Just because you're not a born writer doesn't mean you should settle for less than perfect business documents. After all, every piece you write reflects directly on the quality of the product or service your business offers. Now, this helpful guide takes the guesswork out of more than 50 commonly used business documents, including: Reports Proposals; Business plans; Presentations; Press releases; Memos; Email Newsletters; Collection letters; and, Sales materials. Arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced for easier use, the book presents clear examples of how to (and how not to) create winning materials every time. The authors' step-by-step instructions begin with an overview of the writing process, from preparation and research right through to final review and publication. Sample documents show you how your pieces should look and read, and close to 300 individual entries cover key points of grammar, style and spelling, and present strategies for writing more clearly, avoiding bias, eliminating cliches, and much more.
This comprehensive resource contains more than 800 alphabetical entries and provides users with 100 sample documents. Authors Wilson and Wauson are the founders of a successful corporate communications consulting firm and have also written the Administrative Assistant’s and Secretary’s Handbook (2003). Section 1, “The Writing Process,” thoroughly covers topics such as interviewing, using visuals, proofreading, documenting sources, and even writing collaboratively. Section 2 is the “Business Writer’s Alphabetical Reference,” starting with entries for A, an and Abbreviations and moving on through Capitalization, Compound predicates, Infinitives, Sentence variety, and Transitive verbs, to name a few examples. Among the highlights of this section are the list of Clichés and the chart of Biased or sexist language (with alternatives). The 102 sample documents in section 3 include brochures, reports, résumés, and training-manual and online user-guide examples. The detailed table of contents and index will assist users in finding what they need. This well-organized resource provides clear examples, numerous cross-references, and practical, useful sample documents. Accessible to all, it is designed and written for businesspeople in every category as well as academic faculty and students. Recommended for business and writing collections. --Susan Awe
