Do you find yourself writing a lot but getting little results?

To write effective business communication, there are 2 things that should be an overriding theme:  1) grab the reader’s attention and 2) layout your document, so visually, your reader wants to continue reading.

Grabbing the Reader’s Attention

To connect with the reader, do not open with something that is stuffy, formal or includes, “Please find the blah, blah, blah.” Talk to the reader. Write to them the way that you would talk.

Ask a question. Open with a quote or a joke or a reminder of a recent time together – something that connects you to them. What you are aiming for is the reader hearing your voice and seeing your face. Make it personal.

Laying Out Your Document

After you have grabbed the reader’s attention, you obviously want them to keep reading. The best way to do this is to pay attention to the format of your document, that is the way the words look on paper or the screen, and then concentrate the words you will use.

To a reader, too many words look like too much work (and it is more work for you!) To avoid this, when you look at the document, you want to see more white space and less text; shorter paragraphs are better than long paragraphs; bullets/numbered lists are better than lots of sentences.

Secondly, do not make your document overwhelming with too many different types of font, colors or sizes of fonts.

Here is a simple test you can do to test the effectiveness of your formatting:

1. Print it out and look at it for about two seconds.

2. Flip the paper up side down on your desk and ask yourself two questions:

- The first question is: Did the message appear to be important? Your readers are going to make a snap judgment on that. Within the first few second at looking at it, they are going to make a determination that your document is either, junk mail, something to get to later or information that is important.

- The second question is: Was the message overwhelming on the eye? If your eyes knew were to go to get the most important information in less than 2 seconds you are on the right path.

Try to keep your writing to one page or above the fold for email. Granted, there are certain things that need to go on several pages, but if possible one is better than 2. Less is more.

Happy writing!

Be Free!

Ken Budka
Training Coordinator