10 Steps To Successful Business Writing.docx

10 Steps To Successful Business Writing ContentsIntroduction2Step 1: Understand the Demand for Good Writing5Step 2: Know Where Youre Taking Your Readers10Step 3: Be Explicit, Clear, and Concise17Step 4: Grab Your Readers Attention27Step 5: Write with Rhythm to Hold Your Readers37Step 6: Organize to Help Your Readers Understand46Step 7: Choose a Tone That Produces Good Results65Step 8: Put Your Best Grammar on the Page77Step 9: Edit, Rewrite, and Refine93Step 10: Master the Documents You Use Most Often106 IntroductionSuccessful business writing starts with simplicity. The beauty of simplicity is that it can produce results faster. A few years ago, a technology firm produced a television commercial for its software consulting services that went something like this: One man (well call him Bob) is speaking in complex technical jargon to explain to another man (lets call him Dave) why their firm should invest in a particular software package. Frustrated with words he doesnt understand, Dave implores Bob to cut the techno-babble and explain the purchase rationale in a way that management could understand. Bob pauses to think about his words; then he says, “For every buck we invest, well get back two.” So simple, so quick, and so powerful! Think of some of the most memorable advertising slogans: Nike: “Just do it.”State Farm: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” Subway: “Eat fresh.”Those slogans are all so simple, but the advertising agency creative teams probably spent many months and big bucks developing them. Simple isnt always easy. Its like hitting a golf ball: one of the most important skills issimplykeeping your head down during the swing, but so many golfers cant do it consistently. The good news is that effective business writing doesnt demand that we brainstorm clever slogans or acquire hand-eye coordination. It requires only that we know what we want to say and then choose simple words and follow simple rules. Why is it so hard to be simple? Too bad that all messages cant be as direct as that TV commercial or those popular slogans. Consider these messages I recently received while battling my personal computer: Avsynmgr has caused an error in MCSCAN32DLL. The application will close. Oh, I get it. I knew I should have paid more attention to my Avsynmgr! The instruction at OxSad715131 referenced memory at Ox0000019. The memory could not be found. I knew it. I shouldve referenced that memory at Ox0000019 like I usually do!The application Windows Genuine Advantage Notification has changed since you first gave it access to the Internet. Do you still want to let it access the Internet? I want to access the Internet and dont care if Windows Blah-Blah-Blah can access it!These messages may be perfectly clear to youif youre the information technology directorbut not to me. I even had trouble downloading my favorite jazz radio station online to help get me through the long hours writing this book. Sure, I figured it out so Im not that dumb, but I still crave simple instructions. On the bright side, technology and software companies are starting to recognize that we plain folk need plain instructions with no chance for confusion. Microsoft has managed to craft a brilliantly direct message that appears on my screen after I close all the programs: It is now safe to turn off your computer. Hallelujah! Theres the beauty of using plain English. What Youll Find in This BookThis book is written for people at all levels of writing proficiency, including those who struggled with high school or college English. Not having a rich vocabulary actually could help you become a more effective business writer because you automatically go for the simpler language. Thats good! Ive put together what I believe are the 10 most important steps for successful writing in the simplest way, and Ive included an appendix that explains how companies and organizations can improve employees writing skills. If youre looking for a book with extensive discussion on the philosophy of writing, audience analysis, readability matrixes, sentence diagrams, and countless grammar rules, this isnt it. I didnt have the patience to go into such detailand my gut feeling was that you wouldnt have the patience to read it. Instead, I wrote a short, practical guide to help you write better. Because the best way to improve your writing is by actual practicerather than by learning a theoryIve chosen to explain by example. Throughout the 10 steps youll find many places where Ive presented the same message in two waysone version better than the other. Taking the principle of powerful simplicity, heres a preview: Wordy: Many topics were discussed at the meeting held yesterday at 11 in the morning. Among the most pressing topics was the high travel costs among the salesforce, which are becoming more and more of a problem. Its gotten to the point that the CEO has said unequivocally that our division must conduct a teleconference with the salesforce. This means we have to cancel the next regional sales meeting that was previously scheduled. The CEO and other senior executives have determined that this would help save on travel, which has become way too costly. Simple: To reduce travel costs, the CEO has ordered us to cancel the next regional sales meeting and conduct a tele-conference instead. Many of the tips Ill give you here were collected from my business writing workshops over the past few years. Feedback from students Ive taught in group and one-on-one sessions helped me identify the most important skills to address and the most critical types of documents to include in Step 10: Master the Documents You Use Most Often. If you have interest in or responsibility for the collective writing abilities of the employees in your organization, the Appendix explains practices to enhance the writing of personnel at all levels and shows you how to design and conduct writing training tailored to your employees needs. Here are the 10 steps I believe will help you become a successful writer of business documents: Step 1: Understand the Demand for Good WritingIf we dont write effectively, we get poor results. The pace and intensity of business demand that we communicate briefly and clearlyand doing so is a learned skill that richly repays the effort we make. Step 2: Know Where Youre Taking Your ReadersIts a lot easier to find your way when you know where youre going. Define the message you want to get across to your readers and then build a straight and solid bridge to lead them to your point.Step 3: Be Explicit, Clear, and ConciseDont present your readers with a murky swamp of vague terms, jargon, buzzwords, and stuffy phrases. Be precise and brief.Step 4: Grab Your Readers AttentionStart with whats most important, unleash active verb power, and push readers buttons. Step 5: Write with Rhythm to Hold Your ReadersWhen there is a smooth flow to your words and sentences, with good transitions to unify ideas, your reader will move easily through your message.Step 6: Organize to Help Your Readers UnderstandFollowing the organizing method thats most suitable for each document you create will help your readers grasp the point youre making. Arranging ideas in a logical order, using introductory paragraphs, and separating sections with subheads will