Business Communication Essentials, 7th Ed.
Chapter 4. Writing Business Messages
"Sometimes we remember rules incorrectly, adding always or never to them.
Lynn Gaertner-Johnston, in an article at her blog, quotes her marketing mentor Marcia Yudkin - "Whether it's your blog or your weekly/monthly newsletter, avoid relating to your readers as if they've known you for years.
Lynn Gaertner-Johnston warns, "Forwarded emails can threaten professional relationships and reputations.
Sound advice bears repeating.
"Part of becoming a good writer is making use of the many tools and references available.
"The English language is a voracious eater, consuming words and digesting them into whole new things.
"Start by writing short, declarative sentences.
Cheryl Conner (photo, left) offers assistance.
"According to graphologist Kathi McKnight, your handwriting can communicate more than you may think.
"A dictionary needn’t include every passing bit of slang that sprouts in the morning and withers in the afternoon, of course.
Chris Weller (photo, left) reports on the topic with an assist from the ideas of Steven Pinker, author of The Sense of Style.
"You’re looking at an e-mail you just wrote, and you’re not sure whether you have the right word: Do you want affect or effect?
"As with everything else we do today, technology has come up with a way to make our writing lives easier.
"Business writing used to be simply about communicating — getting information across to others," writes Michael Theriault.
Susan Adams presents the 8 keys at Forbes.
"People don’t have the time or the attention span to read any more words than necessary.
Helen Coster (photo, left) presents "10 Tips for Better Business Writing.
"Back when I was a journalist," writes Victor Lipman (photo, left), "an old editor of mine had a great saying he used to tell his writers: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long letter.
"I asked everyone around me, people who’d been working longer than I had, 'Why do we write this way?
"The slideshow not only acknowledges the long-lasting nature of digital information, but also suggests ways that employees can avoid incriminating themselves and GM by not using words like "catastrophic" and "spontaneous combustion" when talking about GM products.
Christina Desmarais of Inc.
"For word nerds everywhere (this author included) the yearly additions to the Associated Press Stylebook are always met with great intrigue.