BUSINESS

WRITING
MODULE 1
Business Writing

 Business writing is defined as a purposeful

piece of writing used in business
communication for conveying relevant
information and details in an accurate,
concise, clear, and effective manner to
accomplish some business or operational
goals. Business writing needs to be clear,
compelling, and free of errors.
Business Writing

Business writing is a written communication 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 letters, client proposals, reports, memos,
emails, and notices.  It offers comprehensive
information to Internal and External audience such as
customers, clients, suppliers, and other business
partners professionally.
Types of Business Writing
 Fundamentals of Business Writing
In a highly competitive world like ours, everybody is trying to make
his/her mark in the corporate world. Therefore, one cannot risk any kind
of miscommunication, especially when it comes to business matters.

I. ADAPTATION AND SELECTION OF WORDS

Principle 1. Choose understandable words:

• Makes communication simple and easy.
• Choose words that the receiver will understand.(Educational
background and knowledge on topic).
• Use understandable rather than complicated words.
Abdicate vs. Resign
• Use words that a person from a different background will understand
as well.
Fundamentals of Business Writing
Principle 2. Use specific and precise words
 To avoid ambiguity and vagueness.
Many vs. Thousand

Principle 3. Choose strong words

 Creates a vivid image in the receiver’s mind
In English verbs are the strongest words. Use action words.

Principle 4. Emphasize important words

 Positive words convey optimism
 Avoid negative words as they trigger unpleasant emotions.
(blame, angry, wrong).
Fundamentals of Business Writing

Principle 5. Avoid overused words

Impact is less.
Message becomes dull and difficult to understand
(like, you know, bottom line etc.).

Principle 6. Avoid obsolete words

 Outdated words and expressions (regret to
advise, your kind favor etc.).
Fundamentals of Business Writing

II. Jargons

The use of technical vocabularies can be both irritating and

incomprehensible to outsiders, but within the group they act
as a kind of spoken shorthand, a concise and precise way of
expressing a concept (i.e., siblings, software, hardware,
etc.).
These words are useful when you communicate with people in
your field. But they do not communicate with outsiders. Use
them with caution.
In a world of increasing specialization and technology, these
technical vocabularies are not only defensible, they are
necessary.
Fundamentals of Business Writing

When to use Jargons

You can increase the usability and persuasiveness of your writing
by wisely using the specialized terms of your own profession. You
should use jargon to convey precise, technical meanings
efficiently, as many terms have no exact equivalent in everyday
speech.

In addition, you should use jargon to help you establish

credibility. By using the specialized terms of your field
accurately, you show your fellow specialists that you are adept
in it. However, you should avoid using technical terms your
readers will not understand.
Fundamentals of Business Writing

III. Construction of clear sentences

 Words are the building blocks of communication.

 Sentences, then, are the rows of blocks, well laid out and properly planned. Words
do not make much sense until they are combined in a sentence to express a
complete thought.
 Choosing the right words is basic to clear communication. Equally basic is the task of
arranging those words into clear sentences.
 Just as with choosing words, constructing clear sentences involves adaptation to the
minds of the intended readers. Readability research suggests that writing
communicates best when it does not tax the mind.
 So it is advisable to use simpler sentence structures to reach people with lower
communication abilities and people not knowledgeable about the subject.
 Use more complex sentence structures only when they are appropriate, usually when
communicating with knowledgeable people. Generally, some simplification is best
for all readers.
Fundamentals of Business Writing
Principle 1. Compose clear sentences

A clear sentence uses understandable, precise and positive words.

 Words that the receiver will understand while keeping in mind their
knowledge and background.
 The sentence needs to be complete in itself so that it communicates one
ides in unambiguous terms.
 If there are two separate thoughts, break them into 2 separate sentences.
 Place related words close to each other.
 Clear sentences need to be grammatically correct
 SVA
 Singular/Plural
 Agreement –gender, no., and clear relationships.
Fundamentals of Business Writing
Principle 2. Use short sentences

 More effective than a long sentence.

 Easier to understand.
 Short, simple sentences carry more emphasis than long, involved ones.
They give the reader a single message without the interference of related
or supporting information.
 Shorter sentences give more emphasis to content and to organization of
the subject matter than longer sentences. Thus they communicate better.

Principle 3. Use active voice in sentences

 Convey the ideas clearly, concisely and forcefully.

Active- The department store delivered the clothing on time
Passive- Your clothing was delivered on time.
Fundamentals of Business Writing

Principle 4. Give sentence appropriate emphasis

 Stressing the important ideas.

 Use length as a tool to emphasize the idea in a
sentence.
 Beginning and ends are important locations in a
sentence, use them judiciously.
Ex. Larry received a raise because of his
outstanding performance.
Fundamentals of Business Writing

Principle 5. Give sentence unity

 Good sentences have unity.
 For a sentence to have unity, all parts of a sentence should
concern one thought.
Violations of unity in sentence construction fall into three
categories: 1) unrelated ideas, 2) excessive detail, and 3) illogical
constructions.
 Avoid the error of putting unrelated ideas in a sentence.
There are three ways to give unity to sentences that contain
unrelated ideas. 1) You can put the ideas in separate sentences.
2) You can make one of the ideas subordinate to the other. 3) You
can add words that show the ideas are related.
 Fundamentals of Business Writing

IV. Paragraphs

A paragraph is a cluster of sentences all related to the

same general topic. It is a unit of thought. A series of
paragraphs make up an entire composition. Each
paragraph is an important part of the whole, a key
link in the train of thought. Designing paragraphs
requires the ability to organize and relate
information.
 Organizing sentences into meaningful paragraphs is an
important part of composing a message.
Fundamentals of Business Writing

Paragraphs vary widely in length and form.

You can communicate effectively in one short paragraph or in
pages of lengthy paragraphs, depending on your purpose, your
audience, and your message. The typical paragraph contains three
basic elements:
 a topic sentence,
 related sentences that develop the topic, and
 transitional words and phrases.
Fundamentals of Business Writing
Principle 1. Use short sentences
 Easier to understand.
Principle 2. Give paragraphs unity
 All sentences of a paragraph should relate to one
topic.
 The topic should be adequately covered.
Principle 3. Organize paragraphs logically
 Direct and indirect plans
Principle 4. Give paragraphs appropriate emphasis
 To emphasize or de-emphasize ideas.
Fundamentals of Business Writing

Principle 5. Provide paragraph coherence

 Ensure smooth flow of ideas to form a coherent
paragraph

So, Heading Towards the

Journey of Business
Writing…

https://youtu.be/cvcWTb0Y_zY

Go through the Video for detailed

explanation by Technical Writer