I wish they had told us all, in high school and college, how important our communication skills were to our future. If you want to stand out from the crowd at work or in business, polish your writing skills and I can assure you, you will be ahead of the pack. Writing is important in customer relations, marketing, human resources and more. What are some ways you can ensure that your writing doesn’t look sloppy and amateur?
1. Read. The only way to get accustomed to how our language works is to actually look at it and use it. Read business magazines and books
2. Don’t count on spell check. Yes! It helps! But grammar and punctuation are harder for spell/grammar check to identify. Once you use it, go over your writing and hand it off to your best proofreader to review.
3. Keep a good style/grammar book like Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
4. Be brief! Say what you need to say without filler. Edit your sentences and see just how short they can be while still being clear and effective. Don’t tell people what you are going to tell them (“in this article, we’ll discuss…”). Just tell them.
5. Be aware of your local language. Different regions of our country butcher English in different ways (“I seen that” versus the correct “I saw that” and “Can I go with?” versus the correct “Can I go with you?”). Once you are aware of them, you can begin to erase those errors in your writing.
Writing communicates much more than the message you are intending to convey. If it is sloppy and weak, that is the impression people will have about your business management style. Take some time to improve this basic but crucial skill.
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