A Practical Guide To Business Writing E-Book

Khaled Al-Maskari

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 92

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Nowadays, letters, reports and emails are vital components of business practice. Communication is increasingly global, but it’s not any easier to understand or contribute to for non-fluent English speakers. There is increasing pressure to be able to produce effective documents for a business environment but little help out there to do so efficiently, resulting in wasted time and uncomfortable business communication.

This book provides a wealth of practical information for any person who aims to produce short, effective documents within the work environment. It offers sensible, valuable and helpful rules for producing effective short reports, memos, letters and e-mails that are clear, concise and easy to read for the busy manager or supervisor working in the demanding setting of modern industry or commerce.

But it goes further: not only are rules provided for the inexperienced business writer, but models are proposed which provide solutions for a whole host of business situations – providing help, support and encouragement for the many thousands of business writers who need to feel confident in their writing.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Endorsements

Copyright page

Title page

About the Author

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

What Does this Book Cover?

Chapter 1 Business Writing Style

1. Keep your purpose, readers and content in mind

2. Keep your sentences short

3. Use positive language

4. Use linking words

5. Use simple, familiar words

6. Use the passive voice for specific reasons

7. Use bullet points and numbered lists correctly

8. Use tables and charts effectively

9. Use impersonal style when expressing opinions

10. Avoid outdated expressions

11. Avoid repetition

12. Avoid turning verbs into nouns

Chapter 2 Business Memos

1. Heading

2. Purpose

3. Body

4. Conclusion

5. Closing

6. Carbon copy “CC”

Common types of memos

1. To inform

2. To request

3. To instruct

4. To recommend

5. To respond

6. To complain

7. To remind

8. To show appreciation

Chapter 3 Business E-mails

1. Write a clear subject line

2. Use the “cc” button

3. Use the Out of Office Assistant

4. Use attachments for long documents

5. Keep your message short

6. Don’t use e-mail for immediate action

7. Use spell check

8. Use courteous language

9. Provide an action statement when necessary

10. Identify yourself clearly

11. Do not overuse abbreviations

12. Do not use all capitals when typing

Chapter 4 Common Writing Errors

Chapter 5 Useful Business Phrases

1. Referring to a previous communication

2. Requests

3. Referring to a negative issue

4. Enclosing documents

5. Condolences

6. Congratulations

7. Apologies

8. Recommendations

9. Closing phrases

Chapter 6 Avoid Confusing Words

Chapter 7 Personal Business Documents

1. Employee request

2. Congratulations

3. Appreciation

References

Acknowledgements

Index

“Exciting, informative, directional, and extremely helpful are just some of the words to describe A Practical Guide to Business Writing.”

Dr. Clarence Emslie, Senior English Language Teacher, Saudi Development and Training, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“This book is a wealth of practical information for any person who must produce short effective documents within the work environment of the early 21st century.”

Michael Doherty, Director of Professional Communication Services, United Kingdom

“This book is an indispensable aid to anyone wishing to improve his or her performance in the workplace. A must for the serious student of business English and a great guide for those wishing to hone their business writing skills to perfection.”

Peter Hardcastle, Curriculum & Assessment Advisor, ADNOC Technical Institute, United Arab Emirates

© 2013 Khaled Mohamed Al Maskari

Cover design by Parent Design (www.parentdesign.co.uk)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-118-41081-3 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-118-41078-3 (ebk)

ISBN 978-1-118-41079-0 (ebk) ISBN 978-1-118-41077-6 (ebk)

About the Author

Khaled Mohamed Al Maskari is an Emirati author based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. With over 16 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Al Maskari has held a number of leadership positions with governmental organizations in the United Arab Emirates in the field of Human Resources development and training. He has always been involved in assisting graduate students develop their business writing skills.

He won the Best Emirati Book Award 2011 for his book A Practical Guide to Business Writing, a helpful Business English guide for non-native speakers of English in the region. He has also been nominated Author of the Year 2011 by the Webpreneur Academy based in Dubai in recognition of his dedication and innovations in the fields of education and entrepreneurship.

