1 Business Writing Skills Certification Program

Hello and congratulations!

Your decision to purchase this course shows a serious dedication to improving your writing skills. Doing so for
business will not only help to increase your confidence, but place you in a better mind to promote yourself in business
as well.

So many people focus on extensive training and education. This is a good thing. We need to be educated to compete
in this global marketplace. We need expertise, training and solid knowledge to help us compete, to get ahead.
But too many of us forget something else - learning how to communicate. Being able to communicate via the written
word is essential to success in business.
Hear that again - it's ESSENTIAL to success in business. Why? Because nothing is more important than how you
present yourself in writing. You must write emails, memos, business letters and even your resume. Before you even
meet potential employers, you are presenting yourself through your writing. What kind of job you get can be affected
by how you present yourself through your writing.
Once you have that dream job, you must be able to communicate effectively and professionally through your emails,
your reports and your letters. If they are riddled with mistakes like incomplete thoughts and messy grammar, people
will notice. Trust us.
So, listen again - writing well is ESSENTIAL to success in business.
We can't make guarantees, but knowing how to effectively communicate via the written word will likely make you a
much more employable business person as well. Let's just say that your bottom line could increase as a result of your
training here. As a business person, you know it pays to continue to educate yourself, to get further training and
expertise in your field, and to invest in your career in any way you can.
Congratulations on doing just that.
Let's face it: Writing isn't a skill that comes easily for many people. Those in business are no exception. You can be
highly skilled, qualified and educated, but knowing how to write for a business audience might still elude you. While
for some it's an innate skill, the majority of people need training, help and ideas.

Those who write well in business are seen as more capable, intelligent and employable than those who spill out
words without thinking, who make grammatical and other errors and who have obviously given little thought to how
they write.
One leading consumer group estimated that about $82 is lost each time a businessperson sits down to write a
business letter. That is time lost from other work, lost productivity and lost energies which could be spent elsewhere.
If you "spend" or "waste" (depending on how you see it) $82 each time you sit down to write a business letter, think
about how much that's worth over the course of a year! Add in the wasted time working on memos, reports and
important emails and you have a good deal of lost revenue.
That's what we're all about - helping you regain your time, your energy, money and, most of all, helping you help
yourself. If you become an efficient and high-quality writer, you will find that your job is easier.
There are few jobs today that don't require some amount of writing. Knowing that you can sit down, quickly complete
a writing task and move on will make life easier. Trust us.
By choosing to take a course in business writing, you've made a commitment to improve your writing skills, which will
ultimately improve your standing as a professional person.
This won't be easy for everyone, not only because many of us are intimidated by the very thought of having to write,
but because in general, communication has become very causal in our society, thanks to the always increasing
popularity of cell phone and email communication. Both are casual forms on conversation with their own lingo, their
own vernacular. Your first step here is to understand that business writing requires you to pay much more attention to
your communications and to proper grammar and syntax.
Ending a business letter with "TIA" (email lingo for "thanks in advance") just won't do.

Most of all, business writing requires real care and consideration about your language and how you are
communicating your message.
Those are all things we're going to learn in this course. Really, it's about respect. It's about respecting your audience
and yourself enough to produce worthwhile communication. As Michael Shanks, a former chair of the national
consumer council in Great Britain once said, " Gobbledygook may indicate a failure to think clearly, contempt for
one's clients, or more probably a mixture of both." Meaning, step it up a bit and care enough about your audience to
produce worthwhile and well-produced communications.
But it's not just about being clear, succinct and articulate. You want to try and be interesting too. Detailing your
company's 3rd quarter profits might not be as interesting as explicating the newest Christina Aguilera lyrics, but if
written well, you just might engage your audience as well.
Or, as Michael Dirda, of the Washington Post Book section once said, "If you find your own writing boring, so will
somebody else."

1.1 The Final Certification Test

After you have gone through the complete program material and revised it, you can appear for the final test. You must
appear for the test without referring to the text material, and it is advisable that you should be well prepared for the
test. The specifications of the test are mentioned below:
The ExpertRating Exam Format
Type of Exam - Multiple choice with one or more correct answers
Duration - 40 minutes.
Number of Questions - 40.
Question Weightage - All questions carry equal marks.
Navigation - You can go back and answer unanswered questions.
Answer Reviews - You can review the questions at the end of the exam by going back and answering marked
questions.
Exhibits - Some exams will require you to answer a question based upon an exhibit.
Pass marks - 50%.
Retake Policy - You can retake the test any number of times by paying the required retake fee.
Note: Some exams may follow a different format. Please read the exam details carefully before registering.
All successful candidates will receive a hardcopy Certificate of Accomplishment stating that they have completed all
the requirements of the Business Writing Skills Certification process. This certificate can be used as an instrument for
marketing your Business Writing skills as well as for seeking a job. It will take about 3 weeks to get your certificate
through registered post. You will also get an online transcript that you can immediately use to display your test marks
and highlight the areas you are proficient in. You can link to the online transcript from your website or ask friends,
relatives or business associates to look it up on the internet.

1.2 Introduction to Courseware

let's look at what we'll cover in this course.

Chapter 1 - Introduction. Consider this chapter your introduction into the sometimes challenging world of business
writing. Once you get a feel for proper formatting and style, however, it doesn't have to be too difficult. If you get
nothing else from this first chapter - hear us: good writing is essential to success in business.

Chapter 2 - Basic writing 101. In this chapter, we'll review some of the basic rules of writing, including grammar,
diction and the like. If you don't get your words spelled right (spell check doesn't get everything), and your sentences
sounding intelligent and coherent, you'll have a hard time convincing your audience to listen and respect what you're
saying.
Chapter 3 - Resumes and cover letters. If you're already employed, you might want to skip this section, or you
might like a refresher. It's always good to have a current resume ready and a solid cover letter never hurts either.
We'll review the basics of writing a succinct, solid resume and attention-getting cover letter. We'll also talk about the
importance of a solid job objective.
Chapter 4 - Email. As the use of email in the workplace exploded in recent years, so too did careless, cavalier
attitudes about proper language in said emails. If you are sending an email relating to a business matter, your
language and grammar are important. It's a way of "putting yourself" out there and if you don't present yourself
professionally even via the relatively informal nature of email, you are dooming your professional life.
Chapter 5 - Letters. Although email is the primary form of communication these days, the business letter is not dead.
Knowing how to format and properly write a business letter and how to effectively communicate through the written
word is essential. Depending on your business, your ability to write an effective and dynamic letter can make or break
the deal.
Chapter 6 - Reports. In almost any line of work, you'll be called upon now and then to write a report. We're not going
to talk about how to make it look spiffy with great graphics and clip art, but rather how to "speak" clearly, coherently
and intelligently. How you organize your report is important, too, and we'll discuss that in some detail. We're going to
help you make your report sing so others can't help but respond in a positive way.
Chapter 7 - Memo Writing. Easy to forget, but important to pay attention to, memos can be vital to good office
communication. Your ability to communicate well via memo will serve you more than you know as a business person.
We'll discuss how your memo should look, how it should read and what you should do with it once you're done.
Chapter 8 - Promoting your Business in Writing. In this chapter, we'll talk about press releases and how to write
them. They aren't difficult to write, but knowing how to format them and how to word them is vitally important.

Chapter 9 - Dos and Don'ts. A list you can print and save to help you remember all the important rules relating to
high-quality business correspondence.
Chapter 10 - Basic rules of business writing. Before you put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, there are several
things you need to consider: who is your audience, what are you trying to communicate, what impression to do you
want to leave in the end? This chapter will give you the 411 (and reminders that such casual language such as "the
411" isn't recommended).
The Expert rating quiz is 50 questions and will include topics culled from the course. If you have been a diligent
student, there will be no surprises. Most questions will be multiple choice, with only one answer (a few might have 2
or more answers) and some will be true/false.

Throughout the course, there will be moments where we "slow it down" and examine something in greater detail.
You'll also be asked to perform writing exercises that will help you refine and perfect your skills.
So, take a deep breath, warm up your keyboard fingers, and let's get going!

2 Basic Writing 101

It's amazing how many well educated and intelligent people struggle with writing. Generally, people who have writing
challenges fall into one of two camps: the first group struggles to find the words, to figure out how to articulate their
thoughts on paper and with how to make it all sound intelligent and interesting.

In that second group you have people who don't have a problem getting their thoughts down; they might even enjoy
the process. But their writing is riddled with mistakes, grammatical errors and other problems that make their writing
hard to read.
Do you find yourself in either of these groups? Trust us, you're not alone.
Writing is difficult and too often the real basics of writing elude us. We get by in school and college, hoping that our
creative and intellectual thoughts will help to shield the readers' eyes from our mistakes.
This chapter is for you. Even if your writing talents are well known and you have no trouble with proper grammar,
spelling and syntax, you might need a refresher course. Skim this chapter if you must, but we promise you'll find
something of value.
First things first
Proofread and proofread again. Especially in business, you must present a professional and capable image. If it's
clear you have not checked your work, you could be in for an unpleasant surprise (i.e., you don't get the sale, you
don't get the job, you don't get the respect).
Many writers are uncomfortable reading their own work. We'll talk about having a reader in a bit, but if you must
proofread your own work, here are a few tips:
First, take a break. After you finish your report or memo, or whatever you've been writing, give it a rest.
Ideally, this will be overnight, but if there are time constraints, simply get up, walk around, and get a drink. Then
go back. You'll have a fresh eye.

If you know there are errors you consistently make, (regardless of this recent refresher course), take a
careful look at those words or parts of sentences. Make sure you haven't made those mistakes again. It can be
hard to see them, so pay careful attention, perhaps reading the document once just for that particular error.
If possible, read your writing out loud. You might feel silly at first (and you might want to whisper if coworkers are within hearing distance), but you'll be surprised at how many errors you can find this way. When
you read your own writing out loud, you can "see" and hear the mistakes you are making in your writing. This

one habit alone could significantly improve the quality of your writing.
Read your document more than once. The first time you'll catch the bulk of your errors, but you'll likely
find more errors the second time around as well. In addition, on the second read you can change your sentence
structure or re-word things as you like.
Finally, read what you actually wrote. You might think you wrote something a certain way, or perhaps
you intended to, but you might not have. When you read what you wrote, read it honestly and slowly, listening
to everything you wrote. Only then will you really "see" what you wrote, and decide if it's what you wanted or
intended to write.
A note: If you can have someone look over your work, do it. A fresh eye is always beneficial. Not only can that reader
often find mistakes you didn't find yourself, but he or she might offer suggestions on how to improve your document.
Often you're just too "close" to see that improvements might be a good thing.

2.1 Grammar

Let's preface this by saying that the topic of English grammar is much too big to cover here. You can take several
classes in college just to have covered the basics of the English language, grammar and proper usage.

With that in mind, we will address in this course the mistakes that are common to those who write for business. You
might be able to work the heck out of a pending deal, but putting it all on paper could be the challenge. We don't want
you to lose your professional edge because you can't communicate well in writing.
If you want to expand your knowledge further, head to the reference section of any library or bookstore. You'll find
dozens of books to help you master the English language.
Let's talk about verbs
What is a verb? The easy way children are taught about verbs is to remember they are "action" words. So "run" and
"walk" are verbs. This is an easy thing to learn, but the big mistakes many writers make are forgetting to use verbs
generously.
Especially when writing for business, which by its nature is a bit more staid and serious, it's easy to forget them. You
might think your language doesn't need to be full of action, but it's the action that literally gets your writing (and
therefore your thoughts) off the ground.
We'll talk later about examples of good use of verbs, nouns and the like and the common mistakes people use when
writing with them, but for now, consider this abbreviated list of solid, powerful verbs you can use in business writing.

Abolished
Accomplished
Administered
Advised
Communicated
Controlled
Defined
Directed
Earned
Eliminated
Enforced
Expedited
Focused
Generated
Identified
Instituted
Lectured
Motivated
Organized
Performed
Planned
Positioned
Published
Ranked
Reduced
Restructured
Scheduled
Staffed
Upgraded
Yielded
If you study these words (and there are literally hundreds more of these great action verbs), you'll see a common
thread. In business writing, these are words that not only serve as verbs, moving your thoughts along, but they are

strong, powerful action words that really say something. Using words like these brings more attention to your writing
and will give you a better chance of getting what you want, whether that is inventory moved, a new job, or attention
given to your quarterly report.
Notice that all of our words here are past tense, but your words can be present tense if you like. Use them how it's
appropriate. Past tense does not signify any loss of action. A mix of verbs (used properly) gives even more life to your
writing.
Let's focus on Nouns
This one comes easier for most people, as the noun is also known as the subject and rarely is it misused (as verbs
sometimes are which we'll look at in a minute).
A noun, quite simply, is a person, place or thing. No sentence is a sentence without a verb and a noun. Of course, we
hope you will flesh out your writing so it's a bit fuller than that, but if your sentence has a verb and a noun, it's truly a
sentence.
For example, "He ran."
That's a sentence, but if you are writing for business, such a simplistic sentence just won't cut it.
However, if you are prone to writing sentence fragments, it does help to at least start with this simple, basic tip.
Now, there are times when only a short, succinct sentence will do. When you really want to make a point, and want
that point to be noticed, respected and acted upon, you can use very short sentences to back up larger thoughts.
For example: "I know John thinks he performed the inventory correctly as he told me, Susan, and Sasha that same
story. However, John believes that performing inventory is as simple as counting items and recording them. He's
wrong."
That last sentence is very short. A few of these together would make your writing appear choppy and pedestrian, but
use judiciously, you can use such short sentences to really make a point.
Incorrect use of Nouns
Perhaps the only way in which nouns are used incorrectly is when people see the need to turn a noun (or subject)
into a verb. In an informal email, this is fine. It's also fine when you are talking to someone and taking language
casually. But in business, it's an absolute no-no. It's too casual for business writing and can easily be misconstrued.
Here's an example of using a noun as a verb: "We took a turn in the park."
This means to take a walk or stroll, but "turn" is usually a noun. It's an acceptable use of language, but a bit casual.
It's best to just say, "We took a walk in the park."
There are, however, some instances in which it's become common for the noun to be used as a verb. Consider these
three words:
Parent
Liaison
Focus
Think about each of these words and how they are commonly used as verbs and nouns. "Parent", for example, in the
past commonly referred to someone who had children. But these days, we use "parent" to refer to an action, i.e., "to
parent that child must be difficult."
If you consider "liaison", you might not initially see how this noun is a verb, but in recent years it has been used
extensively as a verb, most particularly by the U.S. military.
So while it's not recommended that you often use nouns as verbs, it can be acceptable under some circumstances.
Be careful; if you aren't sure that your use will be acceptable, don't do it.

Here are some considerations to make when you are using a noun as a verb:
Is it commonly used this way?
Is it awkward, or do you think it's an appropriate use of the word?
Does your document still sound professionally written?

