Business English Writing: Effective Business Writing Tips and Will Help You Write Better and More Effectively at Work

By Mary G. Lewis

Everyone wants to know the "who-what-when-where-why-how-how much" immediately, in the first sentence.

 

They need to make decisions. When they read documents, they want to know the important things immediately.

They want to know objectives, means of measurement, costs, and returns on those investments.

They want to see that information in the first sentences. Good business writing is more about clear thinking than it is about writing style.

Writing can only be as good as the thinking that precedes it.

You must know what you want to say, what your objective is in saying it, and why it's important for your audience to read it.

Organizing a writing project is very similar to organizing a presentation. The good writer is just as aware of his/her audience as a good public speaker is. After you have organized and outlined the subject of your memo, report, or letter, you should have a clear idea of your main focus.

Focus in your business report or memo is your objective—it is the "why" of why you are bothering to write at all. Most business writing has its purpose buried.

There is no focus, no goal, no call for action, and no desired end result. If you do not provide the focus, you force your reader to ask questions about your message which you should have answered before sitting down at your word processor. Knowing your audience will help you to organize your material so that it has the best chance of being read and understood. Put yourself in your reader's shoes—listen, and you will be better received.

 

This book will show you how to write business messages clearly, concisely and simply. It will encourage you to write conversationally, the way you talk, and to write with humanity; that is, from one person to another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary G. Lewis
• Release date: Jul 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393676249

Book preview

BUSINESS ENGLISH WRITING

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING TIPS AND TRICKS THAT WILL HELP YOU WRITE BETTER AND MORE EFFECTIVELY AT WORK

Table of Contents

Introduction.............................................................................................................................7

Chapter 1: How to Execute Business Writing Clearly..............................................................8

Understanding your readers..................................................................................................8

Defining your reader as a single person.............................................................................8

Know why you’re writing.......................................................................................................9

Defining your communication goal....................................................................................9

Creating an outline................................................................................................................9

Writing a first draft..............................................................................................................10

Construct good paragraphs.............................................................................................10

Practice writing paragraphs..............................................................................................11

Writing a good intro.........................................................................................................11

Reviewing............................................................................................................................11

Editing for clarity and conciseness.......................................................................................12

Simplifying your language...............................................................................................12

The passive voice................................................................................................................13

Removing redundancies......................................................................................................14

Headlines, subheads and bullet points – catering for skim readers.......................................15

Managing technical terms and jargon..................................................................................17

Editing text for persuasion..................................................................................................17

Calls to action.....................................................................................................................18

Proofing..............................................................................................................................18

Read everything out loud.....................................................................................................19

Chapter 2: Email Writing.......................................................................................................20

Elements of Email................................................................................................................20

Header: Identify yourself and your topic...........................................................................20

Subject:...........................................................................................................................20

Greeting: Set the tone......................................................................................................21

Body: Get to the point......................................................................................................21

Closing: Wrap it up..........................................................................................................21

Tips to Write an Effective Email............................................................................................21

Write the Perfect Subject Line...........................................................................................22

Highlight if a Response or Action is not Required.............................................................22

Break Long Emails into Two Parts.....................................................................................22

Make Your Emails Scannable............................................................................................23

Re-Read Your Email Once for a Content Check.................................................................23

Tone................................................................................................................................23

Chapter 3: Financial Transactions Writing............................................................................24

Generating Receipts............................................................................................................24

Internal Financial Receipts...............................................................................................24

External Financial Statements..........................................................................................25

Recording Financial Transactions.........................................................................................25

Completing Payroll..............................................................................................................25

Accounting..........................................................................................................................26

Preparing of adjustment entries.......................................................................................26

Completing tax returns....................................................................................................26

Preparing the firm’s financial statements.........................................................................26

Preparing a Balance Sheet....................................................................................................27

Assets = Liabilities + Capital...........................................................................................27

Tips to Prepare a Balance Sheet........................................................................................27

Chapter 4: Writing Memos.....................................................................................................29

Chapter 5: Writing Business Letters.....................................................................................31

How to Write a Sales Letter..................................................................................................32

Step 1 - State the problem...............................................................................................32

