Business Writing For Dummies

Natalie Canavor is a business writer, magazine editor and workshop leader. She has won dozens of awards for her publications, articles and scripts. Her journalism credits include features for the New York Times, columns for business publications and advice for professional communicators. She is also the author of three books on business communication.

Introduction 1


About This Book 2


Foolish Assumptions 2


How This Book Is Organized 3


Part 1: Winning with Writing 3


Part 2: Applying Your Skills to Business Messages and Documents 3


Part 3: Writing to Present Yourself Effectively 3


Part 4: Evolving Your Writing for Online Media 4


Part 5: Extending Your Writing Skills 4


Part 6: The Part of Tens 4


Icons Used in This Book 4


Beyond the Book 5


Where to Go from Here 5


Part 1: Winning with Writing 7


Chapter 1: Make Writing Your Not-So-Secret Weapon 9


Putting Good Writing to Work for You 10


Planning and Structuring Every Message 12


Applying the Goal-Plus-Audience Strategy to All Business Needs 16


Succeeding with email, letters, and business documents 16


Writing for the spoken word 17


Writing online: From websites to blogs to tweets 18


Special purpose writing 18


Taking the global perspective 19


Chapter 2: Planning Your Message Every Time 21


Adopting the Plan-Draft-Edit Principle 22


Fine-Tuning Your Plan: Your Goals and Audience 23


Defining your goal 23


Defining your audience 25


Brainstorming the best content for your purpose 30


Writing to groups and strangers 31


Imagining your readers 32


Making People Care 33


Connecting instantly with your reader 34


Focusing on what’s-in-it-for-me 34


Highlighting benefits, not features 35


Finding the concrete, limiting the abstract 36


Choosing Your Written Voice: Tone 38


Aligning tone with the occasion, relationship, and culture 38


Writing as your authentic self 39


Smiling when you say it 40


Using Relationship-Building Techniques 41


Showing active caring and respect 41


Personalizing what you write 42


Framing messages with “you” not “I” 43


Chapter 3: Making Your Writing Work: The Basics 45


Stepping into Twenty-First-Century Writing Style 45


Aiming for a clear, simple style 46


Applying readability guidelines 47


Finding the right rhythm 50


Achieving a conversational tone 53


Energizing Your Language 54


Relying on everyday wording 55


Choosing reader-friendly words 56


Focusing on the real and concrete 57


Finding action verbs 58


Crafting comparisons to help readers 60


Employing Reader-Friendly Graphic Techniques 61


Building in white space 62


Choosing a typeface 62


Keeping colors simple 64


Adding effective graphics 64


Breaking space up with sidebars, boxes, and lists 65


Chapter 4: Self-Editing: Professional Ways to Improve Your Work 67


Changing Hats: From Writer to Editor 68


Choosing a way to edit 68


Distancing yourself from what you write 70


Reviewing the Big and Small Pictures 71


Assessing content success 72


Assessing the effectiveness of your language 73


Avoiding telltale up-down-up inflection 74


Looking for repeat word endings 75


Pruning prepositions 78


Cutting all non-contributing words 80


Moving from Passive to Active 83


Thinking “action” 83


Trimming “there is” and “there are” 84


Cutting the haves and have nots 85


Using the passive deliberately 85


Sidestepping Jargon, Clichés, and Extra Modifiers 86


Reining in jargon 86


Cooling the clichés 88


Minimizing modifiers 89


Chapter 5: Fixing Common Writing Problems 91


Organizing Your Document 92


Paragraphing for logic 92


Building with subheads 93


Working with transitions 95


Working in lists: Numbers and bulleting 97


Catching Common Mistakes 101


Using comma sense 102


Using “however” correctly 103


Matching nouns and pronouns 104


Weighing “which” versus “that” 106


Considering “who” versus “that” 107


Choosing “who” versus “whom” 107


Beginning with “and” or “but” 108


Using sentence fragments 108


Ending with prepositions 109


Fine-tuning punctuation 109


Reviewing and Proofreading: The Final Check 112


Checking the big picture 112


Proofreading your work 114


Creating your personal writing improvement guide 115


Part 2: Applying Your Skills to Business Messages and Documents 119


Chapter 6: Writing Messages That Get Results 121


Fast-Forwarding Your Agenda with Email 122


Starting Strong 124


Writing subject lines that pull people in 124


Using appropriate salutations 127


Drafting a strong email lead 127


Building Messages That Achieve Your Goals 128


Clarifying what you want 129


Assessing what matters to your audience 130


Determining the best content 132


Structuring Your Middle Ground 134


Closing Strong 136


Polishing Your Email 136


Monitoring length and breadth 137


Simplify style 137


Going short: Words, sentences, paragraphs 138


Using graphic techniques to promote clarity 138


Using the signature block 140


Good Letter Writing Techniques 141


Chapter 7: Creating High-Impact Business Materials 145


Creating Valued Reports 146


Writing activity reports 146


Reporting project results 151


Fast-Tracking Your Proposals 152


Writing formal proposals 152


Writing informal proposals 155


Applying for grants 158


Writing an Executive Summary 160


