How often do you find yourself reading something—a book, a magazine, something on the Internet—and thinking to yourself how well it was written? Something that pulls you in and tells you a complete story that leaves you with a complete understanding of what you just read?
It takes talent to write like that—to be able to communicate a message so thoroughly that a reader understands exactly what you are trying to say. Writing for your business is the same way, a quality piece helps educate, motivate and drive the reader to action.
Here are five tips for making your business writing better:
- Write to your audience: As written about in the blog article for The Truth, know the audience for whom you are writing and how they will be reading it. How you write sets the tone for what you write and impacts how it’s perceived.
- Avoid slang: Talking and writing are two different forms of communication, so make sure you avoid slang and other similar shortcuts in your writing. While it may feel “hip” or “cool” to write in a conversational style, it generally doesn’t translate well to business writing. Ultimately, most businesses want to come across as professional, trustworthy and as the expert in their field, and how you write speaks volumes about your business. Everything written by the company needs to reflect those attributes, and the best way to reinforce them is with a professional writing style that doesn’t veer into the world of slang.
- Grammar, spelling and punctuation: While this seems like a basic tenet of anything written, you’d be surprised at how often people use incorrect grammar or have misspellings in what they communicate to others. While oftentimes it’s something simple that is missed, those errors usually stand out the most to someone reading your writing. Proofing and copyediting aren’t objective like the style in which you write—there are hard and fast rules to the English language. Proofread your work in a way where you detach yourself from the intent of what you are writing and focus solely on the grammar, asking yourself whether each sentence you’ve written is grammatically correct. Systematically going through your work before publishing it will cut down on errors and make for a better presentation.
- Second set of eyes: When you are done with your writing let a trusted person (co-worker, friend, significant other, etc.) read it and make suggestions. No matter how good you think something you’ve written is, always run it past someone you trust to confirm that your message is being conveyed through your writing. Who that person is depends upon you. Having a significant other read a technical document may not help much with content, but they may be better able to find grammar issues since they aren’t as invested in the content. If the content is going out to consumers, someone who isn’t working with you may be able to provide valuable feedback that will help sell your writing to someone who isn’t in your industry.
- Hire a professional: Last, but not least, if you think your writing isn’t achieving everything you desire, hire a professional. A good professional will help you determine your audience and then write for it, maximizing your impact, and hopefully, your results and profits.