Writing Skills in the Post-Pandemic World by Maria Gurevich.
In late 2019, just before the pandemic took over every aspect of life, Forbes Magazine published a list of top 10 skills needed for future jobs. Communication and data analysis or in other words, writing, public speaking and reading comprehension were number 6 and 7 on the list. Creativity and emotional intelligence were number 1 and 2. Then the pandemic hit and we woke up to distance work and distance learning replacing the familiar face-to-face interaction. Writing and public speaking became the only ways to convey creativity and emotional intelligence. And since an effective video pitch or conference starts with a written script, while first impressions are made through emails, writing remains the foundation of any communication.
Sure, there are apps to correct grammar and spelling, but they only work once you have something written on the page, and they don’t help with creativity and emotional intelligence. They don’t know what is important to your clients, and they can’t help you organize your ideas to impress your teacher, your boss or even your date.
In a post-pandemic world, even more jobs will become automated. So to future-proof our children’s education, we need to develop qualities that cannot be replaced by robots, and the only way to portray those qualities will be through writing, either directly to an audience or writing scripts to film videos. Empathy, imagination, leadership, analytical and problem solving skills, all need to be conveyed through writing.
Unfortunately today, many young people don’t have the writing skills necessary to propel their education, business and career goals. Universities affirm that the writing skills gap is the biggest challenge for students entering all fields of study including business and science. Parents of middle school students are concerned that their children are not ready for highschool. It’s true. They are not ready. How does highschool remedy the problem? By lowering expectations. Over the past 8 years of running Write Up Your Alley writing school, I have seen expectations drop little by little every year.
With distance work and distance learning gaining in popularity, closing this gap to meet the writing requirements for academic and professional success has become top priority. We are judged by our writing more than ever. We need to help our children get ahead of robots and share their best qualities and ideas in well written paragraphs.
We help students of all ages develop superior writing skills. Get in touch to talk about your child’s needs or join us for a trial class.