Business Writing Tips For Professionals

Good business writing skills can help you get a promotion, negotiate a dispute, or create a nice increase in new business leads. Poor business writing, however, can lose business and have an adverse impact on your career. Here are some easy ways you can improve your business writing skills:

Know your audience.

Before you write a word of copy, be sure you know who your target audience is, and exactly what result you want to achieve. If this is an important business communication, take a few minutes to imagine yourself as the recipient and get a feel for the person's role. Try to feel their reaction to this communication.

Skip the Jargon.

Avoid using your company acronyms and buzzwords. While they might seem relevant to you, it’s very annoying to a busy executive who has a pile of documents and proposals to read. Likewise, avoid using academic language like ‘ergo,’ ‘henceforth,’ or ‘so to speak,’ and as a general rule of thumb avoid use of technical jargon. Simplify big words. For example, write use instead of utilize, send out instead of disseminate, fair instead of equitable, yes instead of in the affirmative.

Use the active voice.

Keep people involved by using a strong, active voice instead of an impersonal, passive voice. “The meeting agenda could be discussed further” is passive. “Let’s discuss the meeting agenda” is active. Be confident and decisive in your business communications. Instead of writing, “I intend to write a report on sales performance measures,” which comes across as weak and indecisive, write, “I'm currently writing a report on sales performance measures for completion on or before end of the second quarter.”

Use a conversational tone.

Writing in a conversational tone eliminates much of the barrier-producing formality that infiltrates corporate writing today. Unless, of course, you're writing to a bureaucrat or someone else who prefers formality. Know your audience.

Keep it cordial and personal.

Even if you're writing a marketing piece to be read by several thousand readers, keep your writing as inviting and personal as possible. Try writing to one specific person that you can visualize as a customer. Write with this one person in mind and you'll engage thousands of readers who will feel you're writing directly to them.

Eliminate the hype.

Replace hyperbole with solid facts and reputable testimony. Phrases like, “We're #1,” “We're the leader in our field,” or “We provide the best service,” are hard to prove and are discounted by those who see them. Instead, use a fact such as stating that the President of a leading association ranked your company with the highest quality score out of 500 certified companies. Don't use the phrase award-winning without naming the awards.

Highlight the benefits.

Translate product features into actual benefits. Mentioning that you provide automated billing or an automatic domain name renewal service does not engage your customer emotionally, they need to know how it will affect them in a positive way. Here’s an example of benefit oriented copy: “With our automatic domain name renewal service, you can rest easy knowing that your domain name will always be there, protected from competitors, all without you having to lift a finger.”

Read it out loud.

Read your documents aloud to see how they sound and flow. If you have trouble reading something aloud, it's a sure bet that others will have trouble reading it silently.

By reading your document out loud, you will also be able to spot typos and errors that your computer spelling and grammar check program might not have detected. As an example, you might have written ‘echo friendly’ when you really meant ‘eco-friendly.’

Keep the recipient's viewpoint in front.

In a business letter or business proposal, the customer’s viewpoint is paramount. Minimize the time you spend telling how great you and your company are. Too much use of “I,” “me,” or “our company” seems like a lack of interest in the customer. Make generous use of the words “You” and “Your” in your business copy if you want to make more sales.

Stay on point.

Business writing is different from poetry or literature. Don't meander or experiment with flowery language. Write the most important point you want to make in the first sentence. If you are writing a sales letter, you can significantly increase sales by simply including a powerful P. S. at the end of the letter that summarizes the main point in a fresh way, creates a sense of urgency, or adds further credibility. Here’s an  example: “P. S. I'll be in your area to speak at your company’s conference on Friday and hope to see you there.”

Include a specific call to action.

Be clear, concise, and to the point. Don't assume readers will know what to do. Guide them by including a specific call to action: “click on the link to get your special report” or “call me to set up a no-cost 15 minute consultation.”

Engage the reader's imagination.

Use word pictures to get your point across. Use phrases like "Picture this..." "Can you imagine..?" "Just think of the..." to get your reader to visualize.

A well-written article, report or sales letter can present the reader with a clear and desirable plan, suggestion, or course of action so compelling that it's almost second nature to follow your instructions. Good writing can generate a ton of new business in half the time with more fun. After all, what’s more exciting, cold-calling prospects or having them call you?