Effective business writing

The Writing Process

The Writing Process Planning:

 Keep objectives in mind and research the topic

 Think about the audience

 Outlining helps organize thoughts Writing: Follow your outline

 Use the interview approach to supplement the outline(who, what,                               where,  when, how)

Quality control: Reread your work; Be critical of your own work

 

Creating Good Documents

Creating Good Documents Guidelines:

 Choose the right words

 Ensure balance, variety, and consistency

 Use short, familial, and simple word

 Avoid using extra words

 Always use  correct spelling

 Use appropriate “person” perspective

 Avoid problem words and phrases

 

Effective Sentences

 Correct grammar

Carefully plan sentence structure

Pay attention to the sequence of words

reduce ambiguity

 Avoid run-on sentences: use conjunctions properly

 Ensure correct pronouns are used: be consistent

 Watch out for mismatched singulars and plurals

 Avoid unnecessary prepositions

 Keep tenses consistent

 Be extra careful with conditional sentences

 Become a critical reader

 

Ensure punctuation is properly used

 Avoid exclamation marks

Do not use quotations marks for emphasis

Be consistent with the use of commas in lists

 Don’t separate two independent clauses with a comma: use a linking word

 Separate parenthetical comments with commas, parentheses, or dashes

 Use colons carefully

 

Writing Good Paragraphs:

 Organize the paragraph around a unifying idea

 Use words, grammar, and punctuation to create coherence  

 Paragraph  should follow a progression of thoughts

 Opening sentence must introduce the unifying idea

 Conclude the paragraph with a summary sentence

 

checkout list of Business Documents:

 A good business document should always answer the following questions:

 What is this document about? Why has it come to be? Who wrote it? How  

  is it organized? What is it trying to accomplish? What supports the 

  conclusion?

What problem or opportunity does it address?

More tips of business writing

The ubiquity of e-mail means that everyone in business, from lords of finance to programmers who dream in code, needs to write intelligently. By using simple, clear, precise language, and following a few other basic writing rules, you can become a better communicator and improve the prospects for your career.

“Clarity is the most important characteristic of good business writing,” says Mignon Fogarty, creator of the Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writingpodcast. “Often businesspeople will use big $10 words because they want to sound intelligent. Instead, they end up sounding like they’re trying too hard.”

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Start by writing short, declarative sentences. Never use a long word where a short one will do. (No need to write “utilize” when “use” works just as well.) Be ruthless about self-editing; if you don’t need a word, cut it.

Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or any kind of jargon if you can think of an English equivalent. Regardless of how many times your managers ask you to “circle back,” or “move the needle forward,” take a stance against tired business jargon. These expressions may sound important, and like the official language of a club you’d like to join, but you will express yourself more clearly if you say what you mean in plain language.

When you’re composing an e-mail, make your point and move on. If your big idea isn’t in the first paragraph, put it there. If you can’t find it, rewrite. “Simplicity doesn’t mean simplicity of thought,” says Kara Blackburn, a lecturer in managerial communication at MIT Sloan School of managements“Start by asking yourself what you want the person to do as a result of this e-mail. Just asking yourself that question can make your communication much clearer.”

Use plain English, and be specific. Instead of mentioning “the current situation,” explain exactly what it is, whether it’s low company morale, or an SEC investigation.

Curb your enthusiasm. Avoid overusing exclamation points, regardless of how energized or friendly you might feel. Choose professional sign-offs like “Best” and “Regards” over the too-cute “xoxo.”

Whenever possible, use active instead of passive verbs. Active verbs help to energize your prose. Instead of writing “The meeting was led by Tom,” write: “Tom led the meeting.” Use a straightforward sentence structure–subject, verb, object–that people can read quickly.

Choose pronouns wisely, and don’t be afraid to use “me.” “I often read versions of ‘Send the memo to Bob and myself,’” says Fogarty. “For some reason people think that ‘myself’ sounds more important or formal.” To avoid this mistake, Fogarty recommends thinking about how you would say the sentence if you removed mentions of other people. “Send the memo to me” sounds correct. If you add “Bob” to that clause, the “me” pronoun still works.

Beware of common grammatical mistakes, like subject-verb agreement. The number of the subject (whether it’s singular or plural) determines the number of the verb. Use a singular verb form after nobody, someone, everybody, neither, everyone, each and either.

 

Criteria of Good Writing:

In business writing, people may follow different sets of criteria,  for some people, the folloing criteria are what they think important:

Completeness: all information needed is provided

Correctness: relevant and precise information

Credibility: support your argument

Clarity: reader decides what is vague, confusing, ambiguous

Conciseness: get to the point

Consideration: anticipate the reader’s reaction

Vitality: use the active voice rather than the passive voice

While another set of criteria is more prefered by a lot of people in buisness writing as the following which will be elaborated on in details: 

Courtesy

  

 Treating people with respect and friendly human concern.

   Courtesy usually involves three aspects

•       Using you-viewpoint

•       Taking a positive tone

•       Being conversational

   

You-Attitude

                                             

  You-viewpoint/You-Attitude writing emphasizes the reader’s interest and concerns. It emphasizes “you” and “your” and de-emphasizes “we” and “our”.

 

•   Look at things from the reader’s point of view. 

