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Here are some questions about business writing for today’s digital world, and answers from the authors of The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing. If you have a question we haven’t covered, ask us!
ABOUT BUSINESS WRITING IN GENERAL
Q: What does good writing accomplish in the business world?
A: It achieves what we want. This means accomplishing our immediate goals — like getting a specific assignment, an important appointment or authorization to buy new equipment — and also our long-range goals: e.g., to get promoted, build a business, sell our work, etc. Always take account of the long-range goals in your messages, no matter how everyday their nature.
Q: Writing well can be a lot of trouble, though. Why should I take the time, other than for really important documents?
A: In a work-world where we meet less and write more, we are what we write. Your messages are evaluated by everyone (clients, prospects, supervisors, colleagues, employees, collaborators, vendors) to gauge your professionalism, competence and judgment — even though they usually don’t realize they’re sizing you up that way. Moreover, now that so much communication is digital, a thoughtlessly written message a) never goes away and may come back to haunt you, and b) isn’t restricted to your intended audience; it can be kicked upstairs, sideways or out to the world. Write badly, and you may throw away your best chances and never even know it.
Q: But isn’t writing something you just have or haven’t the talent for? Can people really learn to write more effectively?
A: Most people can dramatically improve their writing. In fact, writing skills are rarely innate — many good writers had a good teacher somewhere along the line. But most of us weren’t that lucky. We know from leading many workshops that you can transform your writing if a) you know exactly what good writing is, and b) you use an easy to absorb step-by-step process to think the message through and make the right choices. We wrote The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing to share these techniques and ideas, and we give workshops to help people in a face-to-face way.
Q: What if someone hates to write?
A: Usually “reluctant writers” don’t like to write because they lack confidence, and they lack confidence because they never really learned to write in school. Typically, we had teachers who just drilled us in grammar and sentence structure, focused on personal essays, and issued paralyzing instructions such as, “develop your thesis statement.” None of this has much to do with practical writing, which is actually fun to learn. And when you start being good at something, your confidence soars, and you get better and better.
Q: Why should companies and other organizations care about writing standards?
A: Good writing makes businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and any other kind of organization more efficient. It saves untold amounts of time (someday, someone will do a study on how much time is wasted by confused, meandering e-mails alone) and moreover, avoids many expensive mistakes. Well-written proposals win ... good customer materials build relationships ... e-mails crafted to their purpose are motivating, and so on.
Q: If writing is so important, how come so much bad writing is being produced, everywhere we look?
A: We wish we knew. We suspect the business world hasn’t caught up with how critical a skill writing has become. Face-to-face communication is diminishing over time, and we rely on writing more and more to open doors, make a good impression, sell a product or service, promote ourselves, and so on. Today we ALL need to write, but few people know how. Big business recognizes the problem; companies spend more than $3 billion per year nationally trying to improve employee writing. The good news is, people who write well have a huge advantage.
Q: Should writing for digital media — blogs, tweets, e-mail — be different than for traditional print media?
A: Actually, though generally writing for the digital world needs to be shorter and more concise, the same principles of good writing apply: simplicity, clarity, brevity, logical thinking. And good proofreading.
Q: But shouldn’t e-mail and tweets and blog posts seem spontaneous?
A: An informal tone is excellent for modern business writing, but that doesn’t mean it can be careless and sloppy. Bad spelling, blatantly poor grammar, lack of punctuation and so on say that you don’t care much about your reader — and you don’t much care what the reader thinks of you.
Q: But can’t I write to my friends without worrying about exactly what I’m saying and how I say it?
A: The problem is, the world is no longer so neatly compartmentalized. Your best buddy may also be your best business prospect or someone who can refer business to you. And nothing is private anymore: You may find that your thoughtless, self-indicting message has been accidentally (you hope) forwarded to a whole universe of readers in need of a good joke.
Q: How can I get my messages and documents read? No one seems to pay attention.
A: You’re right: It’s a competitive world. In an environment where over-communication is the norm, the only way to “be heard” is to write powerfully. Your e-mails, proposals, resumes or whatever must be concise, clear, well thought-out; they must contain the right content, hit the right tone, and be targeted to your reader. And you must always focus on what’s-in-it-for-the-other-person.
Q: How can I learn to write better?
A: We’re glad you asked. Read our book, The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing. It’s easy to absorb and virtually grammar-free, and will give you a complete grounding in how to write powerfully and methods for steadily improving your own work. Lots of examples, anecdotes, and tricks-of-the-trade. The authors are also available to present customized seminars and workshops.
AND SOME TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
Q: How long should a message be?
A: Just long enough to accomplish your goal. You want to be sure the person you’re writing to knows why you’re writing, what you want, and why he or she should give it to you or agree with you — meaning your most important supporting points should be included. If you’re producing a proposal or report, and the stakes are high, this can take a lot of space. For online documents on the other hand, try to keep them short enough so that people don’t have to scroll, because they don’t like to. In all cases review the document and cut everything that doesn’t contribute to your goal.
Q: What’s the problem with jargon?
A: Often, no one knows what you’re talking about except you, even when they’re part of the same industry. You may not know what you really mean, either, if you think about it. Jargon, as opposed to definable technical terms that most industries possess, is a shorthand that may have different meanings to different people. Try to say it in real words instead.
Q: How can I get people to read my e-mails to the end, instead of only the first few lines?
A: First of all, put the bottom line on top — tell readers instantly why you’re writing and what you want. Second, keep it short and stick to one point if you can. Third, if you need to include more information, try using a numbered sequence or bullets to pull people through. And fourth but definitely not least, make sure your reader knows immediately why he should care –– “what’s in it for him.”
Q: What’s a good way to end an e-mail or letter?
A: Ending with a call to action is usually best: e.g., reserve March 2 for the conference, give me a call if you have questions about this, I need to hear from you by Thursday, let me know if this arrangement works for you, etc.
Q: What’s the right way to address an older person or superior?
A: Respectfully. Often the higher-ups in your organization, and people important to you in other ways, are older than you are. “Hey, Boss” is not an acceptable way to address them. Older generations often expect more formality and will be offended if you treat them like pals. A supervisor who’s younger than you usually wants similar deference, and will not react well to being treated as a buddy.
Q: Why should I use a style guide?
A: So that you write words and terms the same way each time you use them. For example, the Associated Press Stylebook, which is one of several such guides described in the online content of our book, tells readers to use "Web site," rather than "website," "web site" or "Website." It also tells readers whether to use words or numbers for numerals in text and much more. If you want your writing to be consistent, select a style guide and use it. Furthermore, also select one standard dictionary and make sure you use it. (Some dictionaries and style guides are on line.)
Q: Does my company need a style sheet?
A: If your company has more than one employee, it needs to develop a style sheet for terms and words commonly used in your industry. The purpose is consistency, so that the marketing department doesn’t use, for example, “Real-Time Systems,” while the human resource department uses “real time system” to describe the same thing. Your company’s style sheet should describe spellings, use of hyphens in prefixes and compound adjectives, which standard style guide and dictionary are to be used, capitalization, whether to use “Mr./Mrs./Ms.” when writing about or to a customer, and much more.
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