Business Communication Unit 5

Unit 5 Guidelines for Written Business Communication

Structure:
5.1 Introduction
Objectives
5.2 General Principles of Writing
Writing methodology
Tips on writing style
Active vs. passive voice
Spelling and punctuation
Common errors in English
5.3 Principles of Business Writing
Tone
Emphasis and subordination
Write at an appropriate level of readability
5.4 Summary
5.5 Glossary
5.6 Terminal Questions
5.7 Answers
5.8 Case Study

5.1 Introduction
In the previous unit, we discussed the meaning of listening, some obstacles
to listening and methods that can be adopted for better listening in the
workplace. Writing skills are equally crucial and critical similar to listening
skills in business communication. Errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation
and typing can affect the business communication significantly. Any
inconsistency in writing the message might lead to misunderstanding or
miscommunication. Therefore, in business communication, clarity and
concreteness of the message is very vital. You might lose your customer if
you fail to communicate the information correctly and completely. At the
same time, you must remember that general writing is very different from
business writing in terms of tone, language and degree of formality of the
communication. Some of the dos and don’ts of business writing will be
highlighted in this unit. This will lay the foundation for writing business letters
and reports which will be discussed in the later units.

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We cannot say that all business communications are positive. Some

experts have noticed that technology advancements have made the
communication simpler and more efficient. This has gradually reduced the
formal writing skills of business people. Marty Blalock, in his article 'Why
Good Communication is Good Business' has pointed out that ineffective
communication is expensive. According to the National Commission on
Writing, American businesses spend about $3.1 billion a year to train their
employees on writing.
Blalock has also pointed out that the Commission supports the
requirement of effective business communication skills in employers.
About two-thirds of jobs in large American companies are based on
writing duties. Many American companies have involved 'assessment of
writing skills of job seekers' as part of their hiring process.
(Source: [Link]
communication- [Link]#ixzz1dl0YlibM)

This unit helps you to answer the following questions:

What are the general principles of writing?
What are the stages of writing?
In this unit, we will learn how to improve written communication in general.
We will also discuss some guidelines for effective business writing.
Objectives:
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
 evaluate your writing style
 identify common errors in English usage
 recognise the appropriate use of active and passive voice, grammar and
punctuation
 distinguish between general and business writing
 compose a piece of business communication confidently

5.2 General Principles of Writing

Written messages must be made as readable as possible. We need to make
them uncomplicated and easy so that even an average person can
understand their meaning. Readability in turn is largely determined by the

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length of words, sentences and paragraphs. A common mistake made by

writers, especially Indian writers, is to try to impress the reader by using
flowery language and an oratory style of writing. Two broad principles of
writing are ”Write to express, not to impress” and “Keep it short and sweet.”
A good writer is one who follows these principles and asks himself/herself
even before framing a sentence “What am I trying to say? What words will
express it?”
Let us try to understand these principles first by discussing the different
stages of writing. We will then become familiar with some tips on writing
style, followed by some specific rules regarding English language usage,
spelling and punctuation.
5.2.1 Writing methodology
Writing methodology comprises of three stages:
 Prewriting
 Writing
 Reviewing
Figure 5.1 depicts the three stages of writing.

Fig. 5.1: Stages of Writing Methodology

(Source: Reproduced from Guffey, M. E., and Loewy, D. (2011). Business
Communication: Process and Product, 7th ed. USA: South-Western Cengage
Learning)

Let us now discuss them in brief.

Prewriting
Prewriting is a structured thinking process that helps you to explore and
understand what you have to write. The techniques of prewriting help you to
determine the approach to choose and plan to implement it. Usually, a
prewriting plan enables you to explore a topic from different perspectives. It
also helps you to discover new and original ideas for writing the topic. In the

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pre-writing stage, you analyse your audience to determine your audience

requirements, anticipate the audience knowledge and design the strategy
that can be adopted to communicate. For example, what language you have
to use to convey the message to the audience, whether it will be formal or
conversational?
Writing
After knowing the audience and developing strategies you can research the
topic and gather essential data. Once you gather the required data, you can
organise your content i.e., decide the flow, group similar facts, identify the
important facts to be mentioned, etc. Later, you begin to compose or write
i.e., construct sentences and paragraphs. First you write a draft. While
drafting, you write the information that you have researched in your own
words. You build sentences and paragraphs even though they are not 100
percent perfect. You read what you have written and check whether what
you have written is what you mean. You then get the document reviewed by
others and ask for suggestions to improve the content.
Reviewing
In this stage, you revise, proofread and evaluate the message. You check
whether the sentences are complete and if your content is correct. You
check for spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, grammar and parallelism. You
will check for clarity of the content written and ensure that no errors are
present in the content. Figure 5.2 depicts the inverted pyramid of review
steps.

