Business writing for technical people : the most effective ways to get your message across

Business writing is all about effective communication and persuasion. Technically-minded people can struggle and many businesses get it wrong, losing their readers in avalanches of acronyms and jungles of technical jargon. It doesn't have to be that way. In this book you'll discover how to give your communication skills an upgrade, exploring the tips and tricks that will enable you to write effectively and persuasively for any audience. You'll discover how to optimise your words for maximum impact, which terrible traps to avoid and how to make your expertise and enthusiasm even more infectious. -- 'If you have an important message to craft and you find yourself staring at a blank screen wondering what to say and how to say it; this is the book for you. Carrie takes the fear factor out of writing. Her clear tips and guides will make your writing instantly more readable. Practice what Carrie preaches and start to get complements on the style, persuasiveness and impact of your written work. Don't write another word until you have read this book from cover to cover.' Prof. Brian Sutton , Professor of Learning Performance at Middlesex University and author -- '..There are lots of books about writing, this one is very practical and targeted, and forms an excellent foundation on which to build good written communication in an area that is often accused of falling short. It should be part of every induction pack as required reading.' Tracey Torble , ITSM specialist, manager and writer Cover Copyright Page CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR PREFACE 1 WHAT IS BUSINESS WRITING? WHY BAD WRITING IS BAD NEWS 2 LEARNING TO WRITE WITHOUT FEAR TAKE YOUR TIME BORROW BRIGHT IDEAS KEY TAKEAWAYS 3 THINK BEFORE YOU INK SELLING THE SIZZLE: AN IT EXAMPLE LIGHTS, EMAIL, ACTION! KEY TAKEAWAYS 4 CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE PICK YOUR PLATFORM HOPE FOR THE BEST AND PLAN FOR THE WORST TAKE A PICTURE KEY TAKEAWAYS 5 FIGHT THE FLAB UNNECESSARY EXPERTISE THE PASSIVE VOICE AND WEAK VERBS TOO MANY WORDS LONG SENTENCES AND ENDLESS PARAGRAPHS SHOWING OFF CLICHÉS WOOLLY WRITING TAKE ADVICE FROM GEORGE ORWELL KEY TAKEAWAYS 6 JUNK THE JARGON WHAT IS JARGON? BAD BUZZ WHY YOU SHOULD BANISH BUZZWORDS AND JUNK THE JARGON KEY TAKEAWAYS 7 MAKE YOUR CASE HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE WRITING PRESENTATIONS THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER IT’S A SHAME ABOUT ROI HOW TO PRESENT YOUR BUSINESS CASE FOR A LARGE PROJECT ROI: PLAN FOR THE BEST BUT TRY TO PREDICT THE WORST KEY TAKEAWAYS 8 WRITING FOR ROBOTS: BUSINESS WRITING FOR THE INTERNET WRITING FOR GOOGLE SEO: HOW TO DO IT THE RIGHT WAY TL;DR WHAT TO DO ABOUT LONG DOCUMENTS WRITING FOR EMAIL NEWSLETTERS SOMEONE INVENTED A NEW WAY TO GET READERS; YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! KEY TAKEAWAYS 9 BE YOUR OWN AUDIENCE LET GO OF YOUR EGO SIMPLICITY BREVITY ACCURACY EFFECTIVENESS KEY TAKEAWAYS 10 COMMUNICATING GOODWILL AND DELIVERING BAD NEWS GOODWILL HUNTING NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS KEY TAKEAWAYS 11 WHAT TO DO WHEN THE WORDS WON’T COME HAVE A DEADLINE BREAK IT INTO BITS WRITE AN OUTLINE DON’T START AT THE START DON’T STOP FORGET ABOUT PERFECT HAVE A KITKAT GO AND DO SOMETHING ELSE KEY TAKEAWAYS 12 THE BUSINESS WRITING HOUSE OF HORRORS AVIVA ACCIDENTALLY FIRES ITS ENTIRE WORKFORCE ELOP NEEDS SOME HELOP PROOF THAT SPELL CHECKING MATTERS WHY DAMORE SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN LESS WHY JACK GOT ATTACKED WHEN HASHTAGS GO BAD THE WORST MOTIVATIONAL MEMO EVER KEY TAKEAWAYS AFTERWORD REFERENCES INDEX Back Cover "Technically-minded people can struggle with business writing and many businesses get it wrong, losing their readers in avalanches of acronyms and jungles of technical jargon. It doesn't have to be that way. In this book you'll discover how to give your communication skills an upgrade, exploring the tips and tricks that will enable you to write effectively and persuasively for any audience. You'll discover how to write for maximum impact and how to make your enthusiasm even more infectious."