S1BusinessWritingSkills1.docx

S1BusinessWritingSkills1.docx

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S1BusinessWritingSkills1

Section1:

BusinessWritingSkills

TableofContents

Section1:

BusinessWritingSkills

"PowerofthePrintedWord"3

ElementsofStyle6

StagesofEffectiveBusinessWriting6

ReaderSensitivity6

GuidetoDocumentRevision7

EffectiveCommunicationCriteria-7Cs8

SentencesandLinesperParagraph8

Readability9

ConciseVerbsvs.NominalizedVerbs11

WordyPhrases12

TransitionWords13

Parallelism13

TitlesandNumbers13

RegionalUsage/Slang14

ProofreadingGuidelines14

ProductEvaluation14

Withpermission:

InternationalPaperCompany

"PowerofthePrintedWord"

HowToWriteA

BusinessLetter

by

MalcolmForbes

AdaptedfromthoughtsofMalcolmForbes,

FounderofForbesMagazine

Agoodbusinesslettercangetyouajobinterview,getyouoffthehook,orgetyoumoney.It'stotallyasininetoblowyourchancesofgettingwhateveryouwantwithabusinessletterthatturnspeopleoffinsteadofturningthemon.Thebestplacetolearntowriteisinschool.Ifyou'restillthere,pickyourteachers'brains.Ifnot,bigdeal.Ilearnedtorideamotorcycleat50andflyballoonsat52.It'snevertoolatetolearn.

Over10,000businessletterscomeacrossmydeskeveryyear.Theyseemtofallintothreecategories:

stultifyingifnotstupid,mundane（mostofthem）,andfirstrate（rare）.Here'stheapproachI'vefoundthatseparatesthewinnersfromthelosers--itstartsbeforeyouwriteyourletter:

Knowwhatyouwant:

Ifyoudon't,writeitdowninonesentence."Iwanttogetaninterviewwithinthenexttwoweeks."Then,listthemajorpointsyouwanttogetacrossit'llkeepyouoncourse.Ifyou'reansweringaletter,checkthepointsthatneedansweringandkeeptheletterinfrontofyouwhileyouwrite.Thiswayyouwon'tforgetanythingthatwouldcauseanotherroundofletters.Forgoodness'sake,answerpromptlyifyou'regoingtoansweratall.Don'tsitonaletterthatinvitesthepersonontheotherendtositonwhateveryouwantinreturn.

Plungerightin:

Callthereaderbyname--"DearMr.Chrisanthopoalos"not"DearSir,Madam,orMs."andbesuretospellitright.That'llgethim（thus,you）offtoagoodstart.（Usually,youcangetthenamejustbyphoningthecompanyorfromabusinessdirectoryinyournearestlibrary.）

Tellwhatyourletterisaboutinthefirstparagraphusingoneortwosentences.Don'tkeepyourreadersguessingortheymightdiscardyourletterevenbeforetheyfinishit.PeoplewhoreadbusinesslettersareashumanasyouandI.Readingalettershouldn'tbeachore,rewardreadersforthetimetheygiveyou.

Writesoreadersenjoyit:

∙Writetheentireletterfromthereader’spointofview.What'sinitforthereader?

Beatthereadertothedrawbyansweringthequestionsandobjectionsthatmightarise.

∙Bepositive.Thereaderwillbemorereceptivetowhatyouhavetosay.

∙Benice.Contrarytothecliche,genuinelyniceguysmostoftenfinishfirstorverynearit.Iadmitit'snoteasywhenyou'vegotagripe.Tobeagreeablewhiledisagreeingthat'sanart.

∙Benatural.Writethewayyoutalk.Imaginethereadersittinginfrontofyouwhatwouldyousay?

Businessjargontooofteniscold,stiff,andunnatural.SupposeIcameuptoyouandsaid,"IacknowledgereceiptofyourletterandIthankyou."You'dthink,"Huh?

You'reputtingmeon."Theacidtestreadyourletteroutloudwhenyou'redone.Youmightgetashockbutyou'llknowforsureifitsoundsnatural.

∙Don'tbecuteorflippant.Thereaderwon'ttakeyouseriously.Thisdoesn'tmeanyou'vegottobedull.Youpreferyourlettertoknock'emdeadratherthanbore'emtodeath.

Inyourcommunication:

1.Haveasenseofhumor.That'srefreshinganywhereanicesurpriseinabusinessletter.

2.Bespecific.IfItellyouthere'sanewfuelthatcouldsavegasoline,youmightnotbelieveme.ButsupposeItellyouthis:

"Gasohol"10%alcohol,90%gasolineworksaswellasstraightgasoline.Sinceyoucanmakealcoholfromgrainorcornstalks,woodorwoodwaste,coalevengarbage,it'sworthsomerealfollowthrough.Nowyou'vegotsomethingtosinkyourteethinto.

3.Leanheavieronnounsandverbs,lighteronadjectives.Usetheactivevoiceinsteadofthepassive.Yourwritingwillhavemoreguts.Whichoftheseisstronger?

Activevoice:

"Ikickedoutmymoneymanager."Or,passivevoice:

"Mymoneymanagerwaskickedoutbyme."（Bytheway,neitheristrue.Myson,MalcolmJr.,managesForbes’moneyhe'sabrilliantmoneyman.）

Giveitthebestyou'vegot:

Whenyoudon'twantsomethingenoughtomaketheeffort,makinganeffortisawaste.Tomaketheeffort:

∙Makeyourletterlookappetizingoryou'llstrikeoutbeforeyouevengettobat.Typeitongoodquality"81/2x11"stationery.Keepitneat.Useparagraphingthatmakesiteasiertoread.

