Good corporate writing – some tips

These were used by me at an in-house talk in Sydney in May 2009. They may not make sense if you weren’t there.

1. Basics

• Why – purpose, objectives
• Who – audiences (personalise it – your friend, mum, co-worker)
• When, where – context (when and how will it be read)
• Get a style guide – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide
• Read and write – there’s no substitute for practice

2. Make it easy – write for scanners not just readers

• Short and simple sentences
• Active tense (more direct, clearer), passive tense can look sneaky, weak
• Avoid clauses – they make your prose sag
• Use anglo-saxon words wherever possible
• Slang, jargon, clichés and metaphors – relevant not repetitive
• Flow – consistency and variation
• Avoid common mistakes – apostrophes, principle / principal

3. Construction

• Don’t bury the lead, be obvious
• Use your messages – sub-headings, first paragraphs
• Write down the skeleton of your argument – is it convincing? Is it ‘interesting’ – dog bites man or man bites dog
• Anticipate counter-arguments – cover but don’t engage
• Key information – who, what, where, when and how
• What comes next – Daniel Barenboim

4. Tone

• Audience and purpose
• Authoritative, inclusive – avoid the negative
• Don’t overclaim, hype or exaggerate
• Don’t plead, always demonstrate confidence by staying positive

5. Substantiate

• Use facts – numbers, examples, anecdotes, case studies
• Just use the essence, the illuminating detail
• Explain don’t assume

6. Revision

• Hemmingway: “no great writers, only great re-writers”
• Look for possible ambiguities, misinterpretations
• Read it out aloud
• Get others to review it for you
• Concision & precision make all the difference