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Business Writing

Business Writing. Business Communications 110. You-Attitude. Style of writing that: looks at things from the reader’s point of view emphasizes what the reader want to know respects the reader’s intelligence protects the reader’s ego. 1. Talk about the reader, not yourself.

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Business Writing

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  1. Business Writing Business Communications 110

  2. You-Attitude • Style of writing that: • looks at things from the reader’s point of view • emphasizes what the reader want to know • respects the reader’s intelligence • protects the reader’s ego

  3. 1. Talk about the reader, not yourself • Readers want to know how they benefit or are affected. • Wrong: I have negotiated an agreement with Apex Rent-a-Car that gives you a discount on rental cars. • Better: As a Sunstrand employee, you can now get a 20% discount when you rent a car from Apex.

  4. We are shipping your order of September 21 this afternoon. • Your order will be shipped this afternoon and should reach you by September 28.

  5. 2. Refer to the reader’s request or order specifically • Wrong: Your order… • Individual: The desk chair you ordered • Large store: Your invoice #783329

  6. 3. Don’t talk about feelings except to congratulate or offer sympathy • Wrong: We are happy to extend you a credit line of $5,000 • Better: You can now charge up to $5,000 on your Visa card.

  7. 4. In positive situations, use you more than I • Wrong: We provide health insurance to all employees. • Better: You receive health insurance as a full-time employee.

  8. 5. In negative situations, avoid the word you. • Wrong: You must get approval from the director before you publish any articles or memoirs based on your work in the agency. • Better: Agency personnel must get approval from the director to publish any articles or memoirs based on their work at the agency.

  9. Wrong: You made no allowance for inflation in your estimate. • Better: No allowance for inflation has been made in this estimate. • Better: This estimate makes no allowance for inflation.

  10. Positive Emphasis • Some negatives are necessary. • when you have bad news to give the reader • Announcements of layoffs, product defects, price increases • make people take a problem seriously • In most situations, it’s better to be positive. • Research shows that business people responded more positively to positive than to negative language and were more likely to say they would act on a positively worded request.

  11. 1. Avoid negative words and words with negative connotations • Negative: We have failed to finish taking inventory. • Better: We haven’t finished taking inventory. • Still better: We will be finished taking inventory Friday.

  12. If a sentence has two negatives, substitute one positive term. • Negative: Never fail to back up your disks. • Better: Always back up your disks.

  13. Beware of hidden negatives. • Negative: I hope this is the information you wanted. (implication: I’m not sure) • Better: Enclosed is a brochure about road repairs scheduled for 2009-2011. • Still better: The brochure contains a list of all roads and bridges scheduled for repair during 2009-2011. Call Gwen Wong at 555-3245 for specific dates when work will start and stop, and for alternate routes.

  14. 2. Focus on what the reader can do rather than on limitations • Wrong: We will not allow you to charge more than $1,500 on your Visa account. • Better: You can charge $1,500 on your new Visa card. • Wrong: You will not qualify for the student membership rate of $25 a year unless you are a full-time student. • Better: You get all the benefits of membership for only $25 a year if you are a full-time student.

  15. 3. Justify negative information by giving a reason or linking it to a reader benefit. • Negative: We cannot sell computer disks in lots of loss than 10. • Better: To keep down packaging costs and to help customers save on shipping and handling costs, we sell computer disks only in lots of 10 or more.

  16. 4. If the negative is truly unimportant, omit it. • Negative: A one-year subscription to PC Magazine is $49.97. That rate is not as low as the rates charged for some magazines. • Better: A one-year subscription to PC Magazine is $49.97. You save 43% off the newstand price of $87.78.

  17. 5. Put the negative information in the middle and present it compactly. • The beginning and the end are always positions of emphasis. • Put negatives in the middle of a paragraph rather than the first or last sentence. • Giving a topic lots of space emphasizes it. De-emphasize negative information by giving it as little space as possible.

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