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Competencies
This lesson teaches the following competencies:
- Use simple, straightforward words.
- Avoid bureaucratic, business-eze words
- Avoid stilted, complex words
- Use common vocabulary
- Use positive words and phrases
Lesson Summary
The lesson summary contains the training information with few examples and activities. Read it if you want to go through the training more quickly. To skip to the full, detailed lesson, click here.
Introduction
Depending
on your field and position, you may need to use technical language and jargon when you communicate with other specialists. The technical language makes it easier for you to communicate when the readers know the language.
However, you should refrain from using technical jargon and difficult words when you are not sure the reader will understand them.
This lesson explains how you can communicate without these clumsy phrases, complex vocabulary, and stiff phrases.
Use Simple, Straightforward Words
Always
use simple,
straightforward words rather than complex words. Below is a list of some of the complex words and phrases business people use that have simple alternatives. Use the simple words to convey your meaning.
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INSTEAD
OF
|
WRITE
|
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accelerated
|
sped up
|
|
preceding
year
|
last year
|
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ascertain
|
find out, learn
|
Exercise:
Condensing Phrases
Condense the following
phrases to their essence. You need only one word for each.
Phrases
|
Answers |
| 1.
in light of the fact that |
|
|
|
| 2.
on the occasion of |
|
|
|
| 3.
at this point in time |
|
|
|
| 4.
on the grounds that |
|
|
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Avoid
Stilted, Bureaucrat Words
Some words first used
in business decades or centuries ago have been replaced by the simple alternative
English words. They still hang around, though.
Use today's language. If you wouldn't say it, don't write it. Avoid these words:
|
INSTEAD
OF
|
WRITE
|
|
as
per your letter
|
in your letter
|
|
yours
of the 10th
|
your letter
of December 10
|
|
awaiting
your reply, we are
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no alternative,
just omit
|
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in
due course
|
today, tomorrow,
next week
|
|
permit
me to say that
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
|
we
are in receipt of
|
we received
|
Exercise:
Avoiding Stilted Words
Practice getting
to the point by matching the stilted words in the left column with their
everyday language equivalent in the right column:
Phrases
|
Answers |
| 1.
for the duration of |
|
| 2.
in the interest of |
|
| 3.
contiguous to |
|
| 4.
by means of |
|
Use
Positive Words and Phrases
You usually have your
choice of dozens of words you could use to communicate your meaning. Choose
those that are more positive. Begin instructions with "We recommend"
or "We've found." Use words such as "help," "satisfy,"
"provide," "try," "good," "effective,"
and the hundreds of other positive words.
Some words and phrases
set a negative tone automatically, regardless of what you may be writing
in the rest of the message. Avoid the following:
- unfortunately
- not our policy
- can't
- won't
- not authorized
- should be clear
to you
- no one else has
a problem
- not our problem
Full, Detailed Lesson
Introduction
Depending
on your field and position, you may need to use technical language and jargon when you communicate with other specialists. The technical language makes it easier for you to communicate when the readers know the language.
However, you should refrain from using technical jargon and difficult words when you are not sure the reader will understand them.
You may also have the feeling that business writing should sound businessy: "As per your request," "To maintain this time frame, it is imperative that we regularize our communications going forward." These archaic phrases grew out of the fourteenth through twentieth centuries and are now obsolete. They don't communicate clearly and give the reader the impression you're communicating in a form letter.
This lesson explains how you can communicate without these clumsy phrases, complex vocabulary, and stiff phrases.
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Focus on the Reader
Throughout this course in writing effective workplace emails, the instruction will remind you that to have an impact, you must focus on the reader. Begin by deciding what you want the reader to know, feel, or do. Analyze the reader to see whether what you are writing will have the impact you want.
Here, decide how much background in the subject and education this reader has. If the reader has little background in the subject and less education, use simple, straightforward English words. Avoid jargon and complex words.
If the reader has a background in the subject and more education, use the terms this reader would expect you to use with him or her. That makes the writing shorter and lets the reader know you share the common knowledge with him or her.