2.2 Some Basic Rules of Grammar

As mentioned before, there is far too much about the general subject of English grammar to cover in one chapter, or
one course. But we can look at some common mistakes (particularly made by business people in their daily
documents) and show you how to easily fix those mistakes.
Verbs
Always keep your verbs in the same tense. This is a very common writing mistake. Many writers will forget the tense
they are using and will switch between present and past tense. If you think about verbal communication, many of us
speak that way and it's just fine, but when writing, this is not only grammatically incorrect, but can be confusing for the
reader.

Using the wrong tense, or changing tenses within the same sentence or same thought is a common, unfortunate
mistake among business writers. You can easily buck this trend.
Here's an example.
"We went to the factory to see for ourselves what is happening. I see the workers are unhappy and unmotivated. I
liked the new scheduling format."
This is subtle, but do you see the problem? If you were talking to someone, this would be fine, but if you "went" to the
factory, then you also "saw" the workers, also in the past tense, not present tense.
Let's look at another one.
"The newsletter is outdated. I think it was boring, uninspired and needing graphics."
If the newsletter "is" outdated, then it "is" boring; it is wrong to say that it "was" boring. Again, this is subtle, but your
reader will notice the change in tense and will stumble somewhat in their reading. You want your writing to be smooth,
fluid and easy to read.

Let's look at one more example so we can really understand this common writing error.
"He started a new project tomorrow."
The mistake here should be obvious. To be honest, these are mistakes we all make often in our verbal
communication, but to make these mistakes in written communication is tantamount to announcing to the world you
are uneducated and don't care to be educated in matters relating to grammar.
Just a simple read-through will help you find most of these errors. Read carefully and aloud whenever possible and
you'll find these mistakes; we promise.
Comma Splices
Aside from incorrect verb usage, the most common error made in business writing - or any writing, for that matter - is
comma splices. What's a comma splice, you ask?
Look over any email or memo you've written recently and we can nearly guarantee you'll find one or more. Quite
simply, a comma splice is when the writer places a comma where a period or semicolon should be.
"We went to lunch, I had the salad and Don had the pasta." If you can look at any sentence that contains a comma
and find another full sentence, you're looking at this common error and this sentence is a perfect example of that.
The easy way to fix a comma splice is to add a period. So you would make your sentence sound like this: "We went
to lunch. I had the salad and Don had the pasta."
If you want to increase your grammar IQ you will instead add a semicolon. Adding a semicolon is often preferable to
adding a period because it continues the thought. Remember in grade school when we were all taught that a period is
the end of a thought? Therefore, if you want more flow to your thoughts, use the semicolon. It is less final than the
period and adds more fluidity to your writing.
So your sentence with the semicolon added would read like this: "We went to lunch; I had the salad and Don had the
pasta."
Remember, to find a comma splice, look for two complete sentences right next to each other with only a comma (or
nothing) separating them.
Which of these is the sentence with the comma splice?
"I visited the factory and there were many improvements from my last visit."
"I visited the factory, there were many improvements from my last visit."
The second sentence contains the comma splice. In this case, you might choose to add the "and" as is found in the
first sentence, or you can add the semicolon, the preferable fix.
Run-on Sentences
Another common mistake made in business writing is writing run-on sentences. Although our teachers tried to drum
into us the importance of not writing run-on sentences, so many of us are guilty of it in our casual writing (emails to
family) as well as in our business writing.
A run-on sentence is exactly as it sounds - the sentence just goes on and on without proper punctuation and without
even a cohesive thought. Reading a run-on sentence can be exhausting, as you mentally try to place commas and
periods in appropriate places.

It's likely that run-on sentences are so prevalent in writing because the writer mentally knows where the breaks are,
but forgets to actually place the comma, the period and so on.
Let's remember our favorite tip here - proofread! A good second read might often catch many of the run-on mistakes.
Here's an example of a run-on sentence and the steps you can take to fix it.
"I think the Christmas party was a success except for a few things we should change next year namely the prices for
tickets should we charge people for their own holiday party and the food which I thought was terrible."
Although you could approach fixing this sentence in a myriad of ways, here's one way to clean it up.
"I think the Christmas party was a success except for a few small things we should change next year. Namely, the
prices for tickets -- should we charge people for their own holiday party? We should also think twice about the food
next year; I thought this year it was terrible."
Extra Capitalization
This one can be tricky if you don't have a style guide to help you. If your company provides a style guide, use it!
Otherwise, consider some common errors and think about how you can avoid these errors in your own writing.
"The Chairperson had something to say to John."
"Chairperson" isn't generally capitalized unless you put a name behind it. This is true for most titles. For example,
"Chairman Baffey had something to say to John" is a more appropriate capitalization. If you are just referring to the
generic "president" or "marketing director" you don't capitalize it.
Other common capitalization mistakes involve adding capital letters to words that make you think of other words.
"She stopped to get paper at the Office supply store." The writer might be thinking about a store like Office Depot,
which would be capitalized, but since in this case they are referring to an unnamed store, it's not capitalized.
Remember this: generally only proper names, official titles before someone's name and places are capitalized. So
while a business is capitalized if you use the name of the business, a reference to a generic business is not. The
word "monument" is not capitalized but the Taj Mahal is.
Homonyms
What, you say? This term vaguely reminds you of third grade English, but you forget the nuance of it. Trust us, this
fact will likely show in your writing.
No offense, really. We mean none. But the misuse of homonyms is one of the most common of all the writing
mistakes. "Their" instead of "they're" is incredibly common as is "to" instead of "too".
Here's an example of both in action.
"Their going to take the bus to the station and then Andy will join them to."
The misuse of these (and similar) words is so common in our writing many of us don't even see it or notice it. We just
accept it as a part of common word usage.

It shouldn't be and since we're talking about business, say that again - it shouldn't be. Ever. If you want to present a
professional, educated, intelligent image, you must get this mistake taken care of.
We emphasize this because it's such a common mistake - this misuse of homonyms. But you will easily set yourself
apart as a professional if you always use the right words in the right places, and have them spelled correctly.
In the example we gave above, the correct sentence should read like the one below.
"They're going to take the bus to the station and then Andy will join them too."
It might be useful to cut and paste the following list into another document. Put it where you can see it and it will help
you make the correct choices.
Your - Is possessive. Your cat is loud at night.
You're - Is a contraction of you and are. You're going to need a nap when you get back from the party.
Their - Is possessive referring to someone else. Their house is large.
They're - Is a contraction of they and are. They're getting a new house soon.
There - Is a location. There is the report I was looking for.
To - Is marking a place. I am going to the store.
Too - Is adding someone or something to the equation. Are you going to the store too?
Two - Is the number. Two of us are going to the store.

2.3 Some Basic Rules of Grammar ...Continued

Is it its or it's?
The misuse of it is either the its or it's form is almost an overwhelming problem in business and other styles of writing.
It's surprising, really, because the rule is very simple, yet so many writers want to make its "it's" no matter what.
Regardless of the correct use or their sense about what might be right. They want to add that apostrophe no matter
what.
Quite simply, you only add an apostrophe to its if it's truly a contraction meaning "it is". If you are not using its that
way, to mean "it is", then you don't need the apostrophe, ever.
You don't even include the apostrophe if it is possessing something. This rule is hard for people, because it is
contrary to other English grammar rules. It is only "it's" when there is truly a contraction of "it" and "is".

We are sure you either have made this mistake yourself or know someone who has. On a daily basis we see this
mistake in all kinds of writing - business writing, personal and casual emails, school newsletters, the daily newspaper.
Perhaps no mistake is more prevalent than this one.
Here's an example of a misuse.
"The dog lost it's ball."
The dog didn't lose it is ball, did it? Then, instead, "the dog lost its ball."
Remember this about this particular mistake - though it might be the most common of all the writing errors, it's also
one of the easiest to fix. Just remember the contraction rule and you're set.

Singular and possessives

Certain words, though it might not seem "right", always take singular verbs or possessive verbs. These words
include: each; any; every; everyone; neither; none; either; and anyone.
Example of a wrong use: "None of the children were playing.
"Example of right use: "None of the children was playing."
It might seem incorrect to you at first, but if you think about the proper attachment to "none", you see how this is a
singular use, not plural ("were" makes it plural).
These are common mistakes, but once you are aware of your weakness toward confusing singular and plural, you'll

be more likely to catch that error in your proofreading.

5 important rules
Here are some other rules to be aware of. Particularly, we will look at common errors and help you correct them in
your writing (and language, for that matter).
1. If two subjects are joined by the word "and", the verb is always plural.
Wrong example:
"Honesty and hard work is necessary for this job."
Right example:
"Honesty and hard work are necessary for this job."
2. Prepositions dictate the objective case.
In this example below, take out the first person and use just the "I" or "me". If you do this, and it doesn't sound right,
you are using the wrong preposition.
Wrong example:
"Are you going to lunch with Don and I?"
Right example:
"Are you going to lunch with Don and me?"
Many people think the first example is right, that using the "I" sounds more intelligent and educated, but in fact, it's
grammatically incorrect. If you take out the first part of the question, you see how the second example is correct:
"Are you going to lunch with me?"
You would not say, "Are you going to lunch with I?"
3. Avoid "feel" words.
For example, it's incorrect and a bit unprofessional to say that someone "feels" something when really you are
referring to them "believing" something.
Here's an example: "John feels the line workers are not working at desired levels."
John "feels" nothing about the workers. True, he might be frustrated or angry, but in this business setting, we are
referring more to John's professional take on the situation with the line workers. The correct version of this statement,
then, is:
"John believes the line workers are not working at desired levels."
In this, you not only abolish the idea you know what John "feels", but you are providing John with a professional
outlook instead of an emotional one.

4. Don't split the infinitive of your verbs!

This isn't a hard and fast grammar rule, but one that is advisable. It makes your writing sound more professional and
you more educated. It also gives a proper flow to your writing which makes it easier and more pleasant to read.
Wrong example:
"Wewant to quickly finish this report."
Right example:
"We want to finish this report quickly."
The verb "to" is referring to "finish" not "quickly". If you split "to" and "finish", you are splitting the infinitive, which can
make your sentence awkward and harder to read.
5. The verb and subject must always agree in person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd person) and in number (plural or
singular).
Wrong example:
"A wide selection of foods were displayed."
Right example:
"A wide selection of foods was displayed."

2.4 Let's keep going

Although we are going to tackle how to write reports, memos, emails and business letters, some basic writing tips are
in order here.
We aren't going to leave you high and dry, we promise.
Now that you have some basic grammatical rules under your belt, you are ready to write.
Wait, don't get scared! It's not that hard. Once we go over some basics of good writing, you'll be heading on to the

chapters that will help you specifically with some basic business documents.
Here are some basics of Good Writing.
1. Develop confidence! As with so much in life, if you believe you are a poor writer, you likely will be. It's sad but
true. Not only will a lack of confidence doom your writing to mediocrity, but it will be uninspired and lacking in any
excitement.
2. Think about what you want to say before you say it. This means plan your writing, yes, but also think about the
effect your words will have on your reader. Make sure you use terms that can't be misconstrued.
3. Know your subject matter. If you understand what you're writing about and feel comfortable with it, you're more
like to produce a solid document worthy of reading.
4. Understand and respect your audience. If you are writing an in-house memo and everyone understands the
subject matter, that's one thing. It's quite another if you are writing a report that will be distributed in-office but also to
shareholders or customers. Always consider your audience and write to that audience, to what they understand and
can appreciate. If you have different levels of understanding (say, in the example where the report might go to both
other company employees and shareholders) speak to the lowest common denominator. That is, make it
understandable to the person who has the least amount of knowledge on the subject matter.
5. Once you begin writing, try to finish your entire document in one sitting. This will be harder if you're writing a
large document, like a report, but whenever possible try to do this. Writing it all out at once serves a few purposes:
You are more likely to develop a solid flow in your writing.
You won't have to re-read what you were writing when you begin writing after taking a break.
You can quickly adjust your document to suit what new thoughts you have and add these new ideas
and thoughts quickly to your document.
6. Once you have your document written, read it over. Is it flowing smoothly? Can you make your sentences
longer, or should they be shorter? Have you made any of the types of mistakes we've talked about in this chapter? As
you read your document, ask yourself even more questions, like:
Will everyone understand this?
Do I need to be more technical, more detailed, or more specific in some of my comments?
Am I using appropriate language?
Do I insult anyone who might be reading this?
If this letter or memo is a complaint or if you are pointing fingers, are you careful not to be angry and
hostile? There's a way to make even a difficult point without being difficult.
Do I make any errors in punctuation or spelling that my computer didn't catch?
Am I proud to put my name on this document?

3 Resumes and Cover Letters

Ok, we hear you. You are already employed. You are taking this course to refine your writing skills, to sharpen the
skills you use on the job you ALREADY have. We hear you.
But hear US out. Your job could be downsized and you'll need a resume to apply for a new job. You might decide to
apply for a promotion within your company and you'll be asked for a resume. You might hear about an amazing
opportunity you know would suit you perfectly and you'll need a resume quickly to apply for it. You might work in an
industry that provides opportunities for freelance work and you need a resume to show potential clients.

Do you hear us now?

Employment experts say you should always have a current resume on hand, and it should be updated whenever your
experience, skill level or other information changes.
In this chapter, we'll focus on resumes and cover letters. If you have an ugly, mistake-riddled resume, your chances of
getting a new job or promotion are slim. Likewise, if you present a cover letter that isn't coherent and intelligently
written, you'll have a hard time finding an employer willing to overlook your mistakes. It's your first line of introduction,
so it should be as close to brilliant as you can get.

3.1 Resumes

Creating a well-written resume isn't as hard as it might seem, though many a resume writer has sat stock still at the
computer not knowing what to say or where to go. Let's start with some rules about writing resumes. These are not
hard and fast - your resume is a unique document and you might find certain things just must be included, or you can
leave off things others must include.
In any event, we'll first examine some of these rules before we consider some of the basics of actually writing your
resume.
Top 10: Rules for writing your Resume
1. Don't think of a resume as a job application or an interview. This is a document designed to get your foot in
the door. You are promoting yourself, and that's it. Of course, honesty is a key component (we'll talk about that in a
minute) but the purpose here is simple and fairly finite: you are promoting yourself. You will have an opportunity to
present a good interview once you get one. You will fill out a job application after you have contact with the company.
This is a document you design for the specific purpose of promoting yourself and your abilities. Don't forget that.

