After graduating from Northwestern University, he began his career with the Congressional Digest, a publication that has earned a reputation, over a span of 80 years, for presenting different sides of complex political issues in lean, unpretentious language. Years later, in a 1996 interview, he recalled the experience:
 






As an instructor, Mike is not a dull ivory-tower type. His background includes . . .








Mike McClory's presentations are lively and interesting as well as informative and up-to-date. Participants in his classes have come from a broad cross section of business, government, and nonprofit organizations:
Mike McClory has taught writing to people of all ages and backgrounds, from fourth graders to Ph.Ds. In 1986, he began developing a simplified writing system — the Write Smart 12-Step Program — based on the 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.
Academy for Educational Development
U.S. Government Printing Office
Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan
Department of Veterans Affairs
U.S. House and Senate (both parties)
Association of American Medical Colleges
General Dynamics
National Association of Homebuilders
Department of Agriculture
Government Technology Services Inc
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Defense
Department of Transportation
National Audobon Society
Newsweek Magazine
Department of Justice
Group Health Association
Burson-Marsteller
Amtrak
American Psychological Association
Bureau of National Affairs
Educational Testing Service
Federal Trade Commission
American Gas Association
American Ecology Corporation
The Smithsonian Institution
National Petroleum Council
Tracor
MCI
American Pharmaceutical Association
National Association of Securities Dealers
Wider Opportunities for Women
Social Security Administration
Federal Communications Commission
Life Cycle Engineering
LCC International
IBM
FBI
ACTION
Peace Corps
Marine Corps Institute
Research Institute of America
WilmerHale
The Nature Conservancy
Baker & McKenzie
Library of Congress
U.S. Supreme Court
US West (now Quest)
Public Health Foundation
WOR – TV
ANSER
Prince George’s County
Cassidy & Associates
American Association of Architects
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
State Justice Institute
Wheat First Securities
National Urban League
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Department of Treasury
Chronicle of Higher Education
Warner-Lambert
Meridian Corporation
AARP
TRW
General Services Administration
General Accounting Office
The Learning Group
AKORN
AMS
NASA
Phoenix Systems
National Institutes of Health


With more than 25 years of experience in business, government, editing, and education, Mike McClory has a unique understanding of your day-to-day writing problems – and how to solve them.
Editor of Follow the Leader: A Dog’s Eye View of Washington
Featured on NBC's
Today show
Featured on CNN's
Larry King Live
“This is awfully nice, folks. This book is about Leader — from shelter to stardom. I loved Leader. LOVED Leader!”

Willard Scott,
Today show
   
 
“Follow the Leader has just been published to critical raves . . . ”
The Washington Post

“A delightful volume . . . ”
Omaha World Herald

“After reviewing Michael McClory’s writing program, I asked him to take on a series of writing and editing projects. All of them were successful. He has a unique understanding of how to use language to express ideas clearly and persuasively.”

Mary F. Vincent
Author
Follow the Leader: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington
Editor of award-winning reports
 
Edited the Department of Veterans Affairs' FY 2000 Annual Performance Report, which the Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranked first among submissions from all Federal government departments. The report received high marks for transparency (clear, concise, easy to follow) and leadership (strong, direct, persuasive).
"The Government Performance and Results Act requires federal agencies to produce annual performance reports. The purpose of these reports is to give Congress and the American people accurate, timely information . . . One could not ask for a more straightforward presentation."

2nd Annual Performance Report Scorecard:
Which Federal Agencies Inform the Public?
Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Here are some comments from former participants in the Writing That Works program.
After graduating from Yale  Law School, building a successful law practice, and serving as Attorney General of West Virginia (1985-89), I thought I knew a thing or two about writing. That was before I attended a series of Mike McClory’s writing classes in 1990. Within a year, a book I had been working on for a long time — First Get Mad, Then Get Justice — had a publisher and received outstanding reviews. Mike did a first-rate job of editing the original manuscript for presentation to agents and publishers.

As a teacher and an editor, Mike McClory focuses on the fundamentals — strong verbs, sentences that are at once clear and persuasive, paragraphs that are logical and easy to follow. These are writing techniques that most of us should have learned in high school or college English classes, but didn’t.

Charles G. Brown,
Washington, D.C.
 
“A lively, interesting series of classes . . . perfect for anyone who wants to save time, gain confidence, and develop an easy, professional writing style. "

Maria R. Goodwin
Historian of the U.S. Mint
Co-author of The Guide to
Black Washington
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, punctuation, and syntax. In a few weeks, I learned more about writing than I had learned in four years of college.
Working with nationally acclaimed editor and educator Mike McClory gets results.