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Make it concise and condensed...

Business communications allows students to explore a vast stretch of unchartered territory that may seem a bit intimidating at first. Students new to the field are sometimes hesitant to adapt their many practices and techniques that they've used in past writing assignments. While business writing does differ from the types of writing students might be more familiar with, it is important to note that many of the ideas and techniques students have used so often in the past are necessary to writing within the business world as well; formal writing standards do still apply.

Some of the major differences within business writing involve how language is used and how the writing is organized. Professor Patricia Bowman Carey, a professor in the Robins School of Business here at the University of Richmond, provides a bit of expert advice regarding the major differences between writing for a business oriented audience and writing for other academic disciplines:

[Business writing] needs to have a specific purpose, and that purpose needs to be stated right away. It should be more condensed and concise than other writing, and I advise students to avoid using elaborate vocabulary or flowering prose.

Often times, students attempt to sound overly "academic" in their writing, but what Professor Carey suggests for business writing would help to eliminate that problem. By avoiding unnecessary language, students not only clarify their writing, but they also establish a stronger "corporate" sounding voice. Wordiness and overly poetic prose simply take away from the purpose of a student's writing. Remember, the goal is not to impress a business audience through an artful command over language, but to state your point clearly and fairly quickly while still upholding formal conventions that remain consistent within all disciplines.

Taking Steps

There are certain steps that need to be taken in preparation for all business communication tasks that will ultimately make the writing process easier and more effective. Mary Ellen Guffey, author of Business Communication: Process and Product, combines these steps into what she calls, "The 3 X 3 Writing Process." This process is composed of three stages: pre-writing, writing, and revising. Each stage is then broken into three subdivisions:

Pre-writing

Writing

Revising

Works Cited

Guffey, Mary Ellen. Business Communication: Process & Product. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.

 

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