Chapter-2

Fundamentals of Business Writing

Index:
Understanding Basic Writing Structure

Adaptation and the Selection of Right Words

Construction of Clear Sentences and Paragraphs

Writing Clear and Concise Business Documents

Writing for a Positive Effect

50 phrases for business communication

Using Effective Transitional Words

Definition:
Business writing is a type of writing that is used in a professional setting. It is a purposeful piece of writing that
conveys relevant information to the reader in a clear, concise, and effective manner. It includes client proposals,
reports, memos, emails, and notices. Proficiency in business writing is a critical aspect of effective communication
in the workplace.

Types of Business Writing:

The broad field of business writing can be distilled into four categories based on their objective, such as:

1. Instructional: The instructional business writing type is directional and aims to guide the reader through the steps
of completing a task. A user manual falls aptly under the instructional category, as well as a memo issued to all
employees outlining the method of completing a certain task in the future.

2. Informational: Informational business writing pertains to recording business information accurately and
consistently. It comprises documents essential to the core functions of the business for tracking growth, outlining
plans, and complying with legal obligations. For example, the financial statements of a company, minutes of the
meeting, and perhaps the most important, report writing.

3. Persuasive: The goal of persuasive writing is to impress the reader and influence their decision. It conveys
relevant information to convince them that a specific product, service, company, or relationship offers the best

1|Page
value. Such a type of writing is generally associated with marketing and sales. It includes proposals, bulk sales
emails, and press releases.

4. Transactional: Day-to-day communication at the workplace falls under the transactional business writing
category. The bulk of such communication is by email, but also includes official letters, forms, and invoices.

WHAT NEEDS FOR BUSINESS WRITING?

THE IMPORTANCE OF ADAPTATION: Clear writing begins with adapting your message to your specific reader.
Learn everything possible about those with whom you wish to communicate and word your message so that is easy
for them to understand it.

Choosing words that communicates:

The main function of the business writing is to convey your message or thoughts effectively to the reader. In
business communication, the receiver of the message should be able to understand your message immediately, and
this can be possible only when you write your message with simple and familiar words. Following tips can assist
you in choosing the right words for clear and effective business writing.

Use familiar words: Use of familiar words is the most important rule of word selection in business writing. Always
use common and familiar words of everyday use to make your message easily readable and understandable.

Use concrete words: Use concrete words instead of abstract words in your business writing. Concrete words such as
bank, chair, telephone forms clear and sharp images in our mind as opposed to abstract words such as performance,
inconsistency, which creates vague and fuzzy meanings.

Use single words in place of circumlocution: Avoid circumlocution or use of more words in a sentence than
required to express the purpose in business writing.

Avoid long sentences: Avoid use of long sentences having many clauses. Sometimes the reader loses the beginning
by the time he comes to the end of the sentence.

Use technical words with care: Every profession develops its own special vocabulary or technical words. The
members of that professional group can easily understand these technical words. But, if you use these technical
jargons in your business communication to an outsider, it will sound like a foreign language to him.

Avoid use of difficult words: Use English words that are easy to use and understand instead of difficult and high-
sounding words. Make your business writing more effective with simple and direct word, and avoid any possibility
of misinterpretation of your words by the reader.

Use strong and power words: Use of strong words or power words makes your business writing more forceful.
Strong words not only drive your sentences forward but also arouse the interest of the reader.

Use active verbs: Active verbs make your business writing direct, clearer, more informative and easier to
understand.

Avoid use of camouflaged verbs: Camouflaged verbs are verbs that are unnecessarily changed to nouns. Avoid
camouflaged verbs and strengthen your business writing.

2|Page
Use correct idioms and phrases: Be careful in the choice of idioms and phrases while writing business
communication.

Use writing software: Use business writing software with grammar checker and text enrichment tool for writing
effective business communications. Text enrichment tool enriches text and enhances simple sentence to professional
one.

