Chapter 1: Writing Well For Business

Some General Guidelines

Know why you're writing. 

Before you begin writing, know what you want to say – and why you want to say it. Are you explaining a situation or a problem? Are you trying to convince the reader of something? Are you recommending a course of action? One way to ensure you know why you’re writing is to make an outline of your main points beforehand.
By always remembering your purpose in writing, you’ll keep yourself from wandering off track. You’ll also avoid confusing the reader. If you don’t understand what you’re trying to say, how can you expect the reader to?

Know your audience.

Effective writing of all kinds is tailored to its audience. Who – and how many people – will be reading the document? How familiar are they with the subject matter? Make sure the answers to these questions fit with the tone and level of detail you include in your document.
Another key is knowing how long your reader or readers will have to read your memo, report, or email. This will help determine its length. One frequently used guideline is one double-spaced page per minute.
You also need to consider how much information to include to meet your readers’ needs. Put yourself in their shoes: What are they looking for? What questions might they ask?

Present the most important points first.

A business report is not a murder mystery; your reader shouldn’t have to guess what the conclusion will be. Present the most important point(s) at the beginning of your document; then use the paragraphs and sections that follow to support your conclusion.
The same goes for paragraphs and sections within the document. At the beginning of each new paragraph or section, state the main point. Then present the explanation or supporting details, preferably in descending order of importance. This theory works for individual sentences, too: Placing the most important words at the beginning and end of a sentence heightens their emphasis.

Be clear and concise.

The first key to being concise is eliminating unnecessary information. Stepping away from your document and coming back to it later can help you be more objective about what is and isn’t needed to convey your message.
The second key is eliminating unnecessary words. Qualifiers such as very, fairly, and quite rarely add meaning. In fact, because they’re so overused, they often have the opposite effect.
Many commonly used phrases include useless words. Some wordy phrases and their replacements are listed below:
Replace:
With:
along the lines of
like
a majority of
most
a majority of the time
usually
as a general rule
generally
as per
as, according to
as soon as
when
at your earliest convenience
soon or by x date
as you may or may not know
as you may know
at a later date
later
at all times
always
at this point in time
now
avail oneself of
use
by means of
by
can be in a position to
can
due to the fact that
because
during the time that
while
for the purpose of
for
free of charge
free
have a tendency to
tend to
inasmuch as
because
in accordance with
according to
in advance of
before
in all probability
probably
in connection with
about
in many instances
often
in order that, in order to
to
in reference to, in regard to
about
in spite of the fact that
although
in the amount of
for
in the event that
if
in the matter of
about
in the near future
soon
in this day and age
nowadays, now
in view of the fact that
because
make a recommendation that
recommend
of a confidential nature
confidential
on account of the fact that
because
on the grounds that
because
owing to the fact that
because
perform an analysis of
analyze
pertaining to
about
prior to
before
pursuant to
since
the question as to whether
whether
regarding the matter of
about
subsequent to
after, since
the writer, the undersigned
I, me
up to this writing
until now
Other phrases are redundant:
Replace:
With:
absolutely perfect
perfect
actual experience
experience
adding together
adding
advance planning
planning
and et cetera
et cetera
any and all
all
at about
about
basic essentials or basic fundamentals
basics, essentials, fundamentals
both together
together
cancel out
cancel
check into
check
close proximity
near
combine into one
combine
complete stop
stop
completely full
full
consensus of opinion
consensus
continue on
continue
cooperate together
cooperate
current status
status
customary practice
practice
desirable benefits
benefits
each and every
each or every
end result
result
enter into
enter
exactly equal
equal
final outcome
outcome
first and foremost
first
first priority
priority
free gift
gift
future projections
projections
goals and objectives
goals
group meeting
meeting
honest truth
truth
joined together
joined
new innovation
innovation
no doubt but
no doubt
one and the same
the same
outside of
outside
over with
over
past experience
experience
past history
history
personal opinion
opinion
point in time
time
range all the way from
range from
the reason is because
the reason is or because
reduce down
reduce
refer back to
refer to
repeat again
repeat
resume again
resume
small/large in size
small/large
totally empty
empty
this particular instance
this instance
3 a.m. in the morning; 3 p.m. in the afternoon
3 a.m., 3 p.m.
whether or not
whether
young in age
young
The third key to being clear and concise is using short sentences and paragraphs. Try to keep
sentences to between 20 and 25 words. Or simply break up sentences that extend more than two lines. In general, no paragraph should include more than one or two ideas, and a paragraph of more than six sentences or 10 to 12 lines is almost always too long. When in doubt, split paragraphs in two at logical breaking points. The same goes for sentences.
You don’t want your writing to sound stilted. Varying sentence length and structure can help prevent this. Read your writing out loud to make sure it sounds natural.

Use simple, specific language.

