Page 26 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

Business writing for today 15

1 Therefore, although obviously we cannot make any assessment
about the matter in hand on this occasion, we will nevertheless
take cognizance of the contents of your letter and will
forthwith forward a copy thereof to the managing director
who has the appropriate responsibility for investigating any
issues raised.

2 Done.
3 Thanks loads.
The style in the first example is extremely formal English and quite
old-fashioned. You can see what I term barrier words: ‘therefore’,
‘obviously’, ‘nevertheless’ and ‘forthwith’. They are all correct
English, but they can make readers feel distanced. The majority of
readers will probably view the writer as condescending towards an
‘inferior’ reader, rather than communicating with a valued cus-
tomer.
The one word ‘Done’ in the second example is a common e-mail
response these days, when someone has asked a question such as
‘Have you completed this action?’ Those who write the one-word
reply usually feel they are very effective workers and communica-
tors. What they don’t see is the irritated face on the receiving end
of the e-mail! The one-word reply is so often seen as plain rude.
Just by adding four words and changing the reply to ‘Yes, I have
done that’ you can make the writing seem less curt and more po-
lite. As people comment on this in so many training workshops
that I run, it’s well worth a mention here.
The third example is very informal and we see it a lot in business
today. It’s very friendly but it’s best to be aware that some readers
may still consider it unprofessional and inappropriate for corpo-
rate communication. Some writers say they are only that informal
when writing for someone they really know. That’s fine. But also be
aware there can be a problem when e-mails may continue in
threads – and be forwarded unexpectedly to external recipients
too. I’ve seen time and time again where unguarded colloquial lan-
guage has caused unintended embarrassment.