To write effective and appropriate business messages, you need to identify the purpose of your writing. Taking a few minutes to define your purpose can dramatically improve your writing. It will help keep you focused on the point of your message and the reaction you want it to inspire.
There are two questions you can ask yourself to help identify your purpose in writing a business document:
- Why am I writing this document?
- What do I want my reader to do and know after reading the message?
Often your reason for writing and the response you want are similar. If you write to invite an important client to a company event, for instance, you want the client to be inspired to attend. Or there may be a more subtle link. For instance, you might regularly inform customers of new company developments because you want them to think of your company first when they need a particular service.
Whether you're writing a 50-page proposal or a five-line e-mail, your business writing will typically fall into one of three categories. Depending on your main purpose, it will be
- informative – Informative writing conveys information to the reader. It may introduce, report, instruct, propose, summarize, or classify.
- responsive – Responsive writing provides a reply to some prior communication. It may confirm, acknowledge, follow up with, thank, sympathize with, remit, refer, refuse, apologize, or congratulate the reader.
- persuasive – Persuasive writing attempts to convince the reader.
It's important to remember that there's often some overlap in the message types.
It's helpful to know the message type you're writing. This is because the format and approach you use should differ depending on whether you need to inform, respond to, or persuade your readers.
Informative messages
The purpose of informative writing is to transfer information to the reader. So it must be direct, clear, concise, and accessible. It should use a neutral tone and present facts or events objectively.
To make informative writing effective, you should explain your reason for writing at the start. It's also important to organize key ideas, be specific, and separate fact from opinion.
Composing a clear and well-organized informative message ensures that the message will succeed in getting the required information across to your readers.
Responsive messages
Responsive writing is often required in the business environment. For responsive writing to be effective, it must be
- prompt and courteous – A good rule of thumb is to respond to a request within 24 hours, or sooner if the person is upset or has a complaint. Being prompt and remaining courteous lets the reader know that you've taken the request seriously and are addressing it in a professional way.
- exact – You should state your response in the first or second sentence, be sure to answer all questions, use direct specific language, acknowledge important details, and provide additional information if possible.
- sincere – To demonstrate your sincerity, you can open or close with a positive statement, use a conversational tone, or personalize your response.
- brief – A brief response containing only what the reader requires is usually the most effective. However, it shouldn't be so short that it seems inconsiderate or abrupt to the reader.
It should also be straightforward in providing what a reader has requested.
Persuasive messages
Persuasive writing motivates the reader to support an idea or take action. It takes skill to write a persuasive document. You need to overcome readers' resistance to change and make it clear how your idea could benefit them or their organization.
To make persuasive writing effective, you should ensure you
- attract attention – An engaged reader is more likely to be persuaded. To attract attention, you should begin with a lead-in that's interesting and relevant to the reader. Once you've hooked the reader, you can introduce your idea.
- stimulate interest – Self-interest usually plays an important role in persuasion. Personal advantages often convince a reader to agree with your message. Describe the pertinent points of your idea, but also explain how they will benefit the reader.
- maintain focus – To maintain focus, you should spotlight one key benefit and develop it more fully than the others. Focus on the benefit that's most important or motivating to the reader. This benefit may be specific to an individual reader or broad enough to appeal to diverse readers.
- create a desire – Once the benefits are clear to your readers, you can create desire. You must convince your readers that they will feel satisfaction if they achieve these benefits. The benefits should either provide something desirable to the readers or help them to avoid something undesirable.
- prompt a response from the reader – The final step is to prompt readers for a response. Once they agree with your message, they must know what steps to take to show their agreement. You can make it easier for readers to act by taking responsibility yourself for any necessary action steps.
In business writing, it's vitally important to choose the right message type for your purpose, and then to write appropriately based on that purpose. This will ensure you communicate as effectively as possible with your intended audience and prompt the desired responses.
Business writing may be informative, responsive, or persuasive. The main purpose of your message will help determine the type it should take.
When writing an informative message, you need to identify your purpose clearly at the start, organize key ideas, be specific, and separate fact from opinion. Responsive writing should be prompt and satisfy the reader's original request. Effective persuasive writing attracts attention, engages the reader, stimulates interest, maintains focus, creates a desire, and prompts a response.