Adapting Multiple Readers:

ADAPTING TO MULTIPLE READERS:
- Use different words for different audiences that everyone can find and follow the parts of your message that are
value to them.
- Define any specialized vocabulary you use.
- Sentence should be adapted to readers.
- Use the simpler sentence structures for people who are less able to understand.
- Use the more complex structures when appropriate.
- You should aim a little below the level of your reader
- Simplification is best for all reader
SUGGESTIONS FOR SELECTING WORDS:

USE FAMILIAR WORDS:

- Write the words you would use in face-to-face communication with your readers
- Handbooks: How to Create Clear SEC Disclosure Documents- surround complex ideas with short, common
words
Unfamiliar Words Familiar Words
This machine has a tendency to develop excessive and This machine tends to get noisy when it runs hot.
unpleasant audio symptoms when operating at elevated
temperatures.
Purchase of a new fleet is not actionable at this juncture. Buying new trucks is not practical now.
The confusion ascertained from a perusal of pertinent data is that The data studied show that the product is in high
a lucrative market exists for the product. demand.
Company operations for the preceding accounting period The company lost money last year.
terminated with a deficit.

*Why we should prefer short words instead of long word?

Shorter sentences and paragraphs are easier to understand and likely to contain fewer errors. Unnecessary words that
add nothing to the meaning and the impact of the sentence or paragraph should be omitted. Most business
communication experts recommend writing with an average sentence length between 20 to 25 words. Using a
smaller vocabulary leads to greater clarity and easier processing (the 'fluency of processing' Oppenheimer talks
about).
1. PREFER SHORT WORDS:
- Short words communicate better than long words. On the whole word length and word difficulty are related.
Use long words with caution.
Long Words Short Words

3|Page
 The implementation of the proposed enhancement is under
consideration.
They acceded to the proposition to undertake a
collaborative.
Prior to accelerating productive operation, the supervisor
inspected the machinery.
The antiquated merchandising strategy is ineffectual in
contemporary business operations.
We are considering your suggestion.
They agreed to work with us.
Before speeding up production, the superior inspected the
machinery.
This old sale strategy will not work in today’s business.

USE SLANG AND POPULAR CLICHÉS WITH CAUTION:

- Slang and clichés may achieve a desired effect in certain context, but they run the risk of sounding stale and out
of date. They can also create problems in cross-cultural communication. Use sparingly and only in informal
communication.
*Why we have to be cautious about technical words?
Every field of business, accounting, information systems, and finance has its technical language. This language can
be so complex that is some cases specialized dictionaries are compiled. These words are useful when you
communicate with people inn your field. But they do not communicate with outsiders. Use them with caution. Some
examples – covered employment, cerebral vascular accident, annuity, bob tail etc. These words are all well known to
people in special fields, but not to most outsiders. Initials including acronyms should be used with caution too. Spell
out and define as needed.
2. USE TECHNICAL WORDS AND ACRONYMS WITH CAUTION:
- It can communicate a concept that would take dozens of words to describe.
- Specialized language can signal to other specialists that you are qualified to communicate on their level.
- Only use technical words when you are sure that your readers know them. Ex: annuity means something to
someone in insurance, to a worker in Social Security Administration you can use the word covered
employment.

*Uses of concrete language (big/abstract language) in Business writing

Good communication is marked by words that form sharp and clear meaning in the mind. These are concrete words
and you should prefer them in your writing. They stand for things that exist in the real world: deck, chair, and road.
Abstract nouns on the other hand cover broad meanings – concepts, ideas and the like. Their meaning is general, as
in their example administration, communication etc. Concreteness also involves how we put words to gather. Exact
or specific wordings are concrete, vague and general wordings are abstract.

3. Use concrete words

Abstract Concrete
Significant loss A 53% loss
Good attendance record 100% attendance record
The leading company First among 3212 companies
The majority 62%
In the near future By noon Thursday
A labor-saving robot A robot that does the work of 7 workers

Light and weight Featherlight

4|Page
*How we can use active verbs instead of passive words in Business writing

While writing prefer the active voice than passive voice. In active the subject does the action, in passive voice it
receives the action. Active voice is stronger and shorter.

- Example: Passive voice: The result were reported in our JULY 9 letter
- Active voice: we reported the result in our JULY 9 letter.

At times passive voice is better when the doer of the action is not important. Passive voice helps avoid accusing the
reader and passive voice is better when the performer is not known. Your decision on whether to use active or
passive voice is not simply a matter of choice. It is also better when the writer prefer not to name the performer

4. Prefer Active words

Passive Active

The results were reported in our July 9 letter. We reported the results in our July 9 letter.
The new process is believed to be superior by the The investigators believed that the new process is
investigators. superior.

