Blog

Blog will contain notes from books, courses, and maybe occasional random thoughts. Most of the notes will come from my Notion served here as a backup using markdowntohtml.com with minimal extra formatting.

Notes will be added as I think they are relevant and polished enough to publish.

Table of Contents

Becoming an Effective Writer

What is and is not Business Writing?

Regular consistent practice is necessary. Changing habits is not easy; you have to be willing to change, know how to change, and practice. "Practice makes perfect"

Readers Writers
Scan for key points Be clear and simple
Quickly decide importance Get to the point

In order to succeed in business, you must be able not just to write, but to write effectively.

Principles of Business Writing

  1. Analyze the reader
    • What does my reader already know? Who is my audience?
  2. Organize the message
    • Does your message begin with a purpose, organize the message in the best way for the reader, and look easy to read?
  3. Signal the next step
    • Is there a time when a response is needed and does it contain contact information?
  4. Value the reader
    • Effective business writers need to give the impression that the reader is important and not just another number.
  5. Ensure an effective message
    • Decrease the need for follow-up messages.
  6. Choose the right channel
    • Email, Teams, Meeting, or Face to Face

The 10 C's of Business Writing

A writer has the right to expect every message to be: Complete, Concise, Clear, Conversational, Courteous, Correct, Considerate, Concrete, and Credible.

  1. Complete: Is all of the information included so that follow-up questions are not necessary?
  2. Concise: Use the fewest number of words possible. Including more words into your writing leads the reader to have to wade through information that may not be relevant to the writing.
  3. Clear: Have you thought about what the reader knows or doesn't know, or are you writing based on what you know and what makes sense to you?
  4. Conversational: Does your writing sound as if you are writing to a human or to a robot?
  5. Courteous: Is your tone pleasant? Have you shown the reader how they will benefit from your information or policy? Does the message sound demanding or is it all about the writer's interest?
  6. Correct: Is your writing accurate and professional, or does it give the impression that it was rushed and not prepared?
  7. Coherent: Does your writing look jumbled or do the ideas tie together smoothly?
  8. Considerate: Does your writing look inviting to read (using headings and bullets) or does it use 1 or 2 long paragraphs?
  9. Concrete: Have you included specifics and examples, or are vague meaningless words used?
  10. Credible: Are all facts within the article given from trusted sources and cited?

Strong vs. Weak Verbs

Which of the following statements sound stronger and more concise?

(a) You will need to send your confirmation for your appointment by Friday. (b) Please confirm your appointment by Friday.

12 words versus 6 words. Not only is (b) stronger, the message is more concise. Look for camouflaged words in your message, verbs that have usually turned into nouns, commonly adding the -tion at the end of the word. Conversation versus confirm.

The same principle applies for filler words.

(a) There are five people who want to attend the meeting. (b) Five people want to attend the meeting.

Make your writing more concise, cut out the fluff and get to the point.

Create a Clear Message

Understand your reader and their ability to comprehend what you're trying to tell them.

Make your message logical and easy to read for the reader. Your main idea should be at the top of the paragraph, utilize transitional words (first, second, although), consider the connotation of the words that you use.

Example 1: "Hey John, I need you to talk about something urgent when you have time."

What would John think about in this message? What's so urgent?

Example 2: "Hey John, we need some help understanding the requirements in this ticket [link ticket here], specifically we have questions about… [list your questions here]"

In this 2nd message John knows exactly what ticket you're referring to, the exact questions you have, and knows to be prepared to answer these questions. Most of all, no worry about what exactly this urgent matter is.

Cut to the Question

Inspired from: https://nohello.net/en/

If you are asking a question to a co-worker, ask the question. Letting the reader know exactly that you have a question will get an answer faster.

Example 1: Bob: Hey John: How's it going? Bob: What time is the meeting? John: Oh, 3:30 today.

This includes common opening phrases "How are you?" or "Hey want to hop in a call?". Putting the reader on the spot dissecting a question in a call can make the recipient feel pressured to get the answer now. If you just ask the question first, you'll get the answer faster.

Instead consider this:

Example 2: Bob: Hey, what time is the meeting? John: Hey, 3:30 today.

Straight to the point, no extra words or messages needed.

Avoid Negative Words

Negative words can lead to negative reactions.

How would you react if someone tells you "You can't.", "You won't be able to.", "You failed."? Human nature is such that you immediately become defensive to language like this. Instead, you should focus on what is and can be.

Example 1: "I won't be able to get to your review until Friday." Better: "I will get to your review on Friday."

Example 2: "You can't reserve Room 110 on June 10th." Better: "Room 111 is already reserved for June 10th, but is available on the 9th or the 11th."

Phrase your writing to offer alternatives to phrases that are usually negative. Be assertive on the 'when' something will happen or change.

Using positive language requires more thought, but is well worth the effort put in to better assist the reader.

Further Reading