Articles

Does your written work pass these tests?

In business, we aim that any written work can be understood in the first read.

Below is a summary of principles that make your writing clear, customer-focused, and easily understandable. How does your writing fare?

Principles & Questions to Ask Yourself

Clear, familiar words

• Do you use everyday conversational words?
• Avoid old-fashioned words or phrases.
• Use words appropriate for the reader.

Short sentences

• Aim for an average sentence length of 15–20 words.
• Use short, punchy sentences to highlight good news.
• Use longer sentences to soften bad news.

Main message first

• Place the main message at the beginning of the document, paragraph, or sentence.
• If the news is bad, consider placing the main message in the middle of the sentence.

Active voice

• Begin sentences with the “doer” to enhance logical flow.

Personalized tone

• Use pronouns to personalize your writing:
  • “you” to impact the reader.
  • “I” to emphasize the writer’s involvement.

Formatting

• Use headings in all documents longer than two-thirds of a page.
• Write headings in sentence case.
• Use boxes and bullet points for clarity.
• Left-justify text only; avoid right alignment.
• Shade headings to emphasize sections.
• Align decimal points to the right.
• Maintain 2/3 text to 1/3 white space.
• Use consistent date format (e.g., “22 February 2008”).
• Use minimal brackets.
• Avoid underlining and full capitalization.
• Do not use text messaging abbreviations.

Tone

• Use pleasant phrases such as “thank you,” “pleased,” “action immediately,” or “look forward to…”.
• Show empathy when addressing sensitive situations.
• Use positive language for emphasis.
• Apply adjectives and adverbs thoughtfully to add impact.

Letters

• Include an appropriate sign-off:
  • “Kind regards,”
  • “Yours sincerely,” when addressing a person.
  • “Yours faithfully,” when addressing a title or unspecified recipient.

Credibility

• Always double-check for typos.