Business Writing

Do First and Third Person Mix Well?

George, a regular reader of this blog, asked this question: "In describing a client's services on their website, I wrote something like 'Acme does A and B. We can also help with C and D.' The client said mixing the third and first persons was confusing and I should stick... Read more →

"Tie Me Over"--Not the Right Choice!

A reader named Max asked me to write about "tie over" and "tide over." "Tide over" is the correct expression, at least in normal circumstances. Examples: We have enough letterhead to tide us over until our office moves. This food should tide me over until the weather clears and I... Read more →

I Enjoy You/Your Singing--Pronouns With Gerunds

This past weekend my blog was down, and I only found out because a loyal reader named Lori let me know. Lori and I exchanged several messages about the blog and the cause of the problem. My final message to Lori included this sentence: I appreciate you letting me know... Read more →

Adding Muscle to Your Messages

In honor of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the current issue of Better Writing at Work e-newsletter features ways to cut the fat from your writing. If you want to build "muscular," concise messages, apply these three tips, which I excerpted from the newsletter: 1. Reduce the use of sentence openers... Read more →

Serial Commas: Your Side, My Side, and Their Side

In business writing courses, people always take sides on the use of commas with series. Known as the serial comma or the Oxford comma, this comma keeps us from running together items in a series. Examples: He leads the symphonic band, the jazz band, and the orchestra. Daisies, black-eyed susans,... Read more →