A gain of 30.1% was reported for hardware sales. Hardware sales gained 30.1%.
It is desired by the director that this problem be The director wants the secretory to bring this problem
brought before the board secretory. before the board.

A complete reorganization of the administration The president completely reorganized the administration.
was affected by the president.

*Why we should choose words that carry precise meaning/ to the point meaning?

In a way, words are like people, they have personalities some words are strong and vigorous. Some are weak and
dull and some fall between these extremes. Good writers know these differences and they consider them carefully.
They use the words that do the best job of carrying the intended meaning. As a rule, they make the stronger words
stand out. To select words wisely, you should consider shades of difference in meanings. Example bear market is
stronger than generally declining market; Mother is stronger than female parent. Sometimes weaker words servey
our purpose best. Verbs are the strongest words. Verbs are action words. Nouns are second which are the doers of
the action, heroes of the sentence. Adjectives and adverbs are weak words. They involve judgment. Use them
sparingly

5. Select words for precise meaning

*Why we have to be careful about using the gender neutral words and avoid sexiest words?

5|Page
Sexist language is neither respectful nor politically correct. Using sexist language can alienate readers or result in
lawsuits. Use gender-neutral terms or restructure sentences in order to avoid sexist pronouns, avoiding the use of the
He/she combination pronoun. Example- A driver needs at least 8 hours of sleep after he has driven for 8 hours.
A writer wants to present a good ethos or character to the audience so the audience will find him or her believable. A
good ethos will make your arguments even more convincing; a bad ethos will undermine your arguments by making
your reader doubt your credibility.
If a writer uses language that the reader finds either offensive or inaccurate, the reader will lose faith in the writer's
arguments. The end of all argumentation is persuasion, and you cannot persuade people when you offend them or
make inaccurate claims.
How to avoid sexist language:
1. Don't assume that a particular job is filled by a particular type of person: not only are many doctors women, but
many nurses and secretaries are men. Use terms that can apply to both men and women. For example, the U.S. Post
Office now officially calls the people who deliver the mail "mail carriers" rather than "mailmen." Talk about "flight
attendants" instead of "stewardesses." Remember, the military is made up of both male and female soldiers, so a
discussion about "the men in today's army" will exclude many soldiers.
2. Avoid gendered pronouns (like he and she, his and her, etc.) by making them plural. For example, the sentence "A
nurse needs to care about her patients" can be changed to "Nurses need to care about their patients."
3. Avoid terms like "man" when you mean to include women as well. "Man" (and similiar terms) can be confusing
as well as inaccurate, since "man" might mean "all people" or just "male people." Change: "Since the beginning of
time, man has worried about death," to "Since the beginning of time, people have worried about death."

6. Use gender neutral words

Sexist Gender Neutral

Man-made Manufactured, of human origin

Manpower Personnel, workers

Congressman Representative, Member of Congress,

Businessman Business executives, Business Person

Mailman, policeman, fireman, cameraman Letter Carrier/ mail Carrier, police officer, fire fighter, camera operator

7. Construction of clear sentences and paragraphs

6|Page
 Long and Hard to Understand
This letter is being distributed with enrolment confirmation
sheets which are to serve as a final check on the
correctness of the registration of students and are to be
used later when obtaining semester grades from the
system, which are to be available two weeks after the term
officially ends.
Regardless of their seniority, or union affiliation, all
employees who hope to be promoted are expected to
continue their education either by enrolling in the special
courses to be offered by the company, which are scheduled
to be given after working hours beginning next
Wednesday, or by taking approved online courses selected
from a list, which may be seen on the company portal.
Short and Clear
This letter is being distributed with enrollment
conformation sheet. These sheets will serve now as a final
check on student registration. Later, the codes on them will
be used to access course grades through the system; the
grades will be available two weeks after the term officially
ends.
Regardless of their seniority or union affiliation, all
employees who hope to be promoted are expected to
continue their education in either of two ways: 1. They
may enroll in special courses to be given by the company.
2. They may take approve online courses selected from the
list on the company portal.

