Boosting your impact: Business writing tips

Are your emails costing you bookings? We look at some professional business writing tips to help wedding businesses deliver more impactful email communication. Learn how to boost client engagement and close the loop.

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What is good business writing?

For good business writing, we need energetic, precise, brief, language. We want to use simple, clear, friendly and active language for a human reader, avoiding jargon.

The tone should be more conversational and informal, and this can achieved by using more personal pronouns, like ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘we’. It brings in authority but also human connection and emotive empathy. This is crucial when communicating in business, particularly when dealing with something as emotional as wedding planning.

Simplifying language

Don’t use  sluggish, vague, passive, long, or complicated language. You want to focus on using fewer and shorter words to say what you want and be as brief as possible. Couples organising a wedding will be dealing with lots of suppliers and could be overwhelmed. You want your communication to answer their questions without too much back-and-forth.

When we write something, we want to review it and see what we can cut out.

Limit sentences to one idea and aim for an average of 15 to 20 words per sentence. Reading aloud helps identify where you need a stop for a break and add a full stop. If you’re using a comma, think about whether that could be split into two sentences, too.

6 steps of professional writing

1. Preparation
2. Research
3. Selection
4. Planning
5. Writing
6. Review

1. Preparation

Before you can begin writing, you’ll need to define your audience. Ask yourself: Who is this for? And why is it worth them reading it?

Consider what you really want to tell your reader.

2. Research

Do you need to back up any claims you’re making with data or proof points? If so, how will you demonstrate those?

3. Selection

Next, prepare your Purpose Statement. Ask yourself, what do you want your reader to do, think or feel as a result of reading the document or the email?

You might want them to take your advice; comment on your proposal by Friday; understand why you are not offering a refund; sign and return a contract; buy a product; or fund a proposal in your business case. These are all examples of Purpose Statements.

Your call to action should be clear before you begin writing.

4. Planning

Next, consider how you will organise your ideas or response. What information do you want to share, and where is your information going?

Finally, think about the tone and language most suitable to your reader.

5. Writing

Say it straight, in Plain English. We’re not trying to impress anyone with beautiful writing; we’re trying to articulate clear and simple points.

Writing your sentences in parallel structures consisting of similar phrases creates a pattern, making it easier for the reader to read, comprehend, and analyse the information. Without a parallel structure, it’s hard for the reader to quickly absorb and make sense of that information.

6. Review

Next, edit and proofread what you’ve written. Reading it aloud can help you determine where you might break up the sentences.

Key questions to ask yourself when proofreading:

• What can you cut out? What doesn’t need to be there? That might be ‘How are you today?’
• Where can you take out a comma or full stop?
• How can you shorten a sentence?
• How well are the ideas organised and bound together?
• Do all parts of the paragraph relate to each other?
• Are the sentences logically organised?
• Are the transitions between sentences, smooth?

Final thoughts on business writing tips that should help to convert

These simple steps should guide you to writing more concise and compelling professional emails and documents, to help convert leads. If your writing helps your client understands what you’re asking them to do, it should encourage an action much quicker.

We want you to meet more couples! Our business development managers have all the tips to make your business grow. Reach out today.