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by Lois J. Peterson

Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.

       Joseph Pulitzer

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Words at Work

Ten Tips for Effective Business Writing

The greatest favour you can do your colleagues or customers is to save them time. Make sure that any written communication is clear, concise, and to the point.

    Know who you're writing to, what you need them to do with the information, and the best way to get your message across. That's all it takes.  

These ten tips will help ensure that you get your message across clearly, and elicit the response you're looking for.

1. Know your readers

If you write for 'everybody', you'll reach nobody.

Employees and current customers are probably familiar with your business or agency jargon. But the general public might not be. A current client might already have your phone number and other contact information. But even if others have heard of you, they might not know how to get in touch.

Having a good idea of who your reader is will help your writing be more easily read, understood, and responded to.

2. Know what you want the reader to do with the information

    Most business writing, whether it's a memo, email, news release,

    brochure, or ad, is designed to get a specific response from the reader.

    You either want to get your reader:

•  to act

•  to buy

•  to sign up

•  to give money

•  to know (Of all the categories this is the most challenging. How do you know they now know what you wanted them to know? One rule of thumb is to tell them how your business/service/or agency can affect their life, rather than how you do what you do.)

3. Use the principles of Plain Language

   There's no excuse for leaving your reader guessing about what you meant

   to say, or leaving them confused about what you want them to do. By

   using Plain Language you'll get your message across clearly, and your

   reader will be able to respond appropriately.

• Use short words rather than long ones.

• Use short sentences rather than long ones.

• Avoid jargon unless you're sure your reader understands it.

• Use the active voice rather than the passive voice.

• Use personal pronouns.

• Break long paragraphs up into shorter ones.

• Use headings, lists, and tables or charts to organize detailed information into digestible chunks

4. Watch your language

    Actually, listening to it is even better. Read what you've just written aloud. Ask yourself:   

• Does it sound like you?

• Can you read it without getting out of breath?

• Have you buried the most important information somewhere deep in the middle (the beginnings and ends of sentences, paragraphs and documents get the most attention).

 Often, by reading a piece of work aloud you'll identify words that sound pompous, sentences that are overlong, paragraphs that are repetitious etc.

6. Consider the vehicle

    Memos, news releases, brochures, ads, and annual reports are not all

    equal.They each have specific demands that need to be considered when

    you're writing and/or formatting them. Some questions to consider include:

• Who's the intended reader?

• How will they use the information?

• How will you get it into their hands?

• Is the 'piece' you have in mind going to reach the people you want to read it?

• Is its appearance going to be able to compete with all the other print material that falls into their hands?

7. Test drive your writing

    Find a handful of the kind of readers you're writing for, and get them to

    critique your piece. It's amazing how often it takes someone else to notice

    that you've left out a piece of vital information (Where's the phone number?

    What are you hours of business?). Your test readers can also identify

    what's unclear, redundant or repetitive, and point out typos, too.

8. Profread carefully

   The best person to proofread your work before you hit <Print> is someone

   who has not been involved in writing it. They may catch errors and typos

   you overlooked, and perhaps catch something you omitted.

   (There are a couple of typos in this article. Let me know if you find them and you could win a

      copy of a business writing book.)

9. Learn a few basic elements of graphic design for better readability.

   These include:

• People scan printed material in a backward S shape across the page, so put the most important info at the top and bottom of the S (top left and bottom right). 

• Do not use all upper case.

• Do not use a variety of fancy fonts. Stick to one and vary it by using bold or underline only for emphasis. 

• Leave lots of white space

• Vary text with images (photos or clip art) but stick to one style for consistency.

• Spot colour used well is just as effective as full-colour - and cheaper.

10. Date your materials so staff and clients can determine

      how current the information is.

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