Fundamentals of Business Writing

Choosing words that communicate

Clear writing begins with adapting your message to your specific readers. Readers occupy
particular organizational, professional, and personal contexts. They do not all have the same
kind or level of vocabulary, knowledge or values. And you do not have the same relationship
with all of them.

To choose words that communicate clearly and with the appropriate tone, you should learn
everything possible about those with whom you wish to communicate and take into account
any prior correspondence with them. Then you should word your message so that it is easy
for them to understand it and respond favorably. Tailoring your message to your readers is
not only strategically necessary, it is also a sign of consideration for their time and energy.
Everyone benefits when messages are clear and appropriate to your correspondent’s
situation.

Adapting to Multiple Readers

Adapting your message to one reader requires considerable care, but what if as often
happens, you need to address your message to several different readers. What if your
reader varies widely in education, knowledge of the subject and so on? How can you write
your message in such a way that you can communicate to everyone? The solution is to write
in such a way that everyone can find and follow the parts of your message that are of value
to them.

For example, assume that you are the assistant director of marketing for your
telecommunications company and you need to report some complex marketing data to your
boss in marketing to the sales manager and to the president of the company. How might
you design your report so that all three with different levels of familiarity with market
research techniques could understand it.
For the sales manager and president, the known experts, you will need to define any
specialize vocabulary you use. You will also spell out the implications of your findings for
their domains of interest. For example, the sales manager in our example will need you to
say what your feelings mean for the sales staff, while the president will want to understand
how your feelings could enhance the financial health of the company.

As with every other element of your message, your choice of words needs to be guided by
your audience and purpose. That is the main rule for effective wording.

Use familiar words

The foremost suggestion for words selection is to use familiar words. Because words that
are familiar to some people may be unfamiliar to others, you will need to decide which ones
your reader will understand. In general, using familiar words means using the language that
most of us use in everyday conversations. It means avoiding the stiff, more difficult words
that do not communicate so precisely or quickly. For example, instead of using the less
familiar word ‘endeavor’ use ‘try’, prefer ‘do’ to ‘perform’, ‘begin’ to ‘initiate’, ‘find out’ to
‘ascertain’, ‘stop’ to ‘discontinue’ and ‘show’ to ‘demonstrate’.

The mistake that many of us make is to overwork the more difficult words. We use them so
much that interfere with our communication. A good suggestion is to use the simplest word
that carry the meaning without offending the reader’s intelligence. Perhaps the best
suggestion is to write the words you would use in face to face communication with your
readers. The following contrasting examples illustrate the communication advantages of
familiar words over less familiar ones.
 Unfamiliar Words Familiar Words

This machine has a tendency to develop This machine tends to get noisy when it
excessive and unpleasant audio symptoms runs hot.
when operating at elevated temperatures.
Purchase of a new fleet is not actionable at Buying new trucks is not practical now.
this juncture.
The confusion ascertained from a perusal of The data studied show that the product is
pertinent data is that a lucrative market in high demand.
exists for the product.
Company operations for the preceding The company lost money last year.
accounting period terminated with a deficit.

Prefer short words

According to studies of readability, short words generally communicate better than long
words. Of course, part of explanation is that the short words tend to be the familiar words.
But there is another explanation: a heavy use of long words – even long words are
understood – leaves an impression of difficulty that hinders communication. The suggestion
that words be chosen does not mean that all short words are easy and long words are hard.
Many exceptions exist. Not everyone knows one syllable words as gybe, verd, and id,
whereas even children know such long words as hippopotamus, automobile, bicycle. On the
whole, however, word length and word difficulty are related. Thus, you should rely mostly
on short words and use long words with caution.

Long Words Short Words

The implementation of the proposed We are considering your suggestion.

enhancement is under consideration.

They acceded to the proposition to They agreed to work with us.

undertake a collaborative.
Prior to accelerating productive operation, Before speeding up production, the
the supervisor inspected the machinery. superior inspected the machinery.

