Persuasive writing follows a simple four part formula that, when executed properly, will persuade your reader to take the desired action you want them to. Your persuasive writing should contain these four elements: attention, interest, desire, action. When you keep it simple, it is very effective, especially in writing.

Attention
This is simply getting your reader’s attention. It is something that involves them personally. Get straight to the point with something that will grab their attention and make they want to read further. For instance, ask them a question, tell them something specific about a recent meeting or phone call the two of you had or share a relevant Read More...

To ensure the results you intend when you are communicating in writing, the key is to know your purpose from the very beginning of the process. Why are you writing? What is the point? What is the best way to get what you want? There are two things that come to my mind immediately.

First, it is essential that we actually know what we want. Both for us and what you want your reader to do. Too often we receive poor results from our efforts simply because we do not know what we want when we set out to write a letter or to write a request.

Without a clear target to shoot at or an end result in mind, it is difficult to lead others to see things your way and take action. Let us face it; writing Read More...

The purpose of following these guidelines for your business writing is to get the reader to read your document. You want your document to be pleasing to the eye and not overwhelming.

The first area that I would like to address is the usual white space. The white space is simply the amount of paper that you see as opposed to the amount of text you see on the paper. A good test to see how much white space is used is to ‘print preview’ the document and set the percentage to about 25% or so. In other words, you will see the document on the screen but you won’t be able to read the words. This way, you will get a good feel for how much black there is against the white. Read More...

One of my favorite analogies for effective business writing is the clear window. Below are five simple guidelines to ensure your written communication is effective.

Write the Way You Talk

Imagine your reader is looking through your words, not at your words, for the meaning beyond the text. Whenever you use ultramajestic, high-fallutin, quadrasyllabic words, you force the reader to look at the words, often stopping to comprehend their meaning. When this happens, the message is clouded and even lost. The beauty of short, simple words is they speak clearly and in language that is typically the way you would talk in person. Write the way you talk. Great business writing means the Read More...