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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

A Disconnect in Email Subjects

Posted on March 31, 2010
A couple of weeks ago I took part in a fundraiser for Haitian relief efforts. The day after the successful event, I got a congratulatory email from the person who led our efforts. It came to all of us on...

Choose the Right Verbs for Shorter Meeting Notes

Posted on March 26, 2010
The other day when I led the online class Meeting Notes Made Easy, an attendee I'll call Sheila asked how to avoid going into too much detail. Sheila worried that she usually writes a transcript, when what people need from...

Casual Email Loses Customer for Caterer

Posted on March 24, 2010
Last week I learned about a caterer who had two sweet opportunities dropped in his lap through a referral. One was a wedding meal for 60; the other was the rehearsal dinner for 25. He lost both opportunities because of...

Working on a Writing Brand

Posted on March 18, 2010
In a Writing Tune-Up for Peak Performance class, a young African-American man (I'll call him Edward) told us he was having trouble developing his writing "brand." I wondered what he meant, and guessed (silently) that Edward was trying to figure...

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Whose Fault Is Bad Writing?

Posted on March 18, 2010
I laughed at myself today, and the situation reminded me of bad business writing. Here it is: We have a high school exchange student from the Middle East living with us this semester. Her household chore is to empty the...

A Rarely Recognized Cause of Inefficient Writing

Posted on March 12, 2010
Working with over a hundred people on their business writing over the past seven days, I recognized once again that people's writing can be slowed down and weakened by something that has nothing to do with words. That something is...

The Place for Parentheses

Posted on March 11, 2010
Last week in a Better Business Writing class, Bryan asked where to use parentheses. He worried he was using them too often. I explained that parentheses are perfect when you need to enclose extra information that would otherwise break the...

A Quick Example of Positive Language

Posted on March 06, 2010
The other day I sent out a reminder to people who would attend the public Better Business Writing class yesterday. In it, I wrote: Class begins at 8:30 sharp. The sentence felt too schoolmarmish--as though I would give a detention...

Your Choice: Proofread or Shrink in Embarrassment

Posted on March 03, 2010
Yesterday I received two "Oops" emails within 20 minutes. At 4:15 p.m. I received a message that began like this: Dear Lynn, Please note: The earlier version of this email along with the March "Xxxxx" had a few errors, which...

How to Wake Up Sleepy Bullet Points

Posted on March 03, 2010
I was reviewing writing samples for an upcoming business writing class when I found some bullet points that went flat--no power, no pizzazz. Their dullness was unfortunate because of the subject matter. See if you recognize what I mean in...

When Should I Use Ellipses? Never.

Posted on February 27, 2010
Yesterday I led a business writing class for a group of sales managers and other sales professionals near Portland, Oregon. As in other classes, these questions came up: "What about dot dot dot? When should I use that?" The answer:...

Does "Free" Work in an Email Subject Line?

Posted on February 22, 2010
Last week in my monthly e-newsletter, I listed a few email subject lines and asked subscribers to identify which ones answered the question "So what?" for readers. Here are the first five subjects: February Insider Potatoes Free Infoline Attached The...

Don't Make This Mistake in Your Marketing Messages!

Posted on February 18, 2010
A friend sent me an example of a marketing message that bombed. Here is how the email started: Subject: directed me to you Liz, I was recently in contact with , who referred me to you. suggested that you would...

A Gentle Way to Point Out a Mistake

Posted on February 16, 2010
Over the weekend a reader Susan from Queensland, Australia, let me know about a mistake I had made on my most recent blog post. Here is Susan's email message: Hi, Lynn. I just visited your fabulous business writing blog and...

Words to Capitalize in Titles and Headings

Posted on February 12, 2010
Lately I have been seeing a lot of odd capitalization in titles, headings on websites, and subject lines. So I would like to be helpful and provide some easy rules. Here is what to capitalize: All words of four or...

When "Customer Service" Letters Undercut Bankers

Posted on February 08, 2010
To whoever writes the customer letters for "Deposit Operations" at our large bank: Please stop writing letters that contain: Requests for documentation without saying what the necessary documentation is (especially when the customer has already provided documentation)...

Don't Work So Hard Taking Meeting Minutes

Posted on February 04, 2010
Last week I taught Meeting Notes Made Easy online. One attendee named Rhett said his biggest challenge in taking meeting minutes was facilitating the meeting and taking notes at the same time. To Rhett and everyone else I say, "Don't...

Noisy vs. Energetic: The Language of Reviews

Posted on February 01, 2010
I received a survey request for my feedback on a restaurant, and I noticed the categories I could pick from regarding the noise level: Quiet . . . Moderate . . . Energetic Did you notice the absence of the...

When Not to Write--An Example

Posted on January 30, 2010
I have been at home sick with a head cold for several days. Being unable to think clearly is one good reason not to write, and that is why I have been silent here. The words and ideas were not...

When Your Laugh = Someone's Anguish

Posted on January 21, 2010
I was teaching a business writing workshop recently when someone teased another participant about being a Southerner (someone from the Southern part of the United States). The seemingly good-natured wisecracks were about Southern food and language. I stopped the comments...

A Tale of Two Emails

Posted on January 20, 2010
Yesterday I received two solicitations by email. One succeeded with me; the other failed. Notice what works in this message, whose writer gave me permission to share it with you: Subject: Visit Request Good Afternoon Lynn, On behalf of the...

Dear Health Plan: Please Know My Name

Posted on January 16, 2010
I received a survey from my health plan this week. It looks as though it will take me about 10-15 minutes to complete and mail back to the corporate office. Usually, I am happy to complete surveys for my health...

Birthday Confusion--A U.S.-vs.-the-World Problem

Posted on January 14, 2010
We have just welcomed to our home an international exchange student from the Middle East. When I read the information she included on her program application, I added her birthday to our calendar: June 5. But here's the problem: Her...

His, Hers, Theirs, Yours--Gender-Neutral Language

Posted on January 14, 2010
I was going through some old materials I have used to teach business writing classes, and I came across a good example I haven't thought about for a while. It's from the book The Inner Skier: "The Inner Skier chooses...

Dare to Be Different--Write a Letter

Posted on January 07, 2010
Near the end of the year, I read a Danny Westneat column in The Seattle Times, "Offline Deserves a Right On." I read the newspaper at my breakfast table, but you can read the column online. Westneat mentioned that a...

The Most Prominent Error of 2009

Posted on January 06, 2010
This error stuck out most in the thousands of messages and documents I read in 2009: Thank you for the booklet, it is very helpful. Sign up today, the conference will fill quickly. I saw Grant yesterday, he said to...

Writing Habits to Break in 2010

Posted on December 30, 2009
Many people think of the start of the new year as a clean slate, a new beginning. For those who are looking for a fresh start for their business communications, here are some habits to break. Note: If other business...

Avoid Crazy Connections by Proofreading Aloud

Posted on December 22, 2009
I just read a blurb for a sad news story: "Two EMTs are accused of ignoring a pregnant woman who collapsed and later died because they were on break." The story is sad and disturbing, but the sentence structure suggests...

Are Your Products Ubiquitous or Everywhere?

Posted on December 18, 2009
Last week I worked with a group of corporate communicators at a global high-tech company headquartered in Washington, D.C. One of the group was being teased by his colleagues for using the word ubiquitous, well, ubiquitously. He used it everywhere....

Gay Apparel? Yes, Language Changes

Posted on December 15, 2009
Over the weekend I was singing Christmas carols, when I came upon a familiar line in "Deck the Halls": "Don we now our gay apparel." Gay apparel? Yes. When the song was written, the word gay meant "joyful, happy" and...

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