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Write for Business eTips

Bite-sized advice for better business writing

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Jun 11 2019 How to Write Good News Who doesn’t love good news? We love receiving it and sending it. Neutral news, while not as exciting, can also be a pleasure to receive and send. This tip introduces an organizational strategy for communicating your good or neutral news clearly, quickly, and effectively.

Jun 4 2019 Creating Convincing Claims At its core, writing involves an exchange of ideas. To express convincing ideas, you need to create strong claims and support them effectively. Find out how different types of claims accomplish different goals.

May 29 2019 A 1-2-3 for Writing Precise Instructions Poorly written instructions disrupt workflows in the same way that flight delays disrupt air travel. Both lead to frustrated customers, unwelcome detours, and missed outcomes. Today’s tips will help you write instructions that enable readers to complete a specific task with no unnecessary delays.

May 21 2019 How to Prepare for Any Writing Task Every writing situation has five basic parts: sender, message, medium, receiver, and context. Analyzing each part can help you meet the demands of any writing task. Watch a video to learn more about the parts.

May 14 2019 3 Keys to Gender-Equitable Writing Just as the sexes deserve fair and equal treatment in the workplace, they also deserve fair and equal treatment in workplace writing. While this may seem self-evident, avoiding sexism in business writing requires special sensitivity toward gendered language.

May 7 2019 When NOT to Use Commas While missing commas can create confusion, so can misused commas. To make your ideas clear and easy to read, do not use commas in the following writing situations.

May 1 2019 4 Tips for Creating Effective Headings Many business-writing situations call for headings—whether to announce the purpose of a memo or to identify sections in a larger document. Effective headings guide the reader through the main points. Follow these tips to maximize the impact of your headings.

Apr 23 2019 Using Commas to Help Readers Find Subjects You probably know that commas signal a pause when speaking or reading, but did you know commas can also help readers discover a sentence's subject? Check out a brief video to learn three ways to use commas to signal new subjects and improve the clarity and correctness of your writing.

Apr 16 2019 Reaching Resistant Readers Writing to a resistant audience presents a unique challenge. Find out how you can turn “no” into “yes!”

Apr 9 2019 3 Ways to Improve Your Writing Style Effective writing style reflects well on you and conveys your message in a clear, professional manner. Use these tips to develop your style.

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