The AMA Handbook of Business Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Style, Grammar, Punctuation, Usage, Construction and Formatting

By Kevin Wilson and Jennifer Wauson

This invaluable resource gives you quick, accessible guidelines to the entire writing process, from using correct grammar and style to formatting your document for clarity to writing effectively for a target audience. 

When it comes to writing, do you know how many businesspeople are just winging it? It clearly shows in sloppy grammar, incomprehensible language, poorly structured documents, shoddy research, and downright ugly formatting. Whether it's a simple business letter or a hefty annual report, poor writing looks bad for the organization, and it really looks bad for the person producing it.

This is a remarkably comprehensive reference---and remarkably easy to pinpoint the information you need to complete any writing project, such as:

• annual reports,
• newsletters,
• press releases,
• business plans,
• grant proposals,
• training manuals,
• PowerPoint presentations,
• or any piece of formal correspondence.

The AMA Handbook of Business Writing is designed for businesspeople of every stripe, from marketing managers to human resources directors, from technical writers to public relations professionals, from administrative assistants to sales managers. This helpful guide is a complete A-to-Z reference on everything you need to produce top-quality documents.

Offering the expansive breadth of information found in The Chicago Manual of Style, but without the excessive detail and complexity, you'll find here more than 600 pages of instantly accessible, thoroughly useful information for getting any job done. With examples and cross-references throughout, The AMA Handbook of Business Writing is an indispensable desktop reference for every business professional.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Aug 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9780814415900

Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Nothing to See Here, which was a Read with Jenna book club selection; The Family Fang, which was adapted into an acclaimed film starring Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman; and Perfect Little World; as well as the story collections Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award; and Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine. His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Southern Review, One Story, A Public Space, and Best American Short Stories. He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons.

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The AMA Handbook of Business Writing

© 2022 Kevin Wilson and Jennifer Wauson.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published by HarperCollins Leadership, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC.

Any internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by HarperCollins Leadership, nor does HarperCollins Leadership vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book.

ISBN: 978-0-8144-1590-0 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

AMA handbook of business writing : the ultimate guide to style, grammar, usage,

punctuation, construction, and formatting / Kevin Wilson and Jennifer Wauson.

        p. cm.

   Includes bibliographical references and index.

   ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-1589-4

   Isbn-10: 0-8144-1589-x

   1. Commercial correspondence--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Business writing—

Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. English language—Business English—Handbooks, manuals,

etc. I. Wilson, K. (Kevin), 1958– II. Wauson, Jennifer. III. American Management

Association.

HF5726.A485 1996

808’.06665—dc22                         2009050050

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SECTION 1 The Writing Process

Audience Analysis

Brainstorming

Research

Interviewing

Outlining

Writing a Draft

Business Writing Style

Using Visuals

Page Design

Publication Design

Editing

Proofreading

Document Review

Revisions

Documenting Sources

Footnotes and Endnotes

Bibliographies

Global Communications

Collaborative Writing

Promotional Writing

SECTION 2 The Business Writer’s Alphabetical Reference

A, An

Abbreviations

Titles Before and After Names

Names

Mathematical Units and Measurements

Long Phrases

Words Used with Numbers

Common Latin Terms

States and Territories

Things You Should Not Abbreviate

Spacing and Periods for Abbreviations

Guidelines for Using Abbreviations in Your Writing

Abbreviations for Measurements

Abbreviations for Numbers

Above, Below

Absolute Form of an Adjective

Absolute Phrase

Absolutely

Abstract Nouns

Accent Marks

Accept, Except

Access, Excess

Acronyms

Action Verbs

Active Voice

A.D.

Adjectival Noun

Adjectival Opposites

Adjective Phrase

Adjectives

Placement of Adjectives in a Sentence

Use of Multiple Adjectives

Degrees of Adjectives

Irregular Form Adjectives

A-Adjectives

Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts

Adverbial Clause

Adverbial Phrase

Adverbs

Prepositional Phrases Acting as Adverbs

Infinitive Phrases Acting as Adverbs

Adverbs in a Numbered List

Adverbs to Avoid

Positioning Adverbs in a Sentence

Order of Adverbs

Inappropriate Adverb Order

Viewpoint Adverbs

Focus Adverbs

Negative Adverbs

Advice, Advise

Affect, Effect

Affixes

African-American

Age

Agents

Agreement

Aid, Aide

Alike

A Little

Allegories

Alliteration

All Right, Alright

Allusion, Illusion

Alone, Lonely

A Lot, Alot, Allot

Already, All Ready

Altogether, All Together

Ambitransitive Verbs

American English, British English

Among, Between

Ampersand

A.M., P.M.

