Quick tips for better business writing
Whether it’s an email to your boss, a letter to your customers or a corporate report, you want your writing to be clear, concise and effective. Good writing lets your reader know you’re professional and credible. These seven tips will help you sharpen up your business writing.
1. Think about what you want to say first
Before you start typing, think about what you want to say and who you’re talking to. What are the key messages your reader needs to know? Planning out what you want to write first will help your writing become more direct and effective.
2. Less is more
Keeping your writing brief will give you the best chance of engaging your reader. People’s attention spans are getting ever shorter, so you’ll want to be snappy to keep their focus. That doesn’t mean you can’t go into detail or explain complex subjects, but you need to be concise in what you’re saying. You can also help your reader stay with you by considering how you lay out your text.
Examples of ways you can keep your writing tight are:
Cutting long sentences – aim for less than 30 words per sentence
Keeping paragraphs short – focus on one idea or theme in each paragraph
Breaking up long chunks of text – use sub-headings, bullet points or numbered lists
3. Write in Plain English
Writing in plain English isn’t about oversimplifying what you want to say or patronising your reader. It’s about writing in a way that’s easy to understand, friendly and efficient. That means:
Avoiding technical terminology your reader won’t understand
Cutting out industry jargon if you’re talking to the general public
Using contractions to sound less formal (for example, don’t instead of do not and we’re instead of we are)
A good test is to ask yourself whether your neighbour or your nan would understand what you’re writing. If not, have another go at using more everyday language.
4. Active tense over passive
The active voice is more energetic than the passive voice. It’s more direct, more engaging and helps your writing flow better. There will be some situations where it’s more appropriate to use the passive tense, but aim for most of your writing to be in the active tense.
5. Go easy on exclamation marks
Exclamation marks are a great way to inject a little enthusiasm or friendliness into your business writing. But it’s worth using them sparingly. Using too many could make you come across as an excitable puppy, which is probably not how you want colleagues or customers to think of you!
6. Go back and edit
Now you’ve got all your words on paper, go back and check you’ve ticked off the key messages from your plan. Have you been clear and concise in what you’ve written? Have you used plain English and written in the active tense? Have you cut out unnecessary jargon?
7. Don’t forget the final proofread
You don’t want to be that person you accidentally signs off a company-wide email Love Sarah xoxo, because you didn’t read it through before hitting send. Proof reading is important. If you can, take a break or do something else before you proofread your writing, so you can go back to it with fresh eyes.
Sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us and the brain sees what you expect to read, not what’s actually there. If you’re writing a document in Word or an email in Outlook, try the Read Aloud feature as it can be easier to pick up mistakes when you hear them out loud.
