Effective Business Writing in easy steps

by Tony Rossiter

Overview

The ability to communicate effectively in writing is a key business skill. Whether you’re drafting a lengthy company report or sending a short email to colleagues, it’s vital to get it right. That means being clear and concise, and writing in a style that’s acceptable to the reader. If your writing is difficult to understand or written in an inappropriate style, it won’t be effective.

When problems arise within any organization, they can often be traced back to a breakdown in communication. Often the most effective way to communicate is in writing. Clear and succinct writing is an essential business skill – and one which no organization, big or small, private or public, can afford to neglect.  Effective Business Writing in easy steps will enable you to quickly master this skill.

Effective Business Writing in easy steps is the ideal guide for anyone who needs guidance with writing in the workplace. Its clear, concise, easy-to-read style means that you’ll soon master the fundamental skills to communicate effectively in business. It covers the basic tools such as plain English, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and grammar, to preparing and checking your presentation, then how to put it into practice when writing documents such as letters, emails, notes, reports and speeches and many more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840785715
Publisher:	In Easy Steps Limited
Publication date:	07/23/2013
Series:	In Easy Steps
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Tony Rossiter is a successful management consultant and trainer for management and communication skills courses. He's also a freelance writer, with regular articles in a range of national magazines to his credit.

Table of Contents

1 Why good writing matters 7

Introduction 8

The communication revolution 9

Put it in writing to

A key business skill 12

How to improve your writing 13

Summary 14

2 What is plain English? 15

A short history 16

Short, everyday words 18

Concrete words 20

Using verbs, not nouns 21

Active, not passive verbs 22

Avoiding jargon 24

Avoiding clichés 25

Avoiding gobbledygook 28

Culling out words you don't need 31

Short sentences 33

Summary 34

3 Basic tools 35

Vocabulary 36

Spelling 39

Punctuation 40

Grammar 46

Summary 48

4 The four golden rules 49

Introduction 50

The purpose 51

The subject 52

The reader 53

Clarity and concision 55

Summary 56

5 Planning and preparation 57

The four golden rules in practice 58

Deciding what information you need 59

Collecting and sorting the information 60

Structure and order 62

Summary 64

6 Style 65

Elements of style 66

Write in the same style as you speak? 68

Tone 69

Summary 70

7 Presentation 71

Introduction 72

Consistency 73

Headings 74

White space 75

Bullets 76

Bold 77

Summary 78

8 The Writing process 79

Before you begin 80

Allocating time 81

Order of writing 82

Things to remember 83

Summary 84

9 Checking, re-writing and testing 85

Checking 86

Re-writing 88

Two final tests 89

Summary 90

10 Letters 91

Letters 92

Example 94

11 Emails 95

Emails 96

Examples 98

12 Memos and briefing notes 103

Memos and briefing notes 104

Examples 107

13 Notes and minutes of meetings 113

Notes and minutes of meetings 114

Agenda example 119

Minutes of meeting example 120

14 Reports 123

Reports 124

Examples 128

15 Summaries 137

Summaries 138

16 Business proposals 141

Business proposals 142

17 CVs 145

CVs 146

Examples 148

18 Speeches 155

Speeches 156

Speechwriting check list 160

19 Press releases 161

Press releases 162

Press release example 163

20 Internal and external communications 165

Internal and external communications 166

Example 167

21 Web pages 169

Web pages 170

Example 172

22 Further reading 173

Further reading 174

Index 175