Module 1

1
Module 1

• Effective Business Writing

2
Outline

• Characteristics of Good Writing
• The Writing Process
• Creating Good Documents
• Effective Sentences
• Writing Good Paragraphs
• Business Documents

3
Essential Business Writing Skills

• Writing is an integral part of all business
  operations
• One of the most valuable skills in the workplace
• Strongly determines how others will evaluate you
• Bad writing undermines effectiveness of the
  individual and the organization

4
Characteristics of Good Writing

• Completeness all information needed is provided
• Correctness relevant and precise information
• Credibility support your argument
• Clarity reader decides what is vague, confusing,
  ambiguous
• Conciseness get to the point
• Consideration anticipate the readers reaction
• Vitality use the active voice rather than the
  passive voice

5
The Writing Process

• Planning
• Keep objectives in mind and research the topic
• Think about the audience
• Outlining helps organize thoughts
• Writing
• Follow your outline, use your handbook
• Inspiration is acceptable but must be carefully
  reviewed
• Use the interview approach to supplement the
  outline(who, what, where, when, how)
• Quality control
• Reread your work
• Be critical of your own work

6
Creating Good Documents

• Guidelines
• Choose the right words
• Ensure balance, variety, and consistency
• Use short, familial, and simple words
• Avoid using extra words
• Always use correct spelling
• Use appropriate person perspective
• Avoid problem words and phrases

7
Effective Sentences

• Correct grammar reduces ambiguity
• Avoid run-on sentences use conjunctions properly
• Ensure correct pronouns are used be consistent
• Watch out for mismatched singulars and plurals
• Avoid unnecessary prepositions
• Keep tenses consistent
• Be extra careful with conditional sentences
• Become a critical reader

8
Effective Sentences(cont.)

• Ensure punctuation is properly used
• Avoid exclamation marks
• Do not use quotations marks for emphasis
• Be consistent with the use of commas in lists
• Dont separate two independent clauses with a
  comma use a linking word
• Separate parenthetical comments with commas,
  parentheses, or dashes
• Use colons carefully only after words that stand
  on their own

9
Effective Sentences(cont.)

• Carefully plan sentence structure
• Pay attention to the sequence of words
• Avoid ambiguity when using pronouns
• Maintain parallelism by following a pattern the
  reader expects
• To avoid hidden phrases, lead and conclude your
  paragraphs with important points
• Get to the point by removing unnecessary words

10
Writing Good Paragraphs

• Organize the paragraph around a unifying idea
• Use words, grammar, and punctuation to create
  coherence
• Paragraph should follow a progression of thoughts
• Opening sentence must introduce the unifying idea
• Conclude the paragraph with a summary sentence

11
Business Documents

• A good business document should always answer the
  following questions
• What is this document about?
• Why has it come to be?
• Who wrote it?
• How is it organized?
• What is it trying to accomplish
• What supports the conclusion?
• What problem or opportunity does it address?

12
Letters and Memos

• Orient the reader
• Stick to the topic
• Make points quickly with good news
• Gradually build up to bad news
• Provide necessary background for your explanation
  but avoid excessive details
• Put yourself in the readers position when
  reviewing
• Make the document professional looking

13
Report Writing

• Executive summary
• highlight the main ideas and recommendations
• Introduction
• State purpose and scope of report
• Give relevant background
• Outline the organization and methods of the
  report
• Body (Facts, analysis, conclusions,
  recommendations)
• Logical presentation and support of thesis
• Additional material(appendices, supporting
  material)
• Ensure that the additional material is referenced
  in the body of the report and properly labeled

14
Documenting a Reference List

• Documentation is essential
• APA style is recommended for business
• Refer to guidelines for APA documentation found
  in Handbook for Writers(Lynn, et Al.)
• For documentation of electronic sources, see
• Www.uvm.edu/xli/reference/apa.html