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Unit 3 Writing for Successful Communication
When the doer of the action should not be mentioned
out of tact or diplomacy
An error was made in the computation of your taxes.
(The person who made the error is not identifi ed.)
When the action is more important than the doer, as in
formal reports
Forty charge-account customers were surveyed regarding their
spending habits.
(The customers are more important than who conducted the survey.)
In these situations, passive voice is effective. In other situations, you will need
to choose active voice. Keep in mind, active voice emphasizes immediacy and
adds vitality to your writing.
Write Concise
Sentences
Good business writing
has no frills. When you write
for business, it is your job
to get the point across as
concisely as possible. Every
sentence and every word
within the sentence should
contribute to the overall
message in a meaningful way.
Businesspeople have a lot to
do and want anything they
read to quickly get to the point.
The reader does not want to
stop and think about what you
are trying to communicate.
Instead, the reader wants to
immediately identify the issue
so that a productive decision
can be made.
Consider the following
examples. Notice how frills in
the fi rst example detract from
the message. On the other
hand, the second example
is stated in a more concise
manner.
Draft
While I was away from my desk for a few short moments today, your
package arrived from a messenger service. It was shortly before lunch.
Imagine my surprise when I opened it to fi nd the CD of photographs for
the meeting I attended at 9:00 a.m.! Now it is too late to include your
photos for consideration in the brochure.
Being concise is one of the four C’s of communication. Some
readers have limited time to read your communication, so
they do not want to wade through extra words.
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