6 guidelines to write more clearly and concisely
September 2, 2010 by admin
Filed under Getting Ahead
HR directors from half of the 120 major American corporations polled in a recent study said they consider writing ability when making promotions.
1. Keep sentences short & sweet. The average businessperson prefers to read on an eighth-grade level. Accommodate that preference by keeping sentences to no more than 15 words. If a sentence runs longer, try to carve it in two.
2. Never use a long word when a short one will do. Go back through your memo or report and replace difficult-to-read multisyllable words with one- or two-syllable ones. Examples: Replace “illustrate” with “show” and “facilitate” with “run” (as in “run the meeting”).
3. Write in active voice, not passive. Example: Change “It was argued by the customer that an error was made by the shipping department” to “The customer argued that the shipping department had erred.”
4. Rescue “swallowed verbs.” To many people, “business writing” means turning perfectly good verbs into noun phrases … which may seem professional but only muddies your writing.
5. Eschew “make” and “made.” Technically, this falls under “swallowed verbs,” but it’s so common that it deserves a rule of its own.
6. Abandon weak “there is/there are” introductory phrases. Most of the time, they’re unnecessary and only obscure your sentence’s subject…
Read the original article at business management daily