Business Communication Essentials, 8th Ed.
Chapter 4. Writing Business Messages
"Lithium Technologies, a social customer experience management platform, announced the results of a recent survey performed on its behalf by Harris Poll, finding that brands are increasingly under pressure by consumers to innovate," writes Justin Lafferty in a piece at AdWeek.
"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.
"These days, unpacking the secrets to viral success has been the mission of researchers, media organizations and businesses alike.
"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.
"A great piece of writing is like a great piece of art.
"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.
"In writing a speech, you have two objectives: Making a good impression and leaving your audience with two or three takeaways.
"There is a lot to like in Mary Norris’s Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen.
"I asked everyone around me, people who’d been working longer than I had, 'Why do we write this way?
"There’s real power in sending a handwritten note to a customer: a card to thank a customer for subscribing, to celebrate with a customer for completing her first project with you, and so forth.
We check in with Ken Makovsky (photo, left), contributor at Forbes.
"Many companies' help lines are usually crowded with customers trying to find an answer for their questions.
"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.
"But, as you may have noticed, a lot of people are trying to tell stories these days.
"For word nerds everywhere (this author included) the yearly additions to the Associated Press Stylebook are always met with great intrigue.
"Napoleon Hill, author of the best-selling 1937 book "Think and Grow Rich," explored the habits of the most likable people in his essay "Develop A Pleasing Personality," which was included in the book The Science of Success.
Jessica Stillman shares a suggestion from author Gretchen Rubin (photo, left).