Chapter 8

Building the Biggies: Major Business Documents

In this Chapter

Leading with the Executive Summary

Ratcheting up reports

Planning proposals, both formal and informal

Building better business plans

Depending on the type of work you do, you may need to create a constant supply of proposals, reports and business plans. Or you may need to do so occasionally. Either way, these documents are often make-or-break.

When vying for a contract or pursuing project approval, you must present your best possible case to win.

Reports are rarely trivial. They’re usually read by people you report to and often by others further up the ladder, decision-makers with whom you have no other contact.

Business plans in which you ask for funding, support or action are in many ways the ultimate challenge because they ask people to invest in your vision.

Perhaps you can get what you want with poorly written business documents. But I don’t know why on earth you would want to court that risk. When you work to write your best, you end up thinking your best.

This chapter gives you a wealth of tools and techniques to support your ability to create persuasive major documents. The following strategies apply equally to grant applications, white papers, training plans, technical reports, client reports and more.

I lead off this chapter with composing an executive summary because you can use it to make every important business document more interesting, valuable and relevant.

Writing the Executive Summary

Readers are all summary-mad these days. Whether perusing the capsule-size rundowns at the beginning of articles, or digesting multi-page intros to complex content in reports and proposals, people – you included – love summaries.

And no wonder: summaries save so much time. They tell you quickly if you need or want to read the actual material. Even if major decisions hinge on a report or proposal, many people may never read the entire document. CEOs make untold numbers of decisions based on executive summaries alone.

So when a piece of your future hangs in the balance, make the effort to write first-rate executive summaries. Always reserve time to think them through as documents on their own. Never treat them as an after-thought you dash off after writing the larger document. Write them as original, complete, logical, and interesting statements. See them as a way to get people on your side with your best expression of what’s important and, perhaps, what you recommend.

As with everything you write, begin your work on an executive summary with goals. Every summary has its own set of goals, but first know its role and what it needs to accomplish. (See Chapter 2 for more on goals.) Almost always, aim for summaries that:

Generate interest – excitement, if possible – to lure readers into reading the full document.

Integrate the document’s main points into a cohesive story that readers can easily understand.

Put the larger document in perspective for your target audiences so that they know why it matters to them.

Say everything that matters most with energy and lively language.

Use a reader-friendly format (NOT based on bullets).

Create a call to action, rather than a pile of passive information from which readers are left to draw their own conclusions.

Giving long documents perspective

Good reports, proposals, and other business documents are read, and often acted upon. Bad boring ones are trashed faster than yesterday’s fish. They may even be used to wrap the fish.

A strong executive summary makes the difference between getting traction or ending up in the trash. It starts you off on the right foot with your audience and can keep you there by establishing interest in the rest of your material.

One good sequence is to write your document, then write the executive summary, then review the main document to ensure that it lines up with the summary and thoroughly supports it. Or, you can write your executive summary first and then back it up with the full document.

Both processes work because developing the summary helps you figure out your real story. This truth applies to a range of reports, whether you’re relating how you spent your time for the past month, what your department or company achieved, the results of a study you conducted, what you accomplished for a client, or your research on a given subject. It also applies to white papers, grant applications, business plans, and all the rest.

Your aim in the summary is to predigest the information and give the reader a meaningful perspective. You accomplish these goals by understanding your own material in depth.

Suppose the task is to write a report for your boss on the last month’s work. Two quick tricks can help you begin:

Without looking at the already-written report, ask yourself: what settles out as important, interesting, provoking, promising, or enlightening this past month? Write that down.

Imagine your partner or a good buddy was away for the last month and upon return asks,‘What happened in your work while I was gone?’ What would you say? Write that down.

If you’re following a report format that your company or department prescribes – with pre-set categories (trends, new projects, profits and losses, and so on) – try one of these shortcut processes for each category. But also take time to determine what matters with a bigger-picture brainstorming so that you know what perspective to give the report.

Determining what matters

Your executive summary should not march through a series of mini-versions of the larger document’s sections. After the opening statement – think of it as the summary of the summary – follow the document’s sequencing and integrate the material and ideas for a cohesive, meaningful statement.

Figure out what’s important – what is most worth sharing – especially in terms of your readers’ interests. (See Chapter 2 for ways to get to know your audience.) Beyond trying the quick tricks I suggest a few paragraphs earlier, spark your own big-picture thinking in a systematic way by filling in answers to questions like:

The most important thing that happened this month was______.

What my bosses and colleagues should know about is_______.

My core message about the ups and downs of the last month is_______.

The problem I really need help with or support for is_______.

The good news is_______. The not so good news is_______.

As a result of reading this report, the decision or action I want is_______.

What I want most for myself is _______.

If you struggle to complete status reports, hang a copy of the preceding questions in your workspace or near your computer. If another kind of report challenge looms regularly, invent your own questions for guidance.

For models of how to handle an executive summary, check out the best. Warren Buffet, the financier, is justly famous for his crystal clear communication of tough material. Here’s the opening of his ‘To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway’ letter back in 2007 when the U.S. housing market was beginning to implode.

Our gain in net worth during 2007 was $12.3 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 11 per cent. Over the last 43 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $78,008, a rate of 21 per cent compounded annually.

Overall, our 76 operating businesses did well last year. The few that have problems were primarily linked to housing, among them our brick, carpet, and real estate brokerage operations. Their setbacks are minor and temporary. Our competitive position in these businesses remains strong, and we have first-class CEOs who run them right, in good times or bad.

Some major financial institutions have, however, experienced staggering problems because they engaged in the ‘weakened lending practice’ I described in last year’s letter. John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo, aptly dissected the recent behavior of many lenders: ‘It is interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money when the old ways seemed to work fine.’

