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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

Driving Topless in a Jeep

Posted on May 20, 2008
Today at the beginning of a business writing class, I asked attendees to introduce themselves by telling us something they enjoy. One woman announced: "I enjoy driving around topless in my Jeep." Was she serious? I stopped and stared, looking...

How to Capitalize Qi Gong

Posted on May 17, 2008
Susan wrote with this capitalization question: "I work for a man who does Chinese energy work called 'qigong.' When that word is used in writing (on our web site, for instance), people tend to capitalize it. My contention is that...

Why Should They Read Your Ezine?

Posted on May 15, 2008
I don't open an ezine unless something in the subject or the first line grabs me. Even when I do open it, I don't read it unless I can find the item that grabbed me within a few seconds. If...

Can This Cover Letter Be Saved? Yes!

Posted on May 12, 2008
A poorly written cover letter dismayed my kind friend Elizabeth when she received it in response to an ad for an office manager. Compassionate person that she is, Elizabeth wanted to help the woman who applied. That's where I got...

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Stripping Out Punctuation

Posted on May 06, 2008
Suzanne wrote with a mailing list dilemma. Some people in her company want to strip punctuation from all the mailing addresses. For example, they want to render "Lutron Co., Inc." as "Lutron Co Inc". Suzanne is resisting this change because...

Write Concisely? Just Do It!

Posted on May 05, 2008
Before my business writing seminars, I often ask learners what they hope to gain from the workshop. Many of them make comments like these: I would like to get my ideas across in a lot fewer words. I want my...

Open Source Resources for Writers

Posted on April 30, 2008
If you are open to open source software, check out "50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Online Writers," a new list created by Christina Laun available on Job Profiles. The list features open source software for blogging, editing online, mind...

Because, Because, Because

Posted on April 29, 2008
I've been asked the same question twice within a week, so here I am, happy to clear up a misconception. Question: Isn't it unacceptable to start a sentence with the word because? I learned it was wrong. Short answer: It...

The Secret of Successful Instructions

Posted on April 29, 2008
The secret of successful instructions is to have an inexperienced user try to follow them before they are published. As the user follows each step, the wise writer watches for glitches, places where the instructions confuse or mislead the reader....

Careless Company Writing = Failure

Posted on April 22, 2008
Denise wrote to ask for help in her company: I work for a small company whose president and others on the administrative side don't seem at all interested in correct, effective writing. We're growing rapidly and will soon have a...

Word Power: Being Partners

Posted on April 21, 2008
I recently taught the Writing Tune-Up for Peak Performance at Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), one of my long-standing clients. When attendees sent me the answers to prework questions, I was struck by the words they used to describe their readers:...

Specific = Fresh

Posted on April 15, 2008
In the business writing classes I lead, attendees often talk about wanting to use fresh language. They are looking for new, fresh words to communicate their ideas. Freshness is an apt goal. We can't engage readers with stale writing. But...

A Horror Story in Microsoft Office

Posted on April 10, 2008
In yesterday's Better Business Writing class in Everett, Washington, a woman told a horror story of a "trick" gone wrong in Microsoft Office. As I remember the story, she had just begun to work on a contract at a large...

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

Posted on April 08, 2008
In a recent business writing class, a participant said she wanted to learn to do this better in her writing: "To succinctly communicate historical information or the why behind an email, and transition into the purpose or request I am...

A Plodding Phrase About Promptness

Posted on April 05, 2008
To inspire their readers to quick action, many writers use this sluggish phrase: in a timely manner For example, "Please contact these clients in a timely manner." But "in a timely manner" is 15 letters, 6 syllables, 4 words. That's...

Fine Writing from Ballard High School

Posted on April 03, 2008
I like to praise fine writing wherever I find it. This week we received our daughter's welcome letter to the high school she will attend in September. The packet was filled with rich details, and the letter introduced them perfectly....

Early for April Fool's Day

Posted on April 01, 2008
Last night I sent a brief message to my husband, asking him to review a draft web page. As usual in a message to him, I did not include his name at the top, and I added xxoo above my...

No News Is Bad News

Posted on March 28, 2008
The group of managers walked into a Better Business Writing class, talking to each other but not to me. They responded to my greeting but didn't seem especially glad to meet me. That's unusual. Most people act eager at the...

What Do You Mean by "Metrics"?

Posted on March 28, 2008
Joy wrote to complain and ask for clarification on the correct use of the word metrics in business communication: "A word that is not one of my favorites is metrics used to describe financial performance. Example: Our metrics don't look...

One Good Thing: Coaching

Posted on March 26, 2008
This week our 13-year-old daughter participated in a music festival for young artists. She has been playing the violin for 8 years, and she had worked hard on the three pieces she played for the adjudicator (judge). The adjudicator's first...

The Latest in Hyphenation Information

Posted on March 20, 2008
In each issue of my monthly ezine, Better Writing at Work, I include an "Error Quest," a little test, or quest, to find one error in a short passage. This month's quest involved finding a word that was missing a...

A Taxing Message from the IRS

Posted on March 14, 2008
Today I received the "Economic Stimulus Payment Notice" from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States Department of the Treasury. It was a notice to all U.S. taxpayers (with a greeting "Dear Taxpayer") about a tax rebate most...

Right-Click Here to Download--or Delete?

Posted on March 14, 2008
If you created a sophisticated, elaborate weekly or monthly ezine, would you want your clients and customers to delete it without reading a word? Of course not. But most of the ezines I receive get deleted within a few seconds....

How I Learned to Correct Errors Faster

Posted on March 13, 2008
I often tell people in my business writing seminars about Microsoft's AutoCorrect and AutoText features. Every MS Office user should be using them to write faster. But I learned just last week that I was using AutoCorrect a slow, Stone...

When Right Is Wrong

Posted on March 12, 2008
Can right be wrong? Vicki raised this question in a Writing Tune-Up class today. She worried that if she used correct grammar that other people didn't recognize as correct, they would think she was wrong. Vicki's response was to use...

Request Denied: When Military Meets Business

Posted on March 07, 2008
Security officers, crew supervisors, maintenance experts--people in these jobs often attend the business writing seminars I lead. They don't enroll in any greater numbers than people in other vocations, but they often stand out for the terse way they communicate...

Happy National Grammar Day!

Posted on March 04, 2008
It's not exactly a national holiday with a day off work, but March 4 marks National Grammar Day. I got the word from Mr. Rewrite, a defender of good grammar, punctuation, and usage. Get the details at the celebratory host...

Alternatives to ASAP

Posted on March 03, 2008
In a Better Business Writing class last week, a maintenance manager was looking for alternatives to "ASAP" (as soon as possible). As someone constantly on the receiving end of ASAP requests, she wanted a different phrase to use when she...

"Sales Are" or "Sales Is"?

Posted on February 28, 2008
John from Buffalo, New York, wrote today to ask a question about subject-verb agreement. Because he is the guy everyone turns to at work when they have a grammar question and because he could not find the answer in three...

Hedging: It's Fairly, Relatively, Kind of a Problem

Posted on February 24, 2008
I read a quote in the newspaper today: If it would be fairly easy to relatively quickly get a fairly similar job with a fairly similar salary, that makes it almost a no-brainer. Granted, the example is of someone speaking--not...

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