Business Writing Essentials (Page)

1. Business Writing Essentials (page)
2. About business writing
3. Inclusive Language (page and PDF) *
4. Pyramid Principle (page and PDF) *
5. Citations (with links to library, Emory style guide)
6. Visual Aids (page and PDF) *
7. Emails(page and PDF)
8. Memos (page and PDF)
9. Executive Summary (page and PDF ) *
10. Press Release (page and PDF) *
11. Job-Seeking Resources/Guides(page)
12. Resumes (page and PDF; link to career services?) *
13. Cover Letters (page and PDF; link to career services?)
14. Interviews (page and PDF; link to career services?) *
15. Follow-Up Letter/E-mail (page and PDF; link to career services?) *
16. Links to Search Sites (page)

7. Business Writing Essentials

What exactly is “business writing,” and how does is differ from academic writing or other forms of composition? In this section, you’ll find an overview of how business writing is defined by its use of language, the preferred structures of written information, and how to present visual aids. You’ll also find information on resumes and cover letters, and how to make the best professional first-impression for potential employers.

7.a. About Business Writing

In a business setting, writing leads to action. Information should be organized into a clear and concise message, with little “filler language” or jargon. Technical and detail-heavy messages utilize bullet points and lists. Questions and requests are politely directed to the appropriate individuals.

When business communication is performedwell, the writer is represented as focused,confident, and conscientious, and the recipient has as much information required to respond or act appropriately.

How does this form of composition differ from academic writing?

Business Communication / Academic Writing
Purpose / Action / Persuade
Analyze
Inform
Audience / Limited time (→concise)
Dedicated to productivity
Focused on company, tasks, and trade / Has dedicated reading time
Critical-thinking skills
Wide knowledge of various subjects
Personal Pronoun / Acceptable / Restricted
Voice / Active voice / Passive voice is acceptable (according to discipline)
Development of Message / Concrete for skim value
Short sentences
Simple language / Elegant and lengthy
Long sentences are acceptable
Novel words, expressions, and theories
Tools / Bullet points and enumerated statements
In-text data charts
Headers and “subject” lines / Footnotes, endnotes, and citations
Appendices
Main and chapter titles
Formatting / Blank space between paragraphs
Bold, italics, and underline for clarity / Indented paragraphs
Organization / Pyramid structure / Pyramid structure
Tone / Pleasant and positive

In comparison to academic writing, business writing is condensed and direct.

Composing business writing is easier than you might think.

1. Before drafting the message, think about your audience: What does this person know about the current topic? How will this person react to my message? Answering these questions will decide the tone and amount of information to include in your message.
2. Think of the single-most important message you are trying to convey, and consider that as your key message. “Think of your key sentence as the one you’d shout if you had three seconds to get your most important message across to someone driving by” (Turk, 25).
3. What does the reader need to know to support your message? List these points and group them together into logical categories.
4. Now, introduce these points and provide a context for including them in your message. Each paragraph should lead with a summary sentence (43).

[To be completed]

7.b. Inclusive Language

Inclusive language is that which does not exclude a reader or listener in any way.

The most common business mistakes regarding inclusive language are the use of the word “he” as a generic pronoun and the word “man” as a generic term for human being. These guidelines will help you avoid exclusive and inappropriate word choices.

“He” as a Generic Pronoun

In general, avoid “he/she” and “s/he” entirely. Use “he” or “she” and “her” or “him” only when absolutely necessary.

Try one of these replacements in a sentence:

Example: Every worker must wear his or her hard-hat.

· Convert to plural: All workers must wear their hard-hats.

· Use second-person: Wear your hard-hat.

· Replace the pronoun (he) with an article (a, an, or the): Each worker must wear a hard-hat.

“Man” as a Generic Term for a Human Being

Replacing the generic term “man” is not always easy. For example, referring to a “manhole cover”as a“personhole cover” is ridiculous, and “sewer-hole cover” is not much better.

Below are four erroneous means of reference and correct alternatives to resolve gender exclusivity:

1. Words that exclude women.

chairman →leaderpoliceman → police officer

1. Words that exclude men.

stewardess→ flight attendantactress → actor

1. Words that collectively include men and women but imply only men.

manpower→ human resourcesforefathers → ancestors

1. Words that call inappropriate attention to gender.

lady lawyer → lawyermale nurse → nurse

female construction supervisor → construction supervisor

Make titles, names of positions, occupations, and common references gender-inclusive. Here are some examples, many of which are actually more specific than the inappropriate version:

Avoid / Revised
businessman / worker, manager, executive
coed / student
congressman / congressional representative
delivery man / delivery driver
draftsman / drafter
fireman / firefighter
foreman / supervisor
housewife / homemaker
husband, wife / spouse
mailman / mail carrier, letter carrier
man-hours / staff-hours
mankind / human beings, humanity, people
man-made / manufactured, artificial, synthetic
manpower / staff, human resources
newsman / reporter
repairman / service technician
saleslady, salesman / sales associate, clerk, salesperson, sales representative
spokesman / representative, advocate, spokesperson
waiter, waitress / server
watchman / guard, security officer
workman / laborer, worker

Adapted from CrossTalk: Communicating in a Multicultural Workplace, by SherronBienvenu Kenton and Deborah Valentine, Prentice Hall, 1997.

