Effective Business Writing Skills

Did you know that 30% of all written communications in large American organizations are requests for clarification of a previous written communication? (Source: fast Company). In 2022 alone, 333.2 billion emails are expected to be sent and received each day (Statista, 2021). That’s a staggering amount of daily emails. A 2013 survey by Sendmail, Inc., found that it has caused tension, confusion, or other negative consequences for 64 percent of working professionals. American workers will receive an average of 126 emails a day (Radicati) - 47% of which do not help them do their jobs.

Most of us have never been taught to write professionally, and we just do our best with our instincts and a writing style that we mostly learned at school. Research shows that business writing is ineffective because:

• School and university influence: we go on using an academic approach
• Tradition: using our writing to display learning
• Commercialese: A legacy of outdated business styles
• Inexperience: Without instruction we rely on earlier models
• Company style: Can be archaic or restricting with no models
• Lack of Concern: No realization of the importance of good writing
• Writer-oriented: Writing was for the writer, not the reader

No surprise then that our business writing is not always effective – as the above research shows, it can really slow us down. Ineffective business writing is bad for business decisions, bad for credibility, bad for morale and bad for productivity.

Good business writing saves time for you, saves money for the organization, gets desired results faster and reduces stress for everyone. Effective business writing is a skill that can be learned by anyone who has to write memos, reports, proposals and agreements. It’s a bit like “software for the brain” and the principles never leave you once learned. The principles of effective business writing include writing for the reader, using logical structure, using specific language and writing style, and clear layouts with signposts.

Good business writing has the following characteristics:
• Analysis of the subject is logical and complete
• Main points and priorities are clearly and concisely communicated
• Action items are easy to find and understand
• Presentation promotes rapid scanning and retrieval of key information

How is yours??? If you would like to learn a lifetime professional skill in just two days then sign up for our VIRAK course: Effective Business Writing. The course will allow you to:
• Recognize styles of writing that communicate well
• Organize and structure your material for your reader(s)
• Analyze and improve your own professional writing
• Learn to avoid common errors of style and language
• Reduce the time you spend writing and increase the ease
• Add impact to your writing to obtain the results you want

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