The antiquated merchandising strategy is This old sale strategy will not work in
ineffectual in contemporary business today’s business.
operations.
Use Technical Words and Acronyms with Caution:

Every field of business – accounting, information system, finance, marketing and

management – has its technical language. This language can be so complex that in some
cases specialized dictionaries are complied. Such dictations exist for technology, law, finance
and other business specialties. There are even dictionaries for sub areas such as data bases,
e commerce, and real estate.

As you work in your chosen field, you will learn its technical words and acronyms. In time
you will use these terms freely in communicating with people in your field and you should.
Frequently, one such word will communicate a concept that will otherwise would take
dozens of words describe. Moreover, specialize language can signal to other specialist that
you are qualified to communicate on their level.

A problem comes about, however, when you sue technical terms with people outside of
your field. Because these words are everyday words to you, you may forget that not
everyone knows them. The result is miscommunication. You can avoid miscommunication
by using technical words only when you are sure your readers know them.

Examples of misused technical writing are easy to find. To a worker in the social security
administration, the words ‘covered employment’, commonly mean employment covered by
social security. To some outsiders, however, they could mean working under a roof.
‘Annuity’ has a clear meaning to someone in insurance. ‘A contract that guarantees an
income for specified period’ would have more meaning to uninformed outsiders. Computers
specialist know ‘C++’ and ‘Java’ to be popular programming languages, but these words may
have different meaning to others.

Initials (including acronyms) should be used with caution, too. While some initials such as
IBM, widely recognized, others, such as SOA (service – oriented architecture) are not. If you
have any doubt that your readers is familiar with the initials, the best practice is to spell out
the words the first time you use them and follow then with the initials. You may also need
to go to one step further and define what they mean.
Use Concrete Language

Good business communication uses words that tend to form sharp, clear meanings in the
reader’s minds. These are the concrete words. Concrete is the opposite of abstract. While
abstract words are vague, concrete words tend to stand for things the readers can see, feel,
taste, smell. Concrete words are not only more specific; they also generate more interest
because the reader can relate to them to actual experience.

The most concrete words are those that stand for things that exist in the real world; such as
‘chair’, ‘desk’, ‘computer’, empire state building’. Abstract nouns, on the other hand, cover
broad general meanings as in these examples; ‘administration’, ‘negotiation’, ‘wealth’,
‘inconsistency’, ‘loyalty’, ‘compatibility’, ‘conservation’, ‘discrimination’, ‘incompetence’,
and ‘communication’. Note how difficult it is to visualize what these words stand for.

Concreteness also means being specific that is how clear words are in the following
examples.

Abstract Concrete
Significant loss A 53% loss
Good attendance record 100% attendance record
The leading company First among 3212 companies
The majority 62%
In the near future By noon Thursday
A labor-saving robot A robot that does the work of 7 workers
Light and weight Featherlight

Prefer Active Verbs

Of all parts of speech, verbs do the most to make your writing interesting and lively for a
good reason: They contact the action of the sentence, but not all verbs add vigor to your
writing. Overuse of the verb ‘to be’ and passive voice can take away the energy from your
sentences. To see the difference between writing that relies heavily on forms of ‘to be’ and
writing that uses active verbs, compare the following two passages (the forms of ‘to be’ and
their replacements are italicized):
“There are over 300 customers served by our helpdesk each day. The helpdesk personnel’s
main tasks are to answer questions, solve problems and educate the callers about software.
Without their expert work, our customers satisfaction will be much lower than they are.”

“Our help desk personnel serve over 300 customers each day. They answer questions, solve
problems and educate the users about the software. Without their expert work our
customer satisfaction rating would drop significantly.”

As this example show, using active verbs add impact your writing, and usually saves words
as well.

For further support of the advantages of the advantages of active over passive voice,
compare the following sentences.

Passive Active
The results were reported in our July 9 We reported the results in our July 9 letter.
letter.
The new process is believed to be superior The investigators believed that the new
by the investigators. process is superior.
A gain of 30.1% was reported for hardware Hardware sales gained 30.1%.
sales.
It is desired by the director that this The director wants the secretory to bring
problem be brought before the board this problem before the board.
secretory.
A complete reorganization of the The president completely reorganized the
administration was affected by the administration.
president.