An

Anadiplosis

Anaphora

And Also

And/Or

Angry, Mad

Animate Nouns

Antagonyms

Antecedent

Anti-

Antimetabole

Antonyms

Any, Either

Any, Some

Apart, A Part

Apodosis

Apostrophe

Appears, Displays

Appendix

Apposition

Appositives

Articles

As, Like

Assure, Insure, Ensure

Asterisks

As to Whether

As Well As

Autoantonyms

Auxiliary Verbs

Average, Mean, Median

A While, Awhile

Awful, Awfully

Bad, Badly

Back-Channeling

Backslash, Slash

Back up, Backup

Base Form of a Verb

Basically, Essentially, Totally

B.C.

Because, Since, As

Been, Gone

Being That, Being As

Below

Beside, Besides

Between, Among

Bias, Biased

Biased or Sexist Language

Bibliography

Billion

Biweekly, Bimonthly, Semiweekly, Semimonthly

Blind

Blog, Weblog

Bold Fonts

Bored, Boring

Both, Alike

Both, Each

Brackets

Changes to Quoted Material

Digressions within Parentheses

Brake, Break

Brand Names

Breath, Breathe

Bring, Take

British English

Bulleted List

Bushel

Business, Right

Buzzwords

By, Bye, Buy

By, Until

Call Back, Callback

Call Out, Callout

Callouts

Came By

Can, May

Cannot

Can’t Seem

Canvas, Canvass

Capital Letters

Capital, Capitol

Capitalization

Acts of Congress

Associations

Book Titles and Their Subdivisions

Railroad Cars and Automobile Models

Churches and Church Dignitaries

Cities

Clubs

Legal Codes

Compass Points Designating a Specific Region

Constitutions

Corporations

Courts

Decorations

Degrees (Academic)

Districts

Educational Courses

Epithets

Fleets

Foundations

Geographic Divisions

Government Divisions

Historical Terms

Holidays

Libraries

Localities

Military Services

Nobility and Royalty

Oceans and Continents

Parks, Peoples, and Tribes

Personification

Planets and Other Heavenly Bodies

Rivers

Sports Stadiums, Teams, and Terms

Captions

Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers

Case

Cataphora

Causative Verbs

Caution Notice

CD, DVD

Censor, Censure, Sensor, Censer

Champaign, Champagne

Check, Control

Chiasmus

Chicano, Latino, Hispanic

Choose, Chose

Cite, Site, Sight

Citing Publications

Clauses

Cleanup, Clean Up

Cleft Sentences

Clichés

Click

Click and Drag

Click On

Closed Compounds

Coleman-Liau Index

Collective Adjectives

Collective Nouns

Collocations

Colloquial

Colon

Emphasis or Anticipation

Time

Titles

Combination

Comma

Compound and Complex Sentences

Introductory Expressions

Other Transitional Words

Prepositional Phrases

Contrasting Phrases

Nonrestrictive Modifiers

Infinitive Phrases

Designating Dialogue

Repeated Words

Word Omission

Transposed Adjective Order

Numbers

Addresses

Titles

Company Names

Common Adjectives

Common Nouns

Company and Product Names

Comparatives

Compared to, Compared with

Complement, Compliment

Complements

Complex Prepositions

Compound Nouns

Compound Predicates

Compound Sentences

Compounding Sentence Elements

Compound Words

Open Compounds

Closed Compounds

Hyphenated Compounds

Comptroller, Controller

Concord

Concrete Nouns

Conditional Perfect

Conditionals

Conjunctions

And

But

Or

Punctuation for Coordinating Conjunctions

Other Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions

Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjuncts

Connote, Denote

Considered to Be

Consonants

Continuous Verbs

Contractions

Contranyms

Control

Convince, Persuade

Cooperate

Coordinated Adjectives

Coordinating Conjunctions

Copula Verbs

Copyright

Correlative Conjunction

Could of, Might of

Council, Counsel, Consul

Count Nouns

Credible, Credulous

Cross-Reference

Cut-and-Paste

Danger Notice

Dangling Modifiers

Characteristics of Dangling Modifiers

Revising Dangling Modifiers

Dangling Participles

Dash

Data

Dates

Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Deal

Decimals

Declarative Mood

Declarative Sentence

Defining Relative Clause

Definite Article

Defuse, Diffuse

Degree Adverbs

Degree Titles

Deixis

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative Pronouns

Denominal Adjectives

Denote, Connote

Dependent Clauses

Descriptive Writing

Desert, Dessert

Determiners

Device, Devise

Diacritic

Different from, Different than

Diffuse, Defuse

Dimensions

Direct Objects

Disability

Disc, Disk

Discreet, Discrete

Disease Names

Disjuncts

Display, Monitor, Screen

Disyllabic

Ditransitive Verbs

Ditto Marks

Do, Does, Did

Dollars and Cents

Dollar and Cent Signs

Decimal Points

Don’t, Doesn’t

Do’s and Don’ts

Dot-Com

Double Negatives

Double Possessives

Double-Click

Download, Upload

Downtoners

Drag-and-Drop

Due to the Fact That

DVD

Dynamic Adjectives

Dynamic Verbs

Each Other, One Another

Each, Their

Effect, Affect

Eggcorn

e.g., i.e.

