CHOOSING YOUR WORDS: WRITING FOR IMPACT

We talked about the planning of our messages and choosing our medium; now we are ready to take on
the composition—it’s time to start putting our ideas together. We need to think about organization and
we need to think about our word choices.

When you are writing for business purposes, you must make sure that your audience will be able to see
what you are trying to accomplish (what your purpose is) and how it can be done (help the reader
respond). You will need a clearly organized document.

Later in the semester, we will discuss the various strategies and organizational plans business writers
can use to meet their objectives and satisfy their readers’ needs.

THINKING THROUGH WORD CHOICE

Business writers strive to use the 6Cs of communication when they compose any business message.
What are the 6Cs of communication? Well, your message must be:

*Clear—you must strive for clarity in your expression to

reduce the risk of misunderstanding.
THE 6 CS
*Complete—you should include enough detail, so the
*CLEAR
reader will not have to follow up, ask for more information, *COMPLETE
and/or engage in further correspondence. *CONCISE
*CONSISTENT
*Concise—you should eliminate needless words and *CORRECT
redundant expressions. Take a “say what you mean and *COURTEOUS
mean what you say” approach. Think quality rather than [Cite your source here.]
quantity when it comes to word choice.

*Consistent--you should treat similar items (lists, titles,

facts, figures) in similar ways to be consistent.

*Correct—you should be certain that your facts are correct. Make sure the word choice is exact
and the spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation are accurate.

*Courteous—Keep your target audience in mind when you write or say something. Use positive
words and tactful, inclusive language. Use formats that are easy and enticing to read.

The 6Cs can be accomplished by choosing your language carefully and wisely. Words, as we know, are
powerful. They can affect our emotions, our thoughts, and our relationships and actions. They can
motivate a nation or bring down a government. Bulwer-Lytton’s statement that "the pen is mightier
than the sword" may be quite appropriate.

CREATING MEANING THROUGH OUR WORDS

People create their meaning on two levels:

The denotative level—the meaning commonly found in the dictionary.

The connotative level—people create personal and subjective meanings for words based on their
own experiences.

A word that means one thing to someone may mean something else for another. School, for example,
may be merely a place to go to be educated for someone. To another, it might conjure up particular
images (positive or negative depending on his or her experiences there). Because word operate on these
two levels, misunderstanding can easily occur.

We will be putting our choices to the test in our business

communication. We need to write clearly and with
impact; we want to make sure our message is understood,
that it achieves its purpose, and it is ethical. We want to
succeed.

TIPS FOR CHOOSING WORD/LANGUAGE FOR

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Use Plain Language—use short, natural words like the words we use in our conversation. You
don't need to create overly complicated sentences (see video).

Be Specific (concrete versus abstract)—in business communication, use concrete terms

whenever possible; use abstract words only when necessary. Concrete words are direct, clear,
and exact.

Establish Your Credibility—avoid exaggerating; back up your position or your statements with
concrete details/facts. Also avoid creating doubt (words such as “we hope you understand…”
and “if you have questions…” may cause the reader to re-think their response to the message).

Check Your Usage (ensure accuracy)—make sure you are using the words that fit your meaning
exactly; use words that have the denotation you intended.

Avoid Jargon—jargon is the technical or professional terms associated with a particular industry,
trade, or field of study. Jargon is fine if you use it carefully and you are aware of your audience.
 Be Polite—being polite is a good way to earn your audience’s
respect and to prompt a response. When we speak, we can
soften our words through our tone of voice or through facial
expressions, but we can’t do that in written communication.
Choose your words carefully and re-read your message to assess
the tone.

Use Bias-free/Inclusive Language—good communicators make

every effort to correct biased language.

THINKING ABOUT STYLE AND TONE

We also need to control our style and tone. How can we do that? We can:

Avoid obsolete language—business language used to be much more formal than it is today, but
some out-of-date phrases still remain. You can avoid using such language if you stop and ask
yourself, “Would I say this if I were talking to someone face-to-face?”

Avoid false familiarity—don’t mention anything about anyone’s personal life unless you know
the individual very well. Avoid phrases such as “as you and I are well aware” and “just between
you and I.”

Avoid humour—using humour can backfire especially if you don’t know your audience well.

Be concise—eliminate clutter

Delete unnecessary words and phrases—some combinations of words have one-word

equivalents that are more efficient. Avoid using wordy phrases.

Eliminate redundancies—in some word combinations, the words tend to say the same
thing. For instance, “visible to the eye” is redundant because "visible" is enough. Try not
to repeat meanings.

Avoid which, who, that clauses

Avoid using the expletives (starting the sentence with an indefinite pronoun). Avoid
using “There is/There are”, “There was/There were”, “It is/”It was” to begin your
sentences. When you use such construction, the subject gets moved further into the
sentence, robbing it of energy and creating wordiness. Make sure your sentences start
with a strong subject.
 Use adjectives/adverbs sparingly (and avoid stacking--that is, putting two or three or
even four adjectives together when one carefully selected adjective will do).

Be forceful—but not rude

Use active voice rather than the passive.

Choose verbs over nouns (avoid camouflaged verbs…see video).

Make people the subject (the personality principle).

Use the “you-attitude”— speak and write in terms of your audience’s wishes,
interests, hopes, and preferences. On the simplest level, you replace terms that
refer to you and your company with terms that refer to your reader.

Avoid Clichés—they have become virtually meaningless. Readers will often skip
right past them.

Use concrete details and examples.

Make important ideas stand out.

Emphasize the positive—avoid being negative; instead say what you can do.

Avoid focusing on your needs as a writer--focus instead on reader benefits

(instead of saying "We need your donation...", you can say, "You can save an
animal's life...").

Avoid harsh language (words that sound harsh)—advertisers would not use the
words “toilet paper” in their ads, for example.

Once you have composed a draft of your message, set it aside for a while and then come back to look it
over with "fresh eyes" and engage in the revision stage. Check your document for its structure, for its
organization, and for its content. Check your word choices and then proofread, proofread, proofread!