He gained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University, in the United States.

To learn more about Khaled’s programs, you can go to his website

www.khaledalmaskari.com or email Khaled on [email protected].

Foreword

Exciting, informative, directional, and extremely helpful are just some of the words to describe A Practical Guide to Business Writing.

The content is clear and concise and, in a nutshell, it gives us some clear-cut guidelines to achieve a more accomplished communicative system in any organization.

This book can help you develop the qualities of an effective communicator, and no matter where you are on the administration ladder in your company, using the examples in this book will make whatever you write and wish to communicate more effective.

It is good – very good!

Dr. Clarence Emslie

Preface

This book contains a wealth of practical information for any person who aims to produce short effective documents within the work environment of the early 21st century.

It is not simply a guide to business writing. It does not focus on writing rituals, nor does it compare different uses of the English language for writing purposes. There is no in-depth attention to why our writing should have a certain tone, tendency or technique. There are many works in the market that accommodate such areas of business written English.

What this work offers are sensible, valuable and helpful rules for producing effective short reports, memos, letters and e-mails that are clear, concise and easy to read for the busy manager or supervisor working in the demanding setting of modern industry and commerce.

But it goes further: not only are rules offered to the inexperienced business writer, but models are proposed for various situations: apologizing, complaining, requesting, describing, recommending etc.

How do you:

Open a document?

Support your purpose?

Address different readers?

Close a document?

The solutions are here.

What are the most common errors people make in business writing and how can the writer cope with these inaccuracies?

The solutions are here.

What form should a written text take? Is there a format, model or template that can be utilized quickly and easily? Of course there is.

The solutions are here.

If your work requires you to produce short effective documents, then you are lucky to have this work on your desk. Read it. Enjoy it. Use it.

Michael Doherty

Introduction

Based on my experience in the field and my intention to assist and train fresh graduates, I conducted research which aimed at identifying techniques and tools to promote effective communication in writing. It was apparent that staff inability to write effective business letters or e-mails was their major impediment to effective communication in the workplace.

In fact, fresh graduates lack effective writing skills and may possess only moderate competence in the linguistic and rhetorical skills needed to produce appropriate, meaningful and accurate written documents in various genres. The intention to put together a set of basic principles that readers can use to write effectively was crucial.

The book, therefore, is designed for fresh graduates as well as other professionals who truly wish to develop overall proficiency in writing effective business letters and e-mails in order to communicate successfully and with integrity in the workplace.

As most correspondence takes place via e-mails nowadays, I focused heavily on this specific medium, which I consider to be a prominent communication tool in the business environment.

This book is locally produced and meant to address the most problematic aspects of business letter writing. It is a comprehensive guide that takes its readers through the whole process using straightforward language accessible to all. It also gives readers an in-depth overview of the major techniques, examples, graphical and contextual supports needed to enhance their writing abilities.

What Does this Book Cover?

Chapter1, Business Writing Style:

offers guidelines to different language aspects of business English, advising the writer to be directed by the purpose of the document, their relationship to the reader, and the content that satisfies the purpose and the reader.

Chapter 2, Business Memos:

examines the various parts of the business memo and its basic structure, offering a wide range of templates for the most common types of memo.

Chapter 3, Business E-mails:

considers the various parts of the e-mail, giving rules on what to do, what not to do, and showing the writer how to make use of Microsoft facilities.

Chapter 4, Common Writing Errors:

advises vigilance for common errors seen in the writing habits of others, showing how these can be detected and corrected.

Chapter 5, Useful Business Phrases:

scrutinizes the document function (i.e. the purpose of the report, memo, e-mail etc.), presenting several outlines for opening, developing and closing the document. Many samples for how to address the reasons for communication are provided.

Chapter 6, Confusing Words:

addresses the vocabulary frequently used in everyday writing tasks, highlighting those words most commonly misused, and giving contextual examples to help the writer appreciate the differences.

Chapter 7, Personal Business Documents:

offers a variety of samples for a range of typical business purposes, providing the business writer with practical business solutions.