7 Skills for Business Writing Success

By Tina L. Miller

In the business world today, how you present yourself in writing can have a big impact on your career and your business. Your written communicationswhether an email message, a business letter, or a formal reportrepresent you. They make an impact on the reader, whether positive or negative, and form the basis for the readers opinion of you.

1. Understanding Business writing serves a purpose: to communicate a message to a target audience. It could be a memorandum to company employees, a letter to a prospective client, or one of dozens of other business communications. In every case, you are writing to communicate something. To effectively communicate your message, you must understand both the message youre trying to get across and who your target audience is.

2. Good English and grammar Have you ever received a letter with a typo? It can be pretty distracting, and it detracts from the message the writer was trying to communicate. Poor English or grammar is 10 times as distracting. To the reader, these kinds of glaring errors can suggest the writer is careless, sloppy, or simply doesnt know any better. In any event, it leaves a negative impression, and thats not the kind of impression you want to leave. Take some time to brush up on your English and grammar skills, and consult a reference book when in doubt.

3. Good spelling Just like poor English and grammar, misspelled words leave a negative impression with your reader. Most word processing programs have a spell checker feature. Use it. But dont let that be a substitute for careful proofreading. Using the wrong form of a word (their, theyre, there) wont show up on your spell checker. If in doubt, look it up in the dictionary. It will be time well spent to maintain your professional image.

4. Clarity Effective business communications shouldnt read like a complicated legal contract. The goal here is to communicate, not confuse. State the facts as clearly and simply as possible, using language your reader can easily understand. Use examples when necessary to make a point. Answer any questions your communication may suggest.

5. Empathy Put yourself in your readers shoes. Empathize with your reader. Write with your reader in mind. Anticipate how your reader will feel about the message youre communicating and try to make the message easy to receive. Make your communication as easy to understand as possible. Answer any questions you anticipate the reader will have. Include contact information so the reader can follow-up with you if there are additional questions.

6. Goodwill Whenever possible, you want to maintain goodwill with your reader. Even if the message you are communicating is negative, you can still phrase your communication as positively as possible. Dont compose a business communication when youre angry or upset. Always keep your long-term business goals in mind and try not to burn any bridges.

7. Creativity You can get more creative with some business communications than others. For instance, an advertising message lends itself to creative writing more than an annual report. With all the communications that cross a readers desk each day, a little creativity can make your message stand out from the stacks.

Tina L. Miller is a freelance writer whos been published in Corporate & Incentive Travel and the Milwaukee Business Journal. Learn how to avoid common grammar and punctuation mistakes in your writing with her one-on-one refresher course. Stop by http://www.tinalmiller.com today.

Copyright © 2000 by Tina L. Miller. All rights reserved.