Business Writing – Write with your reader in mind

In this age of mass information and communication, being able to write clearly is fundamental to business success. Crucial decisions may depend on how you write emails, memos, letters, reports, etc, so it's vital to have a thorough understanding of how to construct your correspondence.

Before you start writing, stop and take a few minutes to plan your writing. This will enable you to focus on what you want to achieve with your communication and how best you can manage your message. Think about whom you are communicating with and what your objective is.

Answer these questions as the first step to any writing task:

• Why am I writing this, what is my objective?
• What do I want the reader to do/know?
• Who is my reader? Consider the reader’s role, age and culture.
• What does the reader know about the subject?
• How will /could the reader react?
• What is my reader’s style? Should I adjust to it? Emails often provide style clues.
• Whom should I include in this mailing?

By answering these questions and writing with your reader in mind, you will have a better idea on how to approach your writing task.

We have an in-depth Business Writing course for all written correspondence which will ensure the communication is professional, reader-friendly, clear and concise.

See our short courses for more information.