Writing clear and concise copy can be a difficult task. Jim’s philosophy is to keep it simple -- even when addressing the most intelligent audience. The reason: readers or listeners might be hearing your ideas and concepts for the first time. It is important that these concepts be understood the first time they are conveyed. Remember, you might not get a second chance.

Therefore, messages should be communicated at a more basic level until the audience's overall level of understanding allows for more complicated disclosure.

In the sample below, you will see that the writing style allows the audience to slowly familiarize itself with the concept of terrorism in the workplace. Then, the story develops and explains that well-known terrorist organizations are not the only potential culprits. Please take the time to read the portion of the article below. The full piece was approximately 2,500 words and received acclaim in the business community for its eye-opening simplicity and effectiveness.



Terrorism in the Business Community

by Jim Beasley

(from S.C. Business magazine)

Beyond the unrecognizable return address on the manila envelope, there was nothing to prompt suspicion from anyone in the office. But once the seal was broken, the container's powdery contents spilled onto the desk, creating a dusty cloud of biological contamination…

After hours. It appeared that the only persons remaining on company premises were members of the cleaning crew. But with the insertion of a tiny flash drive into a worker's computer, the "janitor" was able to copy sensitive network files that had the potential to send the company's stock tumbling…

The pink slip was the last straw. No one could throw him out and get away with it. A few minutes later, he returned from the parking lot with a loaded pistol and opened fire on his former supervisor and co-workers…

These are only a few of the many types of incidents that create terror in the workplace. Regardless of viewpoint, they are all terroristic, using force or violence to obtain a specific goal. A terrorist does not need to use an object as large as an airplane to accomplish his task. Many times, it's enough to merely plant a small, but troubling, thought in people's minds. And the eventual impact on business can be staggering.

Consider the effects of the September 11 tragedy. It has been estimated that the event could cost New York City up to $95 billion, according to city comptroller William Thompson, making it more expensive than America's largest-ever natural disaster. The final figure will depend, in part, on the number of jobs that are eventually relocated out of the city. To put that into perspective, it's important to know that total personal income for entire state of South Carolina in 2000 was slightly more than $96 billion, according to the S.C. Statistical Abstract. Thompson also reckons it will cost the city another $22 billion to replace the buildings, infrastructure and other amenities destroyed when two hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the twin towers. Also, the attacks may have cost the city as many as 83,000 jobs.

What is terrorism?

The U.S. State Department defines terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience." However, other definitions also exist that are less restrictive to international politics. For instance, Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary defines terrorism as "the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion."

The first known acts of terrorism are believed to have occurred in the first century A.D. when Jewish zealots killed Romans and their collaborators. Around that same time, other groups were known to ambush and strangle their victims in religious rituals. Over the years, actions evolved to include biological terrorism. In 1754, during the French and Indian War, the British donated blankets to the Indians as a gesture of "goodwill." However, those blankets were actually laden with the smallpox virus and resulted in uncounted deaths. During the Civil War, Union General W.T. Sherman offered detailed accounts of Confederate soldiers allegedly poisoning ponds with the dumping of decaying carcasses of dead animals, rendering the water undrinkable.

Modern terrorism is traced to the late 19th century organization Narodnaya Volya ("People's Will"), an anti-tsarist group formed in Russia. Particularly successful was the 1914 assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serb extremist, an event that helped trigger World War I. More recently, terrorism has taken a more dramatic turn, emerging as made-for-TV violence. Consider July 22, 1968, when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine undertook the first terrorist hijacking of a commercial airplane. With the explosive growth of television and radio, along with their ability to quickly spread news to millions of people simultaneously, terrorism became a means for the creation and worldwide dissemination of fear.

Since the events of 9/11, most Americans equate terrorism with the actions of groups such as the Osama bin Laden-led al Queda, Arabic for "the base." According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Al Queda seeks to rid Muslim countries of what it sees as the profane influence of the West and to replace their governments with fundamentalist Islamic regimes. There are other notorious groups, too, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Irish Republican Army, and Aum Shinrikyo. While each of these groups is capable of creating chaos in a single instant, they may represent only a small threat to most businesses in South Carolina.

According to Major James Christopher, the counter-terrorism coordinator for the State Law Enforcement Division, "We must remember that domestic terrorism-attacks on employees, students and teachers-are the most likely to occur, rather than an attack by al Queda." In fact, it was a group of American extremists that detonated a bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 persons and leaving another 500 injured.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's website, www.tolerance.org, reports more than 40 chapters of extremist organizations operating in South Carolina. Neo-Confederate groups figure most prominently into the mix. These groups allegedly seek a return to principles of the Confederacy, including white supremacy. The center also lists the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi, Black Separatist and other groups to exist in the state. Whether any of these groups aims to harm businesses, either directly or indirectly, is hard to determine, at best.

Protecting your business

Should businesses be concerned about potential terrorism at home or abroad?

According to SLED's Maj. Christopher, "The threat is real. Chemical plants, power-producing plants, water sources, communications and businesses involved in transportation and shipping would rate higher as potential targets than the average business on Main Street." As a result, many businesses are turning to security experts for the answers. Sometimes, these experts are hired as full-time employees; others are used as consultants on an as-needed basis, providing such services as emergency planning, threat assessments, and business continuity planning...(full story continues)

To obtain other writing and voicework samples, please contact Jim. Also, you can learn more about his voiceover work on the Voice123 website.