Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively in Business

by Kenneth Roman

putting down first what you want the

reader to do, next the three most important things the reader needs to understand to take that action, then starting to write. When you’re done, he suggests asking yourself whether if you were the reader, would you take action on the basis of what is written.

The better you write, the less time your boss must spend rewriting your stuff.

It isn’t enough that you know all about your subject. You must make yourself clear to somebody who has only a fraction of your expertise.

The fact that someone sends me a message does not automatically impose an obligation on my part to respond. If that were true, then it would logically follow that I should allow strangers to rule my life. I don’t like that idea. So I’ve started to delete messages without reading them first.

“When you say something, make sure you have said it. The chances of your having said it are only fair.”

Most people “write badly because they cannot think clearly,”

When you write anything longer than a few paragraphs, start by telling the reader where you are going.

End with a summary. And keep in mind

Short sentences and short paragraphs are easier to read than long ones. And easier to understand.

If you have distilled your thinking to its essence, you will probably be able to express it in simple words.

Yet another advantage of the active voice is that it tends to push you to decide precisely what you want to say, to be more specific.

The pervasive use of professional jargon arises more out of fear than arrogance,

Take the time to boil down what you want to say, and express it confidently in simple, declarative sentences.

Write simply and naturally — the way (we hope) you talk

What you write should sound just like you talking when you’re at your best — when your ideas flow swiftly and in good order, when your syntax is smooth, your vocabulary accurate, and afterward you think that you couldn’t possibly have put things any better than you did.

use only those words and phrases and sentences that you might actually say to your reader if you were face-to-face. If you wouldn’t say it, if it doesn’t sound like you, why write it?

But marvelous as these devices are, it’s worth keeping in mind that they are machines and not magicians. They will not miraculously change a bad writer into a good one.