Many people write for work without ever receiving any specific writing training. Sounds familiar? Then read on! Try following our six tips to help you write with greater purpose and impact in your next project. (Let us know how you get on!)
1 Decide your purpose
Before getting started, ask yourself why you are writing. What is your document about and what is it trying to achieve? Maybe you are announcing a new product, presenting sales figures to your boss, writing a report for a client, or setting out your thought leadership. The goal could be to inform, persuade, generate press, or provoke debate. Knowing your purpose will help you work out what to write and how.
2 Know your target audience
What and how you write also depends on who you are writing for. The target audience could be someone you know, such as your employer or a client. If so, you can readily gauge what they want from your document: they have probably given you a brief.
Very often your readers will be people you don’t know personally. Start by listing the types of readers you are targeting – for example, they could be professionals working in a specific industry or those with certain job titles. By identifying and then describing the personas within your target audience you can work out what they need to know about a topic and how best to present the information. For example, you can assume certain topic knowledge if you are writing for a specialist audience, but for more general readers you may need to explain some (e.g. technical) concepts. Your tone also needs to be appropriate for the intended audience.
3 Identify your key messages
It might seem obvious that you should be clear what you want to say before you start writing. However, a common pitfall is to write too widely on a topic, resulting in the key messages getting buried under a mound of superfluous information. Before writing, organise your thinking and jot down the main points you want to make. These could include the questions you are setting out to answer, how you did your research, and what conclusions you came to. Do the same for each chapter or subsection. As you write, keep referring back to your key messages so that you stay on point.
4 Organise your content effectively
When you are clear why you are writing your document, who it is for, and what your main ideas are, then you are ready to plan how to organise the content. Your document needs to be arranged so that it communicates your key ideas effectively.
Some document outlines (including those generated by AI) may seem well organised, but the ‘bucket’ headings they often use can be unhelpful for writing focused, compelling content. Broad labels such as ‘background’ or ‘key trends’ do a job of sorts, but entice the unwitting writer into the trap of digressing from the central argument. Active headings (as in this article) help you stick to the key points in each chapter or section, as well as signposting your main ideas. This is a win-win for both writers and their readers. You save time on producing your content by only writing about what is relevant, while placing your ideas centre stage lets your readers quickly assimilate them.
5 Write plainly
Simple language and sentence construction work best for business writing. Your readers don’t have time to plough through long, convoluted sentences laden with antiquated vocabulary. Poor writing detracts from what you have to say. So keep things brief. Use short sentences and short paragraphs. Short words are good too. These all help your reader digest your document easily and remember what you have to say.
6 Use (suitable) graphics
Well-chosen graphics can convey your key points much more quickly than describing them in words. Bar or line graphs, pie charts, flow-charts, roadmaps, conceptual diagrams, and photographs all have their place.
Choose the right image to make your point. If you sell ten products but only want to compare the sales of two, create a chart highlighting just those items. When you want to show which product types are the most popular, a pie chart can work better than a bar chart.
Make judicious use of graphics in your document. Your sales spreadsheet or latest forecast model may contain a myriad of charts, but don’t be tempted to include them all! Instead, pick out just those that support the points you want to make.
Remember that a cluttered diagram is worse than none at all. If you are struggling to understand what a graphic shows or to read the labels because the text is too small, then it’s time for a rethink. There may be a quick fix, such as using colour coding to pick out distinct categories or processes. Or it could be that two diagrams would work better than one. To find the right solution, go back to basics and ask what you are trying to convey. If necessary, start again from a blank sheet. If you’re short of time, be bold and omit any graphic that’s not doing its job.
Summary
To write with impact, remember these tips:
- Decide your purpose
- Know your target audience
- Identify your key messages
- Organise your content effectively
- Write plainly
- Use (suitable) graphics
Before you go
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