7 Habits of Highly-Effective Business Writers - #3 - Concision

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Today we continue our series 7 Habits of Highly-Effective Business Writers.

Yesterday you learned the #4 habit - Accuracy.

The #3 highly-effective habit of business writers is Concision.

How to Write Concisely

A chief trait of business writing is brevity. 

Business professionals do not have time for a fan dance or verbose prose about your service, product, or general communication. 

In other words, get to the point!

There are three key ways to trim your flabby writing style.

1. Use concrete nouns and vivacious verbs while writing. (Or skip the adjectives and adverbs!)

Strong nouns and vivid verbs are more effective because they are specific, they are dramatic, and they create an image in the reader's mind.

Concrete nouns let your reader experience this group of nouns with the five senses: you see them, hear them, smell them, taste them, and feel them.

For example: Gorgonzola cheese

Gorgonzola cheese can be seen, has a distinct smell and taste, and its smoothness can be felt. Your reader's senses are activated by its mere mention.

Try vivacious verbs to add pop and sparkle to your language.

For example: The tall building fell down. (plain)

The burning tower crashed into the street below. (colorful, alive!)

Engage your reader. Create a mental image for the reader to envision your message.

Create impact and make your business message memorable!

2. Cut any fat redundancies.

Avoid saying the same thing two or more times!

For example:

Fat Redundancy	Slim
12 midnight	midnight
a total of 14 violations	14 violations
close proximity	proximity
consensus of opinion	consensus
cooperate together	cooperate
each and every	each
enclosed herewith	enclosed
end result	result

Created with the HTML Table Generator


3. Write in the active voice.

Let your nouns make action. Make your verbs sparkle with action.

Use dynamic verbs that turn the subject of a sentence into a doer in some sort of drama.

A vivid verb lies in the heart of every strong sentence. Make your words work for your business copy!

For example:

A huge tax increase is being voted on by the city commission on all rubber tires. (passive voice - there is no dynamic action!)

The city commission is voting on increasing taxes on all rubber tires.
(active voice - city commission is the subject, is voting is the vivid verb combo.) 

Use concrete nouns and vivacious verbs to illustrate your points to your reader.

Don't leave any doubt in the mind of your reader. 

Use mental visuals to convey your business message with precision and sell your product or service with force and reason!


Try this active voice exercise. 

Conclusion

Writing to business decision-makers requires skill, patience, and sharp wit to persuade readers to follow your suggested call-to-actions.

Concision is your key to expressing your business message in the least words possible.

For more business writing tips, check out the audio e-Clinic, How to Adjust Your Business Writing to the 21st Century. Start improving your business writing today!