Select Words for Precise Meaning:

Writing requires considerable knowledge of the language being used. But beyond basic
familiarity with vocabulary, good writers possess a sensitivity to words shades of meaning.
Words like people have personalities. Some are forceful and some timid, some are positive
and some negative, some are formal and some informal. Any given word can occupy a place
on many different scales of tone and meaning. Your task, as a writer attempting to achieve
deliberate affects, is to choose the words, that will achieve those affects with your intended
readers.

Consider the differences among ‘tycoon’, ‘industry giant’, ‘successful entrepreneur’ and
‘prominent business executive’. All four terms indicate a person who has acquired wealth
and power in business, but you would use these terms in different circumstances. For
example, ‘tycoon’ calls to mind the robber barons of the late 19 th and early 20th centuries,
with their diamond tie pins and ruthless air, whereas ‘prominent business executives’
suggests a less fleshy, less greedy person who has achieved success within the constraints of
a corporation. Similarly, ‘fired’, ‘dismissed’, ‘downsized’, ‘separated’, ‘terminated’ and
‘discharged’ referred to the same action but different shades of meaning. So, it is with each
of the following groups of words:

Sell, market, advertise, promote

Money, funds, cash, finances
Improved, enhance, fix, correct

Though the words in each list shared the same denotation, they vary widely in their
connotations. Being attentive to how different words are used will make you a more skillful
and effective writer.

Use Gender Neutral Words

Take care not to use words that discriminate by gender (sexist words). Although these forms
of discrimination can be directed against men, most instances involve discrimination against
women. Our language developed in a society in which it was customary for women to work
in the home and for men to be the breadwinners and decision makers. But times have
changed and the language you use in business needs to acknowledge the gender-diverse
nature of most workplaces today.

Sexist Gender-Neutral
If a customer pays promptly, he is placed A customer who plays promptly is placed
on our preferred list. on our preferred list.
When an unauthorized employee enters An unauthorized employee who enters the
the security area, he is subject to dismissal. security area is subject to dismissal.
A supervisor is not responsible for such A supervisor who is not negligent is not
losses if he is not negligent. responsible for such losses.

Words Derived from Masculine Words:

As we have noted, our culture was male dominated when our language developed. Because
of this many of our words are masculine, even though they do not refer exclusively to men.

Take ‘chairman ‘for example. This word can refer to both sexes, yet it does not sound that
way. More appropriate and less offensive substitutes are ‘chair’, ‘presiding officer’,
‘moderator’, ‘chairperson’. Similarly, ‘salesman’ suggests a man, but many women work in
sales. ‘Salesperson’, ‘salesclerk’, or ‘sales representative’ would be better. Other sexist
words and gender-neutral substitutes are as follows:

Sexist Gender Neutral

Man-made Manufactured, of human origin
Manpower Personnel, workers
Congressman Representative, Member of Congress,
Businessman Business executives, Business Person
Mailman, policeman, fireman, cameraman Letter Carrier/ mail Carrier, police officer,
fire fighter, camera operator
Construction of clear Sentences and Paragraphs:

Writing effectively requires managing the emphasis in your sentences, making each
sentence express a main idea, and ordering the sentence elements according to accepted
rules of grammar and logic.
Let’s see how to turn your well-constructed sentences into well-constructed paragraphs -
paragraphs that are united, efficient, forward moving and coherent. Delivering your
contents in easy to digest chunks is one of your most powerful strategies for engaging and
informing your busy readers.

Care in Sentence Design:

When you sit down to write a given massage, you have many bits of information at hand.
How will you turn them into a clear, coherent message?

Your first task will probably be grouping and ordering the information – that is, planning the
message’s overall pattern of organization or structure. But sooner or later, writing a
successful message comes down to figuring out how to stitch your contents together in
series of sentences. How much information will you put into each sentence? And in what
order will that information be?

Using Short Sentences:

Business audiences tend to prefer simple, efficient sentences over long, complex ones.
Having too much to do in two little time is a chronic problem in business. A recent study
found that 95% of executives and managers make a to-do list for each day, but 99% of them
do not complete the tasks on those lists.

