business writing: write today

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When you’re writing business documents, it’s not enough just to avoid errors in punctuation and grammar. You need to communicate your ideas clearly: your documents should be clean, but they also need to be constructed logically.

Therefore, when you’re writing a report, memo, speech or any document, even an email message, use a structure that goes from the general topic to specific instances.

Here’s an example, in an email message (we’ll leave out the salutation and preamble ):

Regarding marketing, we need to consider other customer communications’ options in addition to email.

I’ve been looking at the stats which show that 80 of messages aren’t opened, and …

In the example, the writer introduces the general topic of marketing, then narrows the topic to a specific: email marketing.

She also leaves plenty of white space. Online, we scan, we don’t read. So use white space, headings and bullet points to make reading easier.

Technorati Tags: business writing, writing email, document structure

You’re about to make a presentation to a potential client. You’ve dressed appropriately, your shoes are shined. You’ve got your portfolio and your business cards, and you have an idea of what you want out of the meeting. In a word: you want business.

But are you ready to do business? If you don’t approach the presentation as a SALES situation, you won’t make a sale. The right approach is to turn your presentation into a live-action proposal.

Keep the entire presentation focused on the client, and be clear on exactly what you can do for the client, and how you will do it.

At the end of the presentation, ASK for the sale.

Technorati Tags: business presentation, presentation skills