2. Always include a job objective. This should be placed at the top of the resume just below your personal
information (address, phone number, etc). This should be very short, succinct and well written. (We'll offer some tips
later.) Many resume writers forget this important step. It tells your potential employer what your specific goal is and
creates an immediate sense that you are ambitious, organized and clear about your job goals.
3. Consider having more than one resume. If you are considering jobs in different fields, it will be difficult to write a
concise and targeted job objective specific to more than one field or one type of job. So if you are undecided or
pursuing more than one field or more than one job title, have several resumes to choose from that include targeted
job objectives.
4. Proofread, proofread, proofread. There is that word again, right? There is a good reason we keep harping on
this - it's important. It's perhaps no more important than when writing a resume. Since you are promoting yourself,
and trying to gain employment (or a promotion), there is no surer way of destroying your chances than making a
multitude of errors in your writing.
5. Keep it short. Many resume experts say you should create a resume that's only one page long. Depending on
your work experience, this could be difficult. In a pinch, you can extend that to two pages, but no more. If you work
hard on your resume highlighting the truly important things and leaving off less critical items, you can keep to this
restriction. Remember: You only need to really highlight and expound upon experience gained and accomplishments
within the past 10 years. You can briefly mention experience older than that.
6. Don't list hobbies and interests. Unless those interests are somehow related to your job objective (be honest
here - how many of your interests really are), leave them off. You might think it will impress your employer, but often it
just looks as if you are trying to fill space that you can't fill with relevant, important experience. Unless that hobby or
interest is truly related to your job objective (you are a master train builder and you are applying to be CEO at a train
museum, for example), leave it off.
7. Don't spend money on fancy handmade or parchment paper. To an employer, if often looks a bit pretentious
and unnecessary. Use quality white or ivory paper and matching envelope. Keep it simple.
8. Use the PAR approach in describing work experience. "PAR" refers to problem-action-results. Employers are
particularly attracted to people who are action-oriented, so if you present your work experience in this light, you'll
likely gain the attention of your potential employers. How do you do this? It's simple. In your descriptions, state what
the problem was, what you did to fix it and what the good result was. For example: "Transformed the company's
outdated and inefficient transport system into a smooth-running efficient system. This saved the company $2 million
in the first year alone."

9. List your work experience chronologically. Employers prefer if you list work experience chronologically starting
with the most recent work experience and working your way back. If you are changing fields, however, and would
prefer to highlight relevant experience, you may create a resume that's functional in nature, highlighting experience
that will transfer well to your new field. Be sure to create a chronology, however, that employers can follow. We'll talk
more in a bit about how to write a functional resume.

10. Don't be afraid to promote yourself! You might be thinking you'll be comfortable promoting yourself in the
interview, but if you can't promote yourself first (via your cover letter and resume) you won't get to the interview. You
don't need to be arrogant, but confident. Don't be shy about highlighting past awards, accomplishments and extended
education. These are all things that appeal to employers. Your ability to highlight your achievements makes you seem
confident, poised and employable. Think of yourself as a salesman and your product is YOU.
Start at the Top
At the top of your resume (this can be on the left, right, or centered, wherever you want it), provide your contact
information. This includes your full name, address, phone number and email.
If you have a website that promotes your work in some way, include it here. It's also a good idea to include your cell
phone number if you want to make sure you are reached for an interview.
Generally you don't need to include a title, such as "Mr." or "Ms.", but if your name is a name that can belong to a
male or female, include a title. So, if you are Bob it won't be necessary but if you're Pat, include a title that gives your
employer a clue as to what gender you are.
We'll use this opportunity to take a moment to talk about resume design. Don't worry about it as much as you might
have in the past. What's important is that your resume is clean, free of errors and easy to read. It doesn't have to look
as if it was designed by a professional graphic designer (unless you are a graphic designer).
Having said that, however, we also caution this: Use common sense. If you indent the section that includes past
employment, indent the whole section, not just part of it. Make sure your computer is cooperating and that all your
paragraphs and sections are lined up. Use one font, not several, and bold items that you want to highlight (names of
employers, dates, etc.). Otherwise, keep it simple and clean.
Resume Format
Functional Resume
Most people are the most familiar with the chronological resume format, in which you highlight relevant employment
information from most recent to least recent. This is the easiest format to design and write, but for some people it
might not be the best option. As we discussed earlier, there are times when you want to create a "functional" resume.
You highlight your job experience not by job, but by skills used and jobs performed. This is useful if you are switching
jobs or you have been out of work for a good deal of time (more than a couple of years).
When designing a functional resume, choose titles under which to highlight relevant job experience, and then provide
2 to 5 bullet points under that heading. Include no more than 6 bullet points, as then you might just bog down the
resume itself.
Some headings might include:
Administration
Communications
Consulting
Counseling
Designing
Editing
Human Resources
Management
Marketing
Organization
Planning
Production
Public Relations
Research

Sales
Strategic Planning
Training
Writing
On a functional resume, you also must include relevant education, training and interests. Again, only include
information about your interests if they directly relate to the job you are applying for, or the job you wish to move into.
Training beyond your college education need not be included if you are running short on space. Include if only if it
pertains directly to the industry you will be working in and you can explain it in two lines or less.
Chronological Resume
More common is the chronological resume. This resume format appeals to most people because it's easy for an
employer to read and easy for you to update.
In a chronological resume, you highlight your experience in descending order by date. Your current employer leads
the pack and you move through the resume in chronological order. Always bold the employer's names and the dates
you worked there. It will be easy for your new employer to see at a glance where you have been and to see if there
are any big gaps in your employment.

Writing your job objective

Let's move on now to that very important job objective. Many resume writers gloss over this important part of their
resume. They give just a nod to this part of the resume before they head for the "meatier" part, which they deem to be
job experience and education.
Hear us out on this: Spend time writing a concise, well-formulated job objective. Your job, literally, could depend on it.
Here's why:
When you write a good job objective, you are telling your employer what job you want to have. You specify that you
are the person to do that job, and you help the human resources people quickly and efficiently process your resume
and move it along to the right department.
If you don't include a job objective, you are leaving too much decision making up to your potential employer. Instead
of saying, "here's what I want to do and here's my relevant experience", you are saying, "Here's what I've done so
far what do you think I should do next?" By having a clearly defined job objective from the start, you present
yourself as capable, clear and in full command of what you want.
A well-written job objective provides a powerful, clear statement of what you want and what your intentions are.
Nothing could be more appealing to a potential employer.
How to write a job objective
This is easier than you might think. Although it's an important component of your resume, it's not difficult to create a
well thought out and perfectly worded job objective. Simply put, in your job objective you highlight what area of work
you want to be in, what title you are seeking, your area of expertise and relevant specialization.
Here's an example: "I am seeking a position as a sales representative with an emphasis on new business
development and solid revenue."
Here's another: "Looking for an administration position with a focus on marketing."
Or you can be extremely concise and to the point: "Assignment editor, news programming."
How conversational you get in the job objective is up to you. However, here are some rules to keep in mind:
Don't include statements like "looking for a job with room for advancement" or "seeking challenging
arena in which to highlight my expertise."
Opt for specific over vague. Specific, to the point and BRIEF. Those should be your keywords here.
Cut the fluff and stick with the facts.
You'll have an opportunity at the job interview to talk specifically about these types of things.
Right now, once again, your job is to get your foot in the door.

Honest and Truthful

Many people see resume writing time as an opportunity to "expound" on the truth, if you will. Don't do this. The
reasons are numerous and, and frankly, common sense tells you it's ill advised, but let's look at it this way: Would you
hire you? Knowing your penchant for embellishing your employment facts, would you consider yourself a keeper?
Employers overwhelmingly respond to surveys about this topic in one consistent way: Honesty is the ONLY policy.
Employers want specific, concrete information about what you have done before, but they also want that information
to be truthful.
In fact, most employers say they would prefer a resume that shows a lack of job experience over one that highlights
experience that doesn't actually exist.
Even if you get through a job interview with your fictional resume, the truth of your experience, training, and education
(whatever you have embellished) will eventually catch up with you. You won't likely get fired for it, but your reputation
will be forever tarnished. It's just not worth it.

Write a good, solid resume, focusing on what you can do and have done. The right job will come if you stick to this
road of honesty and being true to yourself and your potential employers.

3.2 Cover Letters

The cover letter is your first line of introduction. Your potential employer reads your cover letter long before meeting
you and likely even before they glance at your resume. It's important that it be well-written, engaging and interesting.
It doesn't have to be long and it doesn't have to highlight relevant experience. You want it to engage your reader
enough that they choose to read further and peruse your resume as well. That's where your potential employer will
get the details on your experience, training and suitability for the job.
Top 5: Tips for writing attention-grabbing Cover Letters
1. Keep it brief. Nothing could be more annoying to a busy and overworked human relations person than a cover
letter that drones on and basically repeats what is in the resume. Don't use the cover as your resume. You need not
highlight or detail work experience; that is what the attached resume is for.
2. Don't ever handwrite a cover letter. Perhaps you're on vacation when you see the perfect job advertised. You
think -- what harm could it do? I'll just whip up a little note on lined paper and send it with my resume. No matter how
casual your industry, it's not that casual. Trust us. NEVER handwrite a cover letter. EVER.
3. Keep it clean and mistake-free. Here's that word again - proofread. This is your first line of offense. If you mess
up the cover letter, you likely won't get an interview to prove yourself and your worth as a potential employee. It can't
hurt to have several cover letters waiting to be used. Make sure they are perfectly written and specific to the different
jobs you might be applying for. All you have to do is change pertinent information relevant to the job you are applying
for and you're good to go.
4. Try to keep the cover letter somewhat pertinent to the job you are applying for. Don't keep a very generic
letter ready to go and not make changes to it as necessary. It's fine to keep some cover letters written and ready to
send when you need to (see rule 3 above), but be sure to change any wording you see fit to make the cover letter
pertinent to the job you are applying for.
5. Skip the fancy fonts and papers. This isn't the place to try out all the interesting fonts you have in your word
processing program. Human resources personnel and hiring executives want a clean looking cover letter that's easy
to read and written well. That's it. No fancy fonts, no handmade or parchment papers. Just the facts, and that's
enough.

How it's done, cover letter style

So how do you write a cover letter, exactly? It's not that tough, actually. It's possible that many job seekers write poor
cover letters because they put little effort into it, but it's also possible it's because they worry too much about the letter
and overlook finer details.
Here are some tips to get you started.
Begin with your personal information (including email and cell number if applicable) and the date. These should be
found along the right margin or you can center them at the top; personal information should be single spaced, with a
double space and then the date. Another double space later, and you're ready to begin the meat of your letter.
Do not address anyone as "sir/madam" or, worse, "to whom it may concern". These are just poor forms of cover letter
etiquette. It's best to find the name of the manager, executive or human relations director you want to address your
letter to. If you can't get the name, be as specific as you can. You can say, "Dear Marketing Director" or "Dear Hiring
Panel".
Now, here is where the letter gets tricky. You want to keep it short and you might even be working with a stock letter
(which we talked about earlier). If you are working with a stock letter, be vague and simply change details as
necessary (for example, if you mentioned "advertising agency" in the stock letter but you are applying to a marketing
firm, change your wording).
If you are writing the letter fresh, which is your best approach, be sure to address the nature of the company
specifically, indicate why you would be an excellent match for their open position and leave it at that.
Here's an example of a poorly written cover letter. Can you see why it's not the best example of a cover letter?
John Smith
22 Green Gable Way
Oakmont, NY 90022
July 5, 2008
Dear Sir,
I see you are hiring for a new sales manager. I'd be interested in the job and have attached my resume for your

consideration.
Thank you!
John Smith
Let's look at the first problem - there is no phone number or email address. True, this information is on your resume
as well (or it should be if it's not). But this is a business letter and it should be as formal as any other business letter
you might write, meaning, include phone numbers and email addresses.
Second, there is nothing dynamic about this letter. "I'd be interested" is vague, boring and not a powerful statement
that says, "I want this job. I'm perfect for this job. Here's why."
Here's an example of a better cover letter.

Sally Jones
ABC Marketing
123 New York Avenue
New York, NY 10022
July 5, 2008
Dear Ms. Jones,
I read a wonderful article about ABC Marketing in the June issue of the "Wall Street Journal". I thought it highlighted
well the strengths of your company.
The fact that you are now actively recruiting for new marketing managers tells me you are looking to grow and
achieve more success with a solid team in place.
I believe I am one of the people who can help you achieve new success with your business.
As you will see from my enclosed resume, I have several years experience in the marketing field and have made
significant and successful changes to the companies I have worked for. I am a dynamic, aggressive leader committed
to progressive change and a solid management style.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you for your consideration,
John Smith
Do you see the difference here? This letter isn't terribly long, but it's longer than the first. It indicates the job seeker
has some knowledge about the company he is applying for and acknowledges the important role the hiring manager
might have had in that process. It tells Ms. Jones a little about Mr. Smith, but not too much. Between the cover letter
and the well-written resume also enclosed, she'll get what she needs to decide if she should interview John Smith. It's
likely she will if his resume backs up well the first impression he's provided her in the cover letter.
One Final Word
If you have the opportunity to email your resume and cover letter, be sure to take it. Just be aware of a few things:
Don't allow the informality of email allow you to forget you are writing a formal cover letter. Keep it
professional and formal.

Attach your resume in a Word document. Most professional people will have that program installed on
their computer and will be able to easily read your resume. Stay away from publishing programs for you resume
that others might not have on their computer.
Forget the pretty fonts if you think you might email your resume. If your recipient doesn't have those
fonts on their computer, your resume could end up looking odd with strange characters and formatting that's
impossible to read. Stick with simple, basic fonts like Century Gothic and Times New Roman.
Be sure to attach your resume! All too often we indicate something is attached, only to realize later we
forgot to actually attach our attachment.
If you are mailing your resume, here are a few things to keep in mind:
As we stated earlier, stay away from fancy papers. Keep it simple with basic white paper. Print your
resume on a laser printer if you can. Inkjet inks sometimes bleed.
Try not to fold your resume. If possible, use a manila envelope for your resume and cover letter so you
don't have to fold them. This is especially relevant if you are attaching any supporting documents, like training
certificates or writing samples.
Ideally, you will not handwrite anything on your envelope. You can create a label for the addressee and
for your return address. If you must handwrite the address, be very neat and use a black pen.

A note about Keywords

What's what, you are saying, about keywords? Yes, that's right. Writing resumes has turned into another Google
search, in a way.
If you plan to post your resume to any online job search program, you want to use the right keywords. Have you ever
noticed that when you change the terms in your Google search box you get all new results? You want that with your
resume. If you use the right keywords relevant to the job you are looking for, it will be that much easier for a potential
employer to find your resume among the hundreds or thousands out there.
So, what keywords should you use? Let's look at some good examples. Some great keywords for a job in the
financial industry are:
Risk management
Value added analysis
P & L Management
Auditing and compliance
MS Excel
Bank Reconciliations
Crystal reports and spreadsheets
Benefits administration
Portfolio management
An employer looking for an employee might run a search using one of more of these terms, so they find the person
who has experience in whatever area they want. If you use these keywords within the body of your resume, the
employer will have an easier time finding you.
Let's look at more. These keywords are some you might consider if you are looking for a job in sales.
Sales Professional
Relationship Building

Technical Sales
Negotiating and Closing
E-business Sales Manager
New Business Development
Sales Presentations
Territory Sales Representative
Sales Engineer
Director of Sales
Now, obviously, you aren't going to use these terms unless they apply to you. But there are ways to work them in if
you want. For example, maybe you have never worked as a director of sales before, but that's the job you would like
to have. To include that term in your experience listing would be inaccurate and inappropriate, but to include it in your
job objective would be smart. Not only are you stating what job you want, but you're using the keyword that might
help your next employer find you.

