The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Improve Your Business Writing Skills
An ancient business saying claims that time is money. Following this logic, business people tend to shorten and speed up communication. However, professional communication has always been strongly relying on writing skills. Serious entrepreneurs know that a big part of their business depends on successful communication, so they work hard to improve it.
How to improve your writing?
Although some people have more talent to write than others, everyone can learn a few writing basics. Here’s how you can improve your skills.
Plan before you write
Make sure that you have a clear idea on what you want to present in the text. Don’t let the client wander around the message looking for the meaning. Try to be straightforward and briefly describe your proposals. Pay attention to the structure and logic of your text, making sure that each sentence adds to the previous one naturally.
5W + H
Good business writers are like journalists – they immediately give you the answers to the most essential questions. The formula 5W + H explains it all very simply. It is always important to reveal what happened, where and when, who was involved and why. Additionally, it is necessary to say how it happened, which is the + H part of the formula.
All professions have specific forms of communication and use specialized terms or phrases. However, it sounds strange if you use professional jargon too often. It’s clear that you must exploit words like molecule or proton while writing about chemistry but it is still possible to make your writing sound more ordinary. You have to convince the reader that you are a real person, not a robot.
Support your claims
When you are trying to convince potential buyers or clients that your offer or project is truly excellent, you can use supporting materials to prove it. For example, if you say that purchasers are satisfied with the new product, try to support the claim with survey results or testimonials. Furthermore, you can provide a link to the relevant research or a nice visual presentation to strengthen the credibility of your writing.
Proofread
Every once in a while you’ll meet a client who only cares about getting the job done and doesn’t pay attention to your writing skills. However, a vast majority of business people consider writing a genuine reflection of the client’s work in general. That’s why you must not make any typos or forget that you are addressing Ms. Jones and not Mr. Jones.
Add personal touch
You should keep the business writing formal but feel free to add a little personal note when you see a convenient opportunity. That way, your colleagues or partners will remember you faster and distinguish you from other people. In the world full of clones in black suits and ties, do your best to stand out of the crowd – at least through your writing.
Smart businessmen know that they become more successful with each new skill they learn. Though many neglect the importance of business writing, it is actually among the most important elements of fruitful entrepreneurship. There are many ways to improve writing skills, so we gave you an overview of the six most important tips. Try it out and soon enough you’ll see that your writing is getting better.
About the Author
Tony Picekatto is a marketing specialist and a father of two beautiful girls. In his spare time, he is the guest writer at Topbritishessays.com. He loves business writing and uses his blog posts to introduce people to some very practical writing skills and tricks.