Giving perspective to complex material 161


Determining what matters 162


Putting headlines to work 163


Writing Tips for All Business Documents 165


Part 3: Writing to Present Yourself Effectively 167


Chapter 8: Speaking Well for Yourself 169


Building Your Elevator Speech 170


Defining your goal 171


Defining your audience 171


Strategizing your content 172


Representing your organization and yourself 175


Preparing and Giving Presentations 177


Planning what to say 177


Crafting your presentations with writing 181


Integrating visuals 182


Standing and delivering 184


Composing Talking Points for Live Interaction 185


Chapter 9: Telling Your Business Stories 189


Finding Your Core Business Message 190


Searching for true value 192


Making your case in business terms 195


Finding, Shaping, and Using Stories 196


Finding your story 197


Building your story 198


Story-writing tips 199


Putting stories to work 201


Telling Your Story with Video 202


Deciding how to use video 203


Using video for marketing 205


Introducing yourself with video 206


Sharing expertise with video 207


Chapter 10: Writing for the Job Hunt 209


Knowing and Expressing Your Value 210


Pinpointing your personal strengths 210


Pulling your ideas together 212


Writing Résumés That Win the Race 215


Choosing a format 216


Writing the summary statement 218


Building your work history section 219


Showing off strengths 221


Succeeding with Cover Letters 222


Planning a cover letter 222


Opening with pizzazz 223


Networking with Messages 224


Requesting informational interviews 224


Saying thank you 227


Part 4: Evolving Your Writing for Online Media 229


Chapter 11: Writing for the Digital World 231


Positioning Yourself Online 232


Strategizing Your Platform Choices 233


Breaking down your goals 235


Knowing where your audiences are 236


Assessing your skills and potentials 239


Writing for Digital Media 239


Loosening up 240


Keeping it simple and visual 241


Communicating credibility 242


Cutting hype, maxing evidence 243


Devising nonlinear strategies 244


Incorporating interactive strategies 244


Translating text into visuals 245


Chapter 12: Creating Your Online Presence 249


Creating a Website from the Ground Up 250


Determining goals, format, and audience 251


Planning a basic website 252


Creating the site structure 254


Assembling and writing a home page 255


Writing the About Us page 257


Writing the inside pages 258


Graphic tips for websites 259


Creating a Blog 260


Choosing your best subject 262


Developing tone and style 263


Creating magnetic headlines 263


Using progressive subheads 265


Networking with Twitter 265


Planning your Twitter program 266


Guidelines for tweeting 266


Writing Online Profiles 268


Using Social Media Platforms 269


Engaging with social media 270


Exploring content ideas 272


Part 5: Extending Your Writing Skills 275


Chapter 13: Writing and the Independent Worker 277


Writing Persuasively Cross-Media 278


Communicating with conviction 278


Connecting with your reader 280


Maintaining reader engagement 281


Giving people time 281


Introducing Yourself in Writing 282


Writing to Pitch Your Services 286


Creating Letters That Sell 288


Writing Difficult Messages 290


Spelling out services performed 290


Collecting on your invoices 291


Raising your fee structure 294


Communicating as a Virtual Worker 296


Pitching the Media 297


Writing traditional “press releases” 298


Writing email pitches 299


Finding ideas for the media 301


Chapter 14: Writing Well to Manage Well 303


Communicating as a Manager 304


Relating to your team members 305


Writing to inspire and motivate 306


Delivering bad news 307


Writing good news messages 313


Criticizing with kindness 314


Writing requests and giving orders 315


Writing to Higher-Ups 316


Guarding your tone 318


Avoiding the blame game 320


Making it easy to respond 321


Writing Backup Memos 323


Part 6: The Part of Tens 325


Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Advance Your Career with Writing 327


Write to Build Relationships 327


Write a Great Elevator Speech 328


Write Your Own Long-Range Career Plan 328


Write an Ad for Your Dream Job 328


Go Out of Your Way to Thank People 329


Take Notes to Control the Conversation 329


Use Social Media Strategically 329


Know How to Explain Your Value 330


Profile Your Higher-Ups 330


Create Talking Points 330


Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Energize Your Résumé 331


Don’t Apply for the Job You Have Now 331


Adopt the Employer’s Language 332


Write Clearly and Concisely 332


Communicate What You Actually Do 332


Write Narratives, Not Just Bullets 333


Sidestep Jargon and Business-Speak 333


Use Action Verbs to Prove What You Accomplished 333


Write in a Confident, Positive Tone 334


Incorporate Keywords 334


Make It Look Good 334


Chapter 17: Ten Steps to Creating Video 335


Know Your Goal, Know Your Audience 336


Plan Your Production Style and Content 336


Write a Word + Picture Script 336


Create a Shot List 337


Lights, Action, Camera 337


Review Your Shoot and Other Resources 337


Find a Good Lead 338


Match Picture and Words 338


Craft the Right Words 338


Let Me Entertain You 339


Index 341