Fig. 5.2: Review Steps

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The four steps shown in the figure 5.2 can help you to make your review
process effective. The four steps can be explained as follows:
1. Review for strategy – Review whether the document adheres to the
design strategy. For example, whether objectives are accomplished,
main idea is conveyed first or last, the technicalities’ are defined as per
target audience requirements, language style used is as per audience
requirement, credibility is established, logical flow, etc.
2. Review for macro issues – Review the document as a whole before
reviewing sentence by sentence. For example, document design,
connection between sections and subsection, effectiveness of
paragraphs or sections etc.
3. Review for micro issues – Review the sentences and words for
example, check for wordiness, long sentences, complex and incomplete
sentences, clarity of sentences, etc.
4. Review for correctness – Review for correctness of the content with
respect to grammar and punctuation for example, parts of speech,
parallelism, incorrect use of comma, etc.

Additional Reference:
Sorenson, S. (2010). Student Writing Handbook, 5th ed. NJ: Wiley.

Self Assessment Questions

1. _______________ is a structured thinking process that helps you to
explore and understand what you have to write.
2. You check for wordiness, long sentences, complex and incomplete
sentences when you review for macro issues. (True/False)
5.2.2 Tips on writing style
You can improve your writing style by choosing the right words for
conveying the meaning. Some of the common problems include the use of
complicated words, the use of jargon, slang and colourful language and
mistakes in using the parts-of-speech.
Simple vs. complex words
As far as possible, the sender should select words that are within the
receiver’s vocabulary. If the words used are outside the vocabulary of the
receiver, the latter may not get the message at all, or get the wrong

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message by guessing the meaning incorrectly, or wonder whether the

sender intentionally selected a complicated word for making an impression.
Therefore, it is important to consider the educational level and the
knowledge of the reader.
Hence, it is better to rely on plain, simple words, such as the ones shown in
the first column, rather than in the second column of table 5.1, even though
they mean the same thing.
Table 5.1: Some Simple Word Equivalents for Complex Words

Simple word equivalent Complex word

About Approximately
Do Accomplish
Improve Ameliorate
Show Demonstrate
Change Modify
Ask Interrogate

This is because short and simple words convey ideas more effectively and
require less time and space. They also invite the sender to concentrate on
ideas, rather than calling attention to the words themselves.
Jargon, slang and metaphors
‘Jargon’ refers to technical terms that belong to a particular subject area or
discipline. For example, medical jargon would include terms that only
medical practitioners can understand. These terms cannot be understood by
the common man. Some of the terms in the medical jargon are, ’agonal’
meaning a major negative change in a patient’s condition, FX for fracture
and IM for intramuscular. Such terms are to be avoided in general writing,
since they would be out of context. The only instance where jargon can be
used and might be essential is in highly technical reports, where the reader
is in a position to understand these terms. For example, computer jargons
such as browser, bus, cache, chip, cookie, CPU, crash, database, dot pitch,
download, driver and file can be used only while writing reports related to
computer technology.
‘Slang’ refers to casual words that are not accepted and recognised in a
standard English dictionary. For example, ’ace’ means very good, ’action’
means excitement, ’blown away’ means greatly impressed, ’flip out’ means

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lose control and ’glitch’ means defect. While they could be used in a limited
way in general or informal writing, they are to be avoided in business writing,
which needs to be formal in nature.
A ‘metaphor’ is a figure of speech and refers to colourful comparisons which
evoke visual images. For example, consider the following sentences:
1. He is ‘rock solid’ in his support.
2. We provide an ‘umbrella of insurance’ product for your security.
While such comparisons may be used in informal writing or in the language
of advertising, they are to be avoided in business communication which has
to be objective and formal.
Parts of speech
In the same way that use of big, complicated words may result in receipt of
the wrong message, use of small words in the wrong way grammatically
could have the same result. Such problems exist in all parts-of-speech
categories. Some of the parts of speech which we will be discussing in this
unit are:
 Nouns
 Pronouns
 Verbs
 Adjectives
 Adverbs
Let us now briefly discuss each of these parts of speech.
Nouns
Just as the main actor in a film is the most important character, the subject
in a sentence is the most important noun. There are two categories of nouns
– ‘abstract nouns’ or nouns that cannot be visualised and ‘concrete nouns’
or nouns that can be visualised. A message will be understood more clearly
if concrete nouns are used as subjects in a sentence, rather than abstract
nouns. For example, consider the following two sentences:
1. ‘Cancellation’ of the contract will be done in March. (Use of abstract
noun as subject)
2. The ‘contract’ will be cancelled in March. (Use of concrete noun as
subject)

