10 business writing tips to boost your reach

In this age of information overload, effective business writing is a skill that is becoming increasingly valuable. We are all fighting for our audience’s attention amongst a relentless barrage of emails, posts, tweets, articles, ads, special offers and cute kitten videos.

Research from Litmus showed that in 2022 we spent an average of 9 seconds reading an email. Back in 2018 it was 13.4 seconds, so it’s safe to say it’s only getting harder to grab and keep people’s attention.

And note, that’s on average: the research also found that 30% of emails get less than 2 seconds of attention. TWO SECONDS!

But this does not need to be the fate of your efforts to communicate.

Whether you are writing emails, blog posts, reports, a how-to guide or a job ad, these 10 tips will help you improve your business writing skills, reach your audience and get the results you are aiming for.

1. Who is your audience?

Who exactly are you aiming your communication at, and what are their needs and interests? What problems are they trying to solve? What will grab their attention?

Be specific about who your target audience is, and have an image of them in your mind as you write. Use this to tailor your style, tone and content to pique their interest.

It’s worth mentioning here that your audience will almost never be ‘everyone’ (with the notable exception of a company-wide email announcing that the organisation just went bankrupt. In that case, you will find it easy to get everyone’s attention anyway).

Example

You are designing a social media post to promote a new range of maternity active wear. Which of these headlines would be more likely to grab the attention of your primary target audience?

a) New Product Launch

b) Maternity active wear: new range launching next month!

What if you are also keen to appeal to people that might buy your product as a gift for the pregnant person in their life? That is a different audience, and you might use a different headline (e.g. ‘The perfect gift for the mum-to-be that has everything’).

Keep that image of your target audience in your mind as you write – it will help you prioritise the most appealing content and maintain a consistent style (formal, casual and friendly, etc.).

2. What’s your purpose?

Now that you have clarified who your audience is, be clear about your purpose and key message. Is is to share information? Explain a process? Persuade or prompt others to take action? Or to simply entertain? Keep that in mind, and make it clear upfront. You want your target audience to open and read it so give them a clear and compelling reason in the heading or subject line.

Examples

Sharing information: be clear about the topic and specific enough to pique their interest (without resorting to tacky clickbait) :

• Latest research: most popular marketing platforms for small business in 2023
• Summary of results: 2022 Customer Experience Survey
• 7 strategies for improving customer experience in online businesses

Call to action: if you want to prompt your audience to take some kind of action, put the action (and deadline, if there is one) in your heading so that they don’t accidently file it away to read later:

• BOOK NOW: Free webinar – Social Media Marketing Essentials for Small Business
• CLOSING FRIDAY: Applications for 2024 Small Business Grants
• FOR ACTION: Update your email address to continue receiving statements

Entertaining: if you are writing to entertain, let that shine through in the title:

• 5 reasons why your mother-in-law probably doesn’t like you
• How squirrels taught me the art of saying no

Then, in the body of your message, start with the key information – the answer or solution; a bullet-point summary of the key findings; the booking link; the date/time/location of the webinar; an intro paragraph that explains the topic; or whatever it is – before diving into the detail. Allow your audience to decide for themselves how much further detail they want to consume..

More on this later, but here’s my favourite tip:

3. Use simple, concise language

Some writers believe they must use big words and long phrases to sound like an expert when writing for business. This is not true – the hallmark of someone that truly understands their topic is their ability to explain it in plain language. Plus, big words and long phrases make text more difficult to read, which will not help your message to get through to your audience. Don’t use several words when you can use one, and always use the simplest, most universal language possible.

Examples

Don’t say, “the findings are obfuscated by the lack of visual references” when you can say, “we can more clearly present the findings using graphs”.

Say “decide” rather than “make a decision about”.

Ditch “the data presents a compelling case for facilitating improvements to the quality of our service delivery” if all you are trying to say is, “The results show we need to improve our customer service”.

One of the best ways to improve your business writing is to use the simplest phrase that conveys the correct meaning in as few words as possible.

‘Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

4. Use active, not passive voice

While there is a time and a place for passive writing, active voice is more positive and engaging, and sends a clearer, more confident message.

This statement is in passive voice: “It has been concluded that further analysis is needed in order to ensure that all options can be fully assessed”.

Active voice is far more concise: “We need to undertake further analysis to fully assess our options”.

5. Avoid buzzwords and jargon

Buzzwords are like cliches: enthusiastically embraced by some but cringeworthy for many.

Imagine, for example, your boss inviting you to a planning session with,

“Let’s lean in, draw on our lived experiences and get some blue sky thinking happening here peeps! Jerry will speak to the NPS results then we can get our game on and find some learnings”.

