|
Category: Business & Career
Writing is one of the most sought-after attributes in the business world today. Whether you compose e-mails to your co-workers, write reports to your boss, create proposals for clients, or pen letters to customers; your writing is a lasting record of your ideas, professionalism, and value as an employee. In fact, it's a record that others will read and judge you by for years to come.
The setup
Writing effective business letters is not as difficult as it may seem. Business letters should conform to standard practices. If you don't know the proper way to format a business letter, most word processing programs have easy to use templates which will set up the letter for you.
A business letter has six essential parts: the heading, the inside address, the salutation or greeting, the body of the letter, the complimentary close, and the signature.
The sum of the parts
The heading should give the full address of the writer and the date of the letter. The inside address should be identical to the address that appears on the envelope and should give the name and full address of the person to whom the letter is written. The salutation should be consistent with the tone of the letter. The body of the letter should follow the principles of good writing. The complimentary close should be consistent with the tone of the letter and the salutation. And, your signature should be hand written legibly below the complimentary close. And, always indicate your official capacity.
The concrete jungle of language
Write the entire letter from the reader's point of view. Ask yourself. "what's in it for the reader" and then compose your letter. Your reader will be pleasantly surprised if in your letter you make it a point to answer any questions or objections he might have.
Negative vs. positive
Never write in a negative tone. It's better to express even a negative in a positive. The recipient will be more receptive to what you have to say if you write in a positive tone. The reader does not want to be told what is not; he wants to be told what is.
Have a sense of humor
Business jargon is often cold, stiff, and unnatural so a sense of humor is refreshing and a nice surprise in a business letter. Be natural; but don't be cute or flippant. Although your goal is to make sure your letter gets your point across; you don't have to bore the reader to death with business gobbledygook.
Avoid obfuscation
Be specific. Your letter should contain definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal, language. Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract.
The active voice
Your letter will have more guts if you write in the active voice. Lean heavier on nouns and verbs and lighter on adjectives. Make sure your writing is crystal clear. You will never get what you're after, if your reader doesn't get the message.
Edit ruthlessly and then edit some more
Someone once said that words are like inflated money - the more you use, the less each one is worth. Proofread your entire letter and if necessary omit unnecessary words, sentences and even entire paragraphs. Make sure there are no typos, misspellings or factual errors. Then proofread your letter again. If you're sloppy and let mistakes slip by, your reader will think you either don't know better or simply don't care.
The last paragraph
The last paragraph should tell the reader exactly what you want him to do - or what you're going to do. Close your letter with something simple, like "Sincerely." And, no matter how much practice it takes, sign your letter legibly.
Get down in the ink pits and perform
Even if you only write for business, the only way to learn to write well is to write. Writing is a craft that you learn by doing. Just as a painter uses paint to get his point across, a writer uses words.
Other Articles in this Category
 What Should NOT Be On Your Resume
by toni
Holiday Stress Busters
by Don Wetmore
Retaining Your Valuable Employees
by Leslie Wood
How to Quickly Improve Your Writing Skills
by Joel Sussman
How to Get a Job Overseas (for US Citizens)
by Ravi Iyer
How to Develop Your Online Portfolio
by cpent
How to Team up with your Web Competitors, Unusual Web Traffic Generation
by Terence Tan
How to Write a Resume
by Greg
How to Get the Most Out of Your Employees
by Greg
Other Sites
Storkin.com - Baby and
Pregnancy Tips and Discussion
Health Articles
Menopause
Symptoms
HIV/AIDS
Symptoms
West Nile
Symptoms
Diabetes
Symptoms
Pregnancy
Symptoms
Tech Sites
Dell DJ Hacks
Read other Articles -
click here.
|