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In this example, the second sentence, using ‘contract’ as the subject, is

likely to be understood more clearly by the receiver. Not only is ‘contract’
something which can be visualised, it also emphasises the main idea in the
sentence.
Let us consider another example.
That ‘decision’ can be made only by the supervisor. (Abstract noun as
subject)
Only the ‘supervisor’ can make that decision. (Concrete noun as subject)
Pronouns
Sometimes, using the masculine form of a pronoun might be taken in an
offensive way by the receiver, especially if the receiver happens to be a
woman. Even if the receiver is not a woman, the use of a masculine
pronoun may convey the impression of being sexist. For example, consider
the following sentence: “You need to consult your professor on that subject,
but he has to be a specialist in the area of Finance”. In this sentence, the
use of the masculine pronoun ‘he’ conveys the unintentional message that
professors can only be men and not women, which could be taken as an
offense. Such offensive pronouns can be avoided in the following ways:
1. Avoid the usage of pronouns completely
For example, “you need to consult your professor on that subject, but a
specialist in the area of Finance is required.”
2. Repeat the noun
For example, “you need to consult your professor on that subject, but
the professor has to be a specialist in the area of Finance.”
3. Use a plural noun
For example, “you need to consult some of your professors on that
subject, but they have to be specialists in the area of Finance.”
(The use of ‘they’ avoids implying that professors can be only men).
4. Use pronouns from both genders
For example, you need to consult your professor on that subject, but he
or she has to be a specialist in the area of Finance.
Another principle regarding use of pronouns is to avoid excessive use of the
first person pronoun ‘I’, since this gives the impression that one is always

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talking about oneself. Never sound too pleased with yourself or boast of
your own achievements. This is especially true of business writing, where it
is important to be objective, rather than subjective.
The second person pronoun ‘you’ also needs to be used with care. A rule of
thumb is to use the second person pronoun when emphasising a positive
idea or message and to avoid the second person when presenting a
negative idea.
The following two sentences illustrate the usage of second person pronoun:
1. ‘You’ made a good presentation.
2. ‘You’ made a number of mistakes in the report.
The first sentence contains a positive idea. Therefore, the second person
pronoun should be used, since it gives credit to the person who made the
presentation. But, the second sentence contains a negative idea and
emphasises that ‘you’ are responsible. This should be avoided by framing
the sentence differently, such as “The report contained a number of
mistakes.”
Verbs
Since verbs are action words and action is an essential part of a sentence,
correct use of verbs is important. Senders of messages must use verbs that
agree in number with the subjects of the sentence.
The following sentences illustrate the misuse and the correct use of verbs in
sentences:
1. Only one of the students ‘are’ present. (Wrong usage)
Only one of the students ‘is’ present. (Right usage)
2. Each of the following reports ‘have’ been modified. (Wrong usage)
Each of the following reports ‘has’ been modified. (Right usage)
Note that the singular form of the verb and not the plural should be used in
both the above sentences, to agree with the subject, which is in singular
form (‘Only one’ and ‘Each’).
Verbs must also agree in person. The most common errors are made in
agreement with the third person and the second person. For example, the
following two sentences illustrate the usage of verbs in agreement with
person:

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1. He ‘don’t’ like to work late. (Wrong)

He ‘doesn’t’ like to work late. (Correct)
2. You ‘was’ informed that the exams begin next week. (Wrong)
You ‘were’ informed that the exams begin next week. (Correct)
Thirdly, since verbs indicate the time of action – past, present or future, they
should be used in the correct tenses. The tenses should also be used
consistently.
The following sentences illustrate the misuse of tenses:
1. He ‘listens’ to the presentation and ‘gave’ his feedback.
2. The manager ‘spoke’ to the customer, but ‘does not respond’ to his
complaint.
In both the sentences, it is not clear whether the event is past or present,
since the tenses are not used uniformly. It is better to use two present tense
verbs or two past tense verbs, but not one of each in the same sentence.
Thus the sentences 1 and 2 can be written as follows:
1. He ‘listens’ to the presentation and ‘gives’ his feedback.
2. The manager ‘spoke’ to the customer but ‘did not respond’ to his
complaint.
Adjectives
Adjectives give information about or describe nouns. Although they play a
less important role in a sentence compared to verbs and nouns, they must
be used with care. A common tendency is to use very strong adjectives, too
many adjectives, or superlatives.
The following sentences illustrate the misuse of adjectives:
1. Sales this year have been absolutely ‘incredible’.
2. That is the most ‘wonderful’, ‘powerful’ and ‘moving’ speech that I have
heard in a long time.
3. Ours is the ‘best’ product in the market today.
In the first sentence, if a sales report is being written or presented, it would
be better to give details about sales figures, rather than describe sales as
‘incredible’. In the second sentence, a single adjective could have been
used in place of three adjectives, which are too many. The third example is

