A business associate wrote to me today about a disagreement she is having with a colleague. He believes that his extensive vocabulary (with words such as erroneous and ameliorate), complex sentence structures, folksy cliches, and rambling style make his business writing more interesting. She disagrees.
Whose side do you take? Should business documents and messages be interesting? If so, how?
For interest, I read several newspapers, a couple of magazines, a few blogs, business books, travel guides, inspirational volumes, cookbooks, gardening references, mysteries, and the dictionary.
But when it comes to business documents, I don’t need them to be interesting. Instead, I need them clear, concise, accurate, and complete. With all that, I also need them quick to read.
Interesting? No, I don’t need that from the work I read as I sit at my desk. So please keep the vocabulary simple, the sentence structures straightforward, the content clear, the format uncluttered, and the headings focused.
A quotation that has been attributed to the Chinese, May you live in interesting times, has been described as a curse. How would such a curse apply to business writing? May you receive interesting documents. Not me, I’d rather be blessed with clear, simple ones.
What’s your view? Send a comment or an email.
