Business writing is more complicated than it looks, especially if you have little or no experience. Fortunately, you do not need to be an expert thesis writer, to be a good business communicator – you can train yourself to produce high-quality business writing papers. Before penning down your next report or email, follow these four tips:
1. Identify Your Audience
To prepare a business document, you need to know your audience first. Starting without doing this will make the task difficult. As you consider your reader, it is crucial to be very clear about what you expect them to do after reading the document. Do you want to simply inform them? Do you want something from them? Do you need to get their signature on the document?
Here are some steps to consider to identify your audience:
- The reason for the writing
- The message you are passing with the write-up.
- Who is the recipient of the message?
- What is the outcome of the writing?
When you keep the audience in mind before starting, it will be easier to pass the message across. You would clearly tell them all they need to know while you get what you want from them.
2. Collect Your Thoughts
After determining your audience, the next step is to know what you want to tell them. That is the planning phase for thought collection. It is very important and shouldn’t be rushed. Here are some steps to help you with this:
- What is the most important message?
- Test it on yourself to know if it makes sense so as not to confuse the reader.
- List the thoughts in a transparent and logical format. Using subheadings can help. Your audience will see all your thought processes, and this makes it easier to read.
3. Use active voice, short sentences, and paragraphs
As you write, make sure to use an active voice. A passive voice may be dull, vague, and require many words. On the other hand, the active voice makes your writing easier to understand.
Also, long sentences are not recommended when it comes to business writing. Experts always recommend using short sentences. Shorter sentences make it easier for the audience to follow your writing and act on your request.
A good start is twenty words per sentence. The writing flows better when there is a healthy mix of long and shorter sentences. It helps ensure that your reader pays attention.
4. Edit And Revise
Check the end document again and again. That helps you to prevent grammatical errors. Editing and proofreading are very important, but they can be tricky. Sometimes, you may find it difficult to spot your errors if you write the article by yourself. You can print a copy of the document to read or give it to a colleague to go through it on your behalf. Another option is using an app that reads your document out loud. It is easier to hear the error than see it.
After revising your work, you can send it. These steps will help you to create high-quality business documents.
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