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a claim that needs to be defined (i.e., best in what way?), or supported with
adequate proof.
Adverbs
In the same way that adjectives describe nouns, adverbs describe or modify
verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Therefore, the same principles apply
when using adverbs – i.e., avoid use of adverbs that are too strong, or are
superlatives. For example, consider the following sentences:
1. Sales have been ‘fantastically’ high this year.
The adverb ‘fantastically’ describes the adjective ‘high’ and is too strong
to be credible.
2. This secretary types the ‘fastest’.
Here, the adverb ‘fastest’ describes the verb ‘types’ and is a superlative,
which is to be avoided, unless it can be defined or supported with proof.

Self Assessment Questions

3. The expression “Her voice was silky smooth” is an example of a
metaphor. (True/False)
4. It is better to use the word 'interrogate' rather than 'ask'. (True/False)
5. A message will be understood more clearly if ____________ nouns are
used as subjects in a sentence.
5.2.3 Active vs. passive voice
In the previous sub-section we studied the correct usage of verbs. Verbs
may also be classified as ‘active verbs’ and ‘passive verbs.’ Using the
‘active voice’ means that the subject is the doer of the action and that the
verb is active. On the other hand, a sentence in ‘passive voice’ means that
the subject is the receiver of the action and that the verb is passive. For
example consider the following sentences:
1. John ‘wrote’ the report. (Active voice)
2. The report ‘was written’ by John. (Passive voice)
Note that in the first sentence, the use of the active voice draws attention to
the doer of the action namely ‘John’. This gives a sharper picture to the
receiver of the message. In the second sentence, the subject, i.e., the
‘report’, is emphasised more than the doer of the action, giving a less clear
picture to the receiver.

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In most cases, the active voice is preferable to the passive, since it conveys
ideas more vividly. However, there are instances when use of the passive
voice is more appropriate. They are as follows:
 When the doer of the action has to be subordinated, rather than
highlighted – For example, this is the case when writing research
reports. It is more important to emphasise what has been done, rather
than who has done it. Therefore, it would be better to say “A
questionnaire was prepared and interviews were conducted among a
small sample.” rather than saying “I prepared a questionnaire and
conducted interviews among a small sample” This makes the report
more objective, rather than subjective.
 When a unpleasant or negative idea has to be subordinated –
Generally, negative thoughts should be de-emphasised and not
highlighted. The passive voice is useful in such cases, as illustrated in
the following sentences:
o The corrections in the report have not been carried out. (Passive
voice)
o You have not carried out the corrections in the report. (Active voice)
The first sentence downplays a negative idea – the fact that the changes in
the report have not been included and is therefore less annoying to the
receiver than the second. Expressing the same idea in active voice may
seem like pointing fingers at the doer of the action and is likely to upset
human relations.
5.2.4 Spelling and punctuation
The important point to remember with regard to spelling is the difference
between British English and American English. Certain words are spelt
differently in British and American English. Table 5.2 illustrates some of
these differences.
Table 5.2: Some Differences in Spellings between British and
American English
British American
Humour Humor
Colour Color
Analyse Analyze
Organisation Organization
Programme Program
Centre Center
Cheque Check

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Generally British spellings should be used, unless you are addressing an

American audience. In any case, either British or American spellings should
be uniformly used and not mixed together, in order to ensure greater
readability.
Another common mistake made with spellings is to confuse the noun form
with the verb form. Table 5.3 shows the differences in spellings of the noun
and verb form of some words.
Table 5.3: Differences in Spellings of Noun and Verb Form
Noun Verb
Licence License
Advice Advise
Practice Practise

Some words may sound the same but have different meanings when spelt
differently. Some words may include a single vowel that makes them sound
different and have very different meanings. It is important not to get
confused with the spellings of such words.
For example,
1. ‘Compliment’ means to praise someone, whereas ‘complement’ means
to go with (for example, “your jewellery complements your outfit”).
2. ‘Stationery’ refers to paper, pencils, etc., whereas ‘stationary’ means ‘still
or not moving’.
Punctuation
Correct use of punctuation is important in both general writing and business
writing. Let us now discuss the main categories of punctuation and their
uses.
Apostrophe
Apostrophe is used to form the possessive singular form of words. For
example, ‘the Company’s profits’.
 It is used to form the possessive plural of words ending in ‘s’. For
example, ‘the dealers’ margin’.
 It is used in expressions that indicate ownership. For example, ‘last
year’s record’.