A strong paragraph moves seamlessly from the topic sentence into the supporting sentences and on to the concluding
sentence. To help organize a paragraph and ensure that ideas logically connect to one another, writers use
transitional words and phrases.
CARE IN SENTENCE DESIGN: CARE IN PARAGRAPH DESIGN
 Using Short Sentences  Giving Paragraphs Unity
 Limiting Sentence Content  Keeping Paragraphs Short
 Economizing on Words  Making Good Use of Topic Sentences
 Determining Emphasis in Sentence Design  .Leaving out Unnecessary Details
 Giving the Sentences Unity  Giving the Paragraphs Movement
 Arranging Sentences for Clarity

8. Economizing on Words
Cluttering Phrase Shorter Substitution
Along the lines of Like
For the purpose of For
For the reason that Because, Since
In the amount of For
In the meantime, Meanwhile
In the near future Soon
With regard to, with reference to About

7|Page
  Another way to shorten sentences is through word economy
 Seek shorter ways of saying things; shorter working save the reader time are cleared and more interesting

9. Unnecessary repetitions of words/ideas

Needless Repetition
Please endorse your name on the back of this cheque.
We must assemble together at 10.30 am in the morning.
If you are not satisfied, return it back to us.
One should know the basic fundamentals of clear
writing.
By acting now, we can finish sooner than If we wait
until a later date.
Repetition Eliminated
Please endorse this cheque.
We must assemble at 10.30 am.
If you are not satisfied, return it to us.
One should know the fundamentals of clear writing.
By acting now, we can finish sooner.

10. Giving paragraph unity/ we need to unified our paragraph

Paragraph unity means that each sentence relates to one main idea, one controlling theme. Veering off and talking
about marginally related topics will confuse the reader. One way to unify a paragraph is to open with a topic
sentence, which presents the theme. It is not mandatory to have a topic sentence, and often you won’t. So as long as
the sentences are linked to one controlling idea, the paragraph is unified. But a succinct opening sentence that
frames the paragraph helps guide the reader.

Here are examples of topic sentences:

- Oil prices are rising for three reasons. (Then go on to explain them.)
- A falling dollar can hit U.S. consumers, investors, and businesses in various ways. (Then talk about the
ways.)

11. Making good use of topic sentence

8|Page
A topic sentence summarizes the main idea or the purpose of a paragraph. In business writing, the topic sentence
usually comes at the beginning of the paragraph. Then, the rest of the paragraph provides the supporting details.
Sometimes, a writer will choose to put the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph in order to break bad news or
build the reader up to a point.

A topic sentence functions in several important ways:

- It informs the reader of the paragraph’s direction

The topic sentence announces the direction of the paragraph’s conversation. With the help of an effective topic
sentence, readers will better understand what the paragraph will be about.

- It guides the reader through the major points that support the writer’s purpose

Clearly worded topic sentences may help readers find the author’s position or argument more convincing.

- It places boundaries on the paragraph’s content

The body of the paragraph provides support for the topic sentence. The paragraph should only include evidence and
details that relate directly to the boundary established by the topic sentence.

12. Making paragraph coherent

Here we discuss three major techniques:

 Repetition of key words

 Use of pronouns
 The use of transitional words

If you’re having trouble organizing your paragraph, you can try the following formats:

- General to specific: This is the most common format, and is the one used in the paragraph above.
- Specific to General: Building the reader up to a point. This is usually used to soften bad news, since it helps
prepare the reader for the news.
- Cause and Effect: Show how one thing caused another thing to happen.
- Chronological: Describe events as they happened.

9|Page
 - Narrative: Describe a scene. Though this form is usually used in creative writing, it is often used in the
workplace in incident reports, donations letters and other forms of storytelling.

13. Writing for a positive effect

Stiff and dull Conversational
Reference is made to your May 7 email, in which you Please refer to your May 7 email in which you tell
describe the approved procedure for initiating a claim. how to file a claim.
I shall be most pleased to avail myself of your kind I will gladly follow your suggestion if the price
suggestion when and if prices decline. falls.

It is very difficult to think and write positively, especially in negative situations. However, through regular practice,
one should be able to write positively without straining. It is important that writers provide practical solutions
through their messages. Otherwise, readers might think that the message is only meant to test them, hence they
might not take it serious. Similarly, writers should be reasonable with their messages. Writers should not be
insensitive to your readers as this might make readers develop a negative attitude towards the message being
relayed. It is equally important for writers to use simple terms to express themselves. Complex terms will not be
easily understood and might even lead to the audience taking the message negatively.

10 | P a g e