It’s more likely to be your eyeballs heading towards the sky than your thinking.

Jargon, used sparingly, is fine if you are an expert writing exclusively for other experts. But otherwise, using jargon to present yourself as an expert or impress others with your ‘insider knowledge’ usually fails. It also excludes any members of your audience who are not experts on the topic, ensuring your message will fail to have the impact you are aiming for.

“I propose we put the IPL back into the URP – then we’ll get some real traction on our datafication going forward”.

Ewww.

Tips:

• Keep in mind who your audience is
• Stick with simple, universal language
• Always fully name acronyms the first time you use them
• If you can’t avoid using jargon, add a glossary as an appendix.

6. Check your tone

It’s easy to forget that a message in writing can come across very differently than the same one delivered face-to-face. Writing that intends to be informative, for example, can come across as bossy or lecturing, and irritate the audience.

One way to combat this is to read your writing out loud. How does it sound? Have you used basic courtesies? Do your requests sound like orders? Do you use ‘must’ or ‘should’ a lot? Have you used mostly positive language or is it often negative?

Example

Consider the typical memo that goes out every year as the company Christmas party approaches: “Employees must not get drunk or behave inappropriately. Any untoward incidents will be strictly dealt with according to our company policy”.

You can convey the same message in positive language: “Your attendance at the company Christmas party requires that you maintain courteous and appropriate behaviour in line with our company policy”.

7. Presentation is everything

How you visually present your message is crucial. Don’t force your audience to wade through lots of dense text.

Here are some simple ways to hold your audience’s attention:

• Add descriptive subheadings to break info into chunks so that readers can skim the content
• Use bullet points (or even sub-headings) to summarise key points
• Highlight key information using boxes, bold print or colour
• Use graphs or diagrams to help people visualise data
• Add photos, screenshots or other images that help explain the text

Tip: Skim read your piece for 9 seconds. What stands out? What gets lost?

8. Read and analyse great writing

Notice, whenever you are reading anything, whether the purpose and message are clear. Read publications known for their high-quality writing standards; look at articles or reports written by others that did a great job of delivering a message. What worked well? Analyse their layout, sentence structure and language to help you identify where your own writing and presentation could improve.

9. Eliminate bias and stereotypes

Using neutral language is not just about being politically correct: it also ensures you don’t needlessly alienate your audience.

Consider these examples:

1. “We need more manpower to solve this problem.” An obvious one but it’s still alive and well. Replace ‘manpower’ with a neutral term such as experts, expertise, skilled people, technicians, project managers, etc.

2. “We’re running a raffle that the ladies will love: first prize is a $500 shopping voucher.” Guaranteed to irritate every woman that does not love shopping, whilst also excluding everyone else. Simply say, “We’re running a raffle with fantastic prizes: first prize is a $500 shopping voucher”.

3. “Most blokes don’t like pink.” Avoid making assumptions about any group of people, especially stereotypical ones. Eliminate altogether, or at least neutralise: “Most people can think of a colour they dislike”.

10. Proofread, edit and ask for feedback

It can be SOOOO tempting to skip this one. But typos and grammatical errors scream poor attention to detail, sloppy, a slack attitude, unprofessional, and a host of other major character flaws, so grit your teeth and hang in there just a little longer.

Here are some suggestions to nail your final version:

• Edit ruthlessly. Take out unnecessary words or phrases; remove repetition; find opportunities to be more succinct. Keep your writing as simple as possible.
• Spellcheck is a must, but it doesn’t pick up grammatical errors, or use of the wrong words (sometimes with entertaining results). For example, ‘Sales Manger’, ‘defiantly’ instead of ‘definitely’, and ‘there’ when it should be ‘their’ are likely to slip through.
• Use a grammar app like Grammarly or Wordtune. These are helpful in picking up some of the errors that Spellcheck misses, but be aware they are not 100% foolproof. Tip: nothing replaces a human editor with an eye for detail.
• Read it out loud: how does it sound?

• Print out your piece and read it at least twice with pen in hand. Studies show more errors are picked up on paper than on a computer screen.
• Send it to an eagle-eyed colleague or friend to review and comment on (we pick up other people’s typos more readily than our own). Treat their feedback as a gift, and use it to improve your business writing.
• Ask someone to spend only 9 seconds reading your piece, then ask them what they can recall. If they didn’t pick up on your key message, go back to No.7 in this list and consider what else you can do to make it stand out.
• If your piece of writing might make or break your career, consider engaging a professional editing service – it may be the best small investment you ever make.

Ultimately, like any skill, the best way to improve your business writing is to practice. In this age of information overload and short attention spans, effective business writing is a critical skill and well worth the investment of time and effort to master.