Posts Tagged ‘Business Writing’
How 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…
Read MoreHow to Punctuate Items Listed in a Table Cell or Unordered List
Punctuation of table cell or unordered list items presents a special problem in technical writing since more often than not such lines include technical specs. Punctuation questions, like whether to end each line with a period or not, acquires a special significance since Parallelism “Parallelism” is one of those cardinal rules in technical writing. In…
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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)…
Read More4 Levels of Editing in Technical Writing
Writing is re-writing; that is, editing. Technical editing is a crucial part of all technical writing projects. But we have to remember there are multiple levels of technical editing which makes the task all the more challenging. LEVEL 1 EDITING Spec Editing. Does the document satisfy all the macro requirements specified in the Documentation Plan?…
Read More3 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Methods
A Standard Operating Procedure, or SOP for short, is documentation that provides step-by-step instructions on how to carry out a task. These are frequently used by all organizations, including small businesses and larger corporations, to ensure quality results with daily tasks. Creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t…
Read More7 Principles of Effective Business Writing
(Excerpt) 1. Strategic 2. Brand Centric 3. Buyer Persona Focused 4. Optimized for Search Engines 5. Technically Sound 6. Creative 7. Results Driven Click here to read the full informative post
Read MoreSouth Dakota — Black Hills State University Offers Corporate Communication B.S. Degree
BROOKINGS, S.D. – The South Dakota Board of Regents Thursday approved a new undergraduate degree in corporate communication at Black Hills State University. It also authorized the university to deliver its existing mass communication degree to students in Rapid City. “In today’s business world, it is more important than ever to prepare effective communicators,” said…
Read MoreHow to Use a Database to Store Content
(Excerpt) Using a database to store content has some big advantages. Assuming it is set up and managed correctly, and that users (procedure writers, content creators, etc.) can find, edit, and extract the content they need for a particular document, it can offer value in being able to ’single-source’ certain reusable content, and to separate…
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