{"id":3472,"date":"2019-01-21T09:38:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T09:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/?p=3472"},"modified":"2024-05-12T00:59:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T00:59:12","slug":"seven-tips-to-business-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/seven-tips-to-business-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Tips for Successful Business Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Avoid Confusion With These Seven Success Tips For Business Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis email makes no sense at all\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

How many times have you received an email\/message read it and had this thought? Quite likely more than once! And that\u2019s a problem. How many different documents<\/a> do we churn out at work? Lots of emails, plus reports, proposals, minutes etc. Every single one of them needs to be accurate in terms of spelling, punctuation and grammar. But that is just the start, in this article we\u2019ll look at seven simple steps we can take to producing writing that reads well and communicates the points intended saving us from misunderstandings and lost productivity.<\/p>\n

History is littered with examples of major fails due to poor communication, an oft used example being the Charge of The Light Brigade and the breakdown of understanding between Lord Raglan and Sir George Cathcart at a critical intersect of the battle. Remember that every message sent<\/a> acts as an ambassador<\/strong> for you and your company. It creates an impression not just of you, but of the whole organisation. So let\u2019s get it right!<\/p>\n

\"Improve
Business writing course<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n
  1. Proofreading & checking
    \n<\/strong>Wehn we raed wrods, we dno\u2019t raed each and evrey letetr. Our brains have a talent for making sense from nonsense. We don\u2019t look inside words, we just look at the shape of the word. If the first and last letters look right, we can work out what the word is. If any letters are in the wrong order, without thinking we unscramble them \u2013 we don\u2019t see the mistake!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I recommend proofreading and checking<\/a>, although often, people just use spellchecker. But it won\u2019t always save you. If I\u2019m typing quickly, \u2018from\u2019 becomes \u2018form\u2019. And I\u2019ve met plenty of managers who are definitely not \u2018mangers\u2019! Here are some top tips to help with your proofreading:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Take a break!<\/strong> Allow time between writing and proofreading. Give yourself a chance to forget what you wrote. If you proofread immediately, you\u2019ll just see what you think is on the page. Or, find a proofreading buddy. A fresh pair of eyes checking your work will pick up mistakes you\u2019ve missed.<\/li>\n
    2. Use a pointer.<\/strong> Running your pen or finger along each line underneath the words will force you to slow down, look inside the words and spot the errors.<\/li>\n
    3. Check spelling, punctuation and grammar<\/strong>. If you find a mistake, correct it then rewind a little to the beginning of the sentence. There may be 2 mistakes right next to each other, and you might miss the second one.<\/li>\n
    4. Use a cover to limit what you can read<\/strong>. Use a ruler or a piece of paper and place it over the document. As you proofread, move it down the page, revealing the lines one by one.<\/li>\n
    5. Read it backwards!<\/strong> This is a very useful proofreading technique. Start at the end of each paragraph and read backwards. The message will be lost, so you can focus on checking the words.<\/li>\n
    6. Final check \u2013 is the message intact?<\/strong> You\u2019ve made changes \u2013 does the document still say what you want it to say?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      In summary, we should be proofreading and checking every document we create<\/a>. Think of it as short-term sacrifice for long-term benefits like efficiency and productivity not only for you but for the recipients of your messages. Remember how you feel when you\u2019re reading an unintelligible email – what impression do you have of the writer? Good lcuk!<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Avoid Confusion With These Seven Success Tips For Business Writing \u201cThis email makes no sense at all\u2026\u201d How many times have you received an email\/message read it and had this thought? Quite likely more than once! And that\u2019s a problem. How many different documents do we churn out at work? Lots of emails, plus reports, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[634,638,633],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-management-training","category-professional-management","category-professional-development"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3472"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7527,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472\/revisions\/7527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}