7.c. Pyramid Principle

[To be completed]

7.d. Citations

[To be completed]

7.e. Visual Aids

[To be completed]

7.i. Emails

To write clear, concise, and professional emails,A.R.M.O.R. your message.

AUDIENCE

A professional email format should be used when writing to anyone who is not a close friend. That includes: professors, TA’s, advisors, deans, coworkers, potential employers, and professional contacts. Throughout the composition process, keep in mind the following questions:

- What does the reader alreadyknow?

- What does the reader need to know?

- How will this person react to this email?

You speak differently in a work setting than with your friends, so your professional writing should also present a respectable image of yourself.

REASON

The purpose of an email can be boiled down to three reasons:

1. Prompting Action — scheduling a meeting, delegating tasks within a group project, etc.

2. Requesting Information — clarifying assignments, tasks, or the required texts for a class, etc.

3. Providing Information — introducing yourself to a potential employer, changing the date/time for an event, etc.

What is the reason for your email? Condense this reason into one sentence and make this your topic sentence.

MESSAGE

- Keep the message concise. Don’t bury the reason in ambiguity. If you are requesting information, state your question in a clear, respectful, and polite tone. Convey this message in the first or second sentence of the email.

- Avoid abbreviated phrases (“RU” for “are you”); exclamation marks “!”; and never use emoticons. :)

- Always proofread your message. Read the email out loud to catch errors that ‘auto-correct’ missed. Remember: Errors reveal a lack of caring on your part.

ORGANIZATION

RELY

[To be completed]

Email Checklist

Before sending your email

□ Emory email account

□ Font Color: Black orEmory Blue

□ Font Size: 10-12pt

□ Font Style: Times NewRoman or Arial

□ Informative SubjectLine

□ Salutation:“Dear Mr. Jones:”

□ Closing: “Sincerely,”

□ Signature (full name)

□ Contact Information

□ Respectful Tone

□ Correct Spelling

□ Appropriate Grammar

□ No emoticons or exclamation points (!)

□ Acknowledge any attachments

7.g. Memos

In most modern businesses, e-mail has replaced the memo. However, the familiar "To, From, Subject, Date" format is still useful in writing short, informative reports. Additionally, utilizing headings and titles is a powerful way to increase skim value and clarity. Consider using the STARR model to focus your message and heighten readability:

Situation – Provide brief background information that describes the environment and details any relevant history. Include time, location, and your job description.

Task – Describe the task or project. (Situation and Task headings can be combined.)

Action – Explain the action you took. Make sure to emphasize the process.

Results – Detail the results of your action. Mention any refinements that were made to your approach.

Recommendations – Include talking points, action statements, or suggestions that will guide management in a future project. Address any counterarguments or possible alternative methods to approach the situation.

1. Sample STARR Memo 1 (Word) (PDF)

2. Sample STARR Memo 2 (Word) (PDF)

3. Sample STARR Memo 3 (Word) (PDF)

4. Sample STARR Memo 4 (Word) (PDF)

7.h. Executive Summary

The executive summary (executive overview, epitome, management summary, or management overview) is an abridged version of a longer document, often condensed into one or two pages, and prefaces the full report.

These summaries are written for project managers who do not have enough time or technical knowledge to read the entire, full-length document. Executive summaries provide a broad understanding of the projects and how they fit together into a coherent whole. Consequently, a one-page executive summary has become standard for documents under 20 pages.

The special needs of managers dictate a two-part structure for the executive summary, each can be broken down into other components, depending upon the needs of your message:

1. Background & Opportunities

Recognizing that the manager is not as technically competent in the field as the author, a brief history is provided, including relevant statistics and contexts. The specific problem or opportunity is explicitly stated:

What was not working, or not working effectively or efficiently?

What potential modification of a procedure or product had to be analyzed?

1. Methods, Major Findings & Implications

Managers do not have enough time to be concerned with all the intricate details of a project, and assume that work was conducted professionally and competently. As such, methods rarely receive more than one or two sentences. Conclusions and recommendations are the major concerns of a project manager. Each should be discussed in a full paragraph.

For example: You are working in the research-and-development (R&D) division of an automobile manufacturer which has created a composite material that can replace steel in engine components. This innovation has far-reaching effects throughout the company and industry.

Before drafting your message, consider your audience. A longer, more technical report will focus on answering the following questions:

How was the composite devised?

What are its chemical and mechanical structures?

What are its properties?

As you might imagine, these answers would span a great amount of text, diagrams, and charts. More importantly, such a document is written for an audience with a technical and scientific background. Executives, on the other hand are less concerned about chemistry than about how this project can help them make a better automobile for less money. The executive summary should thenfocus on managerial implications, such as:

Why is this composite better than steel?

