High Impact Business Writing

HIGH IMPACT BUSINESS WRITING INTRODUCTION Being an effective writer is an important factor in your success. In this course we will discuss the various components of business writing.    

Planning Strategy Mechanics And considerations for different types of documents

Document in this entire course comprises of both paper and electrical letters. This is based on American business writing

MODULE 1 Lesson 1: General writing and big picture issues We’ll discuss the type of language choices including tone, formality, and important consideration and planning your document and word choices 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

What you’re trying to say Audience Brevity Clarity Word choice Sentence structure. High impact words Avoidance of jargons and colloquialisms Documents with technical complexity

Capture attention very quickly Get to your point quickly and be very clear in your content. Prove the value of you document quickly else the audience will never read beyond 2 lines. 1. Get right to the point but in a polite, professional and focused. If it is a letter a one or 2 line pleasantries is sufficient and then get to your point 2. Make reading the document easy. 2.1. Be clear, efficient and enjoyable 2.2. Be personable and friendly 2.3. Avoid overly formal language (Remember you’re not trying to impress you high school teacher) 3. Thinking about your audience 3.1. Are you writing to your colleague? 3.2. Your boss? 3.3. A proposal to customer? 4. Write from the reader’s point of view.

5. Be likeable and sound natural 6. Avoid casualisms 7. Avoid being overly formal and wordy 8. Use names and personal pronouns 9. State arguments positively 10.Avoid sarcasm 11.Include courtesies 12.Exhibit goodwill by exhibit concern for reader’s viewpoint. 13.Use active voice (for example, we have looked into your problems, rather write our techinacl team is actively working on your concern at this time) 14.Be judicious with use of humor. 15.Assume their goodwill and cooperation

Lesson 2: Writing style best practices. 1. Consider how you will be perceived (remember unlike vis-à-vis dialogue, here only words wil convey the meaning) 2. Show the meaning right away 3. Write as if you are in conversation, be natural (but don’t become flippant) 4. Show evidence, state facts, this keeps the reader glued. 5. Make it easy to understand. Avoid jargons and complex statements. 6. Clarity 6.1. Write so clearly that the readers can’t misinterpret 6.2. Simple language 6.3. Avoid Bizspeak. (ex: At your earliest convenience, avoid this, instead just say as soon as you can) 6.4. Be concise but don’t compromise on meaning. 7. Be brief, polite and informative 7.1. Get right to the point 7.2. Active voice 7.3. Use passive voice when you want to sound less accusatory 7.4. Avoid fussy endings. 7.5. Be ruthless with editing. Usually the summary should be in the beginning of the document 8. Focused and specific 9. Get to the point 10.5W’s : Who, what, when, where and why 11.Write summary last.

Lesson 3: Word Choice 1. 2. 3. 4.

Avoid non-standard vocabulary and colloquialisms. Do not end sentences with ‘at’ Use contractions if they sound natural Watch out for homonyms words with various forms and other commonly confused words. ( visit http://grammar.about.com/od/correctingerrors/a/comblogs03.htm) 5. Avoid acronyms (ex: B2B,) 6. Avoid jargon (if unavoidable, explain) 7. Use high impact words but retain the true meaning. 7.1. Strong, impactful word choices 7.2. Retain true meaning 7.3. Avoid simplistic modifiers.

8. Sometimes we need to add words for clarity so brevity is compromised for clarity 9. Suggestions for word choice 9.1. Don’t use multiple words when you ca use one 9.2. Stick to idiomatic English 9.3. Don’t drop article 9.4. Remove words that aren’t performing a real function

Lesson 4: Developing and Preparing Documents Steps in preparing documents 1. Learn two views on approaching the development of business documents 2. Learn specific approaches to organizing content of a document. Traditional View 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Goal/intent Brainstorm Organize in terms of chronology and/or importance Main ideas Draft from the main ideas without constraining yourself to editing Revise Edit Proofread

Garner’s Approach 1. Madman A mad man gathers material and generates ideas. 2. Architect Organizes all the material by drawing a guideline. 3. Carpenter Puts thoughts into words. 4. Judge Quality control, or editing