A Guide to Business Communication

By C Bracken Meyers

Writing - Section 1

The first section is about business writing. It covers how to build a powerful and effective sentence by using active verbs, tips and formats for writing business letters, memos, and even email!

Proper business communication is crucial to success of an organization or individual. Business writing is often the main line of communication inside and outside of any organization, making writing one of the most important skills to master.
Good communication helps to ensure an efficient operation of all levels within an organization. Poor communication is common, and often results in inefficiencies, leading to a loss of productivity and consequently, a loss of profits.

Sample

Set Your Writing Objective

In business writing your objective is always to convey a message. Before you begin to write, clearly define the message you need to convey in your mind or on a post-it note. Focus on that message, and then make it your goal to convey that message to reader. Make every word, every sentence, and every paragraph work towards accomplishing that one goal.

Write For the Reader

Many letters, memos, and reports are written from the perspective of the writer and not the reader. You might write the same message in many different ways, depending on who will be reading it. This can cause the message to be lost or misconstrued if you are not writing for your reader. Business correspondence must clearly convey the message to the reader on the first reading. The business world is too busy to study letters looking for obscure or hidden meanings.
Two questions you should ask yourself while writing:

Section Contents

  • Set Your Writing Objective
  • Write For the Reader
  • Get Into Your Readers Mind
  • Write So Your Reader Can Understand
  • Focus on What Your Reader Needs to Know
  • Writing Tone
  • Spelling and Grammar Matter
  • Proofreading
  • Homonyms, Apostrophes and the Right Word
  • Personal Pronouns
  • Personal Pronouns and Gender
  • Titles
  • The Sentence
  • A Paragraph, the Unit of Thought
  • Formatting Business Letters
  • Writing Memos
  • Writing Email