Business Writing

True Story: How to Help Employees Write Better

Read the brief, true story below about Eric and his supervisor, Linda. Then decide: If you were in Linda's role, would you handle the situation the same way? ***** Eric has just written his first newsletter article about an innovative approach the team has developed and used to get great... Read more →

FAQ About Complimentary Closes

With business communication evolving into shorter, quicker messages, people wonder about long-standing formalities like complimentary closes (for example, Sincerely and Best wishes). Do we still use them? If so, which ones belong where? Here are answers to frequently asked questions about complimentary closes for letters, notes, emails, and texts. Question:... Read more →

Google, You've Gone Too Far

Certainly we can admire Google for its growth, global reach, inventiveness, and the brilliance of its teams. But they've gone too far. Cleverness has its limits. Analyze, yes. Optimize, yes. Publicize, yes--those are all things online content providers want to do. But troubleshootize? No, Google, you've gone too far. The... Read more →

One Quick Way to Frustrate Customers and Friends

My husband is on a mailing list for information about upcoming stamp shows. This week he got an email announcement and saw his email address in a clump of at least a hundred others. All were there in a long list, a gold mine for people wanting to sell stamps.... Read more →

How to Connect With Clients & Others at Thanksgiving

Time to act! Your Canadian clients and customers will celebrate Thanksgiving Day (Jour de l'Action de grâce) on Monday, October 14. Your U.S. contacts will do the same on Thursday, November 28. Be wise and thoughtful, and take this opportunity to remember them before the holiday (c)rush. Consider how below.... Read more →

Test Yourself: Changing Passives to Active Verbs

I'm copyediting a book this week, so I have immersed myself in rules and rule-breaking for nonfiction writing. The project is a church history. To work quickly, I have been using my grammar and spelling checker to make obvious errors and inconsistencies pop. One that keeps popping is passive verbs.... Read more →

"Reoccur" or "Recur"? Which Is Correct?

The other day while giving feedback to a client on her customer-service writing, I noticed this sentence: "Once you receive your new card, please contact any merchants with whom you have reoccurring charges." Reoccurring charges? Is that correct? Or should it be “recurring charges”? What do you think? Before I... Read more →

Do I Capitalize Words Followed by Numbers or Letters?

I received a good question by email today. A reader wanted to know my views on capitalizing words that are followed by numbers or letters, for example, Step 1 vs. step 1, Section A vs. section A, and Line 2 vs. line 2. How would you decide whether to capitalize... Read more →

Hyphen Help: 30-Percent Discount for 30th-Anniversary?

Hyphens are among the most challenging punctuation marks. In two phrases that seem very much alike, one will have a hyphen and one will not. Consider an example. Would you add hyphens to the following sentence? Syntax Training is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Seattle with a 30 percent discount... Read more →

Audience: A Good Example of a Bad Choice

A friend of mine who works at a large, urban university on the West Coast shared an example of a business person who did NOT think about their audience. And the person's choice led to the loss of a customer order. The university's Department of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion wanted... Read more →