Business writing can be successful if the employee establishes a personal connection with the reader. However, whether it’s a report for management or an email to a customer, writing better business documents gets the job done swiftly and efficiently. You don’t have to sound stuffy; go for a tone that’s as conversational as possible without being unprofessional.
Above all, offer your facts rationally and usefully so that readers are clear on your point and avoid plagiarism at all costs. Run your work through a reliable plagiarism checker to ensure that it does not include any plagiarised material. Besides assuring uniqueness, here are 6 more ways to better your business writing.
Recognize The Intended Goal Of Your Document
You should know why you’re writing and what you hope to achieve before you start writing. Keep your main goal in mind while you write (you can even write it down at the top of your page and return to it as required; just remember to erase it after you’re through with the first draft).
However, if you find that your concentration shifts while you write, that’s okay too. You must change your writing to reflect your new goal if you want to keep your work organized and easy to read.
Consider Who You’re Writing For
What you write and how you say it depends greatly on the intended audience. If you aren’t sure who you’re writing to, consider who the paper is intended for or who would gain the most from reading it. If you are writing to persuade someone to buy something or join a cause, you might want to consider:
- How old are my target readers?
- What is their history?
- Where do they live?
- Where do their passions lie?
- Who are they and what do they value?
You may tailor your writing to your intended readers by asking yourself these and related questions.
Make Use Of Headers To Help Your Viewers Navigate Your Ideas
You should make it a priority to write in a way that is straightforward and simple to comprehend. For this reason, it is crucial to provide brief explanations of the contents of each section.
Headings that are both informative and brief make the content easier to read and retain the attention of the reader. Long documents of any kind, not just reports, benefit greatly from well-organized headers. Multiple headers are possible even on a single page.
Do Not Use Excessive Technical Language Or Slang
Professional or technical jargon is likely to be used in your line of work. However, you shouldn’t assume that others from other backgrounds would automatically grasp them. If you’re writing to someone outside of your profession, skip the technical words. Those people would consider such phrases to be ‘jargon’ and like another language that they find difficult to convert back into their native language. Only use technical phrases if you are convinced that the audience you are writing for understands them as well as you do.
Don’t Be Vague
The reader is more likely to find value in and be engaged by a message that is both tangible and specific than one that is more theoretical or abstract. Any broad assertion has to be buttressed by specifics or complex data.
For example, the phrase “Competition in our industry has risen substantially” requires clarification since the word “significantly” is both broad and unspecific. Offer a number or give some instances of what your rivals are doing to boost their sales.
The overuse of abstract nouns, especially verb-based abstract nouns, is another pitfall of business writing. So instead of saying “special attention must be paid to the concerns of minority groups” we can use “we, they, or whoever is doing the contemplating,” to make it clear that everyone’s opinions and ideas will be taken into account.
Perform A Thorough Review Of Your Work
Mistakes in spelling and grammar are significant red flags. You may prevent them by carefully rereading your writing, ideally more than once. Errors are more obvious when printed out and compared to the digital versions of the document.
If you’re using a text editor that has a spellcheck function, you may want to consider using it. However, keep in mind that spellcheckers are not perfect and will miss certain mistakes. To provide just one example, people can miss the fact that you skipped a word or two.
You should have a friend, partner, or coworker go through your writing if at all possible. They could notice something you have overlooked.
Final Words
Having strong writing skills is crucial in the commercial sector. To effectively reach your readership, your writing must be concise, logical, and specific. Careless, sloppy, unprofessional, or insufficient communication may damage your reputation, lose your sales or investment money, hinder you from getting recruited or promoted, and even leave you open to legal liability. Because of these and other reasons, you should put in the time and effort necessary to ensure the quality of your written communication.
By Viktor Zdraveski