{"id":"d4fc30ad-20b0-4962-a58b-c5f08b97504c","shortId":"7Jxb4V","kind":"skill","title":"written-communication","tagline":"Draft and edit written artifacts (email, memo, doc) with a quality gate.","description":"# Written Communication\n\n## Scope\n\n**Covers**\n- Turning messy notes into a clear **email, memo, doc, or async update**\n- Making the **“how”** explicit (what happens next, by whom, by when)\n- Editing for **clarity at scale** (scanability, definitions, single source of truth)\n- Creating/maintaining a **canonical doc** for an ongoing project\n\n**When to use**\n- “Draft an email to stakeholders explaining a change and what I need from them.”\n- “Turn these bullets into a 1-page memo with a recommendation and next steps.”\n- “Rewrite this doc to be clearer, shorter, and more actionable.”\n- “Create a canonical doc as the source of truth for this project.”\n\n**When NOT to use**\n- You need **marketing/brand copy** (landing pages, ads) more than internal/executive clarity.\n- You need a full product spec/PRD from scratch (use `writing-prds` or `writing-specs-designs`).\n- You need a presentation deck, slide outline, or talk track (use `giving-presentations`; this skill produces written documents, not spoken-word deliverables).\n- You need a stakeholder alignment campaign with pre-briefs and decision meetings (use `stakeholder-alignment`; a memo may be one artifact within that campaign).\n- You need to craft communications specifically to manage your relationship with your manager (use `managing-up`; different framing and tactics apply).\n- You’re writing **legal/HR/regulated** communications without expert review.\n- The real issue is alignment via facilitation (you may need a meeting/offsite plan, not a rewrite).\n\n## Inputs\n\n**Minimum required**\n- Artifact type + channel (email / memo / doc / status update; where it will live)\n- Audience (roles/seniority) + what they care about\n- Goal + ask (inform/align/decide; what you want the reader to do, by when)\n- Key context (facts, constraints, timeline, links) + what must be avoided (sensitivities)\n- Source material (notes, existing draft, Slack threads, etc.)\n\n**Missing-info strategy**\n- Ask up to 5 questions from [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md) (3–5 at a time), then proceed.\n- If critical info remains missing, make explicit assumptions and offer 2–3 options (structure/tone/ask).\n\n## Outputs (deliverables)\n\nProduce a **Written Communication Pack** in Markdown (in-chat; or as files if requested):\n\n1) **Message brief** (audience, goal, ask, constraints)\n2) **Outline** (TL;DR + key points + “how/next steps”)\n3) **Draft artifact** (email/memo/doc/status update) in final-ready format\n4) **Canonical doc skeleton** (optional; when the project needs a single source of truth)\n5) **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** (always)\n\nTemplates: [references/TEMPLATES.md](references/TEMPLATES.md)  \nExpanded guidance: [references/WORKFLOW.md](references/WORKFLOW.md)\n\n## Workflow (8 steps)\n\n### 1) Intake + choose the lightest artifact\n- **Inputs:** user request + [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).\n- **Actions:** Clarify the channel and pick the smallest artifact that works (email vs memo vs doc vs status update vs canonical doc).\n- **Outputs:** Message brief (draft) + artifact selection.\n- **Checks:** You can answer: “Who is this for, and what should they do after reading?”\n\n### 2) Lock the reader outcome + ask (one sentence)\n- **Inputs:** brief.\n- **Actions:** Write one sentence: “After reading, the audience will ____.” Make the ask explicit (decision/options, approval, feedback, or FYI) and include a deadline if relevant.\n- **Outputs:** Outcome/ask line + decision/feedback request.\n- **Checks:** The ask is unambiguous and doesn’t require a meeting to interpret.\n\n### 3) Convert “what/why” into “how” (actionable next steps)\n- **Inputs:** source material + outcome/ask.\n- **Actions:** Identify the 3–7 concrete steps, responsibilities, and dependencies. If proposing a change, include what changes, what stays the same, and what happens next.\n- **Outputs:** “How / Next steps” bullets (owner + date where possible).