Some people think using complex language makes them appear intelligent; in reality, it only obscures their point and makes them look pretentious. Effective writers use simple words such as start instead of commencehelp instead of assist, and end rather than terminate.
Here are some unnecessarily large words and their replacements:
Replace:
With:
abbreviate
shorten
advise
tell
ascertain
find out
assist
help
commence
start
conceptualize
conceive
conjecture
guess
demonstrate
show
duplicate
copy
expedite
speed
facilitate
help
functionality
features, functions, capabilities
indicate
say, show
initiate
begin
nevertheless
but, even so
obtain
get
optimum
best
orientate
orient
receive
get
terminate
end, fire
utilize
use
Here are some phrases that were once commonplace, but now appear stiff and affected. Avoid or eliminate them:
beg to inform
in due course of time
in receipt of
it has been deemed necessary
it has been demonstrated that
it has been shown that
it is found that
it is recognized that
it is the intention of this writer to
it is worthy of note
it may be seen that
it must be remembered that
permit me to say
please be advised that
pursuant to
what is known as
Also avoid clichés such as:
back to square one
back to basics
ballpark figure
beyond the shadow of a doubt
first and foremost
hit the nail on the head
last but not least
state of the art
take the ball and run with it
under review
Finally, good writers also choose concrete words and specific examples over abstract, vague language. A watch that allows you to send email is a much clearer description than an IP- enabled wristwatch. One trick is to write the way you talk. If something doesn’t sound right when you read it out loud, change it.

Avoid jargon.

Jargon is vocabulary that is specific to an industry or group of people. Because specialized language and technical terms can be confusing, it’s best to avoid them, even for the savviest of audiences. Try this as a guideline: Use jargon only if you are completely confident that nearly every one of your readers – say, nine out of ten – will understand it.
In addition, certain words and phrases come in and out of fashion. Because not everyone will understand them, and they might mean different things to different people, try to avoid them. Faddish words and phrases include:
actionable items
bottom line (as noun or verb)
cutting edge
deliverables
dialogue (as a verb)
hands on
interface (as a verb)
proactive
repurpose
skill set

Don’t hedge.

Don’t use wishy-washy language because you don’t know exactly what you want to say or because you fear people will disagree with you.
The following words and phrases are red flags that you are hedging:
practically
Pretty
probably
Rather
seemingly
Somewhat
very
Virtually
as I recall
as I understand it
for all intents and purposes
I imagine
I would guess that
in some cases
is considered to be
it is my observation that
it is my opinion that
for the most part
may or may not be my best guess is that to the best of my recollection under the circumstances

Use active rather than passive voice.

In a sentence in the active voice, the subject performs the action. In a sentence in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.
Active voice: We paid close attention to the consumers comments.
Passive voice: Close attention was paid to the consumers comments.
Sentences in the passive voice tend to be duller, longer, and harder to understand than those in the active voice. They use forms of the helping verb to be (is, was, were, has been, have been, shall be, will be, shall have been, will have been) and phrases beginning with by. Active voice, in contrast, makes writing more energetic and forceful. I used the active voice to write this book sounds better than The active voice was used by me in writing this book.
If you can’t figure out how to put an idea into active voice, figure out who or what is doing the action and make that the subject of the sentence. To identify sentences in passive voice, look for those helping verbs and phrases beginning with by.
There is one instance in which you might want to use passive voice on purpose: when you are trying to de-emphasize the subject. If you’d like to highlight something other than the subject – the action, for example – passive voice can be a good choice:
He was born on January 3, 1972.
The employees were laid off during the third quarter.
In all other cases, avoid passive voice.

Provide guideposts for your reader.

Help your reader by providing signals and guideposts. Transitional words and phrases (such as and, furthermore, even so, and therefore) work to connect your thoughts and indicate what’s to come. Another way to create transitions is to repeat a word or a phrase from the preceding paragraph.
When a paragraph or section contains several different points, numbering them (first, second, etc.) makes them clearer. Headers, lists, and bullets also help organize your thoughts for the reader.
Finally, make your reader’s job easier by following the principle of parallel construction. Parallel construction means beginning each item in a list with the same part of speech (the art of advertising, the science of accounting, and the mystery of marketing – each item begins with a noun). This helps alert readers to the similarities or connections between things. If you introduce words or phrases with a preposition, include the preposition either only with the first item or with each of the items.
Parallel: This book is for investors, managers, salespeople, and executives.
Parallel: This book is for investors, for managers, for salespeople, and for executives.
Not parallel: This book is for investors, managers, salespeople, and for executives.
It also helps to put related words together:
Confusing: Investors in the 1930s hurt by the crash acted cautiously.
Better: Investors hurt by the crash in the 1930s acted cautiously.
This kind of positioning makes sentences easier to understand.

Use strong endings.

Use firm endings; don’t go on and on and weaken your point. Use direct, strong statementsEnd by restating your major points or the benefits of following your recommendations.

Let it sit for a while.

If possible, let your writing sit overnight. At least, an hour or two away from the document will allow you to approach it with a fresh eye and to edit more effectively.
Separate editing from writing. With writing, it’s best to get your thoughts out rather than agonize over every detail.

Don't rely on a grammar- or spell-checker.

Edit and review your documents yourself, and don’t rely on a grammar- or spell-checker. In particular, a spell-checker won’t recognize a legitimate word used incorrectly (to vs. too, for example).

Proofread, proofread, proofread.

You can’t proofread something too many times.

When in doubt, just start writing.

If all of this seems too difficult, just start writing. As long as you have a basic idea of what you want to say, you can organize and polish later.

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