Business Writing

1. Business Writing Thursday, August 8, 2013 Allison Nicolle– Dalhousie Writing Centre

2. Press Release E-Mail Web site Strategic plan Brochure Memo Proposal Report Business Letter Instruction Manual Performance Review Presentation Annual Report Status Update

3. Types of Business Writing • Correspondence • e-mail, letters, memos • Reports • Inform and share information on a topic • Status of a project, new product idea, process improvement, ideas from a conference, potential customer • Proposals • Recommendations/plans to help the business grow and/or solve a problem • Forward-thinking • Persuasive call to action • Instructions • Explain and/or describe how something works

4. Business Writing Facts • You are what you write • Your writing is a reflection of you • Make a positive impression • Document will be scanned, probably not read • Executives are busy. Make it easy for them to find what is relevant and to want to read further • Lack of opportunity to clarify • Writing must speak for itself

5. Tips for Effective Business Writing • Know your audience • Use language and content familiar to your readers • Anticipate and be prepared for potential reactions • Managers are time-pressed, content-driven, and decision-focused • Be clear about your purpose • Is your desired outcome to share information, explain a situation, persuade someone to act, … • One document, one purpose • Think like a reporter • who, what, where, when, why, and how? • Avoid buzzwords, technical jargon, abbreviations, and cliches Adapted from Business Development Bank of Canada website, http://www.bdc.ca/EN/advice_centre/articles/Pages/10_tips_for_effective_business_writing.aspx Nov. 16, 2010.

6. Tips for Effective Business Writing • Be concise • State your point and minimize extraneous words • Make it easy to follow and understand • Use descriptive headings and bullet points to highlight key information – “scannable” • The most important information should be at the top • Use active language • Action verbs - analyzed, conducted, organized… • Proofread for errors • You will be judged on presentation as much as content Adapted from Business Development Bank of Canada website, http://www.bdc.ca/EN/advice_centre/articles/Pages/10_tips_for_effective_business_writing.aspx Nov. 16, 2010.

7. The Writing Process • Madman • Creative, generative • Brainstorm all possible ideas • Architect • Organize your ideas into themes • Build a framework for your report with main ideas and supporting details • Carpenter • Build your ideas and supporting details into paragraphs • Judge • Critically evaluate the strength of your argument • Fix grammar, spelling, and word choices Adapted from: Garner, Bryan (2013), HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston

8. Common Writing Concerns Avoid unintentionally making the wrong impression • Be direct about your • desired outcome – inform, • recommend, take action Unclear Purpose Disorganized structure • Use descriptive headings and/ • or bullet points as signposts • One main idea per paragraph • introduced with a topic sentence Too long • Remove unnecessary words, • especially description Catchphrases “paradigm shift” “out of the box thinking” “win-win solution” • Limit their use • Often seen, but seldom effective • Say what you mean • Audience-specific • Easily misinterpreted Humour

9. Common Grammar Errors • Capitalization • Punctuation • Your/You’re and It’s/Its • There/Their/They’re • Affect/Effect • Fewer/Less and Number/Amount • Unclear References Interactive grammar exercises: Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) http://owl.english.purdue.edu

10. CommonlyMisspelled Words • Referred • Supersede • Questionnaire • Connoisseur • A lot • Entrepreneur • Particularly • Liquify • Conscience • Parallel • Separate • Definitely • Manoeuvre • Embarrass • Consensus • Unnecessary • Acceptable • Broccoli • Bureaucracy • Occurrence Source: The Telegraph, Aug. 6, 2010