\n- **Checks:** A reader could execute without asking “so what do you want me to do?”\n\n### 4) Structure for skim (clarity at scale)\n- **Inputs:** brief + next steps.\n- **Actions:** Create a TL;DR, then headings in the order readers scan: Ask → Context → Details → Next steps. Use bullets, short paragraphs, and explicit labels.\n- **Outputs:** Outline with headings.\n- **Checks:** A skim-reader can capture the point in < 60 seconds.\n\n### 5) Draft the artifact (write to be forwarded)\n- **Inputs:** outline + templates.\n- **Actions:** Draft in plain language; avoid jargon; put key numbers and decisions in writing. If this is ongoing work, link to (or create) the canonical doc.\n- **Outputs:** Draft email/memo/doc/status update.\n- **Checks:** The draft is safe to forward; it stands alone without verbal context.\n\n### 6) “Letter to yourself” clarity pass (then rewrite for the audience)\n- **Inputs:** draft.\n- **Actions:** If the content is fuzzy, write a quick internal version (“what am I actually saying?”), then rewrite in the audience’s language and incentives.\n- **Outputs:** Clarified rewrite with cleaner logic.\n- **Checks:** The message has a single through-line; no contradictions or buried ledes.\n\n### 7) Canonical doc check (single source of truth)\n- **Inputs:** draft + project context.\n- **Actions:** If readers will keep asking “where is the latest?”, create/update a canonical doc (links, owners, last updated, decisions, next update cadence).\n- **Outputs:** Canonical doc skeleton or link section.\n- **Checks:** There is one obvious place to find the current state and decisions.\n\n### 8) Quality gate + finalize\n- **Inputs:** full pack.\n- **Actions:** Run [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and score with [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md). Add Risks/Open questions/Next steps.\n- **Outputs:** Final Written Communication Pack.\n- **Checks:** Clarity, actionability, and ownership meet the bar (≥ 3 on each rubric dimension).\n\n## Quality gate (required)\n- Use [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md).\n- Always include: **Risks**, **Open questions**, **Next steps**.\n\n## Examples\n\n**Example 1 (stakeholder email):** “Draft an email to exec stakeholders: the launch is slipping 2 weeks; we need approval to cut scope and a decision by Friday.”  \nExpected: TL;DR + explicit ask/options + what changes + next steps with owners.\n\n**Example 2 (project memo + canonical doc):** “Turn these notes into a 1-page memo that aligns the team on the new onboarding approach, and create a canonical doc outline for ongoing updates.”  \nExpected: memo with recommendation + tradeoffs + next steps, plus a source-of-truth doc skeleton.\n\n**Boundary example (redirect):** “Build me a 15-slide deck with speaker notes for the quarterly business review.”\nResponse: This is a presentation, not a written document. Redirect to `giving-presentations` for the narrative outline, slide-by-slide plan, talk track, and Q&A bank. If you also need a written pre-read memo to accompany the deck, handle that here.\n\n**Boundary example (reframe):** “Write a legal/HR disciplinary notice.”\nResponse: decline to fabricate legal/HR guidance; request expert review; offer to help with neutral structure, tone, and clarity if the user provides approved language.\n\n## Anti-patterns (common failure modes)\n\n1. **”Wall of context, no ask”** -- Writing a long document that explains what happened but never states what the reader should do. Every written artifact needs an explicit ask or next step.\n2. **Buried lede** -- Putting the key message or recommendation on page 3 instead of in the TL;DR. Busy readers never reach it.\n3. **Writing for yourself, not the audience** -- Using your own jargon, assumptions, and framing instead of translating into what the reader cares about and how they process information.\n4. **No “how” section** -- Explaining the “what” and “why” thoroughly but leaving out concrete next steps, owners, and dates. Readers are convinced but do not know what to do next.