[qwerty49]

Here's the thing that has become a little befuddling for me: I've taught both undergrads and graduate students at multiple top 10 universities, and on the whole, I've been pretty unimpressed by the average student's writing, reasoning, effort, and work ethic. I've taught kids at top Ivies that I wouldn't hire to draft my Christmas letter. Do they just phone it in once they get the big envelope? Am I just too harsh? I have interacted with a ton of my parents friends in their 60s-80s who went to completely "average" schools in their day and whom I'd be infinitely more trusting to execute on something that matters to me...

I have to think that the decline in writing is connected to the rise of phones and social media.  Social media is a cesspool of bad writing.

and the use of powerpoint (and other similar apps) as a major communication tool at many companies does not help....

Agree on quality of written expression.  Definitely not what it used to be, and a lost art indeed.

BUT Powerpoint is an important and effective communication tool.  Those who use it well know how to condense a complicated argument into very succinct discussion points -- and presenting the presentation live (or these days, online) is every bit as important a communications skill.  

Save the joys of reading great prose for leisure or detailed expression for reference textbooks.  But face reality -- Horses for Courses -- when you are tasked with communicating for business, influencing opinions, or, especially, eliciting actions or decisions, it's a multimedia world, whether we like it or not. And learning how to use these tools, whether they be Powerpoint or web platforms, is a very important skill.  And yes, our universe firmly includes sound bites, Tik Tok clips, and other systems that tap into everyone's inner ADHD.

And I say this as an alumnus of both Stanford's Creative Writing Program and its Business School.

[qwerty49]

Here's the thing that has become a little befuddling for me: I've taught both undergrads and graduate students at multiple top 10 universities, and on the whole, I've been pretty unimpressed by the average student's writing, reasoning, effort, and work ethic. I've taught kids at top Ivies that I wouldn't hire to draft my Christmas letter. Do they just phone it in once they get the big envelope? Am I just too harsh? I have interacted with a ton of my parents friends in their 60s-80s who went to completely "average" schools in their day and whom I'd be infinitely more trusting to execute on something that matters to me...

I have to think that the decline in writing is connected to the rise of phones and social media.  Social media is a cesspool of bad writing.

and the use of powerpoint (and other similar apps) as a major communication tool at many companies does not help....

Agree on quality of written expression.  Definitely not what it used to be, and a lost art indeed.

BUT Powerpoint is an important and effective communication tool.  Those who use it well know how to condense a complicated argument into very succinct discussion points -- and presenting the presentation live (or these days, online) is every bit as important a communications skill.  

Save the joys of reading great prose for leisure or detailed expression for reference textbooks.  But face reality -- Horses for Courses -- when you are tasked with communicating for business, influencing opinions, or, especially, eliciting actions or decisions, it's a multimedia world, whether we like it or not. And learning how to use these tools, whether they be Powerpoint or web platforms, is a very important skill.  And yes, our universe firmly includes sound bites, Tik Tok clips, and other systems that tap into everyone's inner ADHD.

And I say this as an alumnus of both Stanford's Creative Writing Program and its Business School.