culled from:.lifehack.org
1. Less is more.
In business writing as in virtually every other kind of writing, concision matters.
Ironically, as written information becomes more and more important to
the smooth functioning of businesses, people are less and less willing
to read. Increasingly, magazines and other outlets that used to
run 2,000-word features are cutting back to 500-word sketches. Use
words sparingly, cut out the florid prose, and avoid long, meandering
sentences. As Zorro taught his son, “Get in, make your Z, and get out!” –
get straight to the point, say what you want to say, and be done with
it.
2. Avoid jargon.
Everyone in business hates business writing, all that “blue-sky
solutioneering” and those “strategical synergies” that ultimately, mean
nothing; “brainstorming” and “opportunities to work together” are more
meaningful without sounding ridiculous. While sometimes jargon is
unavoidable – in a business requirement document or technical
specification, for example – try using plainer language. Even for people
in the same field as you, jargon is often inefficient – the eye slides
right past it without really catching the meaning.
There’s a reason that jargon is so often used when a writer wants to not say anything.
3. Write once, check twice.
Proofread immediately after you write, and then again hours or, better yet, days later.
Nothing is more embarrassing than a stupid typo in an otherwise fine document.
It’s hardly fair – typos happen! – but people judge you for those
mistakes anyway, and harshly. Except in the direct emergency, always
give yourself time to set your writing aside and come back to it later.
The brain is tricky and will ignore errors that it’s just made; some
time working on something else will give you the detachment you need to
catch those errors before anyone else reads them.
4. Write once, check twice.
I know, I just said this, but I mean something else here. In addition to catching typos and other errors,
putting
some time between writing and re-reading your work can help you catch
errors of tone that might otherwise escape you and cause trouble.
For instance, when we’re upset or angry, we often write things we don’t
actually want anyone else to read. Make sure your work says what you
want it to say, how you want it to say it, before letting it reach its
audience.
5. Pay special attention to names, titles, and genders.
OK, there is one thing more embarrassing than a typo: calling Mr. Smith “Ms. Smith” consistently throughout a document.
If
you’re not positive about the spelling of someone’s name, their job
title (and what it means), or their gender, either a) check with someone
who does know (like their assistant), or b) in the case of gender, use
gender-neutral language. “They” and “their” are rapidly
becoming perfectly acceptable gender-neutral singular pronouns, despite
what your grammar teacher and the self-righteous grammar nazi down the
hall might say.
6. Save templates.
Whenever you write an especially good letter, email, memo, or other
document, if there’s the slightest chance you’ll be writing a similar
document in the future, save it as a template for future use. Since
rushing through writing is one of the main causes of typos and other
errors,
saving time by using a pre-written document can save you the embarrassment of such errors.
Just make sure to remove any specific information – names, companies,
etc. – before re-using it – you don’t want to send a letter to Mr.
Sharif that is addressed to Mrs. O’Toole!
7. Be professional, not necessarily formal.
There’s a tendency to think of all business communication as formal,
which isn’t necessary or even very productive. Formal language is fine
for legal documents and job applications, but like jargon often becomes
invisible, obscuring rather than revealing its meaning. At the same
time, remember that
informal shouldn’t mean unprofessional
– keep the personal comments, off-color jokes, and snarky gossip out of
your business communications. Remember that many businesses (possibly
yours) are required by law to keep copies of all correspondence – don’t
email, mail, or circulate anything that you wouldn’t feel comfortable
having read into the record in a public trial.
8. Remember the 5 W’s (and the H)
Just like a journalist’s news story,
your communications should answer all the questions relevant to your audience: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?
For example, who is this memo relevant to, what should they know, when
and where will it apply, why is it important, and how should they use
this information? Use the 5W+H formula to try to anticipate any
questions your readers might ask, too.
9. Call to action.
The content of documents that are simply informative are rarely
retained very well. Most business communication is meant to achieve some
purpose, so make sure they include a call to action – something that
the reader is expected to
do. Even better, something the reader should do
right now.
Don’t leave it to your readers to decide what to do with whatever information you’ve provided
– most won’t even bother, and enough of the ones who do will get it
wrong that you’ll have a mess on your hands before too long.
10. Don’t give too many choices.
Ideally, don’t give any. If you’re looking to set a time for a
meeting, give a single time and ask them to confirm or present a
different time. At most, give two options and ask them to pick one.
Too many choices often leads to decision paralysis, which generally isn’t the desired effect.
11. What’s in it for your readers?
A cornerstone of effective writing is describing benefits, not
features. Why should a reader care? For example, nobody cares that
Windows 7 can run in 64-bit mode – what they care about is that it can
handle more memory and thus run faster than the 32-bit operating system.
64-bits is a feature; letting me get my work done more quickly is the
benefit.
Benefits engage readers, since they’re naturally most concerned with finding out how they can make their lives easier or better.
12. Hire a freelancer.
Not a writing tip
per se, I know, but good advice nonetheless.
Writing is most likely not your strong suit – if it’s important, hire someone for whom writing is their strong suit.
You may think freelancers are only for marketing material, but that’s
not true – a good freelance writer can produce memos, training manuals,
internal letters, corporate newsletters, blog posts, wiki entries, and
just about any other kind of writing you can think of. Depending on your
needs, you can farm work out as needed or move a freelancer into a
cubicle on-site, or work out whatever other arrangements best fit your
needs. Expect to pay at least $30 an hour, and more likely $50 – $125 an
hour, for good writing – anyone who charges less is either not very
good, or not very business savvy. (These rates are for writers in US
metro areas – rates may differ in other parts of the world.)
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