Become a better business writer

Writing a business memo, email, or short analysis is not like other writing. If you are writing to someone important, they probably have little time and a short attention span. Use the little attention you get wisely;

• Have a firm recommendation and analysis of an issue your reader needs to act on.

• You do not need to entertain; a clearly and concisely stated opinion with analysis to back it up is already interesting.

• Put your bottom-line up front. Share your conclusion or recommendation immediately, while you (still) have your reader’s attention. Then back it up with analysis and facts.

• Keep sentences short (~20 word max) and easy to read by avoiding ‘long’ words.

• Share data in an easy to understand table structure.

I used to have a leader who mostly read emails on the phone. In these cases I was even more concise and made sure my recommendation was clear ‘before the fold’.

Structure your content:

1. Summarise why you are writing
   - 2 or 3 sentences
   - intro, problem description

2. Your recommendation. Be blunt
   - 2 or 3 sentences
   - call to action

3. Arguments supporting your recommendation
   - 2 or 3 sentences per argument
   - your expansion

4. Supporting data and analyses
   - table or visual
   - your data

This structure can also be applied to business slides.

When managing my team this 2-page doc by Jerry Neumann was mandatory material for all, as it perfectly summarises ‘writing for business’. I still read through the doc every 2 months or so, as a reminder to keep my comms concise.

Use it to your advantage:
the Gdoc and more from Jerry Neumann on his Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ganeumann/status/1227044247964176384