Pro Tips for Effective Business Writing: Write to Express, Not to Impress
Businesses don’t have time for long or confusing words. Effective business correspondence relies on strict wording that relies on few but forceful words. Each word must convey a precise meaning that is understood in the same way by the writer and the reader. Use your thesaurus to replace long words with shorter, sharper words.
Whether you’re writing a prospecting letter or report, follow-up letter, or proposal, use the shortest and simplest word you can find to convey the meaning you want. Whether you’re writing up, out, or down, choose appropriate replacements for the cold, pretentious business expressions of the past. Please remove trash like: attached attachment, please search. Instead, say exactly what you want to say – I am enclosing this for you. Use plain, everyday English (I call it shirt-sleeved English) to get real results.
Simplicity makes reading easy, and professional writers know that business readers want a quick and easy read. In fact, most busy readers get lost in sentences of 21 words or more. Equally important, when you go for the biggest and most impressive word, your reader is likely to find it less impressive, not more. According to Daniel Oppenheimer, researcher and collaborator of the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology, “Anything that makes it difficult to read and understand the text, such as unnecessarily long words or complicated fonts, will reduce the readership of the text and its author.”
In twenty years of conducting business writing workshops and polishing proposals for my corporate clients, my experience tells me that it is the people with the least education who seem driven to use the most important words, often with the dumbest results. One writer, for example, looked for an alternative to “old” and found one that he liked. In his letter, he actually referred to the “senile” team. Another writer tried to impress a CEO with this: I value your needs and wish I had the opportunity to help you achieve your visions. You might laugh, but that’s a direct quote, and it’s not funny.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you make the same silly mistakes, but the principle of writing simply and cleanly is important, no matter how many titles you have or how good you are with a dictionary. Professionals don’t complicate information, they simplify it. They don’t choose ten dollar words when a fortnight works best. They don’t try to dazzle with multiple syllables when short, crisp words simplify reading and improve business results.
Do not use “as requested” when you could say “as requested”. Don’t write, “despite the fact that” when I could write “though”. Don’t go for heavy lifting, “referring to” when “roughly” works best. I’m sure you get the idea.
When you write for business, it is not your job to teach your reader a new word. You also don’t want to brag, talk badly, or confuse the reader. Charms of clarity. Country of simplicity. Write to express, not to impress, and you’ll find that your business writing really means business.