Don't Bore Your Audience with Your Writing No one wants their writing to put readers to sleep. And yet, many managers write boring and repetitive e-mails, reports, and letters. To keep your readers engaged, try the following: Use personal pronouns skillfully. Don't overuse I (try not to begin paragraphs or successive sentences with it), but do lean heavily on we, our, you, and your. Those are friendly words that pull readers in. Use contractions. Let go of your fear of contractions. You may have been taught to avoid phrases like "can't" and "that's," but they counteract stuffiness, a major cause of poor writing. Avoid passive voice. Passive voice results in convoluted, backward-sounding sentences. When possible, give every action an active voice. Don't write, "The closing documents were prepared by Sue"; instead write, "Sue prepared the closing documents." Adapted from "Don't Anesthetize Your Colleagues with Bad Writing" by Bryan A. Garner.