How can I improve my written communication skills the soonest?

Welcome user614.

You're asking a good question, and if I may restate it: How do I write an effective business e-mail?

Like most writing questions, it comes to how you think about the task. And this is the key, to think before you write.

Why are you writing? What exactly do you want?

To whom are you writing? What do you know about them, their expectations, needs?

Is there a timeframe for action? Is there a consequence for missing the timeframe?

What are your main points? Reduce these to the least number possible and state each as simply as possible.

Draft an outline and then fill it in as necessary.

Be polite. Be simple. Be honest. Be accurate.

posted about 13 years ago

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mitatur‭

20 reputation 1 1 4 0

Great advice here, I would add a couple of things I learned that really helped me in a course I took recently:

1. Since most people will read email on a smartphone a good portion of the time. Don't write any more than can fit on one phone screen. If you have to write more, do an attachment, and don't copy long threads, just a word or two in the subject to remind them. Important info doesn't get read or seen.

2. if they are over 45 use at least 14 pt font.

3. Limit an email to one point or two. If you have more then write a couple. have mercy on the person you are writing to.

4. and don't put anything in writing you don't want someone, or anyone to see. In this day and age, anything we put in writing on line can and will end up in front of the wrong eyes. Be safe.

the course was on skillfeed.com by the way and it was great, short, and cheap, especially if on skill feed already. it is called something like "Get more done writing effective emails."

posted over 10 years ago

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Paedaea‭

5 reputation 0 1 1 0

Try to use bullet list form. As you have said people don't have the time to sit through and read long emails. If you are having trouble being concise use bullet lists and limit each bullet to a particular topic or point you want to make.

posted about 13 years ago

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Adeem‭

45 reputation 0 5 9 0

You have several choices, and which one you use depends on the length of the document to be written, the subject matter, and your personal preferences. All sections here are examples of the technique they describe.

Outlining

The outline of this answer would look like this:

1. Introduction - mention options
2. Outlining - explain, give example
3. Infodump - vomit it all onto the page, organize, edit
4. [x]-paragraph essay
5. Combinations, summary

You would then go back and use this as a guide to write the sections. (Keen eyes will notice I didn't stick to this: I decided after writing all this out that section 3 worked better after section 4, since it relies on having more experience with writing. But it was a good place to start.)

The [x]-paragraph essay

We learned this in high school (possibly earlier), and it's a great way to get used to writing in an organized way. It forces you to think about what you want to say, but it can be a bit of a straitjacket. The first one we were taught was the three-paragraph essay.

The first paragraph is where you write the basic idea, very much a generalization of the ideas you want to get across. You're also framing the rest of the essay, creating a lens through which the reader will see all subsequent text. Note that you're reading this with foreknowledge that it's a technique taught to children, since I mentioned that in the above paragraph. Decades after leaving school, I still find the technique useful for smaller pieces. Even if I usually don't stick to a set number of paragraphs.

The three-paragraph essay scales well to the five-paragraph essay, and beyond. I wrote this section as a three-paragraph essay, but that middle paragraph really wants to be two paragraphs - but it's a good place to start. Thinking about writing in this way can discipline you well.

Write like a madman, but sort it out later

While writing an outline can help for some people, and having a paragraph structure in mind works for some stuff, these don't work for everybody or at all times.

When the outline approach isn't working--it rarely does for me with anything less than a few thousand words--an infodump may be what you need.

Type out everything you want to say. Don't worry about structure yet, just write out all the points you want to make. Then, read it over and decide what the main points are you want to say. Write a introduction and/or conclusion, as appropriate, then organize the rest of it into the "middle" of the piece. Summarize, proofread, and you're done.

This may not seem like much of a writing technique. What you're doing here is giving yourself permission to freewrite on a topic, with the knowledge that you'll organize it all later. Great for short projects or more creative work.

Summary

You'll probably find yourself picking and choosing from these techniques, and possibly others as well. My favorite technique is the infodump combined with some quick outlining, although I pay careful attention to paragraph length and structure along the way.

In the end, try different tools, use the ones that work, and let them influence your thinking. Eventually, you'll do much of this without thinking about it. Using disciplines like these trains your brain.

posted about 13 years ago

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Neil‭

423 reputation 9 151 74 0