Page 96 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

Writing globally? Or in multinational teams? 85

write’. But it’s not necessarily true. Ideally, companies should assess
writing ability when recruiting and/or promoting employees into
jobs that need this skill (and, actually, which jobs don’t?). Otherwise
complacency sets in – and complacency drains the lifeblood of any
organization. It’s how companies lose the competitive edge.
Let’s see some practical examples where native English writers
got it wrong and paid the price.
An upmarket hotel opened its new restaurant, meant to be
called The Brasserie. Unfortunately, nobody checked the correct
spelling of this French word. The restaurant opened to great fan-
fare. The trouble was, it was called The Brassiere. It was not long
before it was ridiculed in the national press – but it was long
enough for it to lose face (and money on the signage, menus and
advertising, all of which had to be redone).
Another unfortunate piece of writing by a native English speaker
was this: ‘I feel I have become a prawn in the game.’ He actually
meant to write ‘pawn in the game’ (using a chess analogy) but the
extra letter made a nonsense of this.
So it’s certainly not just non-native English writers who make
mistakes. But the uplifting fact is that, whatever the nationality, it’s
virtually always the good who have the passion to strive to be
better!

Your checklist for action

To use business English at work, your words and the framework
that surround them have to be perfect. It’s achievable, so don’t set
the bar lower! There are stark consequences of getting it wrong, as
we keep seeing: business writing mistakes (including unclear, confus-
ing or alienating messages) can equal lost cash, custom or goodwill.
For these reasons:

● ● If unable to explain things as precisely as you would like, focus
on the main messages that are essential for readers to know