Welcome to WireBridge
Here's a challenge. Try and find a professional job description that does not require excellent written and verbal communication skills. After that, try and find a majority of professionals in a firm who are confident in these skills.
It's going to take some time.
This is more than irony. Business writing is in great demand, but is seldom taught in secondary and post-secondary institutions. The business style mirrors the essential traits of the skilled manager --a clear vision and active voice that can promote acts both upstream (to executives) and downstream (to production teams).
And it's up to the business to develop this skill among the management team.
Make no mistake; a business writer does not result from a few tips on grammar, format or new media. The business writer emerges when he or she understands the needs of the business reader. And what is required to satisfy those needs.
It's how WireBridge trains today's business writers, and business managers.
About WireBridge
WireBridge is a training and education firm that specializes in writing improvement for the business enterprise.
WireBridge trains employee groups for whom effective written communication is an essential job requirement - managers and executives in communications, as well as sales and client service. We work with leading advertising agencies, financial services companies, professional services firms and non-profit agencies throughout New England.
WireBridge was founded by Jim Conley, a writing instructor in the Propositional Style.
Read more...Our training method emerges from a simple premise - it's never about the writing because it's always about the reading.
When business writers appreciate what's expected of them from readers they become more confident, more efficient, and more persuasive when presenting their ideas.
All of this comes from seeing how acquiring information has changed - and how it hasn't - because of an increased involvement with digital media. We give business and public service professionals the skills and tools they need to be effective communicators in an era of digital literacy.
The important thing to know about business writing is that the reader believes that everything on the page is there for a reason. They assume that the writer meant to use the words he or she has used. They assume that it was a considered choice to put ideas in one paragraph versus another. And they assume that the document has been prepared through a rigorous process of revision and feedback.
That requires a shift in how we think about business writing. It’s not about writing; it’s about readers. It’s not about things; it’s about ideas. Most of all, it’s about a style that helps readers get all the way through a document the first time.
The new approach to writing can be characterized by the following rules:
- We use a Propositional Style when writing for audiences…we write in a way that makes ideas both conceptual and concrete.
- The reader wants to see what the writer sees...we write with vision.
- Writing is a process of generating knowledge and imparting it back to the reader…an opinion is not terribly useful.
- We use grammar to achieve predictability in the reading…we are not beholden to grammar for grammar’s sake.
- The writer’s job is to produce material that has been carefully prepared and meticulously reviewed…that means lots of editing.
The good news is that anyone can master this style by following a few essential rules and practicing the Propositional Style . A style that gives power to a vision, that gives credibility to a voice, and that gives the writer more confidence in expressing ideas.
Dashing Off
I was looking through the Oxford Dictionary and came across an admonition on the uae of dashes (-) . The Dictionary sys that a dash should never be used in the placee of a comma.
That's likely true for formal prose, but it's bad advice for the business writer.
A dash is unmistakeable in setting off a list or subordinate clause for readers, especially those trained to read from a screen. Little marks (bumping up to the last letter of the preceding word) can be easy to miss. A dash set off by spaces between letters helps the reader make a more efficient connection between the main idea and the subordinated ones.
Jim Conley
Jim Conley is founder of WireBridge and a writing instructor at Emerson College.
Qualifiers Kill Simplicity
Mark Twain has this to say to writers who struggle to provide simplicity to readers:
"I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English—it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable." - Letter to D. Bowser (March, 1880).
There's a tendency on the part of business writers to drop a qualifier in front of a thing or act to show emphasis. As example: This writing style is very effective because it requires you to think more about the reader than the writer. In this example, dropping the qualifiers (and changing the sentence structure) can improve the clarity and emphasis of the sentence.
With that, we can rework the example above to say: When you write for the reader, you become the type of writer people look forward to reading. Which means that you are a very effective writer, indeed.
Jim Conley
Jim Conley is founder of WireBridge and a writing instructor at Emerson College.