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Legal Writing

Business Writing

By Lynn Gaertner-Johnston, founder of Syntax Training in Seattle, Washington, and a fan of business writing.

Post Frequency: 3.2/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 02:31:44

In Praise of Email

Posted on September 04, 2008
People often talk about how we overuse email. They complain that we should pick up the phone more often. They're right, of course, and I am normally one of them. But sometimes email can be better than a phone call....

Don't Do This When Emailing a Group

Posted on August 28, 2008
Cyndy from Reston, Virginia, just sent this important reminder: "When sending an email to multiple recipients from different companies, put addresses in the BCC field. Your audience will appreciate the fact that you are cognizant of protecting their privacy...

When a Verb Says "The End"

Posted on August 26, 2008
The web-hosting company I use just emailed me to let me know my contract is being renewed. They used the wrong verb. Do you recognize it? We certainly hope doing business with us was a pleasing experience. Because of their...

Ensure, Assure, Insure

Posted on August 25, 2008
Barbara of the Bonneville Power Administration in Vancouver, Washington, asked me to write about ensure, assure, and insure. I am happy to write from the U.S. perspective, and I am hoping my friends across the oceans and borders will enlighten...

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Punctuating a Restaurant Menu

Posted on August 21, 2008
Chris wrote me about the menu at Cliff's Grill in Houston. He wants to make sure the punctuation is correct and sent me a brief description of the patty melt burger. Here it is: Patty Melt Beef patty, grilled onions...

Years' or Year's or Years

Posted on August 15, 2008
Inspired by the Summer Olympics, I led the "Punctuation Games" for a client yesterday. The sophisticated group took away gold, silver, and bronze medals for their wins in "100-Word Hyphen," "Apostrophe Toss," "Error-Ringing," and a final relay race in which...

Quotation Marks--Before or After?

Posted on August 13, 2008
I was teaching The Keys to Error-Free Writing in Vancouver, Washington, this week, and one of the hot topics was the placement of periods and commas with quotation marks. When we checked this site in class to see if I...

Break a Rule to Get Web Traffic

Posted on August 10, 2008
One of the rules of business writing is to use consistent language to describe something. For example, steps in a process should be called steps--not actions, phases, or points--throughout the document. Likewise, a series of tips contains tips--not suggestions, instructions,...

The "Please Advise" Habit

Posted on August 05, 2008
We all have unconscious habits. I learned about one of mine when I was visiting an elderly relative and she asked me, both of us standing in the kitchen, "Don't you ever close a drawer all the way?" I was...

My Best Tip for ESL Writers

Posted on July 31, 2008
I often get email from managers around the world. They ask for ideas on how to become more proficient in business writing in English, a foreign language to them. I am honored that they ask my advice, and I am...

"Out of Office" When You Are Out Permanently

Posted on July 30, 2008
"Out of office" messages usually cover temporary absences from work. But if you are leaving the company, whether it is for a better position, a break from work, or a stint of unemployment, let people know you are "out of...

Thank You Again for the First Time

Posted on July 23, 2008
One of the most common polite mistakes I see in business writing is this: a message that ends "Thank you again. . . ." without thanking the reader at the beginning. If you are in the habit of thanking the...

Hot Idea for Staying Out of Trouble

Posted on July 22, 2008
I have been teaching business writing for many years. But today is the first time I heard this suggestion from a workshop participant about staying out of trouble with email: Suggestion: Do not print a confidential email unless you are...

Get a Second Opinion

Posted on July 15, 2008
Last week in a Writing Tune-Up for Peak Performance class, a recent college graduate questioned the wisdom of one of my best practices for email. The best practice he questioned is this: Get a second opinion before you send an...

Just the Fax Please!

Posted on July 14, 2008
I used to think the fax machine was dead, but it's very much alive. One day last week we received two emails from two different accounting departments of our clients, both asking us to fax them materials. And both had...

When Fast Is Thoughtless

Posted on July 10, 2008
My husband Michael and I took a cross-country train trip on our vacation. We loved the easy pace of the trip--reading magazines, eating in the dining car, watching the scenery roll by, not having to think about any schedule until...

An Easy Win for Relationships

Posted on July 08, 2008
Yesterday someone in my professional network, whom I may see once a year, ordered 20 booklets from me. In my emailed thank-you for her order, I said I hoped she and her young daughter were having a beautiful summer. I...

Peaking My Interest?

Posted on July 07, 2008
Back from my vacation, I have been wading through email. One email came right after my previous blog entry, Save Important Tasks for Last, and illustrated it perfectly. The email was from Tom, who was following up with dozens of...

Email Can't Think for Us

Posted on June 24, 2008
Email is just a medium of communication. But I wish it would think for us at times like this one: I received an email a couple of weeks ago from someone inviting me to offer a business writing class to...

Save Important Tasks for Last

Posted on June 24, 2008
Time-management experts recommend doing your most important tasks first. They say that if you start with low-value activities, you may never get to the tasks that could make the biggest difference to your success. But in writing, it is not...

Not Your Sweetie, Not Your Hon

Posted on June 19, 2008
Yesterday in a business writing seminar near Seattle, Washington, we were talking about our pet peeves in the messages we read at work. It was a sociable group of women and men in a friendly company. Nevertheless, this pet peeve...

Help Them Organize Their Writing

Posted on June 17, 2008
Many supervisors and managers ask me for help when their employees can't organize information. Of course, organization depends on the document. But here are five solutions I offer supervisors and managers to help employees organize their messages. Insist that every...

Stress and a Lesson on Business Writing

Posted on June 16, 2008
I traveled through Midway Airport in Chicago on my trip to my niece's funeral last week. Already under stress, I experienced a miscommunication that offered a lesson for business writers. I had reserved a rental car. Having landed at Midway,...

We Don't Have Talent

Posted on June 09, 2008
As a fan of positive language, I am intrigued by a positive word that has not caught on with ordinary business people. That word is talent, used to describe employees. Talent management, talent acquisition, and talent retention are phrases popping...

More Than a Person--a Guest

Posted on June 07, 2008
Always on the lookout for positive language, I was rewarded this week at one of the Starbucks stores in the San Diego Convention Center. Waiting in line, I heard one of the counter staff (known as "partners") ask, "May I...

"I Know I Shouldn't, But . . ."

Posted on June 06, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, my niece Denise was in the hospital with a serious liver problem and complications. A nurse walked into her room and found Denise crying. It seems that several doctors had been standing outside Denise's hospital...

Show Me the Manual!

Posted on June 01, 2008
Mary wrote recently to ask whether "May you" is correct, as in "May you please get me a piece of paper?" Mary's daughter's teacher insists the children say "May you please" rather than "May I please have." Michael wrote today...

Bolding Gone Wild

Posted on May 30, 2008
It makes sense to use a bold font to highlight information. Used sparingly and logically, bolding focuses the reader's attention on a particular part of a message. But too much bold text, which I am illustrating here, makes readers dizzy....

When Not to Save the Best for Last

Posted on May 27, 2008
I read a news release today. I read the entire release because someone had given it to me as a writing sample, and I like to be helpful when I can. In approximately 450 words, I learned about a fascinating...

An Error to 4,959 People

Posted on May 21, 2008
My e-newsletter, Better Writing at Work, just went out to 4,959 subscribers. It included 10 techniques for concise writing--at least I thought it did. In fact, the issue was titled "10 Techniques for Concise Writing." Problem: There were 11 techniques...

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