Either, Neither

Elicit, Illicit

Ellipses

Elliptical Clauses

Email

Embedded Questions

Em Dash

Emigrate, Immigrate

Eminent, Imminent, Immanent

Emoticons

Empathic Forms

Empathy, Sympathy

En Dash

Endnotes

End Result

Endophora

Engine, Motor

Enough, Not Enough

Enquire, Inquire

Ensure, Assure, Insure

Enthuse, Enthusiastic

Entitled

Envelop, Envelope

Epanadiplosis

Epanalepsis

Epistemic Modality

Epistrophe

Epizeuxis

Equally as Important

Equations

Ergative Verbs

Essentially

et al.

etc.

Euphemisms

Everyday

Everyone, Every One

Every Time

Except, Unless

Excess, Access

Exclamation Point

Exclamatory Sentence

Exclusive Adverbs

Existential There,

Exit

Exophoric

Expect

Expletive Constructions

Expository Writing

Extranet

Extraposition

Factitive Verbs

Faint

Fair, Fare

FANBOYS

Farther, Further

Faze, Phase

Feint, Faint

Female, Woman

Fewer, Less

Few, A Few

Figuratively

Figure of Speech

Figures

Finite Verbs

First Conditional

Fix, Situation

Flair, Flare

Flesch-Kincaid Index

Flier, Flyer

Focus Adverb

Fog Index

Font, Typeface

Foot, Feet

Footnotes, Endnotes

Forego, Forgo

Foreign Words and Phrases

Forever, For Ever

For, Fore, Four

Formatting

Formulas

Forward, Forwards, Foreword

Fractions

Fragments

Full Time, Full-time

Further

Fused Sentences

Future Perfect

Future Perfect Progressive

Future Progressive

Gage, Gauge

Gender

Genitive Marker

Gerund

Gigabyte

Gigahertz

Glossary

Gone, Went

Good, Well

Got, Gotten

Grammatical Hierarchy

Gray, Grey

Guess

Handicap, Disability

Hard Disk, Hard Drive

Headings and Subheadings

Helping Verbs

Hendiatris

Heteronyms

Highlighting

Hispanic, Latino, Chicano

Hit

Homographs

Homonyms

Homophones

Hypallage

Hyperbaton

Hyperbole

Hyperlinks

Hyphens

Line Breaks

Substitute Words

Pronunciation

Compound Adjectives

Hyphenated Compound Words

Hyphenated Numbers

Hyponyms

Hypophora

Hypothetical Questions

Hysteron Proteron

Idiolect

Idioms, 230i.e., e.g.

If, When, Whether

Illicit, Elicit

Illusion, Allusion

Illustrations

I, Me, Myself

Immanent, Eminent

Immigrate, Emigrate

Imperative Mood

Imply, Infer

Inanimate Nouns

Inaugurate

Inchoative Verbs

Indefinite Articles

Indefinite Pronouns

Independent Clauses

Index

Indicative Mood

Indirect Objects

Indirect Speech

Inductive Antonomasia

Infinitives

Infinitive Phrase

Inflection

Inherent and Noninherent Adjectives

Initialisms, Acronyms

Innuendo

In Order to

Inquire, Enquire

In-Sentence Lists

Inside of, Within

Insure, Ensure, Assure

Intensive Pronouns

Interjections

Internet, Intranet, Extranet

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative Sentences

Intranet

Intransitive Verbs

Introductory Modifier

Invite

Irony

Irregular Plurals

Irregular Spelling

Irregular Verbs

Isocolon

Italics

Its, It’s

Jargon

Job Titles

Joint Possessives

Jr., Sr.

Kenning

Keyboard Terminology

Kilobyte

Kilohertz

Kind, Kinds

Kind of, Sort of

Latino, Hispanic, Chicano

Latin Terms

Latitude, Longitude

Lay, Lie

Lay Out, Layout

Lead, Led

Learn, Teach

Leave, Let

Led, Lead

Lend, Loan

Lessen, Lesson

Less, Fewer

Let, Leave

Lets, Let’s

Lexical Density

Liable, Likely

Lie, Lay

Lighted, Lit

Like, As

Line

Linking Verbs

Lists

In-Sentence Lists

Vertical Lists

Numbered Lists

Bulleted Lists

Multicolumn Lists

Literally, Figuratively

Lit, Lighted

Litotes

Little, A Little

Loan, Lend

Log On, Log Off, Logon, Logoff

Lonely, Alone

Longitude, Latitude

Loose, Lose

Lost, Lost Out

Lots

Mad, Angry

Margin Notes

Mass Nouns

Mathematical Equations

Maybe, May Be

May, Can

May, Might

Mean, Median, Average

Megabyte

Megahertz

Meiosis

Me, Myself, I

Metaphor

Metonymy

Mfr., Mfg.

