Write better for your business
Writing
convincing, well structured and interesting business proposals, funding
applications, sales letters and reports can often seem like a daunting task.
But business owners need to produce professionally written material to obtain
finances, customers and suppliers. Having a plan to deal with written
communication can help lift the burden of writing for business.
By
Hilla Ovil-Brenner, chief executive of WhiteSmoke, a developer of English
writing software.
Create document
templates
Produce
templates for all staff to use and that can be reused in your business time and
again. If you need to write proposals,
create a structure including all the main section headings and reuse this where
possible.
There
are common elements to all proposals, for instance, information about your
services or your people will often only need slight tweaking. The same can be
applied to quotation letters, funding applications, thank you emails etc. This
saves time and ensures that the writing style used by all employees is
consistent.
Avoid common mistakes
Its
vs. it's or your vs. you're are common mistakes but smack of sloppiness and
detract from your professionalism if presented in business communication. Make
a list of the most common mistakes and add to it as you find more, then share
with your staff - get them all on board to write better and the company will
present itself better. Here are some more to start you off: their vs. there and
affect vs. effect.
Active vs. passive
Active
sentences tend to be shorter and more powerful than passive sentences. Using an
active sentence makes your writing punchier and easier to read. Take for
instance ‘I won the contract to supply....' vs. ‘The contract has been won by me
to supply...' The second sentence is passive, cumbersome and uses too many words
to convey the same meaning.
Business words
Get
access to a business dictionary which can explain the terms and concepts used
regularly in the business world. Using the right business words in the right
context displays a good understanding of the corporate world.
Keep it short
Remember
that readers have a limited amount of time and you want their full attention. By
using short sentences and short paragraphs, a reader is more likely to concentrate
on what you want.
Don't be vague
Be
specific about what you want. Do you sometimes send emails which never get
actioned? Maybe you need to check your
closing sentence to see whether you actually asked a question and gave specific
details about your requirements.
‘I
look forward to hearing from you' isn't as good as ‘I look forward to hearing
from you about our quote and will call you in a couple of days to follow up.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.'
Use bullets
Bullet
points open up the space on the page making it easier for people to read. In
business presentations most people drop punctuation entirely and often
capitalise each bulleted item. If you write a proposal from various sources
within your firm, just make sure the punctuation or lack thereof is consistent.
Avoid computer and maths
words
Use
computer terms such as "input" when talking about computer databases, "bandwidth"
when discussing telecommunications capacity, and "parameter" when discussing
mathematical limits.
Avoid
sentences such as "Our firm has the bandwidth necessary to input our
recommendations within the parameters of the contract." How about,
"We've got the people and skills to do the job."
Consider your writing
style
Writing
is hard.
Grammar
is not enough.
Do
these two super-short sentences really explain themselves? As any good writer
knows, content can be improved by making use of alternating sentence lengths
and descriptive vocabulary - synonyms, adjectives and adverbs.
By
paying attention to your writing style, your text can become much more
interesting, illustrative, and communicative.
Use
grammar and spell checkers wisely - most misspellings occur when the correct
word is used in the wrong context, for example, "He poured over the
proposal." Unless he actually spilled his coffee, you should have written,
"He pored over."
