1. Business Writing Techniques
Dr. Manishankar Chakraborty
Business Studies Department
Ibra College of Technology

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Contents
• Introduction
• Differences in Business Writing
• Sample
• Factors
• Activity-1
• Tips
• Activity 3 and Activity 4
• References

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Introduction
• Formal writing
• For official purpose
• Follows a pattern
• Challenges posed by internet
• Presentable to all officials
• Conducive to working environs

4. How is Business Writing
Different?
• Objective
• Audience- Different stakeholders, different approach
• Pattern
• Mode-Soft, Hard, Both
• Output to be achieved
• Any other?
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5. The Ten Commandments
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Sample this and Comment
• Hey Ali,
• What’s up dude? I was thinking about discussing our next project with you, but
gosh, I found that you are still working on the old consignment to be delivered
to our client from the UAE! Can we sit together and put our heads together to
see the fruition of the existing work as it would affect our individual
performance not to forget the impact, it would have on the team and
organization as a whole.
• Awaiting your positive response,
• Lovingly,
• Abdullah
• Bcc- Team Lead

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Factors to be considered in
Business Writing
• The objective
• The clarity
• Hierarchy of the sender
• Hierarchy of the receiver
• Relationship
• Initiator of the Communication
• Responder of the Communication

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Factors to be considered in
Business Writing
• The starting
• The body
• The closing
• Importance
• Acknowledgement and its
importance
• Punctuation
• Format-Standard/Customized

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Factors to be considered in
Business Writing
• Mode-Hard, Soft or Both
• Language
• Simplicity
• The Communication Loop

10. Soft Vs. Hard form
Parameters Hard form Soft Form
Initiation Mostly Formal Generally Informal
Format Prescribed format
followed from top to
bottom
Often chopped according
to the whims and fancies
of the communicators
Language Mostly text-book style New generation words,
spellings
Length Generally lengthy Mostly Crisp and Short
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Activity-1
• Imagine no standard format is
available and you are willing to
communicate with our college dean in
order to travel owing to some
emergency back home.
• Write an application for the same.

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Tips for business writing
• Starting by using short declarative sentence
• Substituting long words with small ones (use
Vs utilize)
• Self-editing a must
• Removing unwanted words or phrases
• Refraining from using foreign
words/phrases/idioms/jargons
• Emailed communication should be crisp with
the objective written clearly
• Using plain English
• Being specific rather than beating around the
bush

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Tips for business writing
• Curbing enthusiasm-Overusing exclamation!
• Choosing professional sign offs like ‘Regards’
• Using active verbs rather than passive ones, E.g.
‘Robin called the meeting’ and not ‘The meeting was
called by Robin’
• Using straight forward sentence structure- ‘Subject-
Verb-Object’ for better understanding
• Choosing pronouns wisely and not hesitating to use
‘me’, rather than ‘Franklin and myself’
• Common grammatical mistakes should be avoided-
• ‘Subject-Verb agreement’ as ‘number of subjects
decides the number of verb’

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Tips for business writing
• Singular verb form after ‘Nobody, someone, everybody’
• Knowing when to use ‘that’ and ‘which’-That
introduces ‘essential information’ and which
introduces ‘extra information’
• E.g. "Computers are the only products that we sell”
• E.g. "I'm interested in speaking with you about our
new product, which has the potential to increase
sales."
• Avoiding using ‘metaphors’ ‘smile’ or ‘other figure of
speech’ in emails
• Avoiding bookish language

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Activity 3,4 and 5
• Kindly go through the business writing
related sheets given to you as separate
attachments and identify the shortcomings
present therein.

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References
• Helen Coster, Ten Tips for Better Business Writing, accessed on 18th
May 2013, business portal,
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/03/better-business-writing-leadership-careers-tips.html
• Ten Commandments, Accessed on 19th
May 2013, Google Image,
http://www.google.com.om/search?
q=images+of+business+writing&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=58eZUb6HGtD
MrQfoy4HQCQ&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=976#imgrc=zElJIv9CB9zyM%3A
%3BhQRkuoWZL9ZK8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwritingtraining.files.wordpress.com
%252F2013%252F02%252Fmagneto-ten-commandments-of-business-writing.jpg%3Bhttp
%253A%252F%252Fwritingtraining.wordpress.com
%252F2013%252F02%252F08%252Finfographic-10-commandments-of-business-writing%252F
%3B1240%3B1753

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Finally…..
• Writing is a way to express ones mind, so
one needs to be careful while jotting down
the thought, both in the personal and
professional life!
• Happy Writing!!!
• Floor open for discusssion.