Might Could

Might, May

Might of, Should of, Would of, Could of

Minimal Pairs

Misplaced Modifiers

Mixed Conditionals

Mixed Metaphor

Mnemonics

Modifiers

Initial Modifiers

Midsentence Modifiers

Terminal Modifiers

Combining Modifiers

Misplaced Modifiers

Monitor

Monosyllabic

Mood

More Than, Over

Morpheme

Most of All, Almost

Motor, Engine

Mouse Terminology

Multicolumn Lists

Myself, Me

Names

Negative Adverbs

Negative Formations

Negative Pronouns

Neither, Either

Neologism

Never

Nominal Adjectives

Nominative Absolutes

Nominative Case

Nominative Possessives

Noncount Nouns

Nondefining Relative Clause

Nonfinite Verbs

Noninherent Adjectives

Nonrestrictive Clauses

Notices

Noun Case

Noun Clause

Noun Phrase

Noun Plurals

Nouns

Nouns of Address

Number Abbreviations

Numbered List

Numbers or Words

Printed Text and Prose Text

At the Beginning of a Sentence

Legal Documents

Round Numbers

Sets of Numbers

Large Numbers

Separating Digits

Object

Object Complement

Objective Case

Off

Offline

On Account of

One

One Another, Each Other

Online, Offline

Only

Onomatopoeia

Open

Open Compounds

Ordinal Numbers

Over, More Than

Oxford Comma

Oxymoron

Page Breaks

Page Numbering

Page Number Formats

Palindromes

Paragraphs

Elements of a Paragraph

Paragraph Development

When to Start a New Paragraph

Paragraph Transitions

Parallel Construction

Paraphrasing

Parentheses

Parenthetical Elements

Participle

Participial Phrase

Parts of Speech

Party

Passed, Past

Passive Voice

Past Perfect Progressive Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Progressive Tense

Past Simple Tense

People

Per

Percent

Percentage

Perfect Aspect

Perfect Infinitive

Perfect Tense

Period

Person

Personal Pronouns

Personification

Persuade, Convince

Phase, Faze

Phatic Speech

Phrasal Verbs

Phrases

Phrases and Words to Omit

Pidgin

Plagiarism

Pleonasm

Pluperfect

Plurals

Plurals of Numbers

Plus

P.M.

Point in Time

Polyptoton

Polyseme

Polysyllabic

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Case

Possessive Pronouns

Possessives

Posted, Informed

Postmodifier

Precede, Proceed

Predeterminers

Predicates

Preface

Prefixes

Premodifier

Prepositional Phrase

Prepositions

Time: At, On, In, For, and Since,

Place: At, On, In,

Location: At, On, In,

Movement: To, Toward,

Combinations

Present Infinitive

Present Participle

Present Perfect Tense

Present Progressive Tense

Present Simple Tense

Press, Type, Click, Strike, Hit, Select

Previous

Principal, Principle

Problem Pronouns

I: Nominative Case, Never an Object,

She, He: Nominative Case, Never an Object,

They: Nominative Case, Never an Object

We: Nominative Case, Never an Object,

Me, Us, Her, Him, Them: Objective Case, Never a Subject

Proceed, Precede

Progressive Verbs

Pronouns

Pronouns and Antecedent Agreement

Proper Adjectives

Proper Nouns

Protatis

Quantifiers

Question Mark

Question Types

Quitclaim

Quit, Exit

Quotation Marks

Quotations within Quotations

Quotations for Titles

Quotation Marks and Punctuation

Raise, Rise

Rational, Rationale

Real

Reciprocal Pronouns

Recur, Reoccur

Redundancy

Reflexive Pronouns

Regard, Regards

Regular Verbs

Relative Adverbs

Relative Clauses

Relative Pronouns

Reoccur

Reported Speech

Restrictive Clauses

Resultative Adjective

Resumptive Modifier

Rhetorical Question

Rhyme

Right, Business

Right-click

Rise, Raise

Roman Numerals

Root, Rout, Route

Run

Run-On Sentences

Same

Sarcasm

Satire

Screen

Screen Terminology

Second Conditional

Select

Semicolon

Semiweekly, Semimonthly

Sensor, Censor

Sentence

Sentence Fragments

Sentence Subject

Sentence Types

Sentence Variety

Setup, Set Up

Sexist Language

Shall, Will

Shape

Should, Must

Should of

Should, Would

Shut Down, Shutdown

Sic,

Sign In, Sign Out, Sign On, Sign Up

Simile

Since, Because

Singular

Sit, Set

Site, Sight, Cite

Slang

Slash

And/Or Combinations

Indicating Other Relationships

Small Caps

So

Software Menus and Commands

Solidus

Some, Any

Sometime, Some Time

Sort of, Kind of

Spaces After Periods

Split Infinitive

Sr., Jr.