4 E-mail

E-mail. It's hard to remember what life was like before email, isn't it? Via email we share photos, videos, ideas, and
snippets of thoughts, jokes and links to funny, interesting or thought-provoking websites.

The trouble with our comfort with email is - our comfort with email. In workplaces, this can be dangerous. We forget
who our audience is, or we become too casual and, frankly, often inappropriate.
In this chapter, we'll discuss a variety of email issues - how to direct your emails appropriately, what to include and
what you must leave out of email communications, general email etiquette and more.
Basic E-mail Etiquette
In this section we'll touch on some basic email etiquette, but we'll also address some of these topics in more detail
later.
Some basics of proper E-mailing

1. Always include a salutation. Because of that informal nature of email, many people forget to say "hi" or "dear" as
they address their recipient. Always properly address your recipient. This is particularly common when people are
responding to an email. You thoughts are jumbled, you want to address something specific in the email and you begin
writing, without first saying "Hi Brian" or "Hello Amber". Don't forget this basic, mannerly step.
2. Generally, it's best to keep your emails short. There are different schools of thought on the length of emails, but
generally, keep it as short as you can. We'll discuss email length in a bit.
3. Respond quickly. Because email often replaces phone calls these days, it's thought best if you respond to an
email as quickly as you would a phone call, which is generally right away. If you can't get to the email right away, it's
proper form to send a quick email note indicating you received their message and you'll respond in kind soon.
4. Use neutral fonts, since different email programs will "see" emails differently.
5. Proofread. Again, there's that word. Be sure to use proper grammar, to check your spelling and make sure your
sentence structure is proper and accurate.

6. Not all email programs can "read" emails in html format. If you know your recipient can read html emails then
by all means, send an email formatted for html. But if you aren't sure, send your emails in text format.
7. Change the subject. Too often we allow emails to go around and around with the same subject line even when
the subject of the emails has changed. Perhaps you began the round of emails by discussing the possibility of
starting an on-site daycare facility, but the email discussion has evolved into a debate about how overtime should be
approved. Change the subject line so it better fits what the two of you (or more, depending) are actually talking about.
Tone
Because the very nature of email is impersonal and prone to misinterpretation, it's important you pay careful attention
to your tone in your emails. Think about the words you are using and be careful that they can't be misconstrued.
Try to think of times when you mistakenly interpreted an email message. Was it because the language was too
vague? Were the words sincere, but perhaps a little curt?
Let's look at two different messages written by a manager to an employee. Which one would you prefer receiving?
Hi John,
I hope you have finished the report we talked about. I need it tomorrow by 9 a.m.
Doug
Or
Hi John,
I know when we discussed the monthly revenue report, I said I needed it Wednesday, but Joanne is asking for it
sooner. Do you think you can have it on my desk by 9 a.m. tomorrow? Thanks so much.
Doug

In the first message, John doesn't know that Doug has changed the terms of the original assignment because Joanne
needs it sooner. In the first, curt, message, John only knows that he better get it done.
In the second message, Doug has taken just a few more minutes to explain the change in the assignment and he
even acknowledges that this isn't what he and John originally talked about. He asks John if he can get the work done,
but doesn't give John an out. It's pretty clear the work should be done by tomorrow, no excuses. Finally, he thanks
John for his work.
Just spending a few minutes reading over your writing will do a world of good for your reader. Even try reading your
email out loud (or in a whisper if you like). You might be able to tell immediately where the problems are in your
message.
Here are some other tips to help you with your tone:

Try wording things in a positive way, with positive words. For example, you might say, "When you write
the report" instead of "If you write the report". Even if you are dealing with an employee who often doesn't get
work done or is unreliable, don't indicate you believe that about the employee in emails. You're setting a
negative tone that's bad for business.
Try to stay professional, but if a smile emoticon ( J ) will help you get your message out in a friendly
and non-combative way, by all means use it. But don't over-use emoticons. Save them for your emails with
friends and family members.
To add a friendly tone, use contractions. They are a bit less formal, but will also help convey a
friendlier tone. For example, instead of "do not", you can use "don't" and so on. Contractions are perfectly
acceptable in business emails and are generally preferable to their more formal counterparts.
Finally, keep in mind your audience. If you are writing an email to your boss, your tone is likely
substantially more formal than if you are writing an email to a co-worker.

Attachments
Attachments can be a hot button topic with business people who deal with a good deal of email. Many people believe
you should do everything you can do to avoid attaching anything to emails. The reasons can be numerous:
Your recipient might not have the program needed to read the attachment. If something is attached in
a PowerPoint presentation format, for example, and you don't have PowerPoint, you can't read it.
Often attachments contain viruses (though that's not the intended result)
Depending on the attachment, it can slow down the retrieval of email, causing your recipient a
slowdown in work.
Make sure when you indicate that something is attached, there is actually an attachment to the email. Check before
you send the email to be sure you did make the attachment.

Finally, when you do attach something to email, tell your recipient in the body of the email that there is an attachment
and follow it with, "the name of the file is report.doc" and indicate in what program the attachment is created. So you
might say, "This attachment was created in Microsoft Word and its name is report.doc."
Long E-mails
Sometimes a long email can't be avoided. The topic is lengthy and short of getting everyone together for a meeting,
this is the best way you can think to convey the message. But how do you work through the need to keep emails
short enough for busy people to read, glean what they need and move on, but still convey your important points?
It's called an elevator summary and you should always try to use it if you are creating longer than average emails.
An elevator summary is basically a summary that someone could give another colleague while riding from one
destination to another in an elevator. It's a "just the facts" summary with more details to follow.

By using an elevator summary in longer emails, you give your reader the opportunity to get the gist of the email
immediately, and decide if they need to read further now, or if they can wait until later. It also helps others decide if
they only need the summary and can skip the rest of the email altogether. Therefore, the summary method is useful
not only on long emails, but those that are going to several recipients as well.
In an elevator summary, you might begin your email about the company's economic forecast like this:
"Because the company's profits were down 5% last year and our cost-cutting methods were ineffective, I propose we
make several changes to the shipping and receiving departments."
This summary is brief, succinct and most important, pointed. Those who are affected by the changes or who need to
know because their job is tied to the changes can either read on, or keep the email to read when they have time.
Those who aren't affected or don't care can either delete the email or do with it as they wish.
More than creating a better email, you are also creating satisfied readers who will be pleased you took care to think of
their needs when writing your email.
Other tips for long E-mails:

If you don't want to use an elevator summary, you can use a table of contents method, which outlines
(generally using "A, B, C" and the like as bullets) the basics of the email. This is particularly useful in helping
your readers move to the section they absolutely need to read first. It also helps them quickly synthesize the
information in the email. You can use the elevator and table of contents methods in unison.
If you need an immediate response to your long email, that should be conveyed to the reader at the
very start of your message. If you don't indicate that right off the top, it could be some time before you get a
response.

4.1 E-mail...Continued

When you have many Recipients

When you are sending emails to many recipients, it's best to create a mailing list. If you list each email individually,
you have two problems: everyone on the list sees everyone else's email, which they might not like, and, depending
on the length of the email list, your email will be a bit sloppier than if you just create a mailing list.
What is a mailing list? It's simple, really. Most all email programs will give you the option to create a mailing list. If you
often email a group of 12 employees about the weekly revenue report, create a "revenue report" mailing list. Some of
those 12 recipients might also receive your emails about scheduling, so you can add them to your "scheduling" email
list as well. Do you see how this works?
When you are ready to send an email about the weekly revenue report or scheduling, you simply create an email to
the appropriate group of recipients.
Many business email users say they prefer this method of email distribution because getting an email with many
emails listed on it is often seen as an imposition.
Here are some specific tips for using mailing lists:
Avoid discussion of personal (and personnel) issues. Keep those restricted to emails that are only
delivered to the specific person affected.
It's fine to address someone specifically in the email. If one of the people on your mailing list has
asked a question or posed a problem, it's fine to address them specifically when directing an email to the entire
group (ie., "Isaac, your question about next month's training will be addressed in this email.")
If the message goes around the group with others offering ideas, but the general subject changes, it's
not only fine but ideal to change the subject line to better address what's really being talked about in the email.
When a conflict arises in the email discussion - and it shouldn't be surprising if it does - either email
the person you are having the conflict with directly or talk to them in person. Keeping a conflict on the email list
just creates tension for everyone.

When it's Bad News

If you have bad news to deliver, it might be best to do so in person, either on a conference call or in a meeting, but
you can also do it via email, as long as you do it properly.
Note: NEVER fire someone via email. Let's just say we include it because we know some managers forget the
basics in their haste to make changes and get on with their day. There are better ways to deliver THAT bit of bad
news.
Now, if you have bad news to deliver that is more in line with "no new computers this year," email is a fine way to
deliver it.

Some managers still buy into a long-circulated myth that the longer it takes to deliver bad news, the better for the
recipients. That way, they have likely already heard rumors about the bad news and have had time to adjust. Then
your news won't come as such a shock. Don't believe such fallacies. It's always better to deliver the news as quickly
as you can, and in as honest a fashion as you can.
If delivering bad news by email, here are some tips:
Don't deliver the news in the subject of the email. For example, of you are letting everyone know there
will be no new computers, title the email "Computers" and leave it at that. Don't title it "No new computers this
year!"
Once you are in the body of the email, get right to the point: "I know everyone was hoping we would be
able to upgrade our computers this year, but new computers just aren't in the budget."
Don't use blaming statements ("Maybe if our boys in sales had worked harder, we could do this")
and don't be vague ("maybe next year").
Maintain a positive voice and ask for suggestions, if applicable.

Use Bullets
Many of us forget, in our haste to get our email written and on its way, to synthesize information in a way that is easy
to read and quick to digest.
The very premise of email is information quick and easy. Therefore, learning to provide information via email that's
quick to read is essential.
Using bullets are particularly effective when you are listing ideas, providing directions, or creating a list.
For example, if you are brainstorming ideas for the annual company Christmas party, you might bullet your ideas like
this:
We could:
Have an office party after work
Book a ballroom at a hotel and go all out
Have a simple potluck at lunch
Skip the Christmas party this year in favor of larger bonuses
If you want to expound on each idea later in your email, you certainly can, but this gives everyone a chance to take a
quick look at your email, get the gist of your ideas and move on.
Bullets are also useful in getting people to read through your email. A big block of paragraphs might not entice your
reader, but if they see those blocks broken up with bullets, you might likely draw them in easier.

Complaints
There comes a time in all our lives when we must complain about something. For many of us, this comes more often
than we would like. It's important to know how to word a complaint, because tone is critically important here.
Here are some tips for writing a complaint. These tips apply equally to complaints made among co-workers and to
employees as they do to you if you are complaining about your stale breakfast cereal.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Always state the problem clearly, without placing blame or using inflammatory words.
Explain any attempts you have made to rectify the problem.
Suggest solutions.
Suggest who might be able to deal with the problem and offer ideas to get him or her started.
Explain clearly why the problem must be dealt with by the reader or your email.
Although you might feel like yelling, resist the urge to write in all caps. Doing so is yelling in email, but
it's also very hard to read and will turn you reader away, while also diminishing your worth in their eyes.

Flaming
No discussion of email would be complete without addressing the issue of flaming.
Simply put, flaming is a term used in the virtual world that means to make inflammatory comments in an email. It
might go something like this:
"I hate this place! Mostly I hate that Colby can't keep his business to himself. I swear, if it was me, I'd be fired by now,
but he gets away with it because he plays golf with John. Geez. It's so unfair. And don't get me started on Liz. She
should be FIRED!"

Here are some things to think about before you flame someone in an email:
Once you send an email you can't get it back. You can't intercept it, you can't rewrite it. It's gone and you are forever
tied to those words.
Your tone is hard to misinterpret in an email like this. It will be difficult to explain your way out of this email.
Think before you email. Ask yourself, "is this something I would say to this person's face?" If the answer is yes,
maybe it's something you should say to them directly. If no, keep it to yourself.
Write the email, then save it and read it later. Chances are, you will think about not sending it once you have had a
chance to read it over later.

Finally, if you are determined to send the email, read it at least twice. Make sure it sounds the way you want it to
sound (even if that is angry) and that you have used the words and expressions you intend to use.

4.2 E-mail Etiquette

There is, believe it or not, such as thing as email etiquette. This means there are proper and improper ways to word
and send emails. There are proper and improper ways to respond to emails, format emails and forward emails.
Following is a list of 25 tips for solid email etiquette. Some of these tips might be repeated from other parts of this
chapter, but with them all in one place, you can easily print this list and use it on a daily basis.
1. Do not request read and delivery receipts. Many people see this as a little bit "Big Brother" and resent it.
2. Be careful when you "reply to all". Not everyone wants to see your reply. If you are really just addressing the
author of the original email, just hit "reply". If you want to address your comments to a larger group, but not the whole
group, create a new email to the people you truly are addressing.
3. Do not copy an attachment or email message without permission from the original author. This is common
sense, but needs to be said because many are guilty of doing this.
4. Read your email before you send it. Again, that's proofreading. If you proofread, you are less likely to make
critical errors, either in grammar, spelling and punctuation, but also in content.
5. Do not forward chain letters. A big no-no in office communications is to send along letters that promise money or
good luck if you forward the original email to a number of people. If you must forward it, do it on a personal level to
friends and family, not business associates.
6. Don't forget to name a subject in the "subject" line. Leaving that line blank will get your email deleted or
ignored.
7. Make your email personal, no matter how many people are receiving it. Due to the somewhat informal nature
of email, it's perfectly fine to keep the language slightly less formal than in a s letter and the discussion slightly more
personal.
8. Be careful when you choose your format. As we discussed earlier, different fonts might not be "read" by your
recipient's email program as they are read by yours.
9. Be careful with colors. If you choose to either use a background or font color, make sure your email is still easy to
read and the text is discernible from the background.
10. Try to avoid using "IMPORTANT" and "URGENT" unless the matter truly is. And then, you might be better
served making a phone call instead. Save the dramatics for when they are truly necessary.
11. Always use an active rather than passive voice. Your reader will thank you for it by reading further into your
email.
12. Keep your language free of gender specific references. Keep it gender neutral whenever possible.
13. Try to avoid the overuse of emoticons. They create a very casual email and one that does not say, "Please
read this professional document." If you must, one little smiley face ( J ) will do.
14. Do not use email to discuss confidential information or personnel matters.
15. Avoid overly long sentences. Try to keep your emails concise and easy to read. You don't want to write overly
short sentences either, but to keep the reading easy and flowing, keep your sentences to an agreeable length.
16. Do not write in all CAPITALS. This is tantamount to screaming at your reader and you generally don't want to do
that. Aside from screaming, capitals make emails very difficult to read.

