Business writing simply means writing an official document. It is expected that the approach and use of language is formal. The overall tone of the message is very important, whether it is a simple letter or a hefty report.
To decide the appropriate tone, make sure you understand who your audience would be and why you are writing.
The tone of a business document should be courteous, confident, sincere, nondiscriminatory, and reader focused. You should write in a language and at a level that your audience will understand clearly.
Clarity and brevity cannot be overemphasized in business writing. Avoid needless words and sentences. Your paragraphs should be convincing. In short, let every word tell. This makes a concise writing.
It is important to avoid a sexist or biased use of language. There should be fair consideration for any race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation and disability. For example, when addressing the male and female gender, do not just use “he”, use “they” instead. Use “chairperson” in place of “chairman”, especially when you are not sure of the gender.
Write from the readers perspective. When you write from the readers perspective, they see the benefit of reading the document.
Following the aforementioned, it is important to go through certain pre-writing stages of brainstorming, research and outlining before writing a draft.
Brainstorming requires asking endless questions on the document to be written. From questioning, you generate ideas. You can also get ideas by reading subjects related to what you are about to write. You can read magazines, journals, web pages or even engage in your favorite activity, just to get the ideas flowing.
It is expedient to write down your ideas, whichever way they come. When the ideas are flowing, it is advisable to carry out research on what is up-to-date and credible, so that you do not misinform your audience. Research could mean further reading, evaluating, testing, interviewing or even conducting surveys. It is important to keep notes during this process.
Next is the logical ordering of content, which is known as ‘outlining’. An outline lists headings and subheadings for various topics and ideas. Ensure you determine the purpose of your document and group similar ideas together. Determine the logical order for the ideas and label your ideas. Headings should be general, while subheadings are specific. More so, the outline format could be numbers or letters assigned to each other. For example:
I. Introducing Vickibra Hub
A. What is Vickibra Hub?
B. Who are the target audience at Vickibra Hub?
Once you get the outlining right, you can put together a draft. Let each heading and subheading guide what you write and how you arrange your paragraphs. A draft is not expected to be perfect; just write down your ideas. Each paragraph should have an introductory, topic and concluding sentences. The concluding sentence in each paragraph could be a linking sentence that makes a connection with the paragraph that follows.
After completing the draft, revise and rewrite.
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