Have you ever received a memo, email or report that was at least twice as long as it should have been, was filled with jargon and vague platitudes and almost put you to sleep trying to read it?
Of course you have. And how did it make you feel about the person who wrote it? Well-crafted prose isn’t just for authors and journalists: it’s the way business people get things done, influence others and try to turn their ideas, ambitions and plans into reality.
Business writing is important, and you should treat it that way. Here’s how:
• Avoid jargon. Some jargon may be appropriate if you’re writing to a specialized audience, but keep it to a minimum. Plain, clear English is always best.
• Write active rather than passive sentences, keeping them short and to-the-point rather than long and rambling. Use few adjectives and adverbs. Avoid generalizations. Be specific. Use concrete examples when explaining concepts.
• Omit needless words. Think carefully about the words you choose. Make each word, sentence and paragraph count. Avoid repetition. Remember that the easiest thing for any reader to do is stop reading.
• Think carefully about your document’s organization. What points do you want to make, and in what order? What are the clearest ways to make your points? How can you organize your material in a logical, interesting way so that the reader will follow along and understand the information you’re conveying? Don’t just assemble information; tell a story.
One more thing: The secret to good writing is rewriting, usually lots of it. Few good writers bang out perfect prose. Most are good because they go over and over their work, analyzing it for clarity, brevity and impact. They polish it; they make it sing.
You can do that, too. The people you are writing for will appreciate it, and they will think better of you.
Tom Eblen is literary arts liaison for the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning and a former columnist and managing editor of The Lexington Herald-Leader. The Carnegie Center is a nonprofit educational center offering seasonal writing, publishing, language classes and community programming. For more, visit Carnegiecenterlex.org.