Brilliant Business Writing
Clunk, click, every trip. Or
Stop, look and listen.
Just slow down and prepare for a moment.
You’re not writing to yourself
- Think about:
- Who you are writing to
- What you want them to understand
- What you want them to do next
Have a sense of purpose
- State why you’re writing what you’re writing very near the beginning
- Put your conclusions first
- Kill your main character in the first line
Help your reader
- Use sub headings
- Ask questions
- Use contents (Yes, even in an email!)
Style is your friend
- Set yourself a word limit
- Use words that you would actually use
- Use personal pronouns (I, we, you)
- Use active tense (“we have decided to” vs “it has been decided”)
- Use questions
- Remove adjectives (VERY difficult, SLIGHTLY overrunning, HIGHLY challenging)
- Remove weasel words: “aim to”, “may be able to”
- Say what you mean. If you mean “no”, say “no”.
Don’t press send!
Read it back. Out loud. Or out loud in your head.
If you want to do any of these things, you’re a winner:
- Shorten your sentences
- Vary your rhythm
- Cut it in half
- Change the order
Example
Hello folks
Sorry for the long email but there's three things I need you to know about:
- The problems we're having with expenses
- How we're going to change the process
- What your team needs to do
On point 3, I need someone in your team to get back to me by the end of the week