THE 8 ESSENTIALS OF EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING
THINKING ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE : When you are getting started writing always think these five things about your audience .
Identity : Who are they? What do I know about them?
Empathy : What does my audience care about? How can I put myself in their shoes?
Attention : What’s going to get and keep their attention
Audience of Audience : Think about who else might see this . Writings can be easily replicated via retweets, screenshots, mentions etc.
GOALS : Which of these objectives are you trying to accomplish :
Informational goal : Are you trying to provide an update e.g., a status report, an email newsletter, product upgrade, version update etc.
Instructional communication : Are you teaching someone something ( is it a customer service FAQs) . Try to create what you are trying to make someone understand.
Persuasive communication : Try to guide your audience or persuade them towards taking an action. Think about making a case ( like a lawyer making a case). Try to backup and reinforce your arguments. Provide a clear action items.
Conversational : There is a business voice you may want to think about when you are of a business article, personal brand etc. . What voice and tone you want to inculcate in your writing . In case of a business context there is a varied spectrum of voice . Have a healthy knowledge about voice and tonality in your writing.
PLANNING : Map out what you want to articulate. Make a rough sketch if you are a visual learner. Write out outlines or table of contents of diagrams illustrating the points and supporting evidence or data . Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking .
Plan your case, Argument, or Narrative :
paragraph 1 - Introduce the problem and describe the situation
paragraph 2 - Outline the solution
paragraph 3 - Provide supporting facts and evidences
paragraph 4 - Conclude and summarize argument .
STRUCTURE : There is a lot of different ways to think about structuring . In business writing you are going to make a case for something. You can think about making a case when you are arguing a case and persuading people to act on a set of facts. Your main idea should have a supporting point (argument) and each point (argument) should be support with an evidence .
HEADLINE : People have short attention span. Make the point early don’t bury the lead of the headline. Have a strong opener that is going to express the foundational points or arguments you are trying to make and hook someone’s attention. Add context and conclude in such a way that people can perform certain action. Deliver your message early on. People will express their core message in the conclusion leading to subsiding of the core message at the end. Look at your conclusion and decide if you potentially want to deliver that information earlier. Try to think like journalist, Write the opening sentences as journalists write. In term of keeping attention and delivering compact information the rule is “the shorter the better”.
EFFICIENCY (CONCISENESS) : Use least amount of words and paragraphs to express your ideas and don’t leave the context out. If you feel like your points have not been made you can continue. If everything is laid out think about streamlining and cutting out.
DIRECTNESS AND CLARITY OF ACTION : This is something often novice writers struggle with. Going back to the point about making a case. The point of case is you want someone to make a decision or action. what you ideally suggest or type of decision you are driving for. If you are launching a project and narrating steps make it very clear. Deliver core argument. Make sure you are concluding with a clear call to action.
SELF-EDITING : Proof read what you have written .
Can I strengthen my argument while keeping things concise?
Can I make this shorter? Is there any filler that can be removed without diluting my case?
Is anything unclear, confusing, or hard to read?
Is anything repetitive?
Are there any problematic words or sentences?
Before writing give a thorough run through these steps. The more you do it the more second nature will be.