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Parentheses or Brackets
Parentheses or brackets can be used to separate a phrase from the main
section of a sentence, when it is not related to it grammatically. For
example, “The Indian team tried their best (God knows it) but lost in the
finals.”
Colon
Colon is used to suggest that a list will follow a statement in sentence form.
For example, ”For three reasons, we have decided to expand our market: 1)
2) 3).”
Comma
Comma is used for the following purposes:
 To separate words in a series. For example, “The main punctuation
categories are the full stop, the comma, the colon, the semi colon and
the apostrophe.”
 To separate two adjectives that modifies the same noun. For example,
“The MBA exam is a long, difficult and objective type exam.”
Dash
Dash is used to separate the words in a sentence which are not necessary
for its structure. For example,
“His answer – the correct answer – was supported by examples drawn from
his own experience.”
Full stop or period
Full stop or period is used:
 at the end of a sentence.
 after abbreviations. For example, Dr., No., Jr., etc.
Quotation marks
Quotation marks are used for the following purposes:
 To enclose what is stated by others, verbatim. For example, the
manager said, “I will review your progress every month.”
 To enclose titles of magazine and newspaper articles. For example,
“Progress in Stem Cell Research.”

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Semicolon
Semicolon is used to express a pause that is longer than that expressed by
a comma and is used to separate clauses of a compound sentence when
they have a comma.
For example, “We would like the material to be delivered in the morning
hours, but before 5 pm will also be convenient.” (Without using semicolon)
“We would like the material to be delivered in the morning hours; but if this is
not possible for you, before 5 pm will also be convenient.” (Using semicolon)
5.2.5 Common errors in English
‘Indian English’ tends to be prone to some common mistakes which should
be avoided, in order to make the communication clear and easily
understood by the receiver. Some of these mistakes include ‘redundancies’,
‘clichés’ and ‘frequently misused words’. We will discuss each of these
briefly.
Redundancies
Redundancies refer to phrases which contain repetitive or unnecessary
words to express the same meaning. This is a common mistake that occurs
across the world and must be avoided.
Consider the following sentences:
1. In the first class, the professor taught the ‘basic fundamentals’ of
Marketing.
2. I have to ‘return back’ home before midnight.
The phrases ‘basic fundamentals’ and ‘return back’ are redundancies. In the
first sentence, ‘basic’ is an unnecessary word, since fundamentals
themselves are basic; in the second sentence, it is sufficient to say ‘return
home’ and ‘back’ is an unnecessary word.
A few more examples are:
 True facts
 Past history
 Exactly identical
 Personal opinion
 Other alternative

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A redundancy does not serve any purpose and is a mistake since it wastes
words.
Clichés
Clichés are phrases that are overused and should be avoided, since they
make reading monotonous. They should be substituted with more original
expressions.
Some commonly used clichés are:
1. ‘Last but not least’, I would like to thank all the students for attending this
session.
2. ‘Thanking you in advance’, I remain ….
3. Looking forward to meeting and discussing this with you ‘at an early
date’.
4. ‘No problem’.
In the first sentence, ‘last but not least’, which is a worn expression, could
be substituted by ‘finally’. The cliché ‘thanking you in advance’ is
presumptuous, since it assumes that the reader will do whatever has been
asked. It seems to say that instead of thanking later, you will save time by
expressing your thanks now. Therefore, it is better to say ‘I shall appreciate
your (action)’ or ‘If you will (action), I shall be grateful.’ In the third example,
the expression ‘at an early date’ is too vague and should be substituted with
‘soon’ or with a specific date. The fourth example ‘No problem’ is a cliché
used commonly by Indians. Although it denies that there is a problem, the
problem exists. You might have said for example, that you did not have
enough cash to pay for something, in response to which the shopkeeper
may have said ‘No problem, we accept credit cards’. Therefore this
expression is avoidable.

Frequently misused words

Certain words which sound similar or are spelt slightly different, tend to
be used in the wrong context. Some examples are as follows:
1. ‘All together’ and ‘altogether’ – ‘All together’ means ‘in one group’,
whereas ‘altogether’ means ‘completely’.
For example,
The answer is ‘altogether’ wrong.

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The students were ‘all together’.

