Business writing tips

I’m trying to improve my writing skills. I have “some” experience writing reports from university business, but would really like to have a better foundation now that I’m working and will probably have to write more business documents. Suggestions for online resources or books that give good tips and exercises for writing?

Read Strunk & White 3 times, write as often as possible and when you’re not sure about something grammar related, always look it up. Within a year you’ll be leaps and bounds above where you are today. Excellent writing skills go a long way in business, however, there’s no need to be overly concerned. You’ll improve as time goes on.

brevity helps business. (I’m not so good about it myself, but it does help.)

As I just posted in another thread, I write roughly 1,000 to 3,000 words on a typical day. There are a few basic “rules” to business writing–creativity is totally off limits; using any type of language that can in any way be construed as informal is totally off limits (e.g. don’t use “gargantuan”; rather, use “large.”); using needlessly large words is off limits (e.g. using the word “precipitous” to describe a large decline is good. Using the word “ostentatious” rather than “obvious” is not so good); using legalise is off limits (the idea is to communicate, not to confuse in an attempt to impress). One thing I HATE–the numbers. Any number under 10 is spelled out and any number over 10 is written out; however, the number 10 has a number of different opinions attached to it.

>Using the word “ostentatious” rather than “obvious” is not so good Especially as they mean different things.

Thanks for the book suggestion. I just did some research on it, I think I’ll pick it up. islandergold Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Read Strunk & White 3 times, write as often as > possible and when you’re not sure about something > grammar related, always look it up. > > Within a year you’ll be leaps and bounds above > where you are today. Excellent writing skills go a > long way in business, however, there’s no need to > be overly concerned. You’ll improve as time goes > on.

Any other writing tips? I’ve been writing a lot more lately. While I feel like I can get the job done, I really want to take my writing to the next level in terms of both quality and speed.

I’ve written for lots of publications. If you are having trouble putting your words on paper, try writing as if you are having a conversation with someone. It will give your writing a natural rhythm. Grab a copy of The Economist style guide - plenty of tips in there on a range of things (also on their website). Use an active rather than passive grammar style i.e. subject verb object. Less is more. Don’t write long sentences (approx 27 words is best - it mimics how we speak). Read out the sentence and you’ll know if it is too long. Chop out anything that is superfluous. Make good use of paragraphs and white space. The reader gets turned off by large blocks of text. Use Shift F7 in word to bring up the thesauras, it’s often the best way to get that word your searching for. Ps kkent it’s legalese not legalise. I should proof for you. :wink:

My #1 writing tip: it’s all about the verb. Avoid passive voice as much as possible and use the verb that means what you want to say. I hate reading a clunky three-word construction or a colloquialism when there’s a single word that does the job exactly.

Basically you can write as if you’re speaking (albeit to a formal audience). It helps, if you are naturally eloquent that way. Big words should be used sparingly - like spices in french cooking - don’t use too many, and make sure they deliver real flavor when you do use them. Long sentences make it harder for your reader to follow. Also get to the main point or points as quickly as possible. We’re often taught to present a bunch of data and then the conclusion, but really you want to present the conclusion and then the supporting data. People can read for the main point, and then continue if they want to see the support. Most people don’t want to have to wade through a bunch of stuff wondering “what’s the main takeaway here.” Labeling sections is good too. Hopefully someone can get the gist of your writing by just skimming the sections, looking at some tables, and then decide if they want to read what you wrote. BTW, I really like frisian’s point about it all being about the verb. The verb is the most important part of the sentence - in fact, you can’t have a sentence without a verb (the noun is sometimes implied, as in “Stop!”)

> it’s all about the verb I’ve heard “use nouns and verbs, not adjectives and adverbs”

What business writing are you talking about? Business writing and communication differs greatly from internal emails, external emails, Request for Proposals (RFPs), client presentations, internal presentations, research reports, white papers, etc.

An average of 27 words per sentence? Seems a bit high.

What about email etiquette? I address somebody soley by their first name (i.e. John, … rather than Dear John, Hi John, Dear Mr Johnson etc) and finish with Regards, Carson. Anybody do anything different? This would be for a reasonably formal email obviously, not to you friend on the next floor.

> Business writing and communication differs greatly from internal emails, external emails, Request for Proposals (RFPs), client presentations, internal presentations, research reports, white papers, etc. Writing style shouldn’t differ for these, and certainly all of the aforementioned tips apply to each style you mention. People get a little lazy when their boss isn’t looking, such as using contractions, but that’s beside the point. Or perhaps you’d like to demonstrate some differences?

I just picked up Strunk and White. 30% off at Coles/Indigo/Chapters in Canada

An effective writing technique is to use single declarative sentences.

It should be clear and concise with a hint of polite.

LPoulin133 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It should be clear and concise with a hint of > polite. We have engaged in an evaluation of Company X Inc. on an non-myopic basis which is inclusive of quantitative models and relative valuation analysis. We also completed a SWOT analysis and I have concluded that it is prudent to advise our clients that Company X Inc. is a highly suitable investment for our clients’ portfolios. Moreover, I have a strong tendency to gravitate towards the belief that management is strongly competent in creating opportunities of growth in various segments of the market while still maintaining high net profit margins. Along these lines, we have also seen demand that is persistent from the company’s growing customer base, and at the same, the company has pricing power that is effectively hurting competitors and may be rendering them out of business. Company X’s products like Gadget X is the largest makeup of the company which is constantly getting more and more profitable by their product development engineers. The reason? Personally, I think that the engineers are hardworking and will able to reduce the company’s costs per unit using cheaper technlogy; while still maintaining quality. For the above reasons, we recommend a strong buy recommendation for Company X. — Is it good? Do you think my writing skills will help me get a job at GS?

read On Writing Well by William Zinsser.