Asterisks.com answers some frequently asked questions about English usage and provides links to online reference sources. For fun, we share some amusing blunders collected by editors.

How to give your business documents extra punch

Some pointers to help you write hard-hitting business documents:

• Time spent on planning your communications will pay dividends. Make a rough draft of what you want to write or say, so that you can experiment with various versions. Remember that language is important because the words you choose convey your attitudes as well as information. The impression you want to convey is one of helpfulness and efficiency.
• Get to the point from the beginning. Cut the small talk and make a good impression by being crisp and business-like. Make it clear from the start exactly what you want to discuss. Documents that do not do this waste the readers' time and may end up in the waste bin. Presentations that do not grip their audience by focusing their attention quickly risk losing that attention.
• Use straightforward language rather than jargon. People prefer to be treated as human beings, not computers! Technical language has its place, but it is impersonal and should be used only when necessary. Remember that business is promoted by personal warmth as much as profit.
• Use sentences that are short and to the point, not sentences that ramble on and cannot quite decide what they want to say or how to say it – like this one!
• Steer clear of the passive voice, since it is an indirect way of speaking and creates distance between you and your audience or reader. For example, if you say, “We will attend to your order promptly,” that promotes more confidence than if you say, “Your order will be attended to soonest.” This lacks the personal touch and may give the impression that you do not want to accept responsibility for your work.
• It is very important that you think about the audience you are writing or speaking to and make a real effort to communicate with them. If you are speaking to people, you need to be flexible and aware of their reaction, so that you can change the way you are speaking if they are not responding to you positively. If you are writing to a business associate and you have a mental picture of him or her, you will write more clearly and directly. Your letter will reach out and engage the person's attention.
• A basic issue that business people sometimes ignore is spelling. Incorrect spelling makes a poor impression. If you are unsure about the spelling of any words you have used it is worth the trouble of running a spell check on your computer. However, computer dictionaries are often limited and therefore many technical terms may still need to be checked manually. A more serious shortcoming is that the computer accepts any word it knows regardless of whether it has the meaning you intended. If you write, “Make a tough draft,” but meant “rough”, your computer will not pick this up. This is one reason why it is better to have your documents checked by professionals.
• Correct grammar is as important as spelling. Some word processors now have grammar checkers that operate in the same way as spell checkers. These can be used as a last resort, but they are still very basic (stupid!) and miss many mistakes. Moreover, they query many constructions that are perfectly in order. This wastes your time and it would be better to have someone with good grammar have a look at your work.
• Finally, always read carefully through a talk or letter to check for typographical and other errors. Are the facts and dates accurate? Reading aloud is a good idea, because you can hear how the communication sounds: the ear provides a cross-check for what the eye may have missed. Or, better still, avoid the hassle and send your documents to Asterisks.com to ensure that they really hit home.

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