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Causing delays
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Creating costly misunderstandings
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Derailing otherwise promising careers
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Sabotaging sales
Business and HR executives call us when poor writing isÂ
Today, writing is more central to business success than everÂ
We live in a world where an employee’s e-mail skills can make or break relationships with colleagues and customers. In our experience, the most natural way to improve employee writing is to focus on the real-life assignments your employees are wrestling with right now. We help your employees understand the writing process in depth so they can tackle projects with confidence.
Business Writing Beliefs
Not everyone receives the one-to-one writing instruction in college that's required to develop strong writing skills. You've probably seen some careers derailed by weak writing. There may be someone in your organization today who's being passed over due to problems in the writing department.
That's why we launched Business Writing Mentor. We know writing can be hard. We focus on business writing because we believe it's the most difficult among business communication skills. Unlike a conversation, it doesn't provide instant feedback. And errors (such as a typo in an e-mail) tend to stick around. And when a person can write well, other communication skills typically improve. We mentor young writers and help mid-career executives who can gain from partnering with a career business writer.
To our way of thinking, the strongest business relationships are the ones where there is a connection about beliefs. To help you figure out if we're on the same page, we're sharing some of our beliefs below.
Writing is complicated. In fact, the word “writing” refers to a series of complex processes. These processes can include idea generation, research, thinking, organization, composition/drafting, editing and proofreading.
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Writing can be messy. It’s not unusual to begin a writing assignment only to discover a gap in your research that needs to be filled. You may find yourself needing to draft an additional section (or two).
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Writing is best taught by focusing on your employees' real-world writing needs.
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There are a lot of ways writing can go wrong. Getting any one of the following items wrong can derail your message: Lack of clarity, poor organization, misunderstanding your audience, grammar, spelling, etc.
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Writing often benefits from a rest. Thinking often crystallizes after a draft is put away for a day (or two).
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Sticking to plain language is the right approach for most communications. However, it typically takes time to boil ideas down to their essence.
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Stories can be both memorable and powerful. If you can use a story to deliver your message, that’s a big plus.
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It takes time to develop new writing skills. A one- or two-day writing seminar doesn’t cut it.
If you see a connection between our beliefs and yours,
give us a call at 1-844-267-9223.
Or use the Contact form to send us an email.
Getting Results
To get results from business writing, it needs to combine a number of qualities. We help your employees build these qualities into every communication.
A Strong Start
A beginning that points to the main findings, recommendations, or ideas to follow is important for two reasons. It increases the depth of readership by engaging readers. It also increases the quality of readership. When readers know what to look for, they can proceed more intelligently to read the rest of the report, letter or memo.
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Appropriate Persuasion Strategy
Before you write, you’ll want to appraise the attitudes of your audience. Then decide which facts and arguments go first, what points last.
Effective Organization
Whether your report or memo is long or short, you need to help your readers to see how the thoughts relate to one another. Facts should be grouped logically. First points should be separated from second points. Changes in direction should be indicated, just as sharp curves in a road are indicated by signs that let drivers know what to anticipate.
Convincing Analysis
Examine the writer-reader situation in much the same way that you did in planning your persuasion strategy. Choose words that will be heard in the way you intend.
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Coherence
See that the first sentence of each paragraph indicates plainly what the rest of the paragraph is about. By the same token, see that the first paragraph in a long series fulfills a similar role. Use pronouns to keep the viewpoint clear in a paragraph. Use conjunctions and transitions to clarify relationships between people and things.
Clarity
You can also gain clarity by working over each sentence in your document. Are there unnecessarily abstract or long words? Are the subjects and verbs reasonably close together? Do the pronouns have clear antecedents?
Correctness
Correct usage is important because it enables you to be more precise and because it reassures readers that you regard them highly enough to devote time to the “little points” of usage. On the flip side, errors can cast doubt on the most carefully worked out argument.
Effective Style
Your style should reflect you—the way you talk, the way you think, the way you look at situations.
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When these qualities are present in your writing, you will have a much better chance of reaching your goals.
Services
It's all about helping your employees improve their writing skills.
Business Writing Mentor offers a range of services to help your employees make their writing more effective
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Writing feedback - We provide constructive feedback, identifying areas for improvement in terms of content, structure, and clarity.
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Writing process guidance - We help employees refine their writing process, offering tips for research, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing.
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Skill development - We work with employees to improve specific skills, such as grammar, structure, or style.
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Customized support - We expect to tailor our services to your organization's needs, working with you to address your specific goals and challenges.
About
Business Writing Mentor helps employees in business, government, and nonprofit settings improve their writing skills. When communication is clear, productivity goes up.
The founder of Business Writing Mentor has written hundreds of communications that persuaded prospects to become customers. Or strengthened relationships with current customers. Or won back ex-customers. He has helped grow brands including Dreyfus, LexisNexis, McGraw-Hill, OppenheimerFunds, Scholastic, S&P Global, TIAA and more.
Business Writing Mentor is run by a professional business writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience at advertising and public relations agencies and in Fortune 500 marketing departments. Our goal is to share our hard-earned knowledge with people who could use help communicating with colleagues and customers.
Our teaching experience includes adjunct positions at Baruch College (CUNY), Marymount Manhattan College and the Sy Syms School of Business (Yeshiva University). In terms of education, the founder earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a master’s (English and Secondary Education) from Hunter College.
Resources
Some of our favorite resources for business writers follow:
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Business Writing books: Recommended titles include “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser, “The Only Business Writing Book You'll Ever Need” by Laura Brown, and “HBR Guide to Better Business Writing” by Bryan A. Garner. ​
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Writing Websites: These blogs and websites offer valuable insights and tips: Grammarly Blog, The Write Life, Copyblogger, and Harvard Business Review’s “Writing Skills” section. ​
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Business Publications: Reading is a sure way to improve your writing. Publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Harvard Business Review showcase good writing for business audiences. ​​ ​ ​
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Style Guides: Your communication department probably adheres to The Associated Press Stylebook or The Chicago Manual of Style. These guides provide guidelines for grammar, punctuation, and style.
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In summary, regular practice and regular reading lead to improved business writing skills.
Contact
Yes, we may be able to use the services of a business writing mentor around here. Let's schedule a free consultation to see if it makes sense to work together.