∙Keepyourlettershorttoonepage,ifpossible.Keepyourparagraphsshort.Afterall,who'sgoingtobenefitifyourletterisquickandeasytoread?

You.Foremphasis,underlineimportantwords.

∙Makeitperfect.Notypos,nomisspellings,nofactualerrors.Ifyou'resloppyandletmistakesslipby,thepersonreadingyourletterwillthinkyoudon'tknowbetterordon'tcare.Doyou?

∙Becrystalclear.Youwon'tgetwhatyou'reafterifyourreaderdoesn'tgetthemessage.

∙UsegoodEnglish.Ifyou'restillinschool,takealltheEnglishandwritingcoursesyoucan.Thewayyouwriteandspeakcanreallyhelporhurt.Ifyou'renotinschool（evenifyouare）,getthelittle71-pagegembyStrunk&White,ElementsofStyle.It'sinpaperback.It'sfuntoreadandloadedwithtipsongoodEnglishandgoodwriting.

∙Don'tputonairs.Pretenseinvariablyimpressesonlythepretender.

∙Don'texaggerate.Evenonce.Yourreaderwillsuspecteverythingelseyouwrite.

∙Distinguishopinionsfromfacts.Youropinionsmaybethebestintheworld.Butopinionsarenotgospel.Youoweittoyourreadertoidentifyopinionsfromfacts.ThedumbestpeopleIknowarethosewho“KnowItAll.”

∙Behonest.It'llgetyoufurtherinthelongrun.Ifyou'renot,youwon'tresteasy.

∙Editruthlessly.Somebodyhassaidthatwordsarealotlikeinflatedmoneythemorewordsthatyouuse,thelesseachoneisworth.Righton.Gothroughyourentireletterjustasmanytimesasittakes.Searchoutandannihilateallunnecessarywords,andsentences--evenentireparagraphs.

Sumitupandgetout:

Thelastparagraphshouldtellthereaderexactlywhatyouwantthereadertodoorwhatyou'regoingtodo.Keepitshortandsweet."MayIhaveanappointment?

NextMonday,May16,I'llcallyoursecretarytoseewhenisconvenientforyou."Closewithsomethingsimplelike,"Sincerely."Andforheaven'ssakesignlegibly.ThebiggestegotripIknowisacompletelyillegiblesignature.Goodluck;Itrustyouwillgetwhatyou'reafter!

MALCOLMFORBES

ElementsofStyle

StagesofEffectiveBusinessWriting

Toproducegoodwriting,youhavetomaketheinformationfitthedocumentandstylethatbestcommunicatestoreaders.Technicalandbusinesswritingconsistsofspecialdocumentssuchasmemos,reports,manuals,andinstructions.Itusuallyrequiresseveralstagesoftextdevelopment:

∙Brainstormwhatthecommunicationmustinclude.

∙Clusteryourideasintotopics.

∙Outlineyourtopics,includingsubtopics.

∙Writearoughdraft.

∙Revisebyeditingyourwork.

∙Proofreadcarefully.

∙Producethefinaldraft.

ReaderSensitivity

Bepositive:

Beingreader-friendlymeanstreatingreaderswell.Youcandothisbyputtingreadersinapositivespotlightasmuchaspossible.Minimizeuseofnegativelanguage,especiallytowardyourreaders.Usepositivelanguageinstead.

Emphasizewhatreaderscandoinsteadofwhattheycannotdo:

Insteadofwriting:

“Youarenoteligibleforthediscount,”

Write:

“Membersareeligibleforthisdiscount.Tobecomeamember,pleasecompleteandsubmitthisform.”

Statefactsinsteadofassigningblame:

Insteadofwriting,“Youdidnotincludeacheckinyourrecentmortgagepaymentmailing,”

Write:

“Wedidnotfindacheckinyourrecentmortgagepaymentmailing.”

Avoidleadingwithnegativeinformation:

Insteadofwriting:

“YourinsuranceisbeingcancelledeffectiveJanuary31.”

Write:

“Ourcompanypolicyenablescustomerstoqualifyforautomobileinsuranceaslongastheyhaveasafedrivingrecord.Customerswhohavebeencitedatfaultintwoormoreaccidentsorwhohavereceivedtwoormorespeedingviolationswithinasix-monthperiodareimmediatelyplacedonprobationarystatus.Anyadditionalaccidentsorspeedingcitationswithinthefollowingsixmonthswillresultinthecancellationofthatcustomer’sautomobileinsurance.”

Bepolite:

Politenessmeansbeingcourteous,civil,considerate,andrespectfultothereader.Politenessisachievedbyusingproperlanguagewhenaddressingthereader.Theappropriatenessofthelanguageusedisreallyafactoroftherelationshipthatexistsbetweenwriterandreader.

Ifthewriterandreaderdonothaveapersonalrelationship,then,inmostsituations,courtesytitlesareused,suchasMr.,Mrs.,Ms.,orDr.Thesetitlesshouldbeusedifthecommunicationisexternal--thewriteriscommunicatingwithsomeoneoutsidehis/herorganization.Ifthewriterandreaderarepartofthesamecompanyororganization,thenpolitelanguagedependsupontheirrespectivepositionsinthehierarchy.Superiorscanmoreeasilyaddresssubordinatesonafirst-namebasis,ignoringcourtesytitles.Subordinatesshouldhaveapersonalrelationshipwithsuperiorsbeforeaddressingthemwithoutusingcourtesytitles.

Befair:

Successfulcompaniesareawareofthediversityoftheworldmarketplaceandtheimportanceofbeinginclusiveofgr