Amazon's tips for writers

TL;DR / 3 Amazon tips for writers:

— Use short sentences

—Data instead of weasel words and adjectives

—The 4 Amazon answers: Yes, No, a Number, I don't know and will follow-up when I do.

I can't locate the source anymore, but I found this somewhere on the internets and stored it in my Notion inbox.

It is handy for a ton of different writing types, including pitch decks, emails, notes to venture capitalists, or even how you communicate in your 1-on-1’s or team meetings — writing clearly and concisely is really, really hard and takes a lot of practice. Applying these conventions could level-up your communication.

Use less than 30 words per sentence:

• Due to the fact that 👉🏻 because
• Totally lacked the ability to 👉🏻 could not

Replace adjectives with data:

• We made the performance much faster 👉🏻 We reduced server-side latency from 10ms to 1ms

Eliminate weasel words:

• Nearly all customers 👉🏻 87% of Prime members
• Significantly better 👉🏻 25% basis points

If you get a question, reply with one of the four Amazon answers:

1. Yes
2. No
3. A Number
4. I don’t know and will follow up when I do

I'm a big fan of The Rule of 3's, so I'd prioritize and make a law out of them:

3 Amazon tips for writers:

1. Use short sentences
2. Data instead of weasel words and adjectives
3. The 4 Amazon answers: Yes, No, a Number, I don't know and will follow-up when I do.