make your documents simple to follow and easy to understand. Step 7: Choose a Tone That Produces Good ResultsFit your language and your attitude to your readerseven when the readers are a diverse lot. This is a great way to empathize with them.Step 8: Put Your Best Grammar on the PageGrammar is nothing more than frightening than a set of simple rules. Grasp them, apply them, and bend some old ones. Step 9: Edit, Rewrite, and RefineWhen youve written your document, take your readers position. Edit the document for message clarity, organization, and mechanics. Refine your writing until your gut tells you its ready for your readers.Step 10: Master the Documents You Use Most OftenIf you become adept at writing the kinds of documents you produce every dayemail messages, project proposals, customer letters, press releases, or slide presentations youll have much less stress and get better results from your efforts.Enjoy the book, and use it to propel your writing to a higher level! Step 1: Understand the Demand for Good WritingOverviewPoor writing yields poor resultsWhy dont we like to write?Effective writing can be learnedGood writing pays offToday, business moves at such lightning speed that writers at every level need to deliver information instantly and accurately to a wide array of tough audiences. Top executives demand that your documents get to the bottom line immediately. Prospective clients need your proposal to explain precisely what separates your firm from competitors. And rank-and-file employees need written communication with clear direction and explicit instructions. Poor Writing Yields Poor ResultsWith the electronic tools at our disposal todaycomputers, wireless PDAs, and mobile Internet-linked devicesjust about everyone writes. Practically gone are the days when most professionals dictated letters to their secretaries. Youd think that with everyone constantly writing, wed get better at itbut thats not happening. Most experts believe the quality of writing on the job has worsened over the past 30 years. They point to the lack of clarity and to carelessly written emails that ignore basic spelling and punctuation rules. Its unfortunate that the business world has come to accept such poor writing. A recent survey by Cohesive Knowledge Solutions () revealed that working professionals spend 40 percent of their day on activities related to emaila third of which are considered wasted time. This translates into about 12 percent of the day or, financially extrapolated across the U.S. business landscape, more than $300 billion a yearwasted! Getting people to send fewer emails is not necessarily the answer. One executive, responding to an Net Future Institute (NFI) Research survey, said the problem wasnt the number or frequency of emails; it was the inability of the writer to get to the point (Hudson Valley Business Journal, August 21, 2006). If youre still not convinced about the impact of poor writing on productivity, consider these other reports: A third of workers in the nations blue-chip companies write poorly, and businesses spend $3.1 billion annually on writing training. (National Commission on Writing, panel established by the College Board, New York Times, Dec. 7, 2004). “Poorly written business communications waste time, drain productivity and cause errors” (HR Magazine, June 2006).Eighty-five percent of respondents said weak workplace communication wasted time, and 70 percent cited lost productivity, according to a survey by Communicare, Inc. (HR Magazine, April 2006).Plus, in a publication by its Public Policy Council, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) reported that one of the biggest knowledge gaps was in writing skills. Why Dont We Like to Write?Writing is hard, and its one of the least-favorite activities for most employees. For many of us, the problem goes all the way back to elementary school when writing was that most-dreaded assignment. Instead of encouraging us to be creative and experiment with words, many teachers stressed correctnesspointing out every grammar and spelling mistake. That was no fun! Nor, for most of us, was high school or college English. Flashback: That 1,000-word essay is due tomorrow and youre still 400 words short! Crank up some more sentences. Plug in some fancy new vocabulary wordsthatll impress the teacher (even if youre not sure what they mean). Dont worry about rephrasing ideas already written. Just keep churning out those words until you reach that magic 1,000. Thats a terrible and stressful way to write. Because too many workers havent let go of that high school essay syndrome and other habits formed years earlier, their writing continues to suffer. For them, the consequence is worse than a poor grade: people will lose interest and stop reading their documents. I apologize now to all teachers of composition, grammar, and vocabularythose topics serve critical roles in our language. As business writers, we need to follow the rules of grammar to make our documents clear and readable. And we risk embarrassing ourselves before supervisors, clients, and colleagues when we ignore basic grammar rules. So I appeal to all teachers, from elementary school through college: stress clarity and brevity, the qualities your students will need when they write in the business world. Effective Writing Can Be LearnedForget those long and drawn-out essays with complex words to demonstrate your command of the English language (or to show how well you faked it). The rules have changed since you were in school. With business text, your objective is not to impress the reader. Typically, its to explain a situation, to suggest solutions to a problem, to offer instructions, or to recommend action. If you convey these points in a clear, concise, and organized fashion, you become an effective business writer. This goal is well within your reach; just follow the steps in this book. Plus, pay more attention to documents from other writers, everyone from authors and journalists to top executives, middle managers, and support personnel. Notice whats well written and whats not, whats clear and whats confusing. As the reader, determine how effectively information is presented to youa process that will help you generate documents that are clear, concise, and easily understood. Good Writing Pays OffTo a great extent, you are what you write in the corporate world. Co-workers, clients, vendors, and others may know you best by your writing, the most common means of business communication. Your words can convey anything from enthusiasm, intelligence, and empathy to laziness, selfishness, and ignorance. Good writing helps demonstrate leadership skills. Company heads can shape the future of their organizations and inspire employees (see example 1.1). Senior-level supervisors can explain complex sales or management strategies. Mid-level managers can demonstrate or validate leadership abilities to subordinates and supervisors. And any employee who writes effectively will look better to the people who may play a role in determining his or her future with the company. For example, a well-written document can show readers that you understand all aspects of the problem and can clearly convey them.you understand how the problem affects various people and departments.youve thought about potential solutions and can