It’s important to remember when writing anything, from a one-sentence email to a lengthy report, that readers can’t hear your tone of voice, see the expression on your face, or interpret your body language. So written words have to be much more precise than spoken words.
Instead of using the word “very,” take the time to find a single descriptive word. For example,“magnificent” is more impressive than “very good” and “sweltering” is more descriptive than“very warm.”
Avoid flowery prose. “A person’s desire for possession of material goods may from time to time overwhelm one’s innate sense of prudence” is an elegant sentence. But you have a far better chance of being understood by saying, “Greed often trumps common sense.”
Any time you write “in other words” what came before didn’t make your point, so delete it. If you don’t plant clear images in the minds of your readers they’ll come up with their, own and the images they conjure up may not be the ones you want to convey.
If you tend to use trite phrases, such as “going forward” and “at the end of the day,” eliminating them will make you a more effective communicator.
It’s usually more effective to explain what you are for rather than railing about what you’re against. Readers relate more favourably to positivity than to whining and complaining.
Generalizations are dull and boring, so be specific. “We had 28 emails and 10 texts” is much more informative than “we had a number of responses.”
The active voice is more succinct than the passive voice. Write “The dog chewed my slipper” not “My slipper was chewed by the dog.”
Verbs should be as close to their nouns as possible, and a few short sentences are more effective than one long mind-boggler.
When you use a pronoun be sure there’s no mistaking its antecedent.
Each paragraph should deal with only one topic. The length of paragraphs should vary and never be too long. Long paragraphs run the risk of losing its reader’s attention. A one-sentence paragraph can be effectively used for emphasis.
Be sure there’s variety in the opening words of sentences and paragraphs. Three consecutive sentences or paragraphs beginning with the word “I” will likely be seen as pompous and lazy.
Get to your point right away. No one will appreciate having to wade through three or four paragraphs to find out what your communication is about. You can never go wrong using Kipling’s “six honest serving men” (who, what, where, why, how and when).
When dealing with more than one topic, make sure each is developed fully before moving on to another. But don’t overload your communication with more information than readers need to understand your message; one strong example is better than any number of wishy-washy ones.
If you use jargon or buzzwords, define each one the first time you use it.
Edit ruthlessly. When editing long communications be especially critical of your opening and closing; the opening because at that point you may not have hit your stride, and the closing because by then you may have become less attentive.
Anything written while angry should be set aside until you cool off. The odds are you’ll either rewrite it or not send it.
Double-check all names, numbers and quotations.
Finally, when you think you’re finished, read it one more time.