The Style of

Professional Writing
 Given its main objective of achieving
results within an organization and the
importance of connecting with its
audience, professional writing is
necessarily written in a particular style or
register that aims to build goodwill.
 According to Kitty Locker and Donna
Kienzler(2013) in Business and
Administrative Communication, effective
professional writing is reader-centered,
emphasizes the positive, and uses bias-
free language.
 1. Adopting a professional style means
adopting a reader perspective in writing.
 “ You- attitude” is a style of writing which
looks at things from the reader’s point of
view, emphasizing what the reader wants
to know, respecting the reader’s
intelligence, and protecting the reader’s
ego.
I-Attitude You-Attitude

 1. If I can answer any  1. if you have any

of your queries, I’m questions, please ask.
perfectly willing to do  2. Your order was
so.
shipped to your address
 2. We delivered the
order to the provided this morning.
address this morning.  3. You will be happy to
 3. I’m happy to tell you hear that you are
that I want you to requested to come for
come for an interview. an interview.
 2. The second important aspect of
professional style is the emphasis on the
positive in order to build a positive image
and goodwill.
Negative Wording Positive Wording

 1. We cannot process  1. Your

your reimbursement reimbursement
request because your request will be
documents are not processed as soon as
complete. you submit all the
required documents.
 2. We do not reply to  2.You may contact us
emails on weekends. via email at any time
 3. We can’t give you from Monday to
the list of books Friday.
because we have not  3. You will receive the
finished taking completed book
inventory. inventory by
tomorrow morning.
 3. The aspect of the professional style is
its use of bias-free language. Professional
writers and speakers should use language
“ that does not discriminate against
people on the basis of sex, physical
condition, race, age or any other
category.” ( Locker and Kienzler, 20130
 Biased Bias-free

 Set 1  Set 1
 Chairman  Chairperson/chair
 Salesman  Sales
 Stewardess representative/staff
 fireman  Flight attendant
 firefighter
 Set 2  Set 2
 Woman lawyer  Lawyer
 Woman doctor  Doctor
 Lady president  President
 Male nurse  nurse
 Set 3  Set 3
 Manpower  Labor force/personnel
 Mankind  Humankind
 Man hours  Hours/ worker hours
 manning  staffing
 Set 4  Set 4
 Managers and their  Managers and their
wives spouses
 Faculty and their  Faculty and their
wives spouses
 Dear Sir:  Dear Sir or madam:
 1. Polite language is essential in a context
wherein there are power asymmetries.
Expressions like “please,” “kindly,” and
“thank you” soften impositions of power
and create a positive writer image, and
convey gratitude.

Professional Language
 2. Both personal matters and overly
friendly language should not appear in a
workplace correspondence.
Overly Personal Professional

 Hey, I’m not sure if  I would like to

you’ve heard, but I’ve
been having a bunch of
family problems lately.
My son was recently
expelled; my daughter
is in rehab. So, I need
a few days off. Please
help me out in
approving this request.
request for a three-
day leave. I have
some urgent personal
business to attend to.
I would certainly
appreciate your
approval on this
request.
 3. Professional writing should exhibit
grammatical accuracy in the use of
standard English.
 4. Avoid business jargon like ‘hereto,
herewith, and whereupon, pursuant to.
 5. Electronic communication have no
place in professional writing.