Improving business writing is all about enhancing communication between you and your peers, even competitors. It sounds simple and insignificant, but it’s the small things that often count more in an organisation. Changing the way you write, changes the way you’re perceived. Every detail speaks for your business, so make every detail count.
What can good writing do for you?
- Secure business opportunities
- Give your company a voice
- Stand out
- Keep relationships healthy & constructive
Getting it down
Write without fear and edit without mercy. With any piece of writing, your reader should understand what the main points of your communication first.
Ask yourself:
- What should my audience know or think after reading this email/ proposal/ report?
- Am I instructing or updating?
- If the answer isn’t immediately clear, you’re moving too quickly.
Cut the fat and make your statement clear from the get go. Confusion often comes from ‘fluffy’ writing that is unclear on the point. Some people believe it’s appropriate to write in such a way as to exemplify sensitivity or to remain ‘polite’. Although, this conflates requests and statements, leaving colleagues unclear on what the next steps are in a process.
The 5 rules to writing according to Jo Owens, author of How To Lead
One of the founders of Teach First, and a top graduate recruiter here, in the UK, Owens is a serial entrepreneur who’s worked with over 100 of the world’s best companies around the globe. If anyone knows what does and doesn’t work, it’s Owens.
- Write for the reader
Decide what you are trying to do and pick your tone. If you’re trying to persuade, write persuasively. If you are trying to inform, provide information in a clear and concise way.
2. Tell a story
Sounds obvious doesn’t it? Bit it’s all about structure. Organising an array of facts can be difficult, and storytelling can help you cut out the fluff to get to the good stuff. Your text will have a start (introduction to theme), the body (importance and info about theme, what the facts say), and summary (where the theme can be implemented or next steps ).
3. Keep it short and sweet
Keep words and sentences short. Don’t reach for the thesaurus. Keep it simple.
‘Documents, like diamonds, benefit from cutting. Your document isn’t complete when you can’t write no more: it is complete when you can write no less.’
Jo Owens, How To Lead
4. Make it positive in substance and style
Avoid bureaucratic, passed tense speaking. Especially in internal emails, unless strictly necessary.
5. Support assertions with facts
Finally, what are vague power words? Vague power words are usually found next to an unsupported assertion. Jo Owens outlines a few in his chapter, Learning How To Write.
- Important (to whom and why?)
- Strategic (important with bells on)
- Urgent (not to me it isn’t)
The problem with unsupported assertions are that they are always up to be challenged. To avoid this, define the ‘who, ‘what‘, and ‘when‘ of your story.