Stative Adjective

Stative Verb

Subheadings

Subject

Subject Complement

Subjective Case

Subjective Pronouns

Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Inversion

Subjunctive

Submittal, Submission

Subordinate Clause

Subordinating Conjunctions

Suffix

Summative Modifier

Superlative

Syllable

Symbols and Special Characters

Sympathy, Empathy

Synecdoche

Synonyms

Table of Contents

Tables

Tag Question

Take, Bring

Tautology

Teach, Learn

Telephone Numbers

Temperature

Tense

Terabyte

Than I, Than Me

Than, Then

That, Which

There, Their, They’re

Third Conditional

Time

Dates

Time Zones

Titled, Entitled

Titles

Formatting the Title of a Manuscript

Tmesis

To, At

Tone

Topic Sentence

Totally

Toward, Towards

Transitions

Transitional Expressions

Repeating Key Words

Pronoun Reference

Parallelism

Transitive Verb

Try and, Come and, Be Sure and

Type, Enter

Typeface, Font

Unbiased Language

Sexist Language

Uncountable Noun

Underlining

Understatement

Until, By

Upload, Download

Uppercase

URL

U.S.

Used to

Utterance

Vain, Vane, Vein

Verbal Phrase

Verb Complement

Verb Forms

Verb Group

Verbiage

Verb Mood

Verbose Expressions

Verbs

Verb Tense

Versus, vs.