17. Don't reply to spam. You only encourage its distribution.

18. Answer someone else's email promptly. As we talked about earlier, if you must delay your response, send a
quick email to your associate explaining there will be a slight delay. Then deliver when you say you will.
19. Don't forward emails that have remarks or jokes that are off-color - bigoted, obscene, libelous or
defamatory.
20. Use the "cc:" field in your emails very sparingly, meaning very rarely. You don't want to "cc:" many people
who don't need to be reading the email. Rarely should you really need to use this feature.
21. Only use the high priority flag when absolutely necessary. If you often send your emails with a high priority
flag, you'll be much like the boy who cried wolf and your emails won't get the attention you desire. Save those flags
for when you really need them so the truly important emails get the credit they deserve.
22. Only attach files when absolutely necessary. Also inform your recipient in the body of the email that you have
made an attachment to the email.
23. Pay attention to the structure of your email. Your reader might quickly get intimidated if your paragraphs are
very long with few breaks. Keep your paragraphs shorter than you might for a business letter, say, and your recipients
will thank you.
24. Be concise. Email is a quick medium, and people expect to get their emails and digest them quickly. Say only
what needs to be said in the email and save the rest for a more formal document or in in-person meeting.
25. If you are the boss, design an email policy. This should detail what is and what is not allowed in company
emails. Also consider drafting a company email disclaimer that will be attached to all outgoing emails.
A few final E-mail Notes
Pay attention to the dynamic in your office. If the bosses frown on too much joking, be careful what types of emails
you send around.
In that same vein, don't send emails with pornographic or suggestive attachments. You never know who could be
standing near or behind your recipient.
Don't let email take the place of human contact. It's easy to rely on the convenience of email to do all our talking for
us, but be sure to still visit someone's office to say hello, or give them a ring on the phone once in a while. Sometimes
it's the only way to go.
While your grammar and diction don't have to be perfect in email, try to pay attention to the quality of your writing and
do your best to keep it neat and well written. It will reflect on you if your emails are poorly written and littered with
regrettable mistakes.

5 Letters

The concept of a well written business letter is not lost. In this day and age of cell phones, email and all other types of
communication that might seem to make a written letter irrelevant, the letter is still all powerful.
A well-written business letter can convey warmth, trust, agreement, change or a host of other things. Because it is
generally more formal than an email, it also carries more weight to most recipients.

If you have taken the time to write a letter, print it out and put it in the mail, you have shown you mean business.
There are times when only a real letter on real paper will do.
When you decide to write a business letter, it's important that you understand how to format a proper business letter
and how to make it look like a high-quality document. You should also make sure your letter is professionally written
and presented.

5.1 Formatting

There are two different formats you can use when writing a business letter. They are the block format and the indent
format.
Here is an example of the block format:
John Doe
155 Main Street
New York, NY 10026
June 20, 2008
Edward Williams
222 Star Street
Any Town, CA 90045
Dear Mr. Williams,
If you choose the block format, you are choosing to use the most popular form of business letter. It's easy to follow
while reading and provides a clean look on the page.
When you use the block format, follow these tips: Put your address at the top of the letter, flush left; make one space
and add the date, also flush left; one more space, and you add the recipient's name and address; one more space for
the salutation, and one more to begin the letter.
In a block letter, everything is flush left, as demonstrated above, and there should be a one-inch margin all around
your letter.
If your letter is very formal, try to avoid abbreviations in name or anything else.
When you are done with your letter, make two spaces, sign your letter "sincerely yours," or something equally formal
and aloof but friendly, and provide three spaces for your signature. After those three spaces, type your name, and
title if applicable.
See how professional your letter can look?
Sincerely Yours,

Your business course

Here is an example of the indent format:

Now, there is some debate about which letter format is best. Here are some things to think about:
Some people think the block letter looks the "cleanest" and most professional.
Others prefer the indent format because it was the primary format most used many years ago when business letters
were the only way business people communicated and it's the format many older people were taught.
The block letter is probably the easiest to read.

The indent letter might get a bit more attention because generally people prefer the block format and it's the format
many of your recipients probably see the most.
Which format you choose to use in your business letters is really up to you.

5.2 Language

A business letter is considered a formal document, so you should adhere to certain rules in your language usage.
In other words, this isn't the time to curse, no matter how mad you are, and it's not the time to use slang. In addition,
keep in mind your abbreviations and slang as it relates to our world of technology. You might add a smiley face ( J )
without thinking about it, or say, KWIM (know what I mean) without much thought for its propriety.
A business letter is perhaps the most formal of all writing you can do. Aside from a cover letter, it's the one letter
writing opportunity when you have a chance to truly present yourself professionally in writing.
A poorly written business letter can doom you - from getting the bid, from getting the promotion, or from impressing a
new client.
Here are some things to remember about your language usage when writing a formal business letter:
Stay away from those abbreviations we mentioned earlier. Never use email shorthand in a business
letter.
In that same vein, be careful of using ANY abbreviations if your letter is very formal or you are writing a
letter to a very traditional company or recipient. Even abbreviating "mister" to "Mr." can be seen by some as too
informal. You will have to make a decision about these types of common abbreviations yourself based on who
you are addressing your letter to as well as what the purpose of the letter might be.
Speak in the first person if applicable. Never talk in the third person. If you are speaking for your
company or more than one person, say "we". This personalizes your letter and attaches you more fully to it.
Always use proper grammar.
Use the words that will get you the response you want. For example, if you are trying to make your
point clear and direct, use "do not" rather than "don't". It's a slightly more forceful statement. In general, "don't"
in business writing is fine, but when you really need to make that point, have your words heard and taken
seriously, you can take that more formal "do not" tone.
In the same vein, try to use words that are action verbs (which we talked about in a previous chapter).
These are also words that mean business and will likely get you the reaction you want.

Proofread. Proofread, and then proofread again. Always make sure there are no errors in your
business letter. As we have talked about before, making errors in business writing is one sure way of disgracing
yourself.
Use a dictionary. Your computer's word processing program will pick up on some grammatical errors,
and even sometimes improper word usage, but it won't tell you when a different word would be better used, or
when you are using the wrong word which is spelled like others (for example, "to" instead of "too", a common
error).
Always be specific if you want a response by a certain date or would like to set up a meeting. Don't
say, "I hope to hear from you soon" when what you really should say is, "I'll call you Tuesday afternoon to set up
a meeting to talk about this."
If you have many details or technical information to include, do it in attachments, or enclosures. In this
way, you can keep your letter to one page, and allow the reader to tackle the difficult reading at another time.
Be gender-neutral whenever possible. For example, don't refer to "manpower" but "workforce." By the
same token, use the term "chairperson" rather than "chairman". Many of these gender specific terms are so
commonly used in our language, we think nothing of it. But you should when writing a business letter. Always.

5.3 Business letters 101

Now that we've covered some basics about how to format your letter and how to sound smart and professional, let's
look at exactly HOW you should write your letter.
How you format your letter and the words you use will be largely determined by what your letter is about. First we'll
look at a brief outline of how to order your letter and then we'll examine some sample letters so you can get a feel for
how they should "sound".
What goes in it?
Your business letter will likely contain some useful information, some questioning content and some opinions.
Depending on the subject matter, it might be curt, obligatory, friendly or angry. All of these are appropriate to a degree
if handled professionally.
But there are some things that should remain constant. First, let's look at the format, which we discussed earlier.
Whether you choose the indent or block format, be sure to always format your business letter professionally.
Once you have the basic formatting out of the way, you can consider following this basic roadmap:
In the first sentence or paragraph, state the problem or reason for the letter.
The second and subsequent paragraphs should expound on that first statement. If your letter is a
complaint, for example, you should expound on the basic complaint. If your letter is designed to confirm matters
discussed in a phone call, you would expound on those points (perhaps with bullets).
Your final paragraph should be a wrap-up and provide an opportunity for you to pull your thoughts into
one cohesive sentence.
Before we look at some samples, here are some basic points to think about:
1. Keep your letter short.
Most business letters should not exceed one page. That's about 400 words, tops. If your reader has to move to
another page, there's a chance (a good chance, really) that you'll lose him or her as a reader. Keep it short and you'll
better make your points and have them understood and truly read. Respect that they are busy, just like you, and
deserve to get their news quickly.
2. Keep the language as simple as possible.

As we talked about earlier, try to avoid using abbreviations or acronyms, unless you are sure your recipient
understands them. If you aren't sure, don't use them. Keep your language conversational but professional. This isn't
the time to pull out your list of big words to try and impress your reader.

3. Focus not on your need to say certain things in your letter, but also the needs of your recipient.
Imagine yourself reading the letter. Can you do that in just a few short minutes? Is it easy to read and to the point?
Are your thoughts clear and coherent? The best gift you can give to your reader is the gift of time - that is, realizing
their time is important and taking that into account when writing your letter.
4. Read your letter over carefully for mistakes and proper word usage.
Your letter is a reflection on you and by extension, the company you work for. If your letter is riddled with mistakes,
that reflects badly on you and your company.
5. Don't try to show off.
Many of us fall into this writing rut. We think we want to sound intelligent, capable, and begin showing off our
language, or knowledge. A little humbleness can go a long way. Now, you want to sound professional and capable, to
be sure, but trying to impress by using "big words" and fancy sentence structure will only serve to confuse and
perhaps turn off your reader. Stick with one of our earlier tips - keep it simple, silly.
Let's try it out
Now, let's sample some well-written business letters and see what we can learn from them. For purposes of these
samples, we'll use the block format, but if you prefer, you can always use the indent format.
5.4 Complaint Letter

Your name
Your address
Your phone and/or email
Date
Name of company
Company Address
Re: Account number, if applicable, or subject (Defective computer monitor, for example)
Dear (contact person),
On (date) I purchased (or leased, rented, etc.) a (product). Go on to state when or where you purchased the item and
perhaps your intended or preferred use for the item.
In the second paragraph, state the problem. Did the item fail to perform, did it break? You are disappointed because
you thought what? How has it affected your work? Have you lost money, productivity? Be sure to state that if so.

The next paragraph should gently but firmly state what you would like the company to do. Refund your money,
provide a replacement product, or offer a small rebate on your product? Whatever the end result you would like, try to
be specific, but don't make demands. Be clear, but firm. The company will hopefully respond to your concerns and
provide appropriate restitution, but if you are demanding and sound angry, it might be harder to get the good result
you desire.

Finally, wrap up with a "thank you for your time and careful consideration of this matter" or something of the like.
Again, be appropriately friendly, but not casual.
Sincerely,
Your name (and be sure to actually sign your name above)
Enclosures
(If you enclose receipts, warranty or other information, be sure to list what you are including here and then enclose
photocopies - never originals - in the envelope).
Here's a sample with details included:
My name
My address
My city, etc.
My phone and email
Date
A few things to note about the complaint letter:
1. It will not serve you well to be angry or condescending or to level insults. Remember the old adage, "You catch
more flies with honey than vinegar"? It's especially true here.
2. If your first letter doesn't achieve the desired result, by all means write another. You can exhibit more
frustration in a second or subsequent letter, but remain professional and controlled. You'll get a better response that
way.
3. It's important that you state your case succinctly. If the company you are writing to needs more information,
they will contact you for more details. It's enough right now to say you're displeased and expect some restitution.

5.5 Fundraising Letter

There could very well come a time when you need to write a catchy, engaging fundraising letter. Perhaps your
company is a large non-profit and you must write fundraising letters often. Perhaps your company sponsors a large
group of people who walk for diabetes, or cancer research or something of the like and you need to solicit sponsors
or donors. Whatever the need, it's important to know and understand how to write an effective fundraising letter.

To write an effective fundraising letter, you need to connect with your reader on some visceral level, not a monetary
one.
So your fundraising letter will ideally begin with a message to the reader that says, "I know in your heart you care
enough to do this". Writing a fundraising letter can be one of the most difficult letters to write because you are asking
for money. You're not selling a product or service, but rather asking (some might see it as begging) for money. You
have to tread lightly and with just the right tone.
Here's a sample of a solid fundraising letter.
Your name
Your address
Your phone and/or email
Date
Who is this to?
Your recipient's address
Your recipient's address
Dear (keep this fairly informal and use a first name if appropriate),
I remember last year, you mentioned your grandmother, who died of complications from diabetes. Here's your chance
to help others avoid the same fate.
(Do you see how we touch the reader right from the start, without pity or disgrace?)
You second paragraph should be fairly short, perhaps with supporting details. Use bullets and short sentences as
applicable. You can
List how the charity uses the money is raises
How the incidence of diabetes (or whatever, peg this to what you are fundraising for) has decreased,
in part because of the money raised
Keep it personable and lively with many examples and useful details
Your final paragraph should very briefly state what you want your recipient to do (sponsor your race? Give a
monetary donation?).

Finally, thank your recipient profusely for reading your letter and (hopefully) responding in a generous manner.
Sincerely,
Your name
Some tips for fundraising letters:
1. Be sure to keep your letter personal, by using first names if appropriate and adding personal details as
applicable.
2. Try to focus on the positive. Don't use negative words like "never", "not" and the like. You want to focus on what
can be done with the money, not how far there is still to go.
3. Include a date by which you would like a response, so you get one in a timely manner.
4. Give your recipient plenty of choices as to donation amount (perhaps by listing choices) and how to donate (if
not monetary, in what way can they help?)
5. Keep your letter short and to the point. Many business people receive letters like this often. You want yours to
stand out and one way in which it can is to keep it short.
6. Thank the recipient greatly, both for their time in reading the letter and for their donation, which you hope to get.

5.6 Sales letters

One of the most important and popular styles of business letter, the sales letter must be written well to be effective. If
you fail to use certain language, or deliver your message with the right "voice" it's unlikely you'll get your desired
result.
A sales letter does not follow the basic business letter format. You do not address it to a specific person, or include
your recipient's address or your own. It's more generic than that, being sent to many people at once.
So while some of the business letter format changes, many of the rules stay the same. For example:
Your letter should contain proper grammar and spelling.
You should be respectful of your recipient's time and keep your letter as short as possible.
You should always thank your recipient for the time they gave reading your letter. A little courtesy can go a long way.
Remember that you are trying to sell a product (or service). Keep your tone positive, energetic and lively. It, too, will
go a long way toward getting you the end result you desire.