Favoring short sentences can save your readers time. It can also prevent miscommunication.
Readability research tells us that the more words and more relationships there are in a
sentence, the grater is the possibility for misunderstanding. These finding suggests that the
mind can hold only so much information at one time. Thus, to give it too much information
in your sentences is to risk falling short of your communication purpose.

Limiting Sentence Content

Limiting sentence content is largely a matter of mentally selecting thought units and making
separate sentences of most of them. Sometimes, of course, you should combine thoughts
into one sentence. You have good reason to do so, for example, when thoughts are closely
related or when you want to deemphasize certain content. The advantage of limiting
sentence content is evident into following contrasting examples.

Long and Hard to Understand Short and Clear

This letter is being distributed with This letter is being distributed with
enrolment confirmation sheets which are enrollment conformation sheet. These
to serve as a final check on the correctness sheets will serve now as a final check on
of the registration of students and are to be student registration. Later, the codes on
used later when obtaining semester grades them will be used to access course grades
from the system, which are to be available through the system; the grades will be
two weeks after the term officially ends. available two weeks after the term officially
ends.
Regardless of their seniority, or union Regardless of their seniority or union
affiliation, all employees who hope to be affiliation, all employees who hope to be
promoted are expected to continue their promoted are expected to continue their
education either by enrolling in the special education in either of two ways: 1. They
courses to be offered by the company, may enroll in special courses to be given by
which are scheduled to be given after the company. 2. They may take approve
working hours beginning next Wednesday, online courses selected from the list on the
or by taking approved online courses company portal.
selected from a list, which may be seen on
the company portal.

Economizing on Words

A second basic technique of shortening sentences is to use words economically.

Economizing on words generally means seeking shorter ways of saying things. Once you try
to economize, you will probably find many ways to trim your writing.
 Cluttering Phrase Shorter Substitution
Along the lines of Like
For the purpose of For
For the reason that Because, Since
In the amount of For
In the meantime, Meanwhile
In the near future Soon
With regard to, with reference to About

Unnecessary Repetition of Words/ Ideas:

Repeating words obviously adds to sentence length. Such repetition sometimes serves a
purpose, as when it is used for emphasis or special effects, but all too often, it is without
purpose.

Needless Repetition Repetition Eliminated

Please endorse your name on the back of Please endorse this cheque.
this cheque.
We must assemble together at 10.30 am in We must assemble at 10.30 am.
the morning.
If you are not satisfied, return it back to us. If you are not satisfied, return it to us.
One should know the basic fundamentals of One should know the fundamentals of clear
clear writing. writing.
By acting now, we can finish sooner than If By acting now, we can finish sooner.
we wait until a later date.
Giving Paragraphs Unity:

Like sentences, paragraphs should have unity. When applied to paragraph structure, Unity
means that a paragraph sticks to a single topic or idea with everything in the paragraph
developing this topic or idea. When you have finished the paragraph, you should be able to
say ‘everything in this paragraph belongs together because every part concerns every other
part.

Making God Use of Topic Sentences:

One good way to organizing paragraph is to use topic sentences. The topic sentences
express the main idea of a paragraph, and remaining sentences build around and support it.
In a sense, topic sentence serves as a headline for the paragraph, and all the other
sentences supply the story.

Making Paragraphs Coherent:

Like well-made sentences, well-made paragraphs move the reader logically and smoothly
from point to point. They clearly indicate how the different bits of information are related to
each other in terms of logic and the writer’s apparent purpose. This quality of enabling
readers to proceed easily through your message, without side trips and backward shifts is
called coherence.

Here we discuss three major techniques:

 Repetition of key words

 Use of pronouns
 The use of transitional words

Maintaining a Conversational Style

One technique that helps build the goodwill effect is to write in conversational language.
Conversational language is warm, natural and personable. Such language leaves an
impression that people like, and it is also the language that is most easily understood. For
both reasons, , it is better to use it.

Stiff and dull Conversational

Reference is made to your May 7 email, in Please refer to your May 7 email in
which you describe the approved procedure for which you tell how to file a claim.
initiating a claim.
I shall be most pleased to avail myself of your I will gladly follow your suggestion if
kind suggestion when and if prices decline. the price falls.