Vertical Lists

Visually Impaired, Blind

Voice

Voice Mail

Vowels

Wait On

Wander, Wonder

Web

Weblog

Web Pages, Web Site

Weights and Measures

Well, Good

Went, Gone

When, Whether

Where

Whether or Not

Which

Who’s, Whose

Who, Which

Who, Whom

Will, Shall

Within, Inside of

Woman, Female

Wonder, Wander

Word Classes

Words or Figures

Wordy Expressions

Would of

Would, Should

Xmas, Christmas

Yes/No Questions

Zero Article

Zero Conditional

Zeugma

Zip Code

SECTION 3 Sample Business Documents

Abstracts

Acceptance Letter

Acknowledgment Letter

Adjustment Letter

Announcement Letter

Annual Report

Application Letter

Brochures

Business Letter

Business Letter Writing Style

Business Letter Format

Business Plan

Collection Letter

Commendation Letter

Complaint Letter

Cover Letters

Directives

Email

Endorsement Letter

Forms

Fund-Raising Letter

Grant Proposals

Instructions

Introductions

Inquiry Letter

Job Descriptions

Job Offer Letter

Meeting Agenda

Meeting Minutes

Corporate Minutes

Corporate Resolutions

Memorandum

Mission Statements

Newsletters

Newsletter Articles

Notices

Permission Letter

Policies, Rules, or Guidelines

PowerPoint Presentations

Planning a Presentation

Press Releases

Procedures

Progress Reports

Proposals

Questionnaires and Surveys

Reference Letters

Refusal Letter

Reports

Memorandum Report

Letter Report

Short Report

Formal Report

Request Letters

Research Report

Resignation Letter

Résumés

Sales Letters

Seasonal Correspondence

Specifications

Speeches and Oral Presentations

Summaries

Termination of Employment Letter

Training Manual

Trip Report

User Guide

Warning Letter

Web Sites

White Papers

LIST OF BUSINESS DOCUMENTS FIGURES

Figure 3.1: Descriptive Abstract

Figure 3.2: Informative Abstract

Figure 3.3: Acceptance Letter

Figure 3.4: Acknowledgment Letter

Figure 3.5: Adjustment Letter

Figure 3.6: Announcement Letter

Figure 3.7: Annual Report Cover Page

Figure 3.8: Annual Report Table of Contents

Figure 3.9: Annual Report Letter from the Chairman

Figure 3.10: Annual Report Organizational Overview

Figure 3.11: Annual Report Overview of Organization’s Performance

Figure 3.12: Application Letter

Figure 3.13: Brochure

Figure 3.14: Brochure

Figure 3.15: Parts of a Business Letter

Figure 3.16: Block Letter

Figure 3.17: Modified Bock Letter

Figure 3.18: Modified Semiblock Letter

Figure 3.19: Simplified Letter

Figure 3.20: Business Plan

Figure 3.21: Collection Letter

Figure 3.22: Commendation Letter

Figure 3.23: Complaint Letter

Figure 3.24: Cover Letter

Exhibit 3.25: Directive

Figure 3.26: Endorsement Letter

Figure 3.27: Contract

Figure 3.28: Notary Form for an Individual

Figure 3.29: Notary Form for a Corporation

Figure 3.30: Notary Form for a Partnership

Figure 3.31: Fund-Raising Letter

Figure 3.32: Grant Proposal

Figure 3.33: Instructions

Figure 3.34: Introduction

Figure 3.35: Inquiry Letter

Figure 3.36: Job Description

Figure 3.37: Job Offer Letter

Figure 3.38: Meeting Agenda

Figure 3.39: Meeting Minutes

Figure 3.40: Memo

Figure 3.41: Mission Statement

Figure 3.42: Newsletter

Figure 3.43: Newsletter Article

Figure 3.44: Note

Figure 3.45: Tip

Figure 3.46: Warning Notice

Figure 3.47: Caution Notice

Figure 3.48: Danger Notice

Figure 3.49: Permission Letter Granting Permission

Figure 3.50: Permission Letter Requesting Permission

Figure 3.51: Policy

Figure 3.52: Slide with Bulleted Lists, a Graphical Background, and Photo

Figure 3.53: Slide with Title, Bulleted Subtitle, and Pie Chart

Figure 3.54: Slide with PowerPoint WordArt

Figure 3.55: Slide with Graphics Rather Than Text

Figure 3.56: Press Release

Figure 3.57: Procedures

Figure 3.58: Progress Report

Figure 3.59: Proposal for Video Production Services

Figure 3.60: Survey

Figure 3.61: Reference Letter

Figure 3.62: Refusal Letter

Figure 3.63: Heading Numbering Systems

Figure 3.64: Report Cover

Figure 3.65: Report Transmittal Letter

Figure 3.66: Report Table of Contents

Figure 3.67: Report List of Figures

Figure 3.68: Report Body

Figure 3.69: Request Letter

Figure 3.70: Analytical Research Report

Figure 3.71: Resignation Letter

Figure 3.72: Chronological Format Résumé

Figure 3.73: Skills Format Résumé

Figure 3.74: Sales Letter

Figure 3.75: Sales Letter

Figure 3.76: Seasonal Correspondence

Figure 3.77: Specifications

Figure 3.78: Speech by John F. Kennedy

Figure 3.79: Summary

Figure 3.80: Termination Letter

Figure 3.81: Instructor-Led Training Manual

Exhibit 3.82: Self-Study Training Manual

Figure 3.83: Training Manual Cover

Figure 3.84: Training Manual Table of Contents

Figure 3.85: Training Manual Getting-Started Page

Figure 3.86: Training Manual Quiz

Figure 3.87: Training Manual Course Evaluation

Figure 3.88: Training Manual Course Objectives

Figure 3.89: Training Manual Lesson Contents and Objectives

Figure 3.90: Training Manual Table Reference

Figure 3.91: Training Manual Instructions

Figure 3.92: Training Manual Group Activity

Figure 3.93: Trip Report

Figure 3.94: Online User Guide

Figure 3.95: User Guide Tutorial

Figure 3.96: User Guide Cover

Figure 3.97: User Guide Instructions

Figure 3.98: User Guide Reference Information

Figure 3.99: User Guide Quick Start

Figure 3.100: Warning Letter

Figure 3.101: Web Site

Figure 3.102: White Paper

INTRODUCTION

The AMA Handbook of Business Writing is a desktop job aid for all corporate communicators. The book is a collection of easy-to-find information on style, grammar, usage, punctuation, language construction, formatting, and business documents.

In writing three editions of the Administrative Assistant’s and Secretary’s Handbook, we have done extensive research on language usage. In addition, we are the founders of a corporate communications consulting business with over 25 years’ experience working for many Fortune 500 companies like IBM, AT&T, Sony, Chevron, Hewlett Packard, and Cox Enterprises. In our work, we’ve developed hundreds of business documents including Web sites, brochures, reports, presentations, marketing plans, policy manuals, video programs, software tutorials, and training materials. In The AMA Handbook of Business Writing, we take the best of these corporate business writing guidelines and organize them in a way corporate writers will find useful.

We’ve written the book so you can easily find information on a particular topic and quickly get back to your writing project. We have alphabetized most of the book and included cross-references to assist you in finding alternatively worded entries.

The book is organized into three sections:

Section 1: The Writing Process

Section 2: The Business Writer’s Alphabetical Reference

Section 3: Sample Business Documents

The book also includes a detailed table of contents and index that will assist you in quickly finding what you are seeking.

The Sample Business Documents section includes guidelines, tips, and a wide variety of business documents, including annual reports, brochures, business letters, business plans, grant proposals, mission statements, newsletters, policies, press releases, proposals, résumés, surveys, speeches, training manuals, user guides, and white papers.

