"Daniel Manual," first time in print, guides business students, professionals to effective writing and speaking

A new book, Reader-Friendly Reports, by Rutgers Business School professor Carter Daniel, has just been published by McGraw-Hill.

There’s no shortage of books on communication in business that give advice on how to write and speak effectively.   But when Daniel began teaching at Rutgers 34 years ago, he couldn’t find a textbook he wanted to use.

“They all seemed to go into the definition and theory and history of communication,” said Daniel, “but what I wanted instead was one that would just tell the students how to write better and speak better.”

So he wrote his own Xeroxed book, which the students dubbed “The Daniel Manual,” that over the next three decades went through 12 revised editions and became a beloved resource that graduates kept as a reference and often distributed in their companies.

Last spring, an editor from McGraw-Hill saw Daniel mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and called to ask if he’d like to write a textbook.   He mailed them a copy of the homemade manual, and less than a year later it has appeared in published form, available to the public for the first time.

“Many people think that good writing is a matter of following rules,” said Daniel, “but they’re wrong.   It’s a matter of strategy, of fundamental brain-work. You figure out what you want to tell somebody, and then you figure out what’s the most efficient and effective way to do it.”

He cited examples of a huge waste of corporate time because of poor communication.  “So much time is lost in corporations because professionals can’t figure out how to write something people can understand,” said Daniel. “I set out to give some reasonable suggestions about decent business writing.”

According to Daniel the same is true, and maybe more so, for spoken reports. “Think how often you’ve attended a presentation by somebody and then afterwards couldn’t remember what the speaker said.”

In addition to topics like organizing one’s ideas and assessing one’s audience, the book contains sections on letters and résumés, graphic presentation of data, business research interviews, and other practical subjects.  

Initial reviews have been positive. “Not only is what you say helpful, sensible, and insightful, but you say it concisely and wittily,” wrote reviewer Carl Schneider on Amazon.com. In just the first few days since publication it has already risen to 82nd on Amazon’s top 100 books in business writing.

Daniel has published several articles and manuals on Business Communication. His 1998 book, “MBA: The First Century,” is the first comprehensive history of graduate business schools. He has taught overseas in Kuwait, Libya, Bahrain, and Finland.

The book can be found on Amazon.com.