How To Be An Instant Expert

Six Steps to Being an Authority on Any Subject

Career Press, 2000

15 min read

10 take-aways

Audio & text

What's inside?

The first step to writing about something is to learn everything you can about it...and then learn some more.

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Editorial Rating

Qualities

Well Structured
For Beginners

Recommendation

If you’re an exec whose position requires any writing at all, it might occur to you that before you write an article or a speech you should jump on the Internet and do a thorough topic search – an original suggestion from author Stephen Spignesi. Thanks. You might even already know that you have to check reference materials at the library – another handy nugget of advice. But if your background is in technical expertise, not in word crafting, and you find writing as enticing as root canal, then this book is for you. It organizes ideas concisely and simply (Almost too simply: Any sixth grader could use it). While some content appeals only to freelancers (like a talk with a publishing-house acquisitions editor), getAbstract recommends the guidance and direction this book gives to would-be or must-be writers who are uncomfortable with writing. You know who you are.

Summary

What Is an Instant Expert?

An instant expert is someone who must learn a great deal about a subject in a relatively short period of time (usually under a deadline of some sort), in order to write something about that subject.

The purpose of this book is to help you find what you need to know so that you can write your book, magazine article, speech or term paper, presenting yourself as an authority on the subject - no matter how narrow the parameters of your topic may be. The whole point of this process is that you must come across as an expert on your subject if you want people to take you seriously, be they your readers, listeners, employees, clients or professors.

Six Steps to Authoritative Writing

You have to take six steps to become an expert on any subject and to be able to write about it with clarity and authority. The six steps, which are explained in more detail below, are:

Immersion - Find out as much as possible about your subject, to the point of being almost overwhelmed with information.
Notes - Find the diamonds in the heaps of rough data you have compiled and then select the best.
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About the Author

Stephen J. Spignesi specializes in popular culture subjects, including television, film, contemporary fiction and historical biography. His many books include JFK Jr., The Complete Titanic, The Lost Works of Stephen King, The Beatles Book of Lists and the Italian 100. The author says he has written many nonfiction books about subjects that he admits he knew nothing about before he got the book assignments.

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C. Y. 7 years ago

Interesting: do not try to write what you think they want to hear or what they expect. Instead, write what you want them to know.

Stephen J. Spignesi