In the world of business, information is power. Whether you are running a small start-up or a multinational organization, you need to communicate to all the stakeholders who are related to your business in one way or another. One of the most common methods of communications that most business people use is writing. As a business owner, you are required to write business proposals, memos, promotional material, business material among others. Here are a few smart tips on how to improve your business writing skills.
1. Know your audience
Before you write any piece, know your target readers. You may be good in writing, but if you don’t connect with your audience, all your efforts will be futile. This is one of our favorite tips from Instructional Solutions. Being aware of your audience influences the writing format and the tone of language to use. If you are writing a report to the business executives or investors, you need to use a particular format. Your audience also determines the vocabulary that you should use in the content. Simply, when it comes to dealing with the audience, flexibility is what will save you. This is the ability to change your writing style to suit the needs of different recipients.
2. Be brief
Conciseness matters a lot in business writing. You should be able to convey your information as fast as possible. Assume that your recipients are too busy and will not spend hours going through your content. Consumers have a habit of reading through short pieces of articles than long ones. Even magazines that used to publish 3000-word articles are now using less than 700 words.
3. Avoid jargons
Business writing is characterized by lots of industry-specific terminologies and acronyms. Using buzzwords in your pieces of writings may be a sign of professionalism. However, jargon can have adverse effects on your content. Some writers assume that the use of big words is a sign of intelligence. Although it can be hard to ignore them, just a limit on how you use technical terms.
4. Proofread
Put yourself in the position of a reader by reading what you have just written. Does the article
sound good? Are you connecting with it? Check if the grammar is good. Are all the points well structured? You will always find flaws on your articles and have an opportunity to correct them before the recipients read it.
5. Get straight to the point
You may be good at storytelling, but sadly those skills may not be required in business writing.
One of the common problems that affect business writing is the habit of postponing the intended message. Some business writers have a habit of beating around the bush instead of being direct. Ensure that your recipients get your message before they proceed to anything else.
6. Be less formal but remain professional
Unless you are writing extremely technical content such as legal documents, try to hold back.
You don’t have to be formal in everything that you write. Readers will be delighted to reveal the human side of your business, something that you can’t achieve when you use official language. Just don’t overdo it.
7. Take an online class
An online course can be a quick way to increase your business writing skills. Make sure you find an affordable course that targets the areas you are looking to improve. You want to take a course from an instructor who has helped students increase not only their skills but learn a process that they can apply to multiple professional mediums.
8. Take care of call to action (CTAs)
The goal of business writing is to generate an action. Maybe you want users to purchase your
products or seek your services. Learn to include a call to action that will entice a reader. Don’t make them decide on what to do.
Remember that practice makes perfect. Writing is a skill that can be improved over time.
Learn different skills that can enhance your writing and put them into practice. Spend some hours in a day to improve your grammar and vocabulary. With time, you will be a good business writer.
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