Step 2 - Present the solution...........................................................................................32

Step 3 - Establish your credibility....................................................................................33

Step 4 - Demonstrate the benefits of employing you.......................................................33

Step 5 – Prove that you’re an above average achiever.......................................................33

Step 6 - Make them a promise.........................................................................................34

Step 7 - Warn them you’re on the market........................................................................34

Step 8 - Call to action......................................................................................................34

Chapter 6: Writing a Budget..................................................................................................36

Familiarize Yourself with the Three Components: Sales, Total Costs, Profits.........................36

Sales................................................................................................................................37

Total Costs......................................................................................................................37

Profits.............................................................................................................................37

Forecast Your Revenue.....................................................................................................37

Create a Spreadsheet.......................................................................................................38

Determine the Details......................................................................................................38

Budget for Unexpected Expenses.....................................................................................39

Cash Flow........................................................................................................................39

Know When You Will Break Even.......................................................................................39

Monitor Your Cash Flow Management Regularly...............................................................40

Maintain a Cash Reserve..................................................................................................40

Look for Opportunities to Optimize Cashflow Management..............................................40

Collect Receivables Immediately......................................................................................41

Offer Discounts for Earlier Payments................................................................................41

Extend Payables When You Can........................................................................................41

Only Spend on Essentials.................................................................................................41

Be Conservative When Hiring...........................................................................................42

Use Your Technology Wisely............................................................................................42

Chapter 7: Writing a Business Plan.......................................................................................43

Find Your Passion................................................................................................................43

Get Comfortable with Risk...................................................................................................43

Adopt A Goal-Oriented Attitude..........................................................................................44

Learn to View Challenges as Opportunities..........................................................................44

Learn to Think Strategically.................................................................................................45

Be Driven by Your Vision.....................................................................................................45

Be Disciplined......................................................................................................................45

How to Come Up with Profitable Business Ideas...................................................................46

Find Problems That Need Solving.....................................................................................46

Solve Future Problems.....................................................................................................47

Think of Ways to Meet Current Needs in an Ever-Evolving World......................................47

Cost-Effective Solutions...................................................................................................47

Find A Way to Make People’s Lives Easier.........................................................................48

Turn Your Hobby into a Business.....................................................................................48

How to Validate Your Business Idea and Determine if it Will be Profitable and Successful.....49

Is There Any Competition in the Space I am Trying to Enter?............................................50

Is the Competition Making Money?...................................................................................50

Beat the Competition.......................................................................................................51

Checklist.........................................................................................................................53

How to Write a Business Plan...............................................................................................54

The Executive Summary...................................................................................................54

The Opportunity..............................................................................................................55

Execution........................................................................................................................57

The Company..................................................................................................................58

Financial Plan..................................................................................................................59

Chapter 8: Bookkeeping........................................................................................................61

Keep Your Business and Personal Finances Separate............................................................61

File Your Tax Compliance Reports on Time..........................................................................61

Keep Organized...................................................................................................................63

Audit-Proof Your Records....................................................................................................64

Whenever Possible, Don’t Go into Debt................................................................................65

Chapter 9: How to be Persuasive in Business Writing..........................................................66

Always stick to the facts......................................................................................................66

Be specific and give details..................................................................................................66

Use the power of three........................................................................................................66

Examples............................................................................................................................67

Chapter 10: Writing a Cover Letter and Résumé..................................................................69

Cover Letter........................................................................................................................69

Résumés.............................................................................................................................69

Writing a Résumé................................................................................................................70

The Objectives of Your Résumé........................................................................................70

Attract the Reader's Attention..........................................................................................70

Present Professionalism...................................................................................................70

Highlight Your Skills and Achievements...........................................................................71

Chapter 11: QuickBooks........................................................................................................72

Factors to Consider for QuickBooks First Timers..................................................................72

Keep your business and personal accounts separate........................................................72

Don’t use estimates and invoices at first..........................................................................73

Ask for help from a professional QuickBooks advisor.......................................................73

Why it is used in Business?..................................................................................................73

Setting up QuickBooks.........................................................................................................75

Planning your new QuickBooks system.............................................................................75

Installing QuickBooks......................................................................................................76

