March 22, 2011

Clarity, Plain English, and Writing for the Real World

MBA students’ … writing and presentation skills have been a perennial complaint. Employers and writing coaches say business-school graduates tend to ramble [and] use pretentious vocabulary.

– Diana Middleton, “Students Struggle for Words: Business Schools

Put More Emphasis on Writing Amid Employer Complaints,”

Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2011

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Many businesspeople hold on to very bad writing habits from our school years.

As students, most of us tried using rambling prose to make papers long enough. Most of us also tried using pretentious vocabulary to compensate for skimpy homework.

Both  tactics can be disastrous in business writing. Countless times at Write It Well, businesspeople have told us they want to read clear, concise documents that get straight to the point.

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For entire chapters on clarity and concision in business writing, see our book Professional Writing Skills: A Write It Well Guide.

Please e-mail Write It Well or call us at (510) 655-6477 to find out how our customized trainings and line of books can help your organization and all its writers communicate more clearly and concisely.

Or if you have an important document that you don’t feel confident sending out, our editors can help you deliver your message effectively in prose that feels effortless to read.