2. ‘Already’ and ‘all ready’ – ‘Already’ means ‘at a previous time’,
whereas ‘all ready’ means ‘everything is ready’.
For example,
He had ‘already’ left when I called.
The computers are ‘all ready’ to be used.
3. ‘Eminent’ and ‘imminent’ – ‘Eminent’ means ‘well known’, ‘imminent’
means ‘about to happen’.
For example,
An ‘eminent’ lawyer will handle the matter.
A midterm election is ‘imminent’.
4. ‘Lose’ and ‘loose’ – ‘Lose’ means ‘to fail to keep carefully’, ‘loose’
means ‘not tight’.
For example,
Don’t ‘lose’ the money.
The shirt is too ‘loose’ for him.
5. ‘Principal’ and ‘principle’ – ‘Principal’ means ‘main or primary’,
‘principle’ means ‘rule.’
For example
The ‘principal’ reason for leaving early is the peak hour
traffic. One of the subjects studied in the first semester of MBA is
‘Principles’ of Management.

Self Assessment Questions

6. Match the following sets:
Set A
A) Semicolon
B) Colon
C) Quotation marks
D) Apostrophe

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Set B
1) Suggest that a list will follow a statement in sentence form.
2) Used to separate clauses of a compound sentence
3) Used to form the possessive plural of words
4) Used to enclose title of an article
7. A redundancy does not serve any purpose and is a mistake since it
wastes words. (True/False)
8. The phrase 'Thanking you in advance’ is an example for redundancy.
(True/False)

5.3 Principles of Business Writing

Having dealt with writing in general, we will now discuss the specifics of
business writing. As pointed out earlier, the language, style and tone of
business writing is very different from general writing. Therefore, we will
examine these aspects in detail.
5.3.1 Tone
We discussed tone of voice or ‘paralanguage’, in Unit 2. You learnt that the
spoken words, however perfect, can convey a negative message, if the tone
of voice is not consistent with what is said. Tone is equally important in
conveying written messages, particularly business related messages.
In written communication, tone refers to the way a statement sounds, which
in turn, depends on the choice of words. A sentence or statement may be
grammatically perfect, but may convey a negative message, if the choice of
words is wrong.
For example, “You failed to meet the sales target”.
This statement has a negative tone, since it emphasises what could not be
achieved. The same idea could be expressed in a more positive tone, by
emphasising what could have been done instead.
For example, “With a little extra effort, you could have achieved the target”.
This example shows that even a negative idea can be expressed in positive
language through the use of appropriate words.
The tone of business communication should also be confident. You should
avoid language that makes you sound unsure of yourself.

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For example, “I hope you will agree that my qualifications match your job
profile”.
Beginning the sentence with ‘I hope’ creates the impression that you lack
confidence in yourself. It might be better to say “On reviewing my bio-data,
you will find that my qualifications match your job needs in the following
respects…”
While it is important to be self assured, avoid sounding over confident and
pompous.
For example, “I am sure you will agree that our Company has the best
reputation for quality and service”.
Instead, you can write the same as “We shall try to live up to our reputation
for quality and service.”
Another aspect of tone is to sound courteous and sincere. This builds
goodwill and good relations and increases the likelihood of a message
achieving its objectives. Avoid statements such as the following:
You sent your complaint to the wrong department. You should have sent it
to the shipping department.
This sounds very discourteous and rude when responding to a customer
complaint. Instead, it might be better to say “We have sent your complaint to
the concerned department, which will be contacting you shortly.”
Sincerity also means avoiding exaggeration and flattery, especially when
communicating with customers. Consider the following examples:
1. We are more interested in your satisfaction, than in making profits.
2. You are such a valued customer that we shall go to any lengths to earn
your satisfaction.
The first sentence sounds insincere, since the main objective of any
organisation is to make profits. The second sentence is exaggerated and
unduly flatters the customer. It should be toned down by saying something
such as “We value your goodwill and will make quick efforts to ensure your
satisfaction.”
Finally, the tone of business writing should be non-discriminatory. This
means that the language that is used should not be offensive, irrespective of
gender, religion or race.

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One way of ensuring this is to avoid ‘sexist language’ by using neutral job
titles, or titles that do not imply that a job is held only by a man.
For example,
‘Chairperson’, instead of ‘Chairman.’
‘Salesperson’, instead of ‘Salesman.’
If the reader’s gender is not known, use a non-sexist salutation such as
‘Dear Customer, Investor, or Advertiser’, instead of ‘Dear Sir or Madam.’
Personal titles and salutations such as ‘Dr.’, ‘Professor’, etc., should be
used wherever appropriate.
5.3.2 Emphasis and subordination
A business writer can be compared to an artist or a musician. Just like an
artist or a musician, a business writer too tries to make certain elements
stand out and others to get little attention. An important principle of business
writing is to emphasise important ideas and to downplay unimportant ideas,
so as to make the reader understand what you consider to be significant.
Generally, pleasant and important thoughts are emphasised, while
unpleasant and insignificant thoughts are subordinated or de-emphasised.
The techniques that a business writer can use for emphasis are:
 Place the idea in the first paragraph or in the last paragraph, in order to
get attention.
 Put the word that you wish to emphasise first or last in the sentence.
For example, ‘Success’ comes through sincere efforts. ‘Failure’ will result
without them.
Or, the event was a ‘success’. Without your efforts, it would have been a
‘failure’.
 Use the active voice to emphasise the doer of the action and the passive
voice to emphasise the receiver of the action.
For example, ‘John’ made the presentation. (Active)
‘The presentation’ was made by John. (Passive)
 Use words such as ‘primary’, ‘major’ and ‘significant’ to lay emphasis.
For example, “Cost is a ‘significant’ factor to be taken into
consideration.”

