Business Writing - Business Communication Instruction

Teach Your Students What to Do When Colleagues Don’t Read Anything They Write. Here Are 8 Ways to Change That.

Long emails and dense, difficult to decipher memos mean modern office communication goes ignored more often than it’s understood.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.nytimes.com

March 13, 2020

Write for David Allen’s 2-Minute Rule

"Allen's books are bestsellers. People pay attention to him, and we writers should too. If your reader cannot handle your message or document easily within two minutes, it is going to be put somewhere "as an option for work to do later." Or ignored. Or deleted."

November 6, 2018

Read the full article by Lynn Gaertner Johnston . . .

How to Edit, Fix, and Polish

"Imagine this scenario: Your supervisor emails you with a message that says “Please edit the attachment." Or perhaps the instruction is "Fix the attached" or 'Please give this piece some polish.'"

"What does it mean to edit, fix, or polish a business message? How do you do it? Sometimes correcting quirky punctuation, typos, misspellings, and nonstandard grammar is a challenge in itself. But what should you do beyond that?"

August 22, 2018

Read the full article by Lynn Gaertner-Johnston (photo, left) ...

FAQs on the Rules of Business Writing

"In offices around the world, writers spend time and energy disputing business writing standards. One person says, “You can’t start a sentence with but or and!” Another responds, “But why not? And who says?” If you are quarreling about such questions (if only with yourself), take a break. Here are the answers to a variety of troublesome frequently asked questions (FAQs)."