Transcript writing concisely

Writing concisely and accurately
Importance of concise writing
• To Keep our reader’s attention
• To make sure our meaning is clear
• To eliminate misunderstanding
Eliminate unnecessary words that
distract readers from the message.
Eliminate deadwood.
The first main prevention method that can help
our company eliminate employee theft is to
perform pre-employment screening of all
applicants for positions with our company.
This can be a major aid to our company.
The first method that can help eliminate
employee theft is pre-employment screening.
Eliminate redundancies.
We need to hire applicants for positions who
have the proper work skills required for the
positions and for being successful in the jobs.
We need to hire people with the required
work skills.
Eliminate the obvious.
Eliminating
He
lived
employee
life
right up
theft
until
can
the
be
end.
a major
"If we
dohis
not
succeed,
we
run
the
risk
benefit
to our company.
of failure.“
Reduce clauses to phrases-phrases to
single word
• Citizens who know what was happening voted
against him
• Correct: Knowledgeable citizens voted against
him
• Student at the end of the line answered all
questions
• Correct: last student answered all questions
Intensifiers don’t intensify
• Salary is severely inadequate
• Correct: salary is inadequate
If you wouldn’t say it, don’t write it!
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we are in receipt of
as per your request
thanking you in advance
hereinafter
in due course
pursuant to
under separate cover
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
we have received
as you requested
Thank you
From here on
Soon
As a result of
In another envelope
Write using common words you might
speak.
• As per the customer-service rep’s
advisement, reshipment of said items will be
considered when the customer’s need for
reshipment is ascertained by the company
due to a non-locatable condition.
• The customer service rep said their
company would reship my clock if they find
out it has been lost.
Write simple, straightforward
sentences
• Try to keep sentences to an average of 17-20
words, with some shorter and some longer.
• Never drop articles and other words as a
shorthand method of writing.
• Write the sentence first; then refine it.
Use active and passive voice
appropriately
• Passive voice is often overused in business
writing.
• A writer uses passive voice to purposefully
leave out the actor or subject of the
sentence in an effort to sound more
diplomatic.
Use active and passive voice
appropriately
Active: You are past due on
your registration
payment.
Passive: Your registration
payment is past due.
• The passive example is
less confrontational. It
takes the actor out of the
sentence so that the
message does not appear
to blame someone.
Use passive and active voice
appropriately
Use passive voice:
1) when you don't know the actor (The door was left
unlocked.)
2) when the actor is unimportant to the point you're
making (The office will be open on Monday.)
3) when the emphasis is clearly not on the actor but on
the acted upon (What happened to the student
who plagiarized their paper? The student was
failed.)
Exercises
• At this point in time we can't ascertain the reason as to why the screen
door was left open.
• Correct: We don't know why the screen door was left open.
• My sister, who is employed as a nutritionist at the University of Michigan,
recommends the daily intake of megadoses of Vitamin C
• Correct: My sister, a nutritionist at the University of Michigan,
recommends daily megadoses of Vitamin C.
• There is a desire on the part of many of us to maintain a Christmas
vacation for the purpose of getting away from the demands of our studies.
• Correct: We want a Christmas break so we can get away from our studies.
OR We want a Christmas vacation to escape our studies
• Joe was an honest and hard working man. Basically, he never gave
much consideration to sitting idly about, doing nothing
constructive. (Rewrite as one sentence.)
• Correct: Honest and hard working, Joe was never idle.
• What is your basic understanding of predestination?
• Correct: Explain predestination.
• The nursery school teacher education training sessions involve
active interfacing with preschool children of the appropriate age as
well as intensive peer interaction in the form of role playing
• Correct: Training for nursery school teachers involves interacting
with preschoolers and role playing with peers.
THANK YOU
Courtesy: citehr.com, slideshare.com