How much do the raw materials cost? Are they readily available?

How difficult is it to make the composite?

Are there physical limitations to the amount we can make?

Is the composite sufficiently different to present any legal problems?

Does the composite have other possible uses in cars?

Now that you’re oriented to the needs of the audience, write a draft of the executive summary using headings that follow the two-part structure mentioned earlier:

Background. Specifically address costs and savings. Show totals for monthly and yearly losses.

Opportunities. Quantify percentages to give your readers a good understanding of what motivated your study.

Methods. All the details on your methodology should be included within the longer report, but in the executive summary, include only a brief description.

Findings. Describe the findings in accordance with your readers’ needs. If your readers understand your subject sufficiently and want to know your principal results, provide them.

Conclusions. Describe or list your recommendations based on your findings.

When you are finished with the draft, ask someone who is not involved with the project to read your executive summary. What questions do they ask? Where does the document become jumbled with technicalities? Are the findings and implications clearly expressed? These questions will guide your revision.

Finally, place the executive summary before the body of the report and list it in the table of contents.

Below, you will find examples of well-designed executive summaries written by former BA students at the Goizueta Business School.

1. Executive Summary 1 (Word) (PDF)

2. Executive Summary 2 (Word) (PDF)

3. Executive Summary 3 (Word) (PDF)

4. Executive Summary 4 (Word) (PDF)

Adapted by Deborah Valentine from Technical Communication: Situations and Strategies, 4th Ed., by Mike Markel, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1996.

7.i. Press Release

A press release (news release) is one the primary public relations vehicles to communicate news and information to the media. Today, journalists receive a tremendous volume of releases each week, many of which are deleted or trashed. In order to ensure that your press release is read and used, you need to capture the journalist's attention and provide a story that writes itself.

10 steps for writing a successful news release:

1. Use a creative headline that grabs the journalist's attention. Keep the headline short, edgy, and descriptive.

1. Put the most important information at the top. The journalist should be able to tell what the release is about from the first paragraph. Otherwise, they probably won't read further.

1. Avoid hype and unsubstantiated claims. Journalists receive "pitches" every day, so stick to the facts and provide specific information.

1. Be active and to the point. Use active voice [link] and clear language that will excite the reader.

1. Keep the release short: 1 or 2 pages, only. The goal of the press release is to engage the journalist (who does not have the time or the inclination read extensive press releases). Once the journalist is interested, you can provide more in-depth information.

1. Avoid jargon, especially when detailing the technology industry. Don't alienate new journalists or readers by using unfamiliar terminology or acronyms. Keep it simple.

1. Highlight the benefits. Instead of hype (best, most, first), explain how people will benefit (save time, save money).

1. Be specific. Don't rely on generalities to attract journalists' interest. Instead, give specific examples and details why the product or announcement is important.

1. Include contact information to ensure follow-up information or interviews.

1. Proofread. Read the document out loud in order to refine grammar, flow, sentence length, and coherence. Ask someone unrelated to the project to read through the release. Adapt the document to reflect any ambiguities or questions that person might have.

7.j. Job-Seeking Resources

One of the most important tasks of the business writer is designing cover letters and resumes. In this section, we've provided guidance and examples. In addition, you'll see links to other sites with job search information.

First Impressions:

- Resumes [link]

- Cover Letter [link]

- Interviews [link]

- Follow-up Letter [link]

Links to Search Sites [link, or listed below]

7.j.i. Resumes

[To be completed]

7.j.ii. Cover Letters

The goals of your cover letter are to make a professional first impression, contextualize your resume, and to secure an interview. While the resume details your experience, the cover letter introduces you and relates your experiences directly to the job for which you are applying. To create an effective cover letter, follow these guidelines:

Original

Compose an original letter for each position application. Don't make the mistake of using a generic cover letter to introduce yourself to all potential employers. Recruiters and human resources specialists can spot a generic cover letter, and they may assume that you don't want the job enough to write an original letter.

Targeted

Interpret the information on your resume to match the requirements of the job. For example, if the job description asks for a candidate with a CPA or equivalent experience, describe how your accounting experience qualifies you for the position.

Specific

If possible, address your cover letter to a specific person. If you are responding to an advertisement, avoid the outdated "To whom it may concern" or "Dear Sir or Madam." Instead, do some research to discover the name and position title of the decision-maker. If you cannot find a name or title, use the AMS Simplified format (link below) and skip the salutation entirely. After your address, double space and begin your text as illustrated in Employment Package three.

Also, indicate your source, or, where you found the job opening (referral by current employee, online, job fair).

Brief

Your cover letter should be one page. No longer.

Benefit-Oriented

Translate your experience into your qualifications for the job and detail the contributions you can make. Rather than specifying that you have completed coursework in communication and business writing, tell your potential employer about your experience producing effective business letters, proposals, and making professional presentations.