We believe The AMA Handbook of Business Writing is an essential desk reference for the following business writers:

Corporate communications writers and managers

Marketing writers and managers

Human resources administrators and managers

Sales representatives and managers

Training developers and managers

Technical writers

Grant writers

Public relations writers

Administrative assistants

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In writing this book, we referenced many sources to confirm guidelines we used throughout our professional careers while working with a variety of Fortune 500 companies. In addition, we used our own book, the Administrative Assistant’s and Secretary’s Handbook, as a source for content on language usage, grammar, and punctuation. We therefore thank James Stroman, who coauthored the Administrative Assistant’s and Secretary’s Handbook.

The following is a list of sources we referenced while writing this book to confirm the accuracy of our content:

James Stroman, Kevin Wilson, and Jennifer Wauson, The Administrative Assistant’s and Secretary’s Handbook, 3rd ed. (New York: AMACOM Books, 2007).

Microsoft Corporation Editorial Style Board, Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, 3rd ed. (Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 2004).

David A. McMurrey, Online Technical Writing, 2009. See also David A. McMurrey, Power Tools for Technical Communication (Heinle, 2001).

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Center for Writing Studies, 2009.

Purdue University. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL), 2009.

UsingEnglish.com, English Glossary of Grammar Terms, 2009.

SECTION 1

The Writing Process

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

When planning to write a business document, the most important consideration is to understand your audience. You must adapt your writing to the needs and interests of the audience.

For most business documents, the audience falls into one of the following categories:

Subject matter experts—individuals who know the content completely and who focus on the details

Technologists—people who manufacture, operate, and maintain products and services and who have a firm practical knowledge

Management—people who make decisions about whether to produce and market products and services but who have little technical knowledge about the details

General audience—people who may know about a product or service but who have little technical knowledge about the details

Another way to analyze your audience is to consider its characteristics:

What are their background, education, and experience?

Does your writing have to start with the basics, or can you work at a more advanced level?

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Example: If you are writing about a Windows-based software product, can you assume the audience already has a basic understanding of Windows, how to use a mouse, and so forth?

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What will the audience expect and need from your document?

How will your document be used?

Will users read it cover to cover or just skim the high points?

Will they use your document as a reference to look up information when it is needed?

What are the demographics of your audience?

Consider the age, sex, location, and other characteristics of your audience.

Your writing may have more than one audience or an audience with a wide variety of backgrounds. With an audience of both experts and laypeople, it is best to organize your document into sections with easy-to-understand headings so that the individual users can find the areas that interest them. You may need to off-load the more technical information to an appendix.

Once you have analyzed your audience, you need to adapt your document to conform to its interests and needs.

You may need to add information.

You may need to omit information.

You may need to add examples to help readers understand.

You may need to write to a lower or higher level.

You may need to include background information.

You may need to strengthen transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

You may need to write longer introductions and clearer topic sentences.

You may need to change your sentence style.

You may need change the type of graphics used.

You may need to add cross-references.

You may need to organize your content into headings with lists.

You may need to use special fonts, font sizes, font styles, and line spacing for emphasis.

BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming by jotting down notes is a great way to gather content ideas for a writing project.

Don’t worry about the order of the ideas.

Let one idea lead you to other related ideas.

Browse the Web to generate ideas.

Review magazines, journals, and periodical indexes for ideas.

Use free association to let your mind roam freely throughout the subject area.

Use free association while commuting, while riding a bike, while walking, or even while taking a shower.

Keep a pen and notepad or a digital recorder nearby.

As you think about the subject matter, consider the following angles:

Are there any problems or needs?

Is there a cause-and-effect relationship?

What are the solutions to the problems?

What is the history of the subject matter?

What processes are involved?

What needs to be described to readers?

How can the subject matter be divided into smaller pieces?

Are any comparisons involved?

What needs to be illustrated with a graphic or photograph?

How is the subject matter applied?

Can you list any advantages and benefits?

What are the disadvantages and limitations?

Are there any warnings, cautions, tips, or guidelines?

What are the financial implications of the subject matter?

What is its importance?

What does the future likely hold?

What are the social, political, and legal implications of the subject matter?

Can you draw any conclusions about the subject matter?

Do you have any recommendations?

What are the alternatives to the subject matter?

What tests and methods are used?

Can you use relevant statistics?

Are there any legal issues?

Should you consider applicable business situations?

After brainstorming, the next step is to narrow the list of ideas to the scope of the project.

How does each brainstorm idea apply to your audience?

Will your audience care about each brainstorming item?

Does the idea help your audience understand the topic?

Could you eliminate one or more ideas without sacrificing anything?

Is the idea too general, too technical, or not technical enough?