It's hard to give you a direct sample of a good sales letter because your tone will be different depending on what
you're selling and how you want to approach that, but there are several steps you can take:
1. Begin with a catchy headline. You don't begin with the formal addresses and dates, etc., with a sales letter.
Begin with a headline that will bring your reader in. A headline also immediately signifies to the reader that this is a
sales letter, which will either keep them reading, or put your letter aside until they have more time to read and
consider the information in your sales letter.
2. Be sure to address your subject by first name and be personable. Depending on the product or service you
are selling, you might open with an anecdote specific to the two of you (if applicable) or something else that's
personal and relevant.
3. Ask a question relating to your service or product, which can't necessarily be answered easily. You don't
want a question that can be answered "no", because that negates the purpose of your letter. Instead, ask a question
that will leave your reader wanting more information about your product or service. Say you have a carpet cleaning
business; your question might go something like this:
"Have you ever wondered how some people have carpets that seem to stay clean even with pets and kids running
around? Wondering how you could have the same?"
Your recipient won't likely answer "no" to the first question and will lie intrigued enough by the second to keep
reading, which is what you want.
4. Your next step should be to answer the question you have posed.
"I know the secret to those spotless carpets and I'm going to share it with you. And I'll let you in on a little secret - it
doesn't have to cost a fortune."
In a few sentences you have intrigued the reader with a question that will engage even the most reluctant reader, and
have answered them clearly (that you know of and can provide the product to provide this service) but you have also
followed up with the promise that such a product is within your reader's reach.
5. Before your reader has a chance to let doubt enter their mind, discard their doubt with affirming statements:
"I know it might sound too good to be true, but it's not and here's why "
"I thought getting such results would be impossible, but I have been proven wrong and you will see why "
6. Give a convincing answer to all the tough questions.
"I was skeptical before using this product, but the results are amazing and I want to share them with you "
"I'm telling you (insert your recipient's name here), you won't believe the difference this carpet cleaning enzyme will
make to your carpets "
7. Give good reasons why your recipient should give your product a try:
"Four out of 5 customers have recommended this to other people"
"In a study, experts found that this product "
"The Good Housekeeping Institute has recommended this product because "
Back up your product any way you can. Do some research so you have facts to back up your various assertions? The
more factual information you have, the greater likelihood your product will become desirable to potential customers.
8. Be Competitive
"There are no companies around locally who can offer you this product for this price guaranteed!"

9. Wrap up by making your offer. It might seem like your letter is getting long by now, but it's not (see below). But
you need to make your offer, whatever it is. Offer a premium if your potential customer responds in a specific amount
of time, or if they purchase a certain amount of product. Be exact and energetic in this wording. This is how you close
out the sale!
Here's a sample sales letter, using the carpet cleaning example we talked about throughout this section.
I can clean your carpets and they will stay clean guaranteed!
Dear Tom,
Do you remember the time we went duck hunting and we commented on the amazingly clean carpets at the club?
We wondered how, with all the people streaming though with mud and dirt on their shoes, the carpets stayed so
clean.
Well, I have the answer and I want to share it with you!
My carpet cleaning service is offering a new enzyme as part of the basic cleaning service. This enzyme will not only
clean your carpets but provide an anti-stain coating that will prevent your carpets from needing to be cleaned for a
very long time to come!
I know it sounds ridiculous --- why would I try and sell you a product that might make my job obsolete? Let me tell
you - it's because I really believe in the value of this product and I'm so excited by what it can provide the business
owner who wants to present a professional and clean image at all times.
I was skeptical when I first heard about Enzyme 52, this amazing product. But then I heard that the Consumers Union
is recommending it as a viable carpet cleaning option. I also researched and found that in a blind study, more
homeowners and business people picked this product over any other as their preferred carpet cleaning choice.
No local companies are offering this product, yet. I am the first, and I want to be the only company that can
provide this amazing product for the most amazing price possible.
Call me today so we can talk about how I can keep your carpets clean for the long haul. Be sure to ask about my 30day guarantee. I'm also offering a $50 discount if you book my cleaning services within the month.
Thanks for your time, Tom. I know you are going to love what I can do for your carpets!
Yours,
(Your name)
A few final notes about sales letters:
If you are sending out this letter en masse, obviously you won't address your potential customer by
name. It's ideal if you can, but if you can't, keep the letter as personable as possible.
If you are including price, insert that information after you talk about your product, its benefits, etc.
Only after!
Don't be afraid of fonts and colors in a sales letter. If you break up your letter with different colors and
fonts, the reader will keep reading, even after they have decided this product isn't for them. If they keep
reading, you have a better chance they'll change their mind, or tell a friend.
Use words on the envelope that will get attention - "urgent!" or "$50 credit enclosed" are good catch
words and phrases

5.7 Confirming Details Letter

Many business letters are designed as follow ups to phone or lunch conversations. You make plans, discuss ideas
and then confirm everything with a business letter. These are probably the easiest of all letters to write, but you
should still follow some simple steps when writing them.
First, even if you write the letter the minute you get back from lunch, keep the letter formal and businesslike.
Comment on the meeting you had, whether it was over lunch, a golf game or a casual discussion over beer at a
baseball game. In the preceding paragraph, confirm details, and finally sum up with a comment about getting
together, finalizing plans and the like.
Here's a sample:
John Smith
200 Bond Road
Anytown, St. 90000
July 5, 2008
Amy Jones
400 A St
Anytown, St. 20000
Thank you for lunch today. I was very surprised how nicely the chef/owner remodeled Del Norte. The food was
delicious!
I enjoyed our discussion about the possibility of converting our bookkeeping software. I would love to talk more with
you about it, because I have new questions that came to me on my drive back to the office, specifically:
How does the cost compare to the software we currently use?
What kind of technical and other support would come with this purchase?
Does this provide bank reconciliation automatically or is that a separate action?
How quickly can this be installed?
Perhaps we could get together in my office next week to talk about these and other issues. I'll give you a call early in
the week to set it up. Thanks again for lunch and the great suggestion!
Yours,
John Smith
Some final thoughts about business letters:

There are a wide number of possible business letters you can write. These include, but are not limited
to, the following:

Keep in mind first what kind of letter you are writing. Once you are very clear about that, you can begin
to organize your thoughts.
Always organize before you begin writing. Consider this an essential step in pre-writing. Just as you
will do when you write a report or an email or anything else, organize your thoughts before you begin writing. It
will serve you well once you begin the writing.
Stick to your original course of action. If you begin writing a congratulations letter, but also wish to talk
business about something unrelated, write a new letter. To keep your business letters brief, it's important you
stick to one topic and be concise even on that one topic.

6 Reports

There comes a time in every working person's life when they must write a report, and likely there will be many
opportunities to use your writing skills in report writing. But these aren't the reports you remember from grade school.
There's a certain format and style you should adhere to. This is a formal document and your style and writing should
reflect that. In this chapter, we'll discuss how to plan, format and actually write your report. We'll also provide plenty of
samples along the way so you can get a feel for how your report should "read".
The Basics
As we just discussed, this isn't your grade school book report we're talking about here. You are sharing information
relating to your business.

Perhaps it's a financial report you've been asked to draft, or a transportation report for delivery to the governor's
office. Whatever it is, you must make it look professional and it should read well. How well, we'll discuss in a bit.
But for now, let's just say you should spend time writing your business reports. It could be like money in the bank,
literally.
Planning
You should always plan your report before you begin researching and writing it. Planning can take many forms,
depending on your preferences, but should always include the following:
1. Consideration of your audience
Before you get very far into the planning, you should always think hard about your audience. Many times your
audience will be other business people familiar with your line of work. If so, then by all means write your report in as
technical a tone as you like. But if your audience is customers or others not familiar with the technical aspects of your
business, you should consider how to include that reality into how you write your report.
Depending on your time and company's needs, you might need to write more than one of the same report. In that
case, you can write a more technical or detailed report for those in your industry and a less complicated version for
the "lay people" who might read your report. Another option is to create a report that will appease both audiences include a glossary of terms for those who might not understand all the finer details.
2. Have an idea what your general consensus will be.
In other words, is this a positive or negative report? Are you imparting new information or rehashing old news?
Deciding your mood and tone before you begin writing will help you once the writing process actually begins.
3. Make an outline of your thoughts.
At this point any type of brainstorming method you use will be fine. Your intent here is to get your thoughts organized
and on paper. If you are basing your report on statistics or findings, outline those first. Then you can extrapolate
thoughts and ideas from those findings. If you are reporting on the status of your company's efforts to rebuild the
truck fleet, you'll begin with the news (good or bad) and develop your thoughts from there.

Think of this organizational part of the process as a puzzle that needs putting together. Be sure you cover all your
bases or you will notice that pieces are missing and it's not likely your reader will ignore that. Your report represents
you and your company - you want to put the best face forward for the both of you.
Your outline won't be a part of the report, per se, but the thoughts that you include in the outline will help you
formulate your thoughts for writing.
Writing
Once you have completed the planning process, your writing begins. Ideally, this is a well thought out and multi-step
process, one that will require a fair amount of focus and planning, but which will reward you with a well-written and
valuable report.
So, how you get this desired end result? Once again, the answer is planning.
Here are some essential steps to writing your report.
1. First, take that outline you worked on during the planning process and turn it into a rough draft. In a rough draft,
you should write as you want. Don't worry immediately about proper grammar and spelling, or even that your
thoughts are cohesive and meaningful. In this first draft, worry about getting everything down. All the statistics, all the
facts, the very thesis of your report. We'll worry about all the other stuff later.
2. Carefully look at this rough draft. Are there points or ideas that could be bulleted or put into a table form? This
makes your report both easier and more interesting to read.
3. Ideally you'll be able to print a copy of your rough draft. Read this over, aloud if you can. Make notes about what
you want to change, what needs revision and what you need more facts for. If you need to complete a thought, jot it
down in the margin.
4. Take your edited rough draft and write a completely new report from it. This time, pay attention to paragraph
breaks (keep your paragraphs fairly short), grammar and spelling. Check to make sure your thoughts are synthesized
well, and make sense. Consider your audience again - is the report readable to them?
5. Have someone else read your second draft if possible. Often a fresh read will reveal mistakes you missed, or
thoughts that aren't well presented. Take the ideas you get from your reader seriously.
6. When you are ready to write your final draft, take your time and check over everything with a fine tooth comb.
Check it twice!

Once the writing is complete, use this checklist:

Have you avoided using "big" words for no reason?
Are your thoughts original throughout? In other words, check to be sure there's no redundancy. If you
find any, cut it out!
Are you concise in your writing and word usage? If 5 words will do but you have 15, cut the extra 10.
There is no service in making your reader read more rather than less.
Are you using proper grammar throughout? Run spell check, but also check for homonyms spelled
wrong and other mistakes your spell check won't find.
Make sure you number your pages and label your exhibits, if applicable. If you do have exhibits, make
sure the numbers you give them match what you list in the report.

6.1 Some Report Basics

Use an "executive summary" if the report is very long or detailed. Reading the executive summary allows the reader
to synthesize quickly the information that is important to them and move quickly through to the elements that are
important to them. (More on how to write this, we'll talk about in a minute.)
Always write to your reader's sensibilities and leanings. That is, if you have a beef with the marketing department,
your report is not the proper place to vent that beef. Keep it pro-company and upbeat. If the report's news is bad, try
to keep a positive slant by suggesting improvements to prevent negative reports in the future.

If you've been asked to provide your interpretation, keep that separate from the report itself. Your report should be
fairly objective and not a place to impose your impressions or opinions. But if you have been asked to present your
interpretation, or you choose to, keep it in a separate box, a separate section, or under a new heading, so it's clear
this is *your* interpretation and not part of the central report.
Include graphs if relevant, but keep them simple. You don't want your readers hung up on trying to figure out how to
read the graph. The information in the graph should also be somewhat synthesized in the text of your report. If the
reader chooses to ignore the graph, they should still be able to get the gist of the graph via the text. And visa versa.
Writing the Executive Summary

Anytime your report will exceed 4 pages, you should plan to include an executive summary.
Write the report itself first, and write the summary last. Not only will that help you be sure all the
pertinent information is included, but you'll be more familiar with your subject matter and likely able to produce a

more comprehensive summary.

The summary should be no longer than 1/10 of the length of the report. If your report is 15 pages, the
summary should be no longer than 1 pages, but ideally much shorter.
When you list points in your summary, list them in the same order they will appear in your report.

Start each point in your summary with a strong declarative sentence. It should be short, but
authoritative.
As you back up each point in the summary, use short, clear sentences. Avoid the use of highly
technical terms or jargon.
Carefully re-read your summary once it's written. Does it clearly sum up the points in your report? Can
someone read the summary and walk away with certain knowledge they have a good idea what's expressed in
the rest of the report?
Carefully re-read the summary. Is it free of grammatical and spelling errors? Is it easy to read, with
short, useful sentences and clear ideas? Would you be proud if anyone read the summary?
Finally, have someone else proofread your summary, ideally someone different than your reader for
the report. Ask your reader to check for unnecessary technical word usage, and improper spellings. Have them
mark your errors on the report itself so you can go back and make corrections.

6.2 Report Writing 101

Writing your report can be as simple or complicated as you want. The important thing is to remember your audience,
your purpose and your intentions. Once you are clear on those things, the rest should follow somewhat easily.
What's harder is to know how to format your report. Let's look at that now.
First, decide on your format. On the whole, we are talking mostly about formal reports, but you can also write a
shorter report that's formatted more similarly to a memo. The format is up to you. Generally speaking, the formal
report format is the most applicable to the widest number of applications.

Once you have the format down, here are some things you'll want to include in your report:
A title page
Table of contents
List of illustrations or graphs
Executive summary (if you are using)
Text of the report
References
Glossary of terms, if applicable
Appendices
Now, let's look at each one of these in detail.
Title Page
Much like the title page you wrote for grade school reports, your title report should title your report, and include your
name and any other details you want to add. If your report will be getting a wide circulation, you'll want to include your
title and department as well. You can format this any way you like, but it should be clean and easy to read.

Something like this is appropriate:

Table of Contents
If your report has more than two sections, include a table of contents. List each section and the page number that
section can be found on. If you are including an executive summary, be sure to include that as the first item on your
table of contents. You should always include page numbers on your report pages, but especially so if you're including
a table of contents.
This doesn't have to be complicated or difficult. Just list the topics, and page numbers, so your readers can find what
they are looking for quickly and with ease.
Here's an example:

List of illustrations, graphs, etc.

You can list these any way you like, but be sure to note where your reader can find each illustration, photo or graph.
For this reason, the best format is similar to the table of contents format we already demonstrated.
Don't skip this important step. You might have a reader who doesn't need to read the full report, or doesn't have time.
If they can get the information they need from a well-written executive summary and a few graphs, they are happy
readers.
Executive summary
As we have already discussed, you want to include an executive summary in any report longer than 4 pages. The
executive summary should be no longer than 10% of the overall length of the report.
Include the summary before your begin the body of the report. This allows your busy reader to quickly find and get
the information they need. You might choose to reference the illustrations and graphs in the executive summary to
save people even more time. They can flip to the desired illustration without having to find it on your list, though this
completely optional on your part.
Text of the report
How you organize your report is entirely up to you. You can write beginning to end without breaks, without sections, if
you like.
But remember these things:
Breaking any written document into sections makes it easier to read. It seems easier on the eye than a large block of
text.
Insert pictures or other graphics as you see fit. These don't have to be formal illustrations or graphics related to your
report, specifically. They can be clip art you insert or anything else that is similar. The idea is to make the text easier
on the eye. Text broken up with graphics just seems easier to read. It might fool the reader into thinking they are
reading less, but really you're creating a more reader-friendly environment for them.
When you write your draft copies, consider organizing your thoughts with number or letters. Use an outline format if
that works for you, or whatever other format you like. Again, breaking up the writing this way can make reading the
report easier for your reader.
Think about how the report will be presented. If you will be presenting this report at a formal meeting, the more
organized your report, the better. You can refer people to "page 5, item 4" or similar, in order for them to find certain
parts of the report easily.
References
If you used any outside references to prepare your report, be sure to include them in the references section.