    站在读者的位置看待事情

•   Respect the reader’s intelligence.            

    尊重读者的聪明才智

•   Protect the reader’s ego.

    保护读者的自尊心

•   Emphasize what the reader wants to know.

    强调读者想知道的信息

For example:

l     A large sale of  our products will make ourcompany more                    profitable.  (poor)

----A good sale of the products will benefit you.  (better )

 

l      We are in need of fund and you must pay…(poor)

   ----To maintain your excellent credit, please remit…(better)

  

  How to take “You-attitude”

1. Put the audience first:  “It’sall about them.”

    Focus on what they receive or can do

 Stress what they want to know

For example: 

× I have negotiated an agreement with Apex Rent –a-car that gives you       a discount on rental cars.

√ As a Sundstrand employee, you can now get a 20% discount when you        rent a car from Apex.

 

2. Be careful with the use of “feeling” words.

  Omit your feelings in most business situations.

 For example: 

× We are happy to extend you a credit line of$5,000.

ü  You can now charge up to $5,000 onyour Visa card.

 

3. Use“you” more often than “I” in positive situations.,           avoid “you” in negative situations.

ü      In negative situations, use

ü       Passive verbs

ü       Impersonal expressions

     For example:   

× You made no allowance for inflation in your estimate.

 ü      No allowance for inflation hasbeen made in this estimate.                                 (passive)

    ü      This estimate makes noallowance for inflation. (impersonal)

 

Positive Tone

•    People enjoy and react favorably to positivemessages.

•     Positive words emphasize the pleasant aspects of the goal and tend        to put the reader in the right frame of mind. Negative words tend          to produce the opposite effect.

 

 Different ways of taking positive tone

  a. State ideas using positive language

     We regret to inform you that we must deny your request   

      for  credit                                             (×)

    For the time being, we can serve you only on a cash basis. (√)

  b. Avoid using second person when stating negative ideas

       You made numerous mistakes onthis page. (×)

       This page contains numerous mistakes. (√)

c. Use passive voice to convey negative ideas

    Tom completed the job two months behind theschedule(×)

      The job was completedtwo months behind the  schedule. (√)

d. Use the subjunctive mood

    I cannot accept the recommendation of the site-selection

   committee.    (×)

     I wish I could acceptthe recommendation of the site-

     selection committee.     (√)

 

Conversational Style

   

Ø      People who write with a senseof personal contact have a                 better chance to make what they say interesting and convincing.

Ø      It leaves a favorableimpression on people. It is also the language          we use most and understand best.

If you want to being conversational, avoid using old language of    business.

   Good writers take care to avoid stale expressions.

    Early English business writers borrowed heavily from the formal language of law and from theflowery language of the nobility. From these two sources they developed a cold, stiff, and unnaturalstyle, but it was generally accepted throughout the English-speaking world.  

 The underlined expressions of the following letter are stale expressions

 Dear Sir:

 We wish to acknowledge the receipt of your credit application dated    February 17 giving trade and bank references, and we thank you for      the same. Pleas be advised the credit accommodations are herewith   extended   as per your request and your order has been shipped.

Hoping you will give us the opportunity of serving you again in the  near future, we 

 remain

 

   Very truly yours,

 

Instead, we can revise the letter as following to avoid stale       expressions:

Dear Sirs:

  Thank you for sending so promptly the trade and bank references we  have asked for. I am glad to say that your order has already been  shipped on the terms you requested.

 

   We hope you will give us the chance to serve you again.

 

   Very truly yours,

   

 Correctness

 Correctgrammar, punctuation and spelling are basic requirements for  business writing. Certainly, it means choosing the exact word, selecting the appropriate sentence structure, and creating careful paragraphs.

 In addition, correctness means choosing the correct level of language and using accurate information and data.

 

Conciseness

   To write in the fewest possible words without sacrificing  completeness and courtesy. Conciseness will give emphasis to your message.

 

Wordy Phrases                      Concise Words

•        with regard to                        about

•        despite the fact that                 although

•        in view of the fact that              because

•        for the purpose of                    for

 

Clarity

   Business writing should be vivid, specific and concrete rather than vague, general and abstract, especially when the writer is requiring a response, trying to solve a problem, making an offer or acceptance, etc. Short, familiar words and simple, short sentences rather than long, difficult words and complex and long sentences are better for this purpose.

 

•  They have a decided advantage in regard to freight. (×)

• They have a decided advantage in regard to freight  charges   (√)

•   They informed Messrs. Smithand Richardson that they would  receive         an answer in a few days. (×)

•   They informed Messrs. Smithand Richardson that the latter  would           receive an answer in a few days. (√)

 

Concreteness

Your writing should be vivid, specific and definite rather than vague, general and abstract, especially when you are requiring a response,solving problems, making an offer or acceptance, etc.

Completeness

     Include all the necessary information anddata in the message to help senders get receiver’s response.

 An incomplete message may result in increased communication costs, loss of goodwill, sales, and valued customers, cost of returning goods, and wasted time trying to make sense out of the incomplete message

For example, if you make an offer, you should provide  information like:

The name of the goods to be offered

The price and terms of payment

Time of delivery

Shipping instructions

    etc.