82: Writing on the Job with Martha Coven

Write With Impact with Glenn Leibowitz

Welcome back to Write With Impact, I’m Glenn Leibowitz. I’m a writer, four-time LinkedIn Top Voice, and founder of Write With Impact Academy, a free learning community for writers hosted on Substack. Just go to writewithimpact.academy and enter your email to join.

Today I’m very pleased to introduce Martha Coven. A Yale-trained lawyer, Martha is a Visiting Lecturer at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University, and the founder of Coven Consulting.

She has been writing for more than twenty-five years, in her various roles as an advisor to the President at the White House and for members of Congress, as well as in the private sector.

Martha teaches courses on writing at both Princeton and NYU, which is what inspired her to write her new book, “Writing on the Job: Best Practices for Communicating in the Digital Age,” published by Princeton University Press.

Her book contains a lot of practical and actionable advice, and I highly recommend you buy a copy for yourself. You can learn more about her book and how to purchase it on her website at writingonthejob.com.

In our conversation, Martha shares some of the very practical advice she shares in her book such as creating a simple bullet outline, using your voice to express your ideas, writing your first draft, using examples to illustrate your points, and getting feedback.

In addition to writing advice, Martha also shares her views on ChatGPT and its usefulness in helping writers conquer the blank page syndrome. She also shares her concerns about this new technology.

You can watch the complete conversation with Martha over at writewithimpact.academy, or on my YouTube channel, Write With Impact.

And be sure to reach out to me on LinkedIn! I publish a newsletter there with writing tips and share excerpts from my interviews with writers.