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 Use repetition.
For example, “The Tata Nano is an ‘inexpensive’ car. It is ‘inexpensive’
to purchase and ‘inexpensive’ to maintain.”
 Number the ideas, so as to rank them in the order of importance.
For example, The main reasons for his poor performance are – 1) Lack
of training 2) Lack of team skills and 3) Lack of motivation.
 Use visual elements such as bold type, capital letters, bigger font size
and underlined words to emphasise key ideas.
For example, “The Reva electric car is ‘25% LESS POLLUTING’ than
other cars”.
 Use compare and contrast to convey the similarities and differences.
For example, “Although oranges and apples grow in trees, oranges are
citric fruits”.
 Use parallelism, where a noun is listed with other nouns, an -ing form
with other -ing forms, etc.
For example,
Sentence 1: Tom plays the piano.
Sentence 2: Tom plays the violin.
Parallelism: Tom plays the piano and the violin.
Another point to be remembered regarding emphasis in business writing is
to stress what is known as the ‘you attitude’, rather than the ‘me attitude.’
This means explaining the benefits to the reader, understanding his situation
and answering his unspoken question ‘How is it relevant to me?’
For example, instead of saying, ‘Our bank will be open 24 hours’, say ‘You
will be able to avail round-the-clock banking service.
5.3.3 Write at an appropriate level of readability
The third very important rule of business writing is to tailor your writing to
your audience and to make it simple enough for even a layperson to read
and understand.
As pointed out in an earlier section, readability is determined by the length
of words and sentences. Robert Gunning developed what is known as the
‘Fog Index’ or a readability formula to measure the readability of a piece of
writing. According to this formula, the appropriate reading level in business
writing should be between 8 and 11.
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Calculation of the Fog Index involves the following steps:

1. Select a written passage of approximately 100 words.
2. Calculate the average length of a sentence by dividing the total number
of words in the passage by the number of sentences.
3. Find the number of difficult words. A word may be defined as difficult if it
contains three or more syllables (example, ‘communication’). Determine
the number of difficult words per hundred, by dividing the total number of
words in the passage into the number of difficult words, then by
multiplying this figure by 100.
4. Add the number of difficult words per hundred and the average sentence
length.
5. Multiply the figure obtained in step 4 by 0.4, to calculate the reading
grade level for which the passage was written, or the Fog Index.
Ideally, the Fog Index should be between 8 and 11 for most business
writing, indicating that a reader between the eighth grade and the eleventh
grade should be able to understand it without difficulty.

Activity 1:
Select an article from any business publication and measure its
readability by calculating the Fog Index. Is the level of readability
appropriate for the audience?
(Refer sub-section 5.3.3 for detailed guidelines)

Common parallelism mistakes made:

1. We often forget to complete the second construction.
For example, “Sheela likes to run and swim”. The correct sentence is
“Sheela likes to run and to swim”.
2. We do not maintain consistency in the pronouns and verbs used.
For example, “Raju wanted a cookie, but the last one was eaten by
Ram”. The correct sentence is “Raju wanted a cookie, but Ram ate
the last one”.

Self Assessment Questions

9. Using the passive voice is a technique of _____________________.

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10. Readability is determined by ______________ ________________.

11. According to 'Fog Index' formula, the appropriate reading level in
business writing should be between eight and eleven. (True/False)

5.4 Summary
Let us recapitulate the important concepts discussed in this unit:
 The three stages of writing methodology, prewriting, writing and review
must be followed to make written communication more effective.
 It is a good practise to choose proper words to make the writing more
effective.
 You have to avoid the use of complicated words, use of jargon, slang
and colourful language while writing.
 You must be very careful while using the parts of speech - nouns,
pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adjectives and adverbs as incorrect usage
can lead to misunderstanding.
 Proper and correct use of active voice, passive voice, spellings and
punctuations help to minimise the ambiguity and confusion during
written communication. They also increase the effectiveness in
communication.
 Right use of tone, emphasis and subordination adds value to the
communication and increase the clarity.
 Tailor your writing to ensure that you communicate to your audience
using minimum, simple and effective words.

