Improve your business writing skills to achieve your goals
Do you know how to write effective business letters? ?Do you know how you can improve your business writing skills to make sure your audience understand what you are trying to say without having to sweat it out? If you have very little experience in writing such forms of communication and would like to enhance your skills, here are some things you absolutely need to know.
Tips for Better Business Writing
Use simple language. You don’t need to impress your readers by using big words and technical jargon. After all, they do not have time to look up their meanings in the dictionary. What you need is to impress them with the clarity of your message. To achieve this, use simple, concrete words every ninth grader will understand.
Avoid using clich?s and old-fashioned phrases. Metaphors, similes, clich?s and old-fashioned phrases shouldn’t be used in writing business letters. There is simply no place for them there.
Keep it short. In business writing, less is more. Get straight to the point. However, don’t overdo it or your document will look choppy and may lose its essence.?
Be professional. All forms of business communication should be written professionally. ?However, this is not to say that you should always use formal language. Remember the first rule ? always use simple language. That’s the best way to do it.
Answer all the questions. Mind the 5 W’s and H of journalism. Anticipate all the who, what, when, where, why and how questions your readers might ask.?
Describe the benefits. What’s in it for your audience? How can they benefit from it? Engage your readers right from the start by telling them how they can benefit from reading your document.
Include a strong call to action. What do you want to accomplish by writing the document? What do you want your audience to do after reading it? Let them know what you want them to do. Otherwise, they might not even bother taking any action. You don’t want that to happen, do you?
Avoid using the passive voice. It is best to use the active voice when writing business documents since it is more direct and to the point. The passive voice is wordy and awkward in comparison.
Always check for errors. Don’t leave anything to chance. Check your documents twice before sending it. Omit needless words. Look out for typos and grammar mistakes. Pay special attention to names, titles and genders. If you are not quite sure about anything, take some time to do your research. Remember, it is always better to be safe than sorry.
These simple yet effective tips can surely take the pain out of writing effective business letters and other business documents so make sure to keep these in mind.
