BUSINESS WRITING 10 common pitfalls
Aug 07, 2015
Avoid the jargon jackpot
Replace jargon and clichés with everyday words.
Explain abbreviations, acronyms and industry terms.
1
Keep it easy on the eye
For easy reading, include bullet points, visuals and white space.
Use bold to highlight instead of underline.
2
Write in the active voice
The active voice makes it easier to understand and more concise.
Start with who will do it, then what they will do.Example: I will reply tomorrow instead of You will receive a reply tomorrow
3
Apply simplicity over complexity
Say things once.
Avoid unnecessary and complicated words.Examples: Use not utilise, even though instead of notwithstanding,
consider not give consideration to
4
Cap the capitals
Overuse of capitals makes it hard to read.
Capitalise the first letter of headings only.
Exception is proper nouns, of course!
5
Honour thy apostrophe
The apostrophe is overused, under-used and generally abused!
Become pedantic about all punctuation.Do not use apostrophes for plurals but do use them for contracted words.
Examples: It’s is short for it is, not for its when you mean ownership
6
Style consistency is king
Apply style consistency in capitalisation, fonts, bullet points.Example: For numbers 1-9 use words – one, two, three, then use numbers
7
Hone in on the homophones8
Homophones sound the same, are spelt differently and have a
different meaning.Example: stationery/stationary, formally/formerly, prey/pray, they’re/their/there
Examine your emails
Set up automatic spell check.
Apply the ‘five sentence’ rule.http://lifehacker.com/280193/limit-your-email-messages-to-5-sentences
9
Check your company’s brand guidelines
Your company is likely to have guidelines for
overall communications including colour, font, style.
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Lena Ross@LenaEmelyRoss
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