Page 148 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

Paper is here to stay 137

1 Any mistakes you make are likely to be more apparent as readers
have more time to focus on errors.
2 Any claims you make can be analysed with greater scrutiny
when people have time to reflect on and revisit what you say.
3 If it’s a stand-alone piece of writing, with no opportunity for an
online, phone or face-to-face chat to clarify things, you can
especially see why your words need to say what you mean them
to say, in a way that’s not open to misunderstanding.

Letters

Historically, business letters (now also referred to as ‘snail mail’)
were a formal means of business communication sent by post or
courier. In many cases they have either been replaced by informal
social media interaction, as we’ve seen, or by e-mail (or as attach-
ments to e-mail), all mainly for speed. Across the world though, we
do still find plenty of occasions where people like or expect to re-
ceive a paper letter. This might be for a legal or financial matter, for
orders, for apologies for something that’s gone wrong, or an invita-
tion of value and so on.
As you’re seeing, you can (and must) innovate in business writ-
ing today and discard some of the things you may have been taught
years ago. Yet there are still certain conventions to follow for your
letters to achieve your objectives.
First of all, identify the purpose of your letter and its possible
impact on your reader:

● ● Is it to inform? If so, why?
● ● Is it to instigate action? If so, what? Who by? How? When by?

● ● How do you want the reader to feel when reading your letter?
Can your tone assist this?
Second, identify the format. Do you use templates and a standard
font? Has this been assessed for readability? For example, Arial,
Tahoma and Verdana (amongst others) can be more readable than