\n5. **Orphan documents** -- Creating a one-off doc that is never linked from a canonical source of truth. Within weeks, no one can find it and the information becomes stale or contradictory.","tags":["written","communication","lenny","skills","plus","liqiongyu","agent-skills","ai-agents","automation","claude","codex","prompt-engineering"],"capabilities":["skill","source-liqiongyu","skill-written-communication","topic-agent-skills","topic-ai-agents","topic-automation","topic-claude","topic-codex","topic-prompt-engineering","topic-refoundai","topic-skillpack"],"categories":["lenny_skills_plus"],"synonyms":[],"warnings":[],"endpointUrl":"https://skills.sh/liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus/written-communication","protocol":"skill","transport":"skills-sh","auth":{"type":"none","details":{"cli":"npx skills add liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus","source_repo":"https://github.com/liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus","install_from":"skills.sh"}},"qualityScore":"0.474","qualityRationale":"deterministic score 0.47 from registry signals: · indexed on github topic:agent-skills · 49 github stars · SKILL.md body (8,159 chars)","verified":false,"liveness":"unknown","lastLivenessCheck":null,"agentReviews":{"count":0,"score_avg":null,"cost_usd_avg":null,"success_rate":null,"latency_p50_ms":null,"narrative_summary":null,"summary_updated_at":null},"enrichmentModel":"deterministic:skill-github:v1","enrichmentVersion":1,"enrichedAt":"2026-04-22T00:56:26.746Z","embedding":null,"createdAt":"2026-04-18T22:17:18.315Z","updatedAt":"2026-04-22T00:56:26.746Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-04-22T00:56:26.746Z","tsv":"'1':84,345,401,841,889,1026 '15':931 '2':324,352,455,854,879,1058 '3':307,325,360,507,522,818,1069,1081 '4':370,568,1109 '5':302,308,384,619,1139 '6':673 '60':617 '7':523,731 '8':399,785 'accompani':982 'action':102,412,465,512,519,579,630,686,743,792,812 'actual':700 'ad':125 'add':801 'align':175,187,231,893 'alon':669 'also':973 'alway':390,832 'answer':443 'anti':1021 'anti-pattern':1020 'appli':218 'approach':900 'approv':479,858,1018 'artifact':8,193,246,362,406,420,438,622,1050 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'handl':985 'happen':37,542,1039 'head':585,606 'help':1007 'how/next':358 'identifi':520 'in-chat':337 'incent':710 'includ':484,533,833 'info':297,316 'inform':1108,1167 'inform/align/decide':266 'input':243,407,463,515,575,627,684,739,789 'instead':1070,1095 'intak':402 'intern':695 'internal/executive':128 'interpret':506 'issu':229 'jargon':636,1091 'keep':747 'key':276,356,638,1063 'know':1134 'label':602 'land':123 'languag':634,708,1019 'last':759 'latest':752 'launch':851 'leav':1120 'lede':730,1060 'legal/hr':993,1000 'legal/hr/regulated':222 'letter':674 'lightest':405 'line':491,725 'link':281,649,757,770,1151 'live':257 'lock':456 'logic':716 'long':1034 'make':32,319,474 'manag':204,209,212 'managing-up':211 'markdown':336 'marketing/brand':121 'materi':288,517 'may':190,235 'meet':183,504,815 'meeting/offsite':238 'memo':10,27,86,189,250,425,881,891,911,980 'messag':346,435,719,1064 'messi':21 'minimum':244 'miss':296,318 'missing-info':295 'mode':1025 'must':283 'narrat':958 'need':76,120,131,148,172,198,236,378,857,974,1051 'neutral':1009 'never':1041,1078,1150 'new':898 'next':38,91,388,513,543,546,577,594,762,837,874,915,1056,1123,1138 'note':22,289,886,936 'notic':995 'number':639 'obvious':776 'offer':323,1005 'onboard':899 'one':192,461,467,775,1145,1161 'one-off':1144 'ongo':60,647,908 'open':386,835 'option':326,374 'order':588 'orphan':1140 'outcom':459 'outcome/ask':490,518 'outlin':153,353,604,628,906,959 'output':328,434,489,544,603,656,711,765,805 'owner':549,758,877,1125 'ownership':814 'pack':334,791,809 'page':85,124,890,1068 'paragraph':599 'pass':678 'pattern':1022 'pick':417 'place':777 'plain':633 'plan':239,964 'plus':917 'point':357,615 'possibl':552 'prds':141 'pre':179,978 'pre-brief':178 'pre-read':977 'present':150,160,946,955 'proceed':313 'process':1107 'produc':163,330 'product':134 'project':61,114,377,741,880 'propos':530 'provid':1017 'put':637,1061 'q':968 'qualiti':14,786,823 'quarter':939 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