Rules of Thumb for Business Writers

Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 10
A Note from the Authors......Page 12
Part One: The Writing Process......Page 16
Writing in the Business World......Page 18
Finding Your Focus......Page 20
Sizing Up Your Work Style......Page 22
What to Do When You're Stuck......Page 25
Organizing Your Ideas......Page 28
Paragraphing......Page 32
Continuity: Using Transitions......Page 35
Adding Visual Interest: Layout, Illustrations, and PowerPoint Presentations......Page 37
Revising......Page 40
Proofreading......Page 43
Staying on Top of the Paper Flow......Page 45
Part Two: Writing With Power......Page 48
Steps Toward a Clear Style......Page 50
Writing to Persuade......Page 52
Writing with Energy......Page 56
Trimming Wordiness......Page 59
Varying Your Sentences......Page 61
Avoiding Tangled Sentences......Page 66
Eliminating Biased Language......Page 69
Part Three: Specific Business Writing......Page 72
Email and Fax Messages......Page 74
Memos......Page 79
Letters......Page 82
Agendas and Minutes......Page 87
Instructions and Directions......Page 89
Reports......Page 91
Websites......Page 96
Newsletters and Press Releases......Page 100
Proposals......Page 103
Résumés......Page 106
Part Four: Special Projects......Page 112
Research on the Internet......Page 114
Crediting Outside Sources......Page 122
Recurring Projects......Page 126
Long-Term Projects......Page 128
Collaborative Projects......Page 132
The Spoken Word......Page 134
Editing Other People's Drafts......Page 136
Writing for Others......Page 138
Part Five: Correctness—Usage......Page 140
Commonly Confused Words......Page 142
One Word or Two?......Page 151
Spelling......Page 155
Capitalization......Page 158
Abbreviations and Numbers......Page 161
Correct Pronouns......Page 163
Consistent Pronouns......Page 165
Pronouns: Avoiding Vagueness......Page 169
Verbs: Agreement with Subjects......Page 171
Verbs: Consistent Tenses......Page 173
Word Endings: s and ed......Page 175
Part Six: Correctness—Punctuation......Page 178
Periods: Avoiding Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences......Page 180
Commas......Page 186
Semicolons and Colons......Page 190
Dashes and Parentheses......Page 192
Hyphens......Page 194
Apostrophes......Page 195
Quotation Marks......Page 196
Italicizing (Underlining) or Quoting Titles......Page 200
Appendix: Sample Business Documents......Page 202
Memo......Page 204
Bad News Memo......Page 205
Detailed Email......Page 206
Email Templates......Page 207
Letter of Recommendation......Page 208
Meeting Agenda......Page 209
Press Release......Page 210
Cover Letter for Résumé......Page 211
Résumé (Emphasis on Accomplishments)......Page 212
Résumé (Emphasis on Skills)......Page 214
Résumé (Limited Experience—Concealing Current Employer)......Page 216
Résumé (Significant Experience)......Page 217
Basic Formatting for Business Documents......Page 218
Shortcuts for "Word"......Page 221
Grammar Review: Common Sentence Patterns......Page 227
Anatomy of a Sentence: How to Diagram......Page 232
A List of Important References......Page 235
B......Page 248
D......Page 249
F......Page 250
M......Page 251
P......Page 252
S......Page 253
V......Page 254
Y......Page 255