Writing for Impact: Timeless Tips for Winning People Over with Your Words

Don’t you hate receiving e-mails that are long and filled with unnecessary words? Because you’re a busy bee, you can’t help but lose interest in what the piece is trying to say, which makes it look very unprofessional.

If you are one who crafts a message like this, it certainly would hurt if the receiver wouldn’t even bother to read what you’ve penned. Fret not, you just need to improve your business writing with these tips:

The Audience

Whether you are a supervisor sending a memo to your constituents or a businessman seeking funding, you need to remember that what you put out there will represent you or your firm. However, you need to know that you need to put your audience at the top of your mind when writing, which takes time to perfect.

Always put your audience first

In college, we used to write essays that showcase how smart or knowledgeable we are on a topic but in business writing, you need to make it easier for your receiver to understand your thoughts. Do this by putting the most essential part of the message at the top, followed by the supporting details.

It may sound abrupt but remember that in the professional world, your target audience is busy and therefore, they couldn’t waste time finding the main point of your message.

Concise

As established, professionals don’t have spare time to look for the gist of a message, so, on top of being straight-to-the-point, you need to keep your writing concise. That means cutting down chunks of paragraphs so that they can easily digest your thoughts.

Long e-mails and messages are boring to read

Try to be clear in what you’re trying to send across through the use of active voice speech – hint: look for keywords has been and being and rewrite the passive sentences. After revisions, your piece will be briefer.

Inclusivity

Professional business writing doesn’t mean you need to fill your message with highfalutin words that only a few can understand. Avoid penning a message exclusively – imagine this: you send an e-mail to your boss who perfectly knows the jargon but what happens when he/she forwards it to another department?

This may result in miscommunication. As per the Harvard Business Review, always think that your audience is smart novice, generally smart but, specifically, doesn’t understand what you’re referring to.

Research about the Audience

To make your writing more effective, make sure that you know who you’re sending the piece to. It pays to know them to learn how you would craft your message.

Know your audience first before writing

If it is a school superintendent and you know that your point is none of their priorities, then be short and clear; get to the point. If you are about to convince a councilor about green advocacy, present data and facts.