Business Writing
Survey: British Office Workers Hate Business Speak
If you’re miffed to hear hackneyed expressions like “think outside the box” you’re not alone: a lot of office workers in Britain reported they also can’t stand the expression, according to a British survey of 2,000 cubicle dwellers. Tweny five percent of those surveyed ranked “blue sky thinking” and “hit the ground running” as number…
Read MoreHow to Ensure High Quality in Technical Writing
“Can you tell us more about quality in technical writing?” a reader asked yesterday, in a private email. Here are my thoughts on the topic: 1) Quality starts with intra-team cohesion if you are working as a part of a technical writing team. If you’re a lone writer, this means you should either have your own…
Read MorePlain Writing Online Course
(Copyright-free photo by Nick Morrison at Unsplash dot com) © Ugur Akinci Plain Writing is not only a good idea but it’s now the law of the land in the United States since October 13, 2010. See: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/obama-signs-law-understand/story?id=11902841 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-946 Very soon all U.S. Government departments and agencies will have to produce all their documents in…
Read MoreHow to Observe Invisible Codes in International Business Communications
Our world is getting smaller and smaller each day. Although good’old memos and even traditional e-mail are taking a back seat to new platforms like social networking, communication is still the only way to negotiate a contract or describe how a product or service is used to an increasingly diverse consumer base. That’s also the…
Read MoreHow to Explain Things "In Other Words"…
When writing to explain and convince, it’s sometimes necessary to reexplain things bu using different words and phrases. It is unrealistic to expect people to understand what you’re talking about the first time you write about it. Sometimes you need to explain the same concept or idea multiple times and in different ways to make…
Read MoreHow to Write a Corporate Form 10-K Annual Report
Annual Report All U.S. companies that issue publicly traded stock shares must file an Annual Report with the U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) by law. They have to disclose their financial dealings, strengths and vulnerabilities, by filing Form 10-K every year. Another name for this form is the “Annual Report.” If a company has…
Read MoreHow to Write an Executive Summary
An executive summary is pretty much what the name suggests: it is a one- or two-page summary of much longer work. Its intended audience is executives and upper management staff who have very little time to read the whole work. There are two main types of executive summaries: those written for reports and those written…
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How not to Sacrifice Clarity to Simplicity in Technical Writing
Introduction Simplicity in technical writing is a mantra frequently repeated by trainers and writing instructors. You’ve heard it many times and in general, it’s true: “Write simply. Eliminate all unnecessary words and facts from your technical writing.” Plain language is of course what we all like. But there are always exceptions in life, including this…
Read MoreDon't be just a Proposal Writer But a Proposal CONSULTANT who Writes Well
Many years ago I showed up at the door of an employer for a job interview, responding to an ad that said the company was looking for an experienced “writer.” One of the first questions the interviewer (who also happened to be a VP) asked me was how many words I could type in a…
Read MoreHow to Write a Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A “Service Level Agreement” (SLA) is one of the dozens of document types created regularly by technical communicators, usually under the supervision of the corporate legal departments. An SLA is typically issued by a technology service company to regulate its business relationship with the customer, or end-user. Web-hosting companies and SAS (Software as a Service)…
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