Annals of the University of Petroani, Economics, 8(1), 2008, 169-176

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BASIC ASPECTS OF EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING

GABRIELA DUMBRAV, ADRIANA KORONKA *
ABSTRACT: The paper starts from the premise that writing for a business context or audience displays specific features of the rhetoric of discourse, being different from writing in the humanities, social sciences, or other academic disciplines. Within the framework of general writing rules, the paper points out the special issues arising in the business context, analyzing the major content and form - related aspects meant to ensure an effective written communication. KEY WORDS: business writing, written message, content, form, tone.

Business writing is different both from the conversational style often found in email messages to a familiar co-worker, and the more formal, legalistic style found in contracts. In the majority of memos, email messages, and letters, a style between these two extremes is appropriate, because writing that is too formal can alienate readers, overly whereas exaggerated attempts to be causal and informal may seem insincere or unprofessional. Therefore, the key to effective business writing is knowing the audience it addresses. In other words, before composing a letter, memo or report, we should think about the recipient of the document. The first question to answer when composing the message is what message am I trying to convey to this person?, as this enables us to outline a well - organized document, by omitting superfluous details. Another important element of a business document, especially if it contains large amounts of data and dry statistics, is its graphic presentation. Statistics and research sustain your conclusions, especially if they are presented in a visually appealing manner (spreadsheets, graphs and colorful clip art).

Lecturer, Ph.D., University of Petroani, Romania Lecturer, Ph.D., University of Petroani, Romania

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1. CONTENT RELATED ASPECTS Focus and Purpose: In business writing, as in all writing, it is essential to keep the message focused and specific, bearing your audience in mind. Although the major characteristics of business writing are clarity and conciseness, it should not be an endless series of short, choppy sentences. This means that the writer should not be so concise that he becomes blunt. The use of terminology and concepts related to the industry or field is recommended in correspondence of this type, as they prove your specific knowledge and experience relating to the respective field. The questions to answer before starting to compose a written message are: What is your document intended to do or accomplish? Will the purpose be clear to the reader? Can you offer a one-sentence summary of the documents purpose? Is your main point stated early in the document? Audience: Do you have a specific and appropriate audience in mind? Can you describe them? What is their position? What is your relationship with them? How much do they already know about this topic? Can you determine what their feelings toward your document will be? Have you used language that they will be able to understand? Is your tone appropriate for your audience? Organization: Does your document proceed in a logical and organized way? Is each paragraph organized around one main idea? Can you identify the most important information in the message quickly? Is like information kept together? For resumes, have you placed your most important or relevant qualifications where they stand out, or have you highlighted them in some way? Ask others to read your document and tell you what they think are your most important ideas. Development: Is the order of presentation of the points effective? Did you include enough details and examples to support your main point? Is it clear by the end of the message what you want the reader to do or know? Do you provide enough context for the message or is more background information required? Do any paragraphs seem shorter and in need of more material than others? Is all the information included necessary? Ask someone to read the document and comment if something is unclear and needs more description, explanation, or support.

Basic Aspects of Effective Business Writing 2. FORM RELATED ASPECTS

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Formatting: Are all of the parts of the message included and in the correct position? What will be the readers first impression when looking at the document (before reading)? Does the document look attractive on the page? Does your document conform to standard business writing convention? Have you placed information in your message where your reader will expect to see it? Have you addressed and signed your document appropriately? Sentence structure, punctuation, word choice, spelling: Are there problems that frequently occur in your writing? Keep a list of problems that recur and check for those specifically. Read the document aloud to see and hear if there are any missing or wrong words or other errors that you can spot. Express it in a concise language, by avoiding vagueness, wordiness, and unnecessary large words. For example, simplify a wordy sentence such as The hurricane had the effect of a destructive force on the city with the more precise The hurricane destroyed the city. The Use of Pronouns and the Active/ Passive Voice The use of personal pronouns is important especially in letters and memos. Do not refer to yourself in the third person by using one or the writer, as it is more natural and appropriate to refer to yourself as I and to the reader as you. However, you should be careful when you use the pronoun we in a business letter that is written on company stationery, since it commits your company to what you have written. The best choice is to use I when you express your opinion, and we when referring to company policy. Another way of achieving a clear, more personal style, is to eliminate overuse of the passive voice. Although the passive voice is sometimes necessary, it often makes your writing not only dull, but also ambiguous, uninformative, and impersonal. On the other hand, the use of the active voice, personal pronouns, and a positive point of view ensure a dynamic message that will keep the reader interested. For instance: Passive: It was discovered that the salary totals were incorrect. [It is not clear who discovered it.] Active: The Accounting Department discovered that the salary totals were incorrect. Even in scientific writing, overuse of passive voice or its use in long and complicated sentences can cause readers to lose interest or to become confused. Sentences in active voice are generally clearer and more direct than those in passive voice. An exception to this rule is when the passive voice is necessary to avoid placing specific blame for an error or to making a sentence intentionally vague. For instance, if you are supposed to write a memo describing the disastrous outcome of a mistake that belongs to someone in the company, passive voice will be preferable to

