It can seem as though "best practices" for generating copy on your website landing pages might be different for every viewer. Yet, you will find that there are some best practices you can adopt to make the writing process simpler for you. These practices will also make sure that your website...
Do you know how to say no? Are you comfortable writing a message that says no to someone's request? Or do you ignore requests hoping they will go away? Read this post to learn the easy way to say no--and why to say it.
Background: In the past year I...
I was traveling with my family for six weeks in Guatemala and Costa Rica. In Guatemala, it's clear that one should not put anything in toilets except what they were made for. But in the more heavily visited Costa Rica, was that true too? As someone from the United...
Imagine this scenario: You got approval and budget to attend a four-day work-related conference. You're back now, and your boss says, in passing, "I'd like a report on the conference. Can you get it to me by tomorrow at 2? I want to share highlights with our VP."
Your mind...
While you have been busy working, some of the rules of writing evolved, and the University of Chicago Press released a new Chicago Manual of Style. Take a look at the changes below to determine which ones you need to adopt. Then update your company style guide to be...
In a Business Writing Tune-Up class, an attendee wrote what he wanted to get from the class: "My most time-consuming task is developing a good opening sentence. Any tips on that?"
Yes! The first sentence can be the trickiest one to write--not just for novelists and essayists, but for business writers...
Great meetings start with great agendas. These tips will help you write agendas that keep meetings on track.
1. Start the agenda with the name of the meeting. For a regularly scheduled meeting, the name may be as simple as "Quarterly Business Meeting." For an ad hoc meeting (that is,...
In a Better Business Writing class I led yesterday, many participants chose to write recommendations for their in-class writing practice. One recommended a new policy, for example, another recommended a process improvement, and another argued for the involvement of senior managers in a program.
When we worked on editing their...
If you write long documents, you probably need to write executive summaries, whether you are in banking, real estate, insurance, manufacturing, law, education, or another type of organization. The questions and answers below will help you ensure your executive summaries are relevant and useful.
What is an executive summary? An...
People from around the world have been writing to me in search of the correct wording for new year's messages to their English-speaking friends and associates. To help them, I have composed these brief messages as models. I hope you find them helpful.
Note to international readers: If the message says I, it is...
