Mike McClory has taught writing to people of all ages and backgrounds, from fourth graders to PhDs. In 1983, he began developing Write Smart — a step-by-step program based on the “plain English” techniques used by America’s top professional writers and editors. Since then, thousands of participants in his classes have learned how to make their reports (letters, proposals, legal and technical documents, e-mail messages, etc.) as interesting and easy to read as a magazine article.
After graduating from Northwestern University, Mike began his career with the Congressional Digest, a publication that has earned a reputation — over a span of 90 years — for presenting different sides of complex political issues in lean, unpretentious language. Years later, in a 1996 interview, he recalled the experience:
Working with seasoned professional editors was full of surprises. I found, for instance, that people in the publishing business expend an enormous amount of time and energy applying the fundamentals of grammar and punctuation. In a few weeks, I learned more about writing than I had learned in four years of high school and four years of college.

As an instructor, Mike is not a dull ivory-tower type. His background includes . . .
- Inventing the online Game of GrammaText®.
- Developing writing training for staff professionals from more than 100 U.S. House and Senate offices.
- Editing the Department of Veterans Affairs’ FY 2000 Annual Performance Report — ranked first by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University among submissions from all federal departments.
- Editing the Hill Rag, a Capitol Hill newsmagazine, from 1980 to 1982. The publication grew from 36 pages to 98 pages, and advertising revenue increased 300 percent.
- Making television commercials in New York for Fortune 500 companies.
- Teaching secondary school English in Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, Calif.; Calvert County, Md.; and Washington Depot, Conn.
Participants in his classes have come from a cross section of business, government, and nonprofit organizations:
Academy for Educational Development
Association of American Medical Colleges
Department of Veterans Affairs
U.S. House and Senate (both parties)
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Public Health Foundation
National Association of Homebuilders
Department of Agriculture
Government Technology Services Inc
U.S. Government Printing Office
Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Transportation
Department of Defense
National Audobon Society
American Psychological Association
National Waterways Conference
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Educational Testing Service
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Federal Trade Commission
American Gas Association
American Ecology Corporation
The Smithsonian Institution
American Horticultural Society
National Petroleum Council
American Pharmaceutical Association
National Association of Securities Dealers
Wider Opportunities for Women
American Association of Architects
Social Security Administration
Federal Communications Commission
General Dynamics
Newsweek Magazine
Department of Justice
Group Health Association
Prince George’s County
Research Institute of America
Princeton Capital Corporation
The Nature Conservancy
US West (now Quest)
King & Spalding
Cassidy & Associates
Department of Commerce
State Justice Institute
Wheat First Securities
National Urban League
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Department of Treasury
Chronicle of Higher Education
Library of Congress
U.S. Supreme Court
Baker & McKenzie
Bureau of National Affairs
Marine Corps Institute
The Learning Group
National Defense Magazine
National Public Radio
Phoenix Systems
Fanwall Corporation
National Institutes of Health Life Cycle Engineering
LCC International
Burson-Marsteller
WilmerHale
Pepco
IBM
ITT
FBI
CACI
ACTION
Peace Corps
GAO
WOR – TV
NASA
US Airways
ANSER
Burdock Group
Capital Care
Amtrak
Century 21
Warner-Lambert
Meridian Corporation
AARP
TRW
Tracor
MCI
FH2M
AT&T
K2 Group
ZAI
AMS
EG & G
WMATA
Contel
U.S. Mint
For more information, you can reach Mike at 202.543.3442 or send an email to mcclory@writesmart.com.