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describe the mistake without directly placing blame, especially if the recipient of the memo happens to be your superior in the company or the person who made the error. In this situation it would be tactless to use active voice boldly to describe how your boss erred and, therefore, instead of writing: Because J. Smith forgot to include the correct budget projections with the bid, we lost the client try: The correct budget was inadvertently left out of the client packet, which led to the loss of the client. The second sentence is a relevant example of a situation when judicious use of passive voice can increase the tact and diplomacy of your writing. Punctuation and Grammatical Errors Grammatical and/or punctuation errors, especially in a formal report, can seriously affect your credibility. As most errors are due simply to insufficient proofreading of the document, you must have someone else proofread your document, especially if it is a formal report to be sent to upper management or outside the firm,. Some errors stem not from lack of proofreading, but from simple grammatical mistakes. The most common mistakes include misuse of apostrophes and commas, using contractions in formal writing, incomplete sentences, ending a sentence with a preposition, verbs not agreeing with subjects and pronouns not agreeing with their antecedents. Gender-Neutral Writing The use of gender is nowadays a delicate topic in all fields of human relations, being of tremendous importance in business writing as well. Traditionally, the word "he" included both the female and male genders when referring to an individual's actions. Everyone should open his report to page 1 was understood to refer to both the women and the men in the room. In today's society, most women take offense at this reference, which determined some writers to use she alternating with he in their writing. However, this decision hardly solved the problem because, besides being confusing to the reader, such a message became offensive to many men. The best way to deal with this problem is to eliminate the pronoun altogether whenever possible: Everyone should open the report to page 1. Some business writers have suggested pluralizing the pronoun as a solution to the problem: Everyone should open their report to page 1. This is common in spoken English, but is grammatically incorrect and, therefore, it is safer to avoid using this form. If it is unavoidable, use he or she, which is correct, although somewhat annoying when used many times in the same article. When you do not know the gender of the person you are addressing in correspondence, the old rule was to write Dear Sirs. Obviously, nowadays this is no longer acceptable. Therefore, you should write Dear Sir or Madam, or better yet, use the title of the unknown addressee: Dear Editor, for example. If you know only the initial and last name of the addressee, address the letter as Dear J. Smith.

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Tone in writing refers to the writers attitude toward the reader and the subject of the message. The overall tone of a written message affects the reader just as ones tone of voice affects the listener in everyday exchanges (Ober 88). Business writers should consider the tone of their message, whether they are writing a memo, letter, report, or any type of business document. Tone is present in all communication activities. Ultimately, the tone of a message is a reflection of the writer and it does affect how the reader will perceive the message. Therefore, in order to achieve the appropriate tone for the message, the writer should consider the following questions when preparing to write: 1. Why am I writing this document? You should consider the purpose of your document in order to determine how you should express the message you wish to convey. Obviously, you want the message to reach your audience, and you will probably want the reader to take some action in response to your message. For example, if you write a job acceptance letter to an employer, you should assume a tone that is appreciative for the offer and enthusiastic about beginning a new job. 2. Who am I writing to and what do I want them to understand? Whether it is an employer or a fellow worker, it is essential that you consider your reader before writing and adapt the document to your specific audience, as the tone that you use to write the document directly affects how the reader will interpret what is said. For example, if you write a cover letter for a position as a Sales Representative for a newspaper, it is advisable to replace such unconfident phrases as: I hope that you will contact me or I know that my qualifications are not very impressive, butwith ones that sound more confident and self-assured.: You can reach me at; I look forward to hearing from you; My qualifications make me an excellent applicant for this position. 3. What kind of tone should I use? Fortunately, you can use the same kind of tone for most business messages. "The business writer should strive for an overall tone that is confident, courteous, and sincere; that uses emphasis and subordination appropriately; that contains nondiscriminatory language; that stresses the "you" attitude; and that is written at an appropriate level of difficulty" (Ober 88). The only major exceptions to these guidelines are when you need to write a negative business message, such as when you deny a job offer or a customer request. The general guidelines to keep in mind when considering what kind of tone to use in business writing are: Be confident. You can feel confident if you have carefully prepared and are well informed about the material you present. In order to make the document effective, you must write confidently, as a confident tone will have a persuasive effect on your audience. The reader will become more inclined to accept your position, and will notice the confidence that you have. On the other hand, employers are inclined

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Dumbrav, G.; Koronka, A. to hire individuals that appear confident and sure of their abilities. However, this does not mean that you should appear overconfident, for you could easily be interpreted as arrogant or presumptuous. For example, replace You must agree that I am qualified for the position with My qualifications in the areas of accounting and customer service meet your job requirements. Be courteous and sincere. It is important to write in a sincere tone because without sincerity, politeness can sound condescending. Remember that if you are respectful and honest, readers will be more willing to accept your message, even if it is negative. Therefore, instead of: You didnt read the instructions carefully, thus your system has shut down, try: The system may automatically shut down if any installation errors occur. Use nondiscriminatory language. Nondiscriminatory language is language that treats all people equally by not using any discriminatory words, remarks, or ideas. It is very important that the business writer should communicate in a way that expresses equality and respect for all individuals. That is why you should make sure your writing is free of sexist language and of bias based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, and disability. In this sense, you should: - use neutral job titles - not: Chairman, but: Chairperson; - avoid words and phrases that unnecessarily imply gender. Replace: Executives and their wives with: Executives and their spouses; - omit information about group membership. Not: Jane Smith performed the job well for her age, but: Jane Smith performed the job well; - use a nonsexist salutation if you do not know a readers gender: To Whom it May Concern; - avoid using masculine pronouns. Instead of: Each student must provide his own laboratory kit, choose: Students must provide their own laboratory kit, or Each student must provide his or her own laboratory kit.

REFERENCES: [1]. Bailey, E. - The Plain English Approach to Business Writing. Oxford University Press, New York, 1990 [2]. Dwyer, J. - The Business Communication Handbook, Prentice Hall, New York, 1993 [3]. Stanton, N. - Communication, Macmillan Professional Masters Series, The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1995