Who would want to read the writing, clearly intended for business, that just feels wrong? Maybe it was too casual, losing the formality needed for business dealings. Or maybe it’s too lengthy that it feels like the point is lost. Business writing is important to communicate clearly with who you’re dealing with and to express what you meant exactly. Read below the business writing tips for professionals!
Here are 5 easy business writing tips to improve your skills:
Know who you’re writing to and write from their perspective.
Just like before you sell or before you market, know your target audience, as well as what do you want to achieve with them. Put yourself in their shoes and think of the best way how you could convey your message that won’t result in anything negative.
Keep it simple and conversational.
Remember who you’re writing to. Don’t bombard the reader with jargon, buzzwords, or deep language. You think you’re sounding intelligent, but in reality, you’re more or less just irritating your reader. Use words that you’re more likely to use daily. Also, don’t be too formal and bureaucratic that you come off almost disinterested (unless of course, who you’re writing to prefers it that way). Make your writing as personal, inviting, and engaging as possible!
Be active, not passive!
Structure your words to convey action. For example, you and your team members’ goal is to meet your sales quota. In a meeting, instead of saying, “The goal was met”, you could say “we met the goal”. Doesn’t it sound better? It feels like the goal you and your team were working to was really achieved, and that the achievement was acknowledged sincerely, not just mentioned and dropped.
Don’t exaggerate; be factual.
If you claim something, prove it! Instead of exaggerating, prove the effectiveness of your product, service or business, by including facts and testimonials from your existing clients. Lies are convenient to use, but the truth is that they do more harm than good. Always use facts and you’ll build your credibility!
Be clear, concise, and get to the point.
Say what you want to say in the clearest, shortest, and most direct way possible. If you want to say “Subscribe to be a part of our mailing list” then keep it like that. Don’t change it into “Do you want to receive more updates from us? Then subscribe below to be part of our mailing list and receive our updates!”. Especially if you’re putting the statement as a CTA (or call-to-action). Sometimes it’s needed to add some more words to entice your readers, but more often than not, they want to get the message directly.
When writing, remember the 7 C’s of effective business communication: correct, clear, concise, complete, coherent, concrete, and courtesy. And don’t forget to always think of who will read what you wrote!
