Page 105 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

94 How to Write Effective Business English

Yet feedback repeatedly suggests that readers don’t like reading
solid blocks of text. What’s more, if they don’t like the look of a
piece of writing, they may intuitively feel they are not going to like
its content. This feeling can even go so far as to prevent them from
bothering to read it.
When it comes to our personal e-mail, and the world of blogging,
we can relax to an extent. These are areas where we can let our writ-
ing just capture our thoughts, more or less exactly in the English in
which they spill out (though we still have to observe the constraints
of the law, including libel, etc). Readers are more likely to have the
time and the inclination to read our outpourings and storytelling –
but this approach is definitely best avoided for business e-mail.
My tips apply even more if you are writing English for a cross-
cultural audience. Use an easy-to-read font, design good layout and
enter some carriage returns when you type, so that your words are
not bunched up and difficult to read.
Leave some white space by using paragraphs for new topics;
people will thank you for it because, by and large, people like white
space. Structure every e-mail to help readers see exactly what your
points are and where the e-mail is leading: that is, its purpose and
who does what and when.
If you do not make the purpose, the time frame and any call to
action clear, then people might not respond. And, of course, if your
e-mail has no purpose, then don’t write it!

Designing how you write e-mails

Here are some guidelines to help you structure your e-mails well.

Corporate communication

Is there a corporate style regarding layout? Do you have a corpo-
rate font? Is the font you use easily readable, such as Arial, Tahoma
or Verdana? Is the point size you use large enough? (12 point or