Tell me what you want (what you really, really want)

What’s this – a Spice Girls reference in 2020? We’re surprised too, but we recently heard something that we just had to share.

One of our clients explained to us that he encourages writers to apply ‘The Spice Girls Test’ to the documents they are producing – ‘tell me what you want, what you really, really want’.

The Spice Girls Test is used primarily when writing documents for decision makers, such as reports, papers and presentations – documents where, often, the writer will be making a recommendation, or asking for something.

Telling these busy people what you want from them should be an obvious thing to do, but all too often, the opposite happens. You might be nervous and end up watering down your language or message. Or you might not be completely sure what you want them to do after reading your document, which could lead to unclear or overly technical content that’s designed to mask your uncertainty.

Whatever the reason, the last thing you want is for someone to have to read your document six times before they understand what it is you’re asking of them. It can lead to delays in action, unnecessary back and forth, or perhaps even your recommendation being rejected in the end.

Luckily, the Spice Girls come to the rescue once more, with some more sound advice. They remind us that we should ‘stop right now’ and ‘be a little bit wiser’ in creating our documents. Make sure you are telling decision makers what it is you want (what you really, really want), and you will be well on the way to becoming the writer you wannabe.