For many of us – both employees and business owners alike – business writing is a core activity in our occupation and daily lives. If we are not able to communicate effectively and efficiently, our own careers can suffer and, ultimately, the business can be directly and indirectly impacted upon in a number of negative ways.
Business communication is the foundation upon which business performance and success are based. Writing for a business audience is different from writing for the public or in an academic context. There are fundamental principles of writing and editing in the business world that should be followed. Furthermore, recent advancements in communication mediums have also promoted changes in business communication.
A Changing Business World
The world as we know it is in a continual state of fluctuation. New ways to communicate and new writing guidelines are in a continual state of evolution. Business communication is no different. According to Egan (1995), business communication is meant to be less formal than it once was. This does not negate the fact that it has to be 100% professional; rather, it now has an element of affability or friendliness. This also ties in with Egan’s (1995) suggestion that such communication is more laid-back in style.
Business writing, although required to be free from spelling, punctuation and grammatical mistakes, is no longer seen as having to possess the same level of formality or particularity that it once espoused (Egan, 1995). One just has to look at business communication on the Internet to discover the decreased level of formality that exists, and is accepted practice, in business writing today.
Writing Tips
Good business writing can be achieved by following some general writing tips. There is no reason that good writing should elude anyone in business. The following offers some guidelines for achieving writing success in business communication:
- Sentences should be short and succinct. Many readers – whether a colleague or customer – are time-poor these days. The amount of information that they are presented with every day can be overwhelming. Short sentences provide the reader with the ability to understand the main points and overall message in a shorter amount of time. In a long-winded, vague piece of writing, the reader may have doubts about the writer’s credibility and will be less likely to hear the intended message.
- Present your expertise and knowledge to the reader. What is your proficiency in this field? Who are you to be presenting this information? Is it appropriate to provide references to support your statements?
- Study the intended audience. There is no point writing a magnificent piece if it is not tailored to the reader. They either will not read it or will skim through it and overlook essential pieces of information (Epperson, 2003).
Software to Help
So far, we’ve read that business communication is changing and have discovered tips for effective writing. An innovation to ensure all your business writing is accurate, streamlined and unambiguous is that of editing software. StyleWriter – an editing software program – demonstrates how to edit your business documents. StyleWriter, in essence, is akin to having a personalized editing tutor. It reveals how to cut around a third of superfluous words. The outcome is a streamlined document that is easy-to-understand and can be read effortlessly. StyleWriter reduces your editing time and increases results.
References
Egan, M. (1995) ‘Total quality business writing’, The Journal for Quality and Participation, 18 (6): 34-38
Epperson, K. (2003) '37 tips for authors’, Organization Development Journal, 21 (1): 94.