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    Business Writing
    Business Writing
    Business Writing
    Ebook222 pages2 hours

    Business Writing

    By Baden Eunson

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    About this ebook

    The ability the write well in professional situations is a much sought-after and all too rare skill. Business Writing takes a hands-on approach to help you excel in writing a range of hard-copy and electronic documents.

    Learn how to write effective:

    • letters
    • memos
    • emails
    • reports
    • website text.

    Expert communicator Baden Eunson shows you how to design documents, employ persuasive techniques and how to recognise (and foil) the mind games some people play. Also, discover how to avoid the pitfalls of planning and editing documents to become a proficient and fluent writer.

    Effective writing is a skill that everyone can develop and is a vital attribute for those who wish to succeed in the highly competitive business world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWiley
    Release dateJan 30, 2012
    ISBN9781118319680
    Business Writing

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      Book preview

      Business Writing - Baden Eunson

      Preface

      Why bother with communication? Sure, communication is a ‘soft skill’ that everyone talks about, but is communication that important when you need to be upgrading your skills and knowledge as you are developing your career? Well, actually, it is. All varieties of communication are among the best business tools you can have in your career toolkit.

      A 2006 survey by Graduate Careers Australia, Graduate Outlook 2006, found that when employers were looking for graduates to hire, the technical competence of the graduates in their chosen field ran a poor second to the communication skills the employers were primarily looking for.

      Much the same considerations apply even if you don’t have a degree, or are already in your first or second career — time and again, those with good or great communication skills seem to have an advantage over those who don’t.

      Figure 1: 2006 survey by Graduate Careers Australia — factors favoured most by graduate employers

      Can such skills be learnt? Of course they can. The book you hold in your hands is part of the Business Tools series, a series that will help you use aspects of communication as tools to further your career, and possibly your own personal development.

      Soft skills such as communication — in contrast to hard skills, such as number crunching and physical labour — are also known as generic, employability or transferable skills. This means that:

      while the technical knowledge you currently have may well be obsolete in five years’ time, your soft skills will still be relevant in twenty or thirty years’ time

      the transferable nature of soft skills will help you progress within your organisation and out of your current area of specialisation, and will help you move on to other organisations when the time is right for such a move.

      Business Writing provides you with a range of techniques and approaches to writing paper and electronic documents, from memos, letters and reports, to emails and text for websites. I hope you find this book easy to read, and also hope that you can return to it as a tool and resource in your career as a communicator.

      Baden Eunson

      Melbourne

      March 2007

      Introduction

      Business Writing looks at the different types of documents that are found in the workplaces of today and tomorrow. In the past decade, paper documents such as letters and memos have become less frequently used as email has emerged, but such documents are still important; in some situations in fact, they are more important than they ever were. Some trend predictors have told us that we are now in the age of the paperless office, but this is a myth — in most workplaces, there are now more paper documents about than there were previously.

      Even when there is no need for hard-copy documents, the techniques of letter and memo writing that you will learn about in this book can be applied when writing any type of document — physical or electronic. In fact, some of the techniques of expression and persuasion can also be used in both conversation and presentations.

      Good news letters (letters to customers and clients that say ‘yes, we can help you’) and bad news letters (letters to customers and clients that say ‘no, we can’t help you, but ...’) are discussed as well. Various types of persuasive letters, exploring the processes of human motivation along the way, are also considered.

      While letters are usually addressed to those outside the organisation, memos are generally addressed to people inside the organisation. Different types of memos for various situations are highlighted in this section, including situations when a hard or paper copy is directly preferable to an email.

      I will look also at reports. Reports can be short or long, and can be used for a variety of communication situations. In particular, this chapter focuses on the longer form of the analytical or problem-solving report. Such a complex document presents numerous challenges, and many of your colleagues will do whatever they can to avoid writing reports. Such avoidance is hardly surprising — after all, these documents can be a big and time-consuming job. If you take up these challenges, however, and become known as someone who can write excellent reports, it will enhance your reputation considerably.

      Finally, I will discuss a close relative of the analytical report — the tender, also known as the proposal or submission. A section on online writing closes Business Writing, covering both emails and website text.

      Chapter 1

      Letters 1 — what they are and how to write them

      One of the most important elements of business writing is writing letters. You may ask, ‘Why should I bother with such an old-fashioned form of communication as letters?’ There are many reasons why letters are still utilised; read on to find out why.

      Letters — when, why and how

      Letters are one of a number of genres we use as communicators. With the rise of email, it is commonplace to hear about ‘the death of letter writing’ in relation to both personal and professional communication. In spite of this, the letter is still very much alive — primarily because its advantages still outweigh its disadvantages, which are listed in table 1.1 (overleaf).

      Table 1.1: advantages and disadvantages of letter writing as a channel of communication

      You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you’ve got something to say.

      F Scott Fitzgerald

      New technology has increased our channels of personal and business communication, which now include physical and electronic methods such as letters, memos, reports, faxes, emails and SMS (short message service) via telephones. Technology changes, but certain principles of communication remain constant. We should never forget the 8Cs of written communication (see table 1.2).

      Table 1.2: the 8Cs of written communication

      The discipline you use to write things down clearly is the first step in making them real.

      Lee lacocca

      Approaches to writing letters

      Different approaches may be taken when writing letters, depending on their purpose. For example, it’s useful to distinguish between direct and indirect approaches to the topic. Each pattern has its strengths and weaknesses.

      The direct approach in a business letter is appropriate; for example, when we are able to give our readers what they want, while a more indirect approach may be taken when we are unable to do so or when conditions apply. We need to keep the direct/indirect distinction in mind when creating documents for different situations and recipients. Table 1.3 lists the direct and indirect patterns of letter organisation.

      Table 1.3: direct and indirect patterns of letter organisation

      Before I turn

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