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Use Simple, Straightforward Words
Always
use simple,
straightforward words rather than complex words. Below is a list of some of the complex words and phrases business people use that have simple alternatives. Use the simple words to convey your meaning.
|
INSTEAD
OF
|
WRITE
|
|
accelerated
|
sped up
|
|
preceding
year
|
last year
|
|
predicated
on
|
based on
|
|
assumption
|
belief
|
|
financial
deficit
|
losing money
|
|
ascertain
|
find out, learn
|
|
consummate
|
close, bring
about
|
|
peruse
|
read, study
|
|
terminate
|
end
|
|
utilize
|
use
|
|
deem
|
think
|
|
assistance
|
help
|
|
forward
|
send, mail
|
|
advise
|
tell
|
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indicate
|
show
|
|
reside
|
live
|
|
we
would like to ask that
|
please
|
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for
the reason that
|
because
|
|
are
of the opinion
|
believe
|
|
for
the purpose of
|
for
|
|
prior
to
|
before
|
|
despite
the fact that
|
although, though
|
|
in
view of the fact that
|
because, since
|
|
in
order to
|
to
|
|
subsequent
to
|
after
|
|
with
reference to
|
about
|
|
on
the occasion of
|
when
|
|
during
the course of
|
during
|
|
along
the lines of
|
like
|
|
succeed
in making
|
make
|
|
make
use of
|
use
|
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have
need for
|
need
|
|
give
consideration to
|
consider
|
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initiate
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begin, start
|
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commence
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begin, start
|
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converse
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talk
|
Exercise:
Condensing Phrases
Condense the following
phrases to their essence. You need only one word for each.
Phrases
|
Answers |
| 1.
in light of the fact that |
|
|
|
| 2.
on the occasion of |
|
|
|
| 3.
at this point in time |
|
|
|
| 4.
on the grounds that |
|
|
|
| 5.
in the event that |
|
|
|
| 6.
regardless of the fact that |
|
|
|
Avoid
Stilted, Bureaucrat Words
Some words first used
in business decades or centuries ago have been replaced by the simple alternative
English words. They still hang around, though.
"Under separate cover," for example, was first used in the fourteenth century when there were no envelopes. Writers wrapped an outside cover of paper around a document and secured it with sealing wax and a ribbon. But we're still writing about these paper covers in the twenty-first century!
Remember, if you wouldn't
say it, don't write it. Avoid these words:
|
INSTEAD
OF
|
WRITE
|
|
as
per your letter
|
in your letter
|
|
yours
of the 10th
|
your letter
of December 10
|
|
awaiting
your reply, we are
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
|
in
due course
|
today, tomorrow,
next week
|
|
permit
me to say that
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
|
we
are in receipt of
|
we received
|
|
pursuant
to
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
|
in
closing
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
|
attached
herewith
|
here is
|
|
the
undersigned
|
we, I
|
|
kindly
advise
|
let us know
|
|
under
separate cover
|
in another envelope
|
|
we
wish to inform you
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
|
attached
please find
|
enclosed is
|
|
it
has come to my attention
|
I have just
learned
|
|
please
be advised that
|
no alternative,
just omit
|
Exercise:
Avoiding Stilted Words
Practice getting
to the point by matching the stilted words in the left column with their
everyday language equivalent in the right column:
Phrases
|
Answers |
| 1.
for the duration of |
|
| 2.
in the interest of |
|
| 3.
contiguous to |
|
| 4.
by means of |
|
| 5.
at the present time |
|
| 6.
for the reason that |
|
| 7.
adequate number of |
|
| 8.
subsequent to |
|
| 9.
notwithstanding the fact that |
|
| 10.
prior to |
|
Exercise:
Rewriting Stilted Text
Rewrite this sentence eliminating the stilted business bureaucrat words:
|
In due course,
after a thorough investigation, I determined that we were in receipt
of your software order, and permit me to say that we were in obligation
to deliver it with haste and will follow through with due diligence,
but the volume of requests has caught us unawares, creating a condition
of insufficient inventory for demand.
|
Exercise:
Eliminating Stilted Words Without Losing Meaning
Eliminate the stilted,
bureaucratic words while conveying the same meaning:
|
As per your
email of 10 January, we wish to inform you that it is our intention
to alter the user interface such that it will have ease of use in
greater measure than you may have experienced at the present moment.
|
Exercise:
Using Common Vocabulary
Write a common word
beside each of the following words.
Phrases
|
Answers |
| 1.
attempt |
|
| 2.
purchase |
|
| 3.
request |
|
| 4.
terminate |
|
| 5.
instruct |
|
| 6.
encounter |
|
| 7.
commence |
|
| 8.
rectify |
|
Use
Positive Words and Phrases
You usually have your
choice of dozens of words you could use to communicate your meaning. Choose
those that are more positive. Begin instructions with "We recommend"
or "We've found." Use words such as "help," "satisfy,"
"provide," "try," "good," "effective,"
and the hundreds of other positive words.
Some words and phrases
set a negative tone automatically, regardless of what you may be writing
in the rest of the message. Avoid the following:
- unfortunately
- not our policy
- can't
- won't
- not authorized
- should be clear
to you
- no one else has
a problem
- not our problem
|