This serves a few purposes:

It identifies which are your true findings and which are found from third parties.
It allows your reader to head off and find their own information if they choose to. By providing them
with outside resources, you allow them to expound on their own thoughts or theories or ideas.
Include references that might be useful to your reader but that you didn't personally cull from. If you
feel more comfortable, you might note this, but including references that might help the reader create more
fulsome thoughts and ideas can always be good.

Glossary of terms
This isn't always necessary, but depending on who is reading your report, you might consider it essential.
Let's look at why. If your report is in-house and somewhat informal, it's unlikely you'll need a glossary. Everyone
reading will know and understand your terms.

If, however, you are presenting this report to a wide array of people, you'll want to identify and define terms that might
be unfamiliar to some. You might be using acronyms that aren't clearly defined and your reader will appreciate
understanding.
Your glossary doesn't need to be formal, like a dictionary. Rather, think of the glossary as a way to explain your terms
in the way you mean them.
Don't think of a glossary as a dictionary, though one might consider it an abbreviated version.
When you list words in a glossary, you might say something like this:
Demand : In this case, we mean the demand as driven by our customers, however many we might have.
Free trade: Here, we mean the trade that is fair to all and with equal opportunity for profit.
Appendices
Appendices just help to flesh out your report. In your appendices, you might include a listing of the board of directors,
or the company's annual report.
Appendices are different from illustrations or graphs; because they aren't visual markers that help you understand the
report as much as those, these are marked separately and not included as part of the report. There is no requirement
you include appendices in a business report.
There is no requirement at all. But if you have things you want to include that don't seem to fit elsewhere, consider
creating appendices.

If you do decide to create one, it can be as simple as a listing of where to find additional information, or you can
include the information in the appendices.
Because this isn't necessary information the reader must have to understand the report, you need not include it until
the very end of your report. Consider it more of an afterthought.

7 Memos

Learning how to write a good memo can make more of a difference for you in your business life than you might think.
Many people dismiss memos as a bottom feeder of office communications, but a well-written memo can be the
difference between consideration and action. In other words memos might suggest someone do something. If written
well, your reader won't see it as a suggestion, but a call to action.

A well-written memo, in other words, can boost morale, create greater office harmony, get people to do things and
make everyone understand what's going on. Aside from email, it's one of the best forms of office communication you
have.
Now, calling this a great form of communication doesn't preclude using email for communication as well. In fact, many
people choose to send an email and an identical memo as well. This way, your readers get the information twice,
have no excuse for saying they "didn't get the memo" and are more likely to respond quickly.
Why use Memos?
We just discussed briefly some of the reasons you might choose to send an email, but let's look at the many reasons
why memos are useful and often preferable to other forms of communication.
Many managers are "meeting happy", but sending a memo instead tells your employees you
appreciate and respect their time. If information can be imparted via memo, why not do it? It helps everyone be
more productive in the course of their day instead of running from meeting to meeting.

Memos are less formal than a letter, and are more likely to be read than a formal business letter by
employees who are just getting basic information from you.
Memos are a good way to introduce information before a meeting. You might not avoid the meeting
this way, but instead save a bit of time imparting information. Everyone can come to the meeting with basic
information and ready to discuss the issues.
Using a memo is a great way to remind people about basic office procedures (mark the chart when
you take office supplies from the closet, remember to rinse the coffee pot at the end of the day). The memo can
be posted on bulletin boards as further reminder.
A memo can be less formal than a business letter, but it's still a bit more formal than an email.
Although you can usually impart the same information via email that you would in a memo, there's
something about delivering a message on paper that gives it more validity to many people.
If you deliver a memo on paper, you can't get the excuse from people that their "email wasn't working"
or they "never got it". If a memo gets placed on their desk, and they didn't get it, the problem lies with them and
not with you.

7.1 Memo Writing 101

Your Reader
The first step in writing a memo is considering your reader. Who is this memo going to? What's it about? Is there a
quick and concise way to impart your information to this reader?
By considering your reader, you give yourself an opportunity to connect with him or her. Think about their needs and
think about a way to connect with them at their level.
Think of yourself as the recipient before you begin writing. Ask yourself:
What do you want me to do?
What does this mean to me?
How do I do what I'm being asked?
If these questions are easy to answer, or obvious to you, then it's likely your memo will prove simple to write. But if
you see the issue as more complicated, then you need to examine your memo topic a bit more and figure out a way
to make this memo reader-friendly and useful.
Your Intent

What do you want to say in your memo? Is your memo a call to action? A reprimand? Are you giving information in
advance of a meeting or consortium?
Thinking about your intent before you begin writing will help your reader more than you. If you don't think about what
you want to say and what your intended result is, you might be misunderstood. To avoid that, or hurt feelings, or
reduced morale, it's important you understand why you're writing this memo and what you hope your reader gains
from it.

Like email, memos have the potential to be misunderstood. To avoid that, you want to make sure you understand
your purpose in writing the memo and that your reader will also have the same understanding.
Now, if the memo is designed to be critical and you want your reader to understand it that way, that's all well and
good. But you still need to use the proper verbiage so nothing is misunderstood and everyone agrees upon the
meaning.
Format
Let's discuss format. Before you begin writing you should understand the basic memo format. It's not as formal as a
business letter, but certainly not as informal as an email. The top of your memo should look something like this:

Be sure to direct your memo only to the people who really need to read it. We are all bombarded by enough paper
daily - make sure you're not contributing to the problem by being respectful of who and who should not really see the
memo.
If there are many people who should read this memo and many others who might benefit from it, but aren't directly
related to it, use the "cc:" format to identify the secondary readers.

If you use "cc:" your memo format would change slightly, to this:

If you are directing your memo to a group of workers who are responsible for the weekly sales report, they would be
your "to:" group. If there is a group of people who write that report perhaps once a year or fill in for the other group
when one is on vacation, you might include them as the "cc:". There are no hard and fast rules here, so use your own
discretion as to who gets the direct email and who is a "cc:". Often those who are secondary readers don't need to
read the memo at all, but rather file it away as having received it, but the content is often not at all their concern.
If this is more than you want to consider, include everyone in the "to" section.
It's not completely necessary that you address everyone with their job title. If you have a particularly large list, or an
informal office environment, then using a job title might not seem necessary at all.
But by all means, use everyone's name. Don't address to "coffee drinkers" or "Wednesday morning meeting group".
Be specific.
Next up is the "from" category. Right next to your name, handwrite your initials. This confirms that not only you
approved of but where closely involved in the writing of the memo. You take responsibility for its contents.
In the subject line, be sure to be specific. Use any concise details you can. For example, don't title your memo
"computers" if your subject is reminding people to leave their computer son at night and not shut them down as per
former policy. If you just title your memo "computers" your readers can infer immediately their own interpretation of
what that means.
Before even reading the memo, they might believe you are suggesting new computers or computer classes for
everyone. Simply reminding people to keep those computers on at night is infinitely less exciting. If you title your
memo "turn computers off at night" you immediately reduce the chance there's any misunderstanding as to your real
topic.

7.2 Writing the Memo

Beginning
When you begin writing your memo, think about your length and structure. If you are writing a fairly short memo (and
no memo should exceed 1 page except in rare circumstances), your format is less important, but structure is more
important.
Structure here means what is your opening sentence. You need a strong, well-worded opener. If your memo is one of

many your readers get on a weekly or even daily basis, yours needs to stand out. You want yours to get the respect it
deserves. You want people to remember to keep their computers on at night!
To that end, begin strong. Let's look at a way NOT to begin this computer memo.
"I know that at home you are all accustomed to shutting down and turning off your computers at night. We've been
told that's the way to do things, but ."
To be honest, you lost your readers at "accustomed". They don't have time for this niceness. You need to get to the
point and fast. Begin instead like this:
"Please, everyone, remember to leave those computers on at night! If you post this memo near your computer it
might help you remember "
Discussion (the core of the memo)
After this strong opener, you can move into the discussion of how things perhaps were done in the past, why people
like to turn off their computer at home and why you want people to leave their computer on at work. Many readers
might stop reading after that opening line. That's fine. Because in this case you have given them the pertinent
information right at the start, so if they stop reading, they have gleaned what they need to glean from the memo.

No matter what your opener, make it strong. If you are writing a memo to introduce or welcome a new employee,
begin with that:
"Please, everyone, join me in welcoming Michelle Slavinsky, our new junior accountant!"
Right from the first line of your memo everyone will know why they are receiving it.
After you get past your opening sentence or paragraph (but keep it short), you can move into the discussion part of
your memo. This portion of your memo is when you expound on your initial thoughts, explain your direction better, or
give more details on the new employee and where she came from.
If you stated a problem in your opening sentence of paragraph, use this discussion part of your memo to expound on
the problem and look for solutions.
The object here isn't to ramble, but to expound on your thoughts, and give your readers a chance to examine theirs.
Because you want to keep your memo as brief as possible, make sure you choose your words carefully and make
each word count. Resist the use of many acronyms or jargon. Depending on your audience, this might be
appropriate. You judge for yourself.
Sum Up
When you are finished with the main content of your memo, you should create a one or two line summary to end your
memo. This should also be a strong statement and if you are asking people to something, reiterate it or specify it
here.

Using our computer example again, you would end your memo with a line like this:
"So, remember, computers stay on at night. Thanks for your cooperation!"
If you are welcoming a new employee, you might repeat what you stated in the memo opener:
"So, again, please join me in welcoming Michelle. We are happy to have her on the team."
If you making a call to action, you might end with a reminder of that call:
"We all need to come together on this issue before the annual meeting. If we arrive as one, we will get our issues
resolved. Thanks for your support."
The opening and closing lines of your memo are likely the most important part. Some of your busy readers might read
just the opener and the ending lines. They might think they can skip the discussion section of your memo. And they
might be able to, if you give them enough basic information the opener and closing.
Summary
If your memo is very long (and again, this should be a rare occurrence), you should include a summary at the end.
The memo summary is much like the executive summary in your business report.
The memo summary should highlight important memo points and share any conclusions you reached in the memo.
To make this summary even easier to read, you might consider adding bullet points, or numbering your thoughts. This
allows the busy reader to quickly synthesize your thoughts and points and then draw their conclusion.
Additional Mmemo Tips

Generally speaking memos are not signed, but if it's common in your office, or you wish to, you
certainly can. You might skip initialing your name at the top of the memo in favor of signing the memo at the
bottom. If you do decide to sign, you can either have your name typed at the bottom with your signature above
it (much like a business letter) or you can just sign at the bottom, without the formal typed name.
Many business experts suggest keeping your memo simple and easy to read. They suggest Times
New Roman, point size 10 or 12 to keep things consistent. This is fine, but there are many arguments for
veering off this standard course, including:

Depending on how you are distributing your memo (either a fresh print off the printer or photocopied)
you might want to include color to highlight section markers, important points, or lists. If not color, then consider
bolding certain points to draw attention to them, like this.
Don't forget to highlight other important thoughts, with underlining, italics and different font sizes. Too
much of this, though, and your memo is hard to read and unprofessional.
Keep your tone professional and business-like.
If you have memo attachments, be sure to note that in the memo and give them their correct name. If
the attachments become separated from the memo itself, your reader will know how to ask for them.

In the body of the memo, keep your paragraphs short with only one main thought per paragraph. This
makes for easier reading.
Don't be afraid of section headings. Even on a one-page memo, you can divide your sections with
labeled headings, which helps your busy reader quickly scan through the important parts of the memo. Not
every reader will need to read the full body of the email. Many will want to read what's pertinent to them and
their job.
Here's our favorite word again - proofread. Have someone else read your memo for you if you can, or
re-read it yourself with a critical eye.
In some companies, it's OK to shorten "memorandum" to "memo", the term we've been using here. If
that less formal term is OK in your office, feel free to use it.
Remember that this document is for in-house use only. If you should decide to share the information
with someone not employed with your company, you should create a formal business letter and NOT send them
a copy of your interoffice memo.
Sample

8 Promoting your Business in Writing

You should know how to promote yourself in business; that's a given. That's one of the reasons we dedicated an
entire chapter to writing resumes and cover letters. But it's equally important that you know how to promote your
business as well. A well written press release can make the difference between obscurity for your business, product
or service and the success you dream of.

In this chapter, we'll talk about press releases and how to write them. They aren't difficult to write, but knowing how to
format them and how to word them is vitally important.
Think about how many times you might have used a press release and didn't. If you think hard, you're likely to come
up with many examples. If you are successful in bringing attention to your service or product via a press release, you
just brought yourself publicity for free.
Don't forget that how you present your business through the written medium is vitally important. Whether that's how
you promote via press releases, fliers or paid advertisements, it's worth paying attention to.
Perhaps the most important of all the business promotion is the press release. A well-written one will get you the
attention and coverage you desire. A poorly written press release will fill reporter's and assignment editor's trash
cans.
What is a Press Release?
Quite simply, a press release is a document you send to newspapers, magazines, television stations, internet news
channels and the like to promote your business, service or product.
A press release won't focus on the whole of your business, but rather something specific you want attention for. Let's
look at some common examples
* To promote a new product. If your company has a new product or an improved version of a popular product, a
press release is an excellent way to promote this new product.
* To promote a new service. Perhaps your restaurant has begun a curbside take-away service. You previously
offered take-out and sit-down service, but this is a whole new beast and you can promote it via a press release.
* To honor an employee. If a long-tenured employee is retiring, and this person has an interesting story to share,
you can write a press release in the hopes that you can get a story published about this employee.
* To announce a merger. If your company is merging with another, the best way to share the news is via a press
release that, with luck, will turn into a news story or two.
* To announce a buy-out. In the same vein as above, announcing that your company, or a part thereof, has been
purchased or bought out, is a perfect reason to write a press release.
* To announce a new company. Say you have started a new business. You want to get some press coverage, as
that will bring people to your business in some fashion. You write a press release and hope that your well-written
release gets the proper attention from the media.:
As you can see, there are a myriad of reasons you might write a press release. Any company, any person, can write a
press release. The trick is in knowing how to write the release so it gets the attention you desire.

