Many people believe business writing is a frustrating task that should be avoided. But good business writing is important for building and maintaining your company’s image. The following tips will help you achieve clearer and more effective business writing.

What is your business writing objective?

Before you begin, you need to think about the objective of your business writing. Is it to inform, educate, persuade or entertain? It could be one or a combination of these. Whether you’re writing a report, letter or email, you need to identify the message you want to present to your readers. A simple way to do this is to write a one-sentence summary of your objective and keep it in front of you as you write.

Keep your business writing simple

The large amount of business information available today is overwhelming. Why complicate and lengthen your business writing when you don’t have to? Simple words and phrases are easier to read and take up less space on the page. When writing, choose simple words that convey the same meaning as complicated ones. For example, write:

• ‘help’ instead of ‘facilitate’
• ‘use’ instead of ‘operate’
• ‘prove’ instead of ‘substantiate’
• ‘now’ instead of ‘currently.’

This also applies to phrases. For example, replace ‘on a regular basis’ with ‘regularly’ and ‘at this point in time’ with ‘now’.

Using simple words and phrases will shorten the length of your business writing and make it easier to read.

Use active voice in your business writing

Business writing that uses active voice is stronger and more direct than passive voice. Compare the following two sentences.

1. Innovative products and services are offered by our company.

2. Our company offers innovative products and services.

The first is in passive voice and the second is in active voice. The active voice example says the same thing but uses fewer words and is more direct. Which would you choose for your business writing?

Use personal pronouns in your business writing

Personal pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘we’ are good for business writing. They create a conversational tone that is friendlier and speaks directly to the reader. Compare the following two examples.

1. Free advice can be obtained from our sales department.

2. You can get free advice from our sales department.

The first example sounds formal and distant, while the second speaks directly to the customer.

Another way to make your business writing more friendly and natural is to write ‘we’ instead of constantly repeating your company’s name.


Credits: Wordnerds