Dealing with the pre-interview jitters...............................................................................77

Preparing for the interview...............................................................................................77

Running the Easy Step Interview.......................................................................................78

Supplying company information.......................................................................................79

Choosing your preferences..............................................................................................79

Setting your start date.....................................................................................................80

Adding income accounts..................................................................................................81

Working through the Income Details introduction............................................................81

Signifying your income items...........................................................................................82

Setting up your inventory balances..................................................................................82

Setting up opening balances for customers......................................................................82

Providing vendor opening balances..................................................................................83

Setting your other account balances................................................................................83

Completing the What’s Next section of the interview........................................................84

Fixing the Easy Step Interview errors................................................................................84

Chapter 12: Tips for Good Business Writing........................................................................85

Format Follows Function......................................................................................................85

Clear - Concise -Readable...................................................................................................85

Be Organized.......................................................................................................................85

Statistics.............................................................................................................................85

Avoid Jargon........................................................................................................................86

Be Direct.............................................................................................................................86

Short Is Best........................................................................................................................86

Telegraph it to Your Reader.................................................................................................86

Avoid Sexism.......................................................................................................................87

Short Sentences...................................................................................................................87

Avoid Wordiness and Choose Simple Words.........................................................................87

Don’t Use Long Words or Phrases if Shorter Ones are Available............................................87

Check for Ambiguity............................................................................................................88

Use an Appropriate Tone.....................................................................................................88

Be Precise............................................................................................................................88

Check Consistency..............................................................................................................89

Ensure Accuracy..................................................................................................................89

Humor.................................................................................................................................89

Punctuation.........................................................................................................................90

Editing................................................................................................................................90

Common Errors...................................................................................................................90

You Must Defer to the Audience..........................................................................................90

Use Topic Sentences for Clarity............................................................................................91

Conclusion.............................................................................................................................92

Introduction

This book will show you how to write business messages clearly, concisely and simply. It will encourage you to write conversationally, the way you talk, and to write with humanity; that is, from one person to another. In the process this book will steer you away from academic, bureaucratic and legalistic writing.

Everyone wants to know the who-what-when-where-why-how-how much immediately, in the first sentence. They need to make decisions. When they read documents, they want to know the important things immediately. They want to know objectives, means of measurement, costs and returns on those investments. They want to see that information in the first sentences. Good business writing is more about clear thinking than it is about writing style. Writing can only be as good as the thinking that precedes it. You must know what you want to say, what your objective is in saying it, and why it’s important for your audience to read it. Organizing a writing project is very similar to organizing a presentation. The good writer is just as aware of his/her audience as a good public speaker is.

After you have organized and outlined the subject of your memo, report, or letter, you should have a clear idea of your main focus. Focus in your business report or memo is your objective—it is the why of why you are bothering to write at all. Most business writing has its purpose buried. There is no focus, no goal, no call for action, and no desired end result. If you do not provide the focus, you force your reader to ask questions about your message which you should have answered before sitting down at your word processor.

Knowing your audience will help you to organize your material so that it has the best chance of being read and understood. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes—listen, and you will be better received.

Chapter 1: How to Execute Business Writing Clearly

The secret to creating clear business writing may surprise you; if you’re doing it properly, the time you spend actually writing is actually very short. Whether you’re creating some web copy, a report or a proposal, great planning and editing is far more important to writing a clear, succinct readable text.

Understanding your readers

It’s often easy to forget that there’s anyone else involved in the writing process. The truth is, you’re there for no other purpose than to serve the reader.

But first, you have to work out who that is. Your reader might be a single person or a large group. Whichever it is, you’ll always need to consider factors like how they’ll be feeling, what they care about, how much they understand, what they think is funny, cute, clever, confusing or stupid, how important you are to them and whether they want to talk to you at all. Even if you’re writing for someone you know, taking the time to put yourself in their shoes, to ask what they need and want from your writing will help make your writing simpler, faster and more effective.

When writing for large groups of people, imagining a single person to represent it will also help. You can keep that imagined person in mind while you write and ask them, Do you understand what this word means or should I explain it?, Does this approach make you annoyed or should we pick another? or "Does