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Unit 3 Writing for Successful Communication
Personal Pronouns
Business writing style is now friendlier and more casual than in the
past. One way you can achieve this tone is by making liberal use of personal
pronouns. I, me, my, you, your, he, she, it, we, they are examples of personal
pronouns. Personal pronouns come naturally in speech but sometimes writers
adopt a style that avoids them. Writing that does not use personal pronouns
may sound formal. Written messages will sound normal—personal, helpful,
and friendly—when personal pronouns are used. Notice how the personal
pronouns make the following message sound friendly and sincere:
Dear Mr. Stephenson:
I have enclosed the agreement we discussed last week for your services
on the sales conference video. If the terms meet with your approval,
please sign both copies of the agreement and return them to me for
my signature. I will promptly return your copy so that we can begin our
collaboration on the video.
All of us on the conference-planning committee look forward to working
with you.
Sincerely,
Positive or Neutral Words
In business writing, it is easier to infl uence people and get results with
words expressing a positive tone than with words expressing a negative tone.
For example, it is always better to emphasize what you can do rather than what
you cannot do. Notice how these two sentences create different feelings when
you read them:
Negative
We cannot mail your package by overnight express mail.
Positive
You can choose to have the package sent by two-day air or three-day
ground service.
Many words tend to automatically cause negative reactions. Similarly, there
are words that generally have a positive effect on readers. The words italicized
in the following sentences tend to create good feelings.
We hope you will be able to take advantage of this one-time offer.
Loyal customers like you deserve the very best.
It is our pleasure to offer you a free trial of this new product with no
strings attached.
Of course, no business writer can make all messages sound positive.
To maintain honesty and integrity, it is often impossible to avoid news and
business decisions that a reader will not like to receive. Nevertheless, you can
try to avoid negative language. When a message is likely to make the reader
unhappy or concerned, search for neutral words to soften the reaction.