes you stop and read, and what do you skip?

This question should be top of mind for any writer, especially in today's world. If you want to capture your audience and have your message received, you must skip what makes you feel good and write what your readers want to read.

Live by the Iron Imperative: treat your readers time as more valuable than your own.

[Evelyn Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing Without Bullshit is one of those rare business books that instantly changes the way you communicate. Joshua Bernoff doesn’t just preach clarity he gives you the tools to make it a daily practice. His “Iron Imperative” treat your reader’s time as more valuable than your own is a mantra every writer, marketer, and executive should live by. The examples are sharp, the humor is perfectly dry, and the lessons are refreshingly actionable. I found myself editing my own emails, proposals, and social posts the moment I put the book down. It’s more than a guide it’s a revolution against empty words.

[Norris Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straight to the Points

Drawn in by its title, I was excited but weary to read this book. The author covered many issues today about writing and why is it done so poorly, with an outstanding amount of suggestions, tips and recommendations. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

I would add feedback related to the contradictory information on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Early in the book, the author says forget it, then in the last chapter he says think about it when developing ideas.