8.1 Required Elements in Press Releases

Headline
You want to write an attention grabbing headline that will immediately garner attention from your intended audience
(the busy reporters or assignment editors).
To write a good headline, you need to think like a reporter. A headline like, "CD Plastics head retires" won't get as
much attention as "Plastics head retires after 25 years, says farewell to loving community."
The second headline implies there's a community interest here; in other words, there's something in this story you
want to tell that will be interesting to other people. That's the assignment editor or reporter's job - writing the stories
that will be of interest to others. Your job is to convince them you have that story for them.
Make sure your headline alludes specifically to what you are selling or promoting. For example, a headline that
says, "Weight loss cure available now," probably won't get too much attention. Why? Because there literally hundreds
if not thousands of "weight loss cures" on the market. What makes yours different?
A better weight loss headline would be something along the lines of, "Hoodia drug helps woman lose 35 pounds in 5
months!"
Dateline
This is the journalistic term for identifying the date and place of, in this case, the press release.
If you are writing your press release on July 8 and your company is based in Chicago, your dateline would look
something like this: July 8, 2008 (Chicago, Ill.). It might also look something like this: Chicago, Ill - July 8, 2008.
There's no hard and fast rule about how and in what order to place these details.
The dateline words are the first of the press release after the headline. Then you begin the body of your press
release. You'll see below in our sample how it all comes together.
Introduction
Your introductory paragraph should be short and to the point. You want your press release read, not disposed of, so
you need to make this paragraph extremely readable. This means, follow the journalistic "5 rule". The five elements
that should be present throughout your press release, but highlighted in this first paragraph in particular are:
Who
What
When
Where
Why
Without these five critical elements, your press release says nothing, shares nothing and gets no attention. That's
harsh, we know, but it's the sad truth. If you want your press release to get attention, to be read and, best of all, to be
used and turned into a story, you must provide all of these elements.

In your weight loss press release, for example, you will write something like this: "Lisa K. lost 35 pounds in 5 months
taking this new Hoodia supplement. Thanks to this new formulation, we are able to offer the usually expensive
Hoodia at a cost all consumers can afford. Being obese will no longer be an option with Hoodia XL."
Body of the Press Release
The body of the press release is when you can expound on the claims or ideas you assert in the introduction. Here is
where you can get a bit wordier in your ideas, presentation and facts.
Give about 3-4 fairly short and sharp paragraphs to this section. This is by far the longest of all the sections in your
press release.
Boilerplate
This section is where you get to tell the media outlets a little bit about your company. If you are not representing a
famous, Fortune 500 company, this section is essential to getting your press release recognized.
If your company isn't a name that's immediately recognized, you need this section in order to tell your reading
audience why they should consider your information and write a story about your idea, product, etc.
The boilerplate should be short, and to the point. If a reporter is interested, they will ask you more questions about
your company. You give just enough information to create credibility and interest.
It might read something like this:
About XXY Company:
"XXY was founded in 1999 by Ken Mellon, who always knew that his ideas would get attention; This is Ken's 5 th
patent, in fact. XXY is a $100 million a year business with more growth planned for 2009."
Any facts you can think to include that are interesting and which might inspire either interest from the media outlets or
give them something specific to ask you about, are good.
Close
The most common way to end a press release is this well understood symbol:

Media Information

Here is where you provide your contact information. If you are the contact include your name, phone number
(preferably your direct line or a number with your extension included) and your email, if you like. Also your website
address if applicable.
If someone else is the contact person, be sure to run the press release by them before you send it to media outlets.
This section might look something like this:
David Walker
XXY Company
(555) 555-1212
www.XXYcompany.com
The contact information can be at the top or the bottom of the press release. We have it listed last, so our preference
would be last, but you can also include it at the very top of your press release, flush left.
Sample Press Release

8.2 Tips for Press Releases

* Keep your release to no more than 1 page in length. Your readers are busy people, trying to keep up with
deadlines and a good deal of pressure. Keep it short and to the point.
* Write your release, then go back and try to cut it in half. That's right, in half. If you want to know why, read the

tip above again.

* Try to stay away from fancy formatting. Particularly, resist the urge to use any HTML coding and the urge to use
fancy fonts. You might get away with using a different font for the headline, but otherwise, keep it consistent and
simple.
* Always keep in mind the job of the reporter. Your job is to sell your product, but that's not his or her job. Their job
is to tell a compelling story. You must write your press release more with their job in mind than yours. Help them by
finding a compelling story within your subject matter. You're more likely to get your desired result - a story!
* Although you are selling something (your product, your service, yourself) try to keep an objective eye and write
more like a journalist than a salesman.
* Proofread, proofread, proofread. There's THAT again. We say it because it's important. Enough said.
* Is your press release for immediate release? If it is, say so (see above sample). If it's not, say, "For Release on
_____" and include the date. If your news is pertinent right now and there is no reason to hold the release, by all
means use "For Immediate Release." Most reporters will prefer that so if they have time and can act on it, they can
do so immediately. But if you are promoting a product launch and want to inform the media but not have the
information released until the product is, be sure to include the delay date.

9 Business Writing Do's and Don'ts

Do's
Do take more classes on business writing. It's always a good idea to refresh your skills in so many things. Writing is
no exception.
Do take your writing seriously. This is your business, after all, and you want to put the best of yourself out there.
Do use gender neutral terms (like "he/she" or "their").
Do use bullets and headings to make your writing easier to read.
Do use active verbs and create lively sentences with them.
Do consider your reader's needs before you begin writing. This will help to determine your content, your tone and the
length of your document.
Do proofread your work. Then do it again. Then have someone else read it if you can.
Do always include a job objective on your resume.
Do include a salutation when sending an email. It's polite and personal.
Do send the bulk of your emails in text format.
Do use an elevator summary for longer than average emails.

Do try to keep memos short, no longer than 1 page.

Do avoid using "big" words when not necessary. Nobody will be impressed, trust us. Keep your language as simple
as possible.
Do consider buying a book to help with your writing, something you can keep on hand and refer to when things get
tough.
Do conform to proper form when writing business letters. They are the last bastion of formal written communication
these days.
Do keep your business letters short. One page or less is ideal.
Do use varied fonts in sales letters, but in no other kind of business writing.

9.1 Business Writing Do's and Don'ts...Continued

Don'ts
Don't be too casual in your writing.
Don't curse or use incendiary words.
Don't miss deadlines.
Don't play around too much with fonts, no matter how tempting it might be. Keep your font neutral (such as Times
New Roman or Century Gothic) and your font size consistent (about 10-12 point, depending on the document).
Don't forget who your reader will be. Write to that reader.
Don't forget to take a break, take a breath and come back to your writing after that break. Taking a break and walking
away gives you a chance to look at your writing with a fresh eye when you return. It will likely result in better writing.
Don't use emoticons ( J , for example) in your business writing, even when it's a business email. Save those for
casual emails.

Don't use don't in your writing. Although we are using it here, try to avoid using "don't" in your writing. It's best most of
the time to stick with the more formal "do not" in order to get the result you want.

10 Basic Rules of Business Writing

We are near course completion, but there are a few wrap-up items to consider. Specifically in this section we'll talk
about some basics. We've covered most of these before, but since you have now worked your way through the bulk
of the course, you might recognize these rules from various sections. We will talk through them here, and discuss
various "rules" of business writing.

Although so much about our culture has become casual these days, it's important to remember that business writing
never should be. An eye toward what's appropriate and acceptable is always good business. Knowing these rules,
understanding the guidelines and applying them in your business writing will not only make you a better writer, but a
better employee, co-worker and boss.
Top 10 Rules for Business Writing
1. Don't forget your Audience.
If you are writing for people who work in the same department as you and they understand your language and jargon,
you might write your memo or report in a different tone than you would for someone in a different department.

Understanding your audience and applying the information to them is essential to good business writing. It might not
be the biggest mistake business writers make, but it is close. Too often business writing is riddled with references that
are technical in nature and not understandable to anyone other than those intimately connected to the subject matter.
To keep your writing understandable and relevant to your audience is the first step in writing well and having your
writing mean something. Nothing is worse than to spend good time on writing a report or memo only to have it tossed
on a pile on a desk because it was hard to understand.
Respect your audience and they will respect you.
2. Consider your length.
Whether it's an email, report or letter, consider how long it really needs to be. If you know you tend to be wordy, keep
yourself in check. If you tend to be too concise and short, learn how to expound on your ideas, and create more
fulsome thoughts.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when writing for business it they write too much or too little. Truth be told,
more of us are more wordy than too concise. There are many of us who love to hear ourselves talk, whether that's the
sound of our voice, or the sound of our fingers on the keyboard. We just go and go and go.
The important thing to keep in mind here and always when writing for business in particular, is people are busy. Your
ideas might be unique and interesting, sure, but can you say it more concisely?
If you do that thing we have talked about often - proofread - you will often find these mistakes. You might see that you
took 3 pages to say something you could have said in 1 page. You might have expounded on a thought until you beat
it to death, and you might have - quite frankly - bored the reader in the process.
Keep it simple, Sally. Your audience will thank you.
3. Think about what you want to hear rather than what you want to say.
Does this make sense? If you focus on what you would want to hear from a writer on a topic, rather than what you
want to say about it, your writing will be of a higher quality.
If you focus on what you want to say, whether that be a wordy version of the topic, or some venting about an issue,
you aren't writing for your reader. If your purpose is to communicate and inform, you need to focus on the reader and
not the writer.
This can be a hard rule to follow, so do this: When you read what you have written, consider you to be the reader. Are
you interested, engaged? Is the information relevant and pertinent to the target audience? Be truly objective with
yourself and your answers might surprise you.
4. Think clearly about your Purpose.
Why are you doing this writing? Is this a serious business report to report the company's annual financial report? Is it
a memo about the status of the holiday party planning?
Whatever the purpose, keep it in mind when you begin writing. Your tone need not be the same for the annual report
and the party planning memo. All business writing should adhere to certain rules of propriety and grammar, but your
tone can - and should - be different for each.
5. Be Objective.
Generally, your business writing is not the place to vent about the boss, complain about company cutbacks or
otherwise put your personal opinions out there for public consumption.
Think like a journalist when you are writing for business. Your objective here is to be objective. You are giving words
and a voice to basic business news or results, not your opinion.

If you have been asked to give your opinion about the topic then by all means, do it. But otherwise, it's third person,
objective news reporting.
6. Edit, edit edit.
Let's say that again. Edit and edit some more. This is essential. It's really an extension of that "proofread and
proofread again" order we've been barking since the beginning.
But it bears repeating. Proofread what you have written, again with that objective eye, and make sure that you are
presenting work that you're proud of. This is not ghostwriting.

Your name will be associated with what you write, nearly all of the time. Those works, those reports, are often saved
for years. You want to ensure that you're proud of what's out there and won't be ashamed to call it your own work.
7. Use Active Language
As we talked about in an earlier chapter, it's always best to use active verbs and active language in your business
writing. Whenever possible, talk in the present tense, not past tense.
To keep your writing "alive" and to keep your readers interested, you must keep alive those active verbs and tenses.
It also creates a more positive "vibe" in your writing which will serve you well as you try to get people to do things or
take action on something themselves.
Using active voice sometimes means just turning a few words around or using them a different way, so your language
takes on that active tone and loses the passive voice.
Here's an example:
"The client filed for a refund." That's an active sentence. A passive version of this sentence is "A refund was
requested by the client."
Here's another example: "Money for start-up costs will be provided by the client." Not only is "will be" passive, but this
whole sentence is vague and passive. Instead try, "The client will provide start-up capital." This is an active, direct
sentence.
Do you see the difference? The active voice is superior in many ways, but it also shortens your writing, which is
always a boon to the reader.
8. Be Specific and Clear
Nothing is worse than a reader trying to get the gist of a letter or report and instead having to wade through silly puns,
unnecessary introductory comments and other writing that just junks up the true content.
This is where planning comes in handy. If you have outlined your thoughts, if you know what message you're trying to
convey and if you are clear with yourself about what your intent is, your writing will be specific and clear, and that's all

a reader can ask for.

9. Use Proper Language
This means, avoid jargon and acronyms if you can. Make sure the language you use will be understood by everyone
who is reading your writing. Don't be too casual:
"Here's the 411 on the lawsuit" is way too casual for business communication. If this appeared in a business letter,
memo or report, the writer would be immediately seen as unprofessional.
Here are some language mistakes to avoid:
Use of sexist language (avoid the use of "he", and use instead he/she interchangeably and "their"
when appropriate)
Acronyms common in email and text messages, but not businesslike, such as "the 411", "ttfn", and
"btw"
Not paying attention to tone. It's that subtle nuance in your writing that people will notice. You have to
pay attention to how you word things so you know you aren't using a tone that will turn off your readers. If you
read your writing out loud you will often "hear" this tone that you can miss when reading silently.
There are times when informal language is fine. One is in email that you are sending to only one or two people and
the language between the few of you is typically casual. If it's an email or communication that allows for less formal
communication, you can relax the rules a bit.
Another time when less formal communication is acceptable is when you are working in a very small office that is
casual and the use of jargon and acronyms is acceptable. Then you can apply that type of casual language in writing
as well.
Otherwise, keep your language professional, formal and appropriate to business communication.
10. Enjoy the Process
This isn't 8 th grade history. So get that look off your face and have some fun with it. Many business people are
terrified of writing, but the truth is, if you develop some confidence in your writing and begin to enjoy the process, your
writing will improve.

When your writing improves, your work will be seen differently and you might even develop new business contacts,
get a new job, or get promoted because of it. Good writing is a commodity and if you work that commodity develop
your own style, tone and quality of work, there surely will be positive results for you.

10.1 5 Steps to Effective Business Writing

1. Organize
Perhaps the most important of all the effective writing tips, organizing can make the difference between an easy
writing job and one that's difficult, long and worthy of hair pulling.
Start with organizing your thoughts, determining what exactly you need to write (a memo, letter, report?) and then
outline those thoughts in some fashion that might transfer well to the finished document.

Once you have organized your thoughts, the writing is easy. You can even spend more time on this part than the
writing itself. Trust us, it works.
2. Pay Attention to Tone
We've talked this one to death, but it bears repeating: always pay attention to that tone, particularly in emails, which
are often misunderstood. The last thing you want is for your writing to be misinterpreted, misunderstood and for it to
garner the opposite result you want. Read your writing aloud, have someone else read it, whatever it takes, do it so
that your writing gets the desired result, every time.
3. Never assume only your intended recipients will read your writing
That is, never assume that if you direct an email to a select group of 5 employees, more won't read it (that "forward"
button isn't there for nothing) than you assume. By the same token, don't assume that your letter will be ready only by
the addressee. This is rarely the case, in fact.
Instead, as you go through your writing, write as if everyone is looking. Don't write anything you'll be ashamed about
later, or anything that defames others in your company or other companies.
Any written document you put out there with your name on it should be something you are proud to call yours and
that which you'd be proud if even your mother read (if she understood it).
4. Proofread
We know - we're beginning to sound like a broken record. We get that. But it's important to remember this step. We
don't think we're overstepping our bounds when we say that this step might be the most important one in writing. If
you proofread everything you write, you won't have any errors, your grammar and word usage will be proper and
you'll have a document you can be proud of. Nothing is worth more to you as a business writer than all of that.
5. Be on Time

If your report is due Thursday, have it ready on Thursday. Even if it's Pulitzer Prize worthy, it won't mean a lick if it's 2
days late. A deadline is a deadline. Anything that you must write within a deadline should be complete by deadline.
If you promise someone an email when you get back to your office, make a note to yourself to write that email as
soon as you get back to your office. Just do it.
If for some reason you can't make a deadline, let your superiors (or others who are affected) know as soon as
possible, have a very good reason and then turn your document in before the next deadline, along with a thank you
and apology to your understanding readers.