After narrowing the list of topics, decide how to cover each and determine how to obtain the content details.

Research online.

Talk to subject matter experts.

Use reference books.

Test and evaluate the product or service yourself.

Get testimonials from customers or users.

Conduct tests.

Record demonstrations using software or video.

For the narrowed list of topics, determine the audience level for each:

Determine which topics apply to all audiences and should be more general.

Determine which topics apply to individual audiences and should be more specific, include more details, or used to create separate audience-specific documents.

RESEARCH

The research phase of a business writing project consists of:

Reviewing existing publications, periodicals, Web sites, and company documents

Evaluating products and services

Conducting tests of products and services

Running tests

Studying users

Interviewing experts

Conducting surveys using questionnaires or observations

Traditional print sources used in research include anything published in print form that is available in libraries and bookstores:

Books

Textbooks

Newspapers

Scholarly journals

Trade publications

Magazines

Materials available for research purposes on the Internet include:

Web pages and blogs

PDF documents

eBooks

Video and audio

Online versions of print publications

Press releases

Message boards

Discussion lists

Chat rooms

Web-based government reports

When searching for information at a library or on the Internet:

Make a list of keywords related to your subject matter that will likely produce search results.

Use the Library of Congress subject headings to search for keywords.

Check Books in Print by subjects for any related keywords.

Check the Reader’s Guide to Periodic Literature for related articles.

Use Google Scholar at www.scholar.google.com to search for articles across many disciplines and sources.

Check the New York Times Index for relevant newspaper articles.

Check a general encyclopedia for information about your topic.

Keep a list of the sources used in your research in order to document them in footnotes, endnotes, and a bibliography.

Keep your notes organized on note cards or in a word processor.

For research from books, include the title, authors, city of publication, publisher, date of publication, and the pages for specific quotes and other information.

For research from magazines, include the title of the article, the magazine’s name, the issue date, and beginning and ending page numbers of the article.

For encyclopedia articles, include the title, edition number, date of publication, and the author’s name.

For government documents, include notes about the department, administration, or agency name, along with any cataloging number.

For private sources of research from interviews, make notes about the date of the communication, the source’s full name, title, and organization.

When making notes from your research sources, you can record any of the following:

A few sentences or some statistics

Direct quotes from a publication

Paraphrased information in your own words

Summaries that condense the main ideas in an article

INTERVIEWING

Interviews with subject matter experts, customers, end users, and members of your general audience provide you with insight and testimonials for use in your writing project.

Interviews can be conducted in a number of ways:

Face-to-face

In focus groups

By telephone

In a computer chat

Via email

On a message board

By means of a discussion list

By mail

Interviews that are conducted face-to-face or on the telephone can be recorded with the interviewee’s permission and later transcribed.

In informal conversational interviews, interview questions often flow from the context of the discussion.

Structured interviews follow a checklist to make sure all relevant topics are covered, and the interviewer may ask impromptu questions based on the answers.

In an open-ended interview, open-ended questions are asked, allowing the subject to share opinions and ideas.

When asking interview questions, consider the following:

Ask clear questions whose language makes sense to the interviewees.

Ask one question at a time, rather than multipart questions.

Ask opened-ended questions with no predetermined answers.

Ask questions about interviewees’ experience with the subject matter before asking for their opinions on it.

Order the questions from general to specific, from broad to narrow.

Ask probing and follow-up questions when a different level of response or detail is needed.

Be able to interpret the answers and clarify the responses to confirm that what you heard is what the interviewee meant.

Avoid sensitive or deep questions that may irritate the interviewee.

Allow free-form discussion, but keep the interview session under control by having a checklist of questions you want to ask.

Establish and maintain a rapport with the interviewee through attentive listening, purposeful voice tone, and responsive expressions and gestures.

OUTLINING

Outlines are useful in the writing process as a strategy for brainstorming and the logical ordering of content. An outline lists the headings and subheadings for various topics and ideas. Several levels of subheadings may be used to group ideas.

To create an outline:

Determine the purpose of the document.

Determine the audience.

Brainstorm ideas to include in the document.

Organize the ideas by grouping similar ones together.

Determine a logical order for the ideas.

Label the groups of ideas for use as headings and subheadings in the outline.

In the most common outline format, numbers or letters are assigned to each level of heading or subheading. For example:

I. Roman numerals

A. Capitalized letters

1. Arabic numerals

a. Lowercase letters

Keep the following ideas in mind when creating an outline:

Use parallel structure for headings and subheadings.

Heading content at the same level should be equally significant.

A heading can contain just a few words or an entire sentence.

Each heading should have at least two or more items of subordinated content or subheadings.

Headings should be general, and subheadings should be more specific.

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Example:

I. Introducing the transactional Web site

A. What is a transactional Web site?

B. Who uses this type of Web site?

II.