5.5 Glossary
Concise: Expressing much in a few words or brief and compacted.
Courteous: Exhibiting courtesy and politeness.
Parallelism: Similarity of construction or meaning of clauses placed side by
side.
Phrase: Two or more words in sequence that form a syntactic unit that is
less than a complete sentence.
Presumptuous: Going beyond what is right or proper.

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5.6 Terminal Questions

1. Explain briefly the four steps of the review process.
2. Select any piece of general writing from a newspaper or magazine, of
approximately 250 words in length. Evaluate it by determining the
number of simple and complicated words, the correct usage of parts of
speech and the use of jargon, slang and metaphors. Is it well or badly
written, in your opinion?
3. What are some of the consequences of spelling and punctuation errors,
redundancies, clichés and misuse of words?
4. How does general writing differ from business writing, in terms of
language, style and tone?

5.7 Answers

Self Assessment Questions

1. Prewriting
2. False. You check for wordiness, long sentences, complex and
incomplete sentences when you review for micro issues.
3. True
4. False. As it is better to rely on plain and simple words, it is better to use
the word 'ask' rather than 'interrogate'.
5. Concrete
6. A - 2, B - 1, C -4, D - 3
7. True
8. False. The phrase 'Thanking you in advance’ is an example for clichés.
9. Subordination/de-emphasis
10. Sentence length/word length
11. True

Terminal Questions
1. The four steps of the review process are: review for strategy, review for
macro issues, review for micro issues and review for correctness. For
more details, refer sub-section 5.2.1.
2. Writing style can be vastly improved through the choice of words. Some
of the common problems of word choice include use of complicated
words, use of jargon, slang and colourful language and mistakes in
various parts-of-speech categories. For more details refer sub-section
5.2.2.

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3. The important point to be remembered with regard to spelling is the

difference between British English and American English. Some words
are spelt differently in British and American English. For more details
refer sub-sections 5.2.4 and 5.2.5.
4. Business writing must focus on important ideas and downplay
unimportant ideas, to make the reader understand what you consider to
be significant. For more details refer sections 5.2 and 5.3.

5.8 Case Study

FOCs Written Communication Programme

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) initiated a programme,
Professional Skills for Government (PSG) to develop professional skills for
its civil service employees. This aimed to motivate the employees and
foster long term goals of improvement by imparting skill in the employees
to carry out their work effectively.
Objectives of the Programme
FCO identified effective written communication as the most important skill
that all employees had to master depending on their grade and
responsibilities. The main objectives of the communication skill
enhancement programme were to:
 Review and adopt key principles of effective writing.
 Add value to written communication skills of each employee.
 Minimise the time spent on redrafting documents.
Challenges
Some of the most important challenges to achieve the objectives were:
 To gain the interest and attention of the employees at all levels.
 To ensure that all the current guidelines of FCO for drafting and writing
are incorporated into the programme.
 To adopt follow-on coaching sessions to each employee’s personal
objectives.
Solutions
To meet the objectives and overcome the challenges the following
strategies were adopted in the training programmes:

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 Two programmes ‘Effective Writing’ and ‘Writing with Impact’ were

planned and carried out. These programmes were developed
considering employees at different levels.
 In order to develop specific skills, two follow-up individual coaching
sessions are offered to each employee. The employees work closely
with the trainer and they use authentic business documents to ensure
that the required skill are targeted appropriately during the training.
Result
The employees showed great interest and regularly attended the
programme. Employees' confidence and accuracy in written
communication increased. This has decreased the repeated redrafting of
documents and improved efficiency.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are the written communication programme objectives of FCO?
(Hint: Refer to section ‘Objectives of the Programme’ in the Case
Study)
2. How did FCO’s written communication programme overcome the
challenges to meet the objectives?
(Hint: Refer to section ‘Solution’ in the Case Study)
(Source:
[Link]
-%20FCO%20Case%[Link])

References:
 Guffey, M.E., & Loewy, D. (2011). Business communication: Process
and product, 7th ed. USA: South-Western Cengage Learning.
 Munter, M. (2011). Guide to Managerial Communication, 8th ed. India:
Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd.
E-References:
 [Link] –
Retrieved on January 10, 2012.
 [Link]
STEPS%20OF%20THE%20WRITING%[Link] – Retrieved
on January 11, 2012.
 [Link]
%20-%20FCO%20Case%[Link] - Retrieved on January 12, 2012.
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