Business Writing

How a Suitcase Can Help Your Writing

I just returned from a perfect vacation in Florida, and now I am looking forward to a business trip to Hawaii in April. Instead of putting away my suitcase until my Hawaii trip is imminent, I have left it out on a table in our basement. Whenever I think of... Read more →

Are You Smarter Than the Average SAT Taker?

My daughter will start college in less than two years, so she is preparing to take the SAT® (Scholastic Aptitude Test) as part of her college admissions process. She receives "The Official SAT Question of the Day" by email to help her prepare, and the ones having to do with... Read more →

Help for People Who Make Signs

My friend Margaret sent me two examples of faulty writing on signs. I want to share them to help office managers and others who make signs for visiting customers. Read the two notices below, and see if you recognize the problem they share. In a doctor's office: "In order to... Read more →

Use Caution With Automatic Signatures

The other day my husband Michael, who is my business partner, showed me a personal-business email he had received from the mother of a child at our daughter's high school. The email was about a carpooling situation. Just above the mother's name at the end of her email was this... Read more →

Proofreading Slogan: Print Before Sending

I regularly receive emails that end with the slogan "Please consider the environment before printing this message." Many people, including me, are concerned about wasting resources. Yet I've found that it's much more effective to proofread a document from a printed page than from a screen. When I proofread an... Read more →

CPAs, Raise Your Standards!

Carrie wrote to me this week with a complaint about the writing at her accounting firm. She said: "I proofread most of the mailings that the firm sends out. I often point out run-on sentences, only to be told 'It's industry standard language' or 'That's business writing.' My point of... Read more →