Four Tricks on Effective Business Writing

Every time I switch companies, it always takes a while to get acclimated and get to know the new culture, people, and way of communication. However, no matter how the company is, large or small, start up or traditional, the rules of effective business writing tend to stay the same. Here are my four tips.

1. Really understand your content. Wait a minute, are you saying that sometimes I don’t understand what I am writing about? Yes! It happens more often than you may realize. In Chinese there is a saying, 以其昏昏， 使之昭昭， meaning if you are confused yourself, it’s impossible to enlighten others. I often see team members trying to articulate a complex concept or tell a lengthy story, without getting to the point. The root cause: you don’t really understand what you are trying to say. Only when you really understand the essence and key issues at hand, you can explain it clearly, logically and succinctly. Copying and pasting other’s sentences and phrases without understanding the core won’t cut it.
2. Keep it short and sweet. I would read what my team write, and challenge them to cut it by half, or two thirds. You’d be surprised how often they can win the challenge. It ties into the previous point. If you really understand what you are trying to say, then you can cut out the noise, organize your key points, and express it in a precise yet concise manner. Let’s face it. We live in a crazy world where no one’s got time for anything. If you don’t get your point across in the few sentences, the audience, especially busy executives, will put off reading your communication, maybe forever. Get it out in a few sentences, offer details and further explanations down below, but don’t cloud your key message with noise.
3. Use headings and topic sentences. That’s the one thing they really emphasize in teaching legal writing: use headings and topic sentences. Summarize each section, and get the conclusion out in the first sentence. Don’t write a novel and hope to create suspense. Say your conclusion, and then elaborate.
4. Pay attention to details. Grammar matters. Punctuation matters. Nothing destroys the trust of your reader faster than simple math mistakes that they can catch by doing math in their head. The thing about details is that it’s a reflection of your professionalism overall. If one can’t spend the time to proof read, eliminate grammatical errors and ensure the math all checks out, what does that say about the content you are conveying overall? It’s like seeing stains on a lady’s evening gown. You get the idea.