Buffet goes on to explain the housing crisis in a paragraph, then moves on with sections titled: ‘Turning to happier thoughts,’ an acquisition; ‘Finally our insurance business,’ and ‘That party is over’, warning investors to anticipate lower insurance earnings, and more.

The whole introduction occupies seven paragraphs. It sets readers up to read the full report, with all the statistics, charts, and financial detail – in the frame of mind Buffet chooses.

Notice how Buffet’s quoted statement aligns with ideas about good writing as shared in this book. His goal is obvious: to present a balanced picture but reassure his investors that his company is on solid ground despite very troubling financial events. Understanding his audience – Hathaway investors – makes obvious why he chose a fact-rich lead as his first paragraph. While not catchy, the numbers are nevertheless riveting to those whose eyes are glued to his bottom line.

Further, Buffet’s use of colloquial language helps everyone relate to his subject. His assurance that ‘we have first-class CEOs who run them right, in good times or bad’ is both conversational and confident. The 2007 letter ends with a paragraph about how lucky he and his partner feel: ‘Every day is exciting to us; no wonder we tap-dance to work.’ You’re never too successful or sophisticated to share your passion and enthusiasm. In fact, it’s essential for getting where you want to go.

Check out a bunch of Buffet's letters online at www.berkshirehathaway.com. Even if you have no interest in the financial details, you can appreciate his clear, concise word choices and organized presentation style. Notice how he creates each letter's tone, and spend ten minutes analyzing what makes him such a credible writer and how he conveys trustworthiness, even when reporting bad news.

One more recommendation on executive summaries: Don’t call it ‘Executive Summary,’ which is sleep-inducing. Give it a real headline that says something concrete about your content, positions it, and promotes interest. You can still use the words but add to them:

Executive Summary: How the Audit Shifts Company Priorities for Next Year

For more on writing headlines, see ‘Putting headlines to work’ later in this chapter.

Shaping Successful Reports

As with every piece of writing, know your goal and your audience before diving into a report (see Chapter 2).

Think beyond the obvious reasons for writing reports. Consider why someone wants the information you include in your report. If you’re told to file monthly or quarterly reports on your activities or your department’s efforts, for example, the reasons may include:

Your supervisor needs to keep a grasp on what’s happening in her department.

Your supervisor needs to draw on your material to, in turn, report to her boss, and on up the ladder, perhaps all the way to the CEO or Board.

Decision-makers consider your ideas valuable because you’re closer to the action, whatever that is, and speak for that piece of reality.

Decision-makers want early alerts to problems, opportunities, things falling between the cracks and the general business climate.

Your colleagues need to know what you’re doing so that they can coordinate their efforts and invest their own time better.

Don’t treat reports as time-wasters that take you away from your ‘real work’. They’re important to those you work for and offer excellent chances to show off your capabilities and prove yourself. Take the trouble to make them well organized, well written, and well strategized.

Target them to your readers. (I cover audience characteristics in depth in Chapter 2.) Think about your specific readers’ preferences and what they want: the kind of information, the level of detail and style of writing, the types of evidence, and their probable attitude toward your subject. Consider what they already know about your subject and what interests them the most.

Focusing reader attention

You can easily get lost in detail when reporting on an activity period, experiment, or event. You need to center your readers’ attention on what you believe matters most. To figure out what’s important and worth sharing, ask yourself a series of questions.

If reports are a regular part of your work take the time to develop a set of questions that are most relevant to what you want to accomplish and the nature of your reports. Start with the following list. Cross out those that don’t relate to your own situation, adapt others as necessary and add more questions so you end up with a customized list that leads you to know your story and helps you present it.

Remember to take company culture into account.

What’s important to your company about what you’re covering in terms of immediate goals? In terms of long-term goals?

Were any milestones achieved?

What’s changed from previous month(s)? The impact?

What has progressed, or regressed?

What comparisons are relevant – last month, last year, or another timeframe?

What initiatives did you take? What resulted? And will you take those initiatives again?

Did you put any new systems in place? What progress was made on these?

What strategies did you use? What were the results?

What challenges did you experience? How did you solve them?

Where did you see opportunities? Did you act on them or refer them to someone else? Did you achieve any results?

What surprised you?

What frustrated you?

What occurred that should be taken into account in the future, or bears watching?

Did the general climate of the past period offer challenges or advantages?

In your opinion, is the department moving in the right direction? How/what would you change if you could?

What would be fun or thought-provoking to share?

What do you recommend based on what you’re reporting?

Do you see opportunities for collaborative action?

Shaping the report

Unless you’re following a prescribed format, after you’ve figured out your story, choose a format and sequence. Start by logically listing the categories that you need to cover. A project report may follow a sequence such as:

Executive SummaryProblem (or mission)What we didWhat happenedConclusions (recommendations, ideas, problems, next steps, and so on)

If you’re reporting on activities for a week, month, quarter or year, the categories may be more like:

Executive summaryOld initiatives, progressNew initiativesStaffing changesUnexpected challengesEnvironment scan – big-picture situation that’s relevant Profits/lossesProjectionsResource or assistance needs

If the categories for your reports are predetermined, or you inherited them through long company traditions, honour them, but don’t turn into an automaton. Even though the powers-that-be may insist on a given format, their eyes glaze over fastest. Nothing makes for a duller report or application, for example, than filling out each section of required information as a rote task, in the number of words that seem called for. Doing so produces a lifeless litany that makes you look like a hack.

After you have a reasonably organized set of categories and spend some time thinking about your overall message, start working with one category or section at a time. Do this in sequence or not, according to your personal preference. Some people like to start with what’s easiest for them. The beauty of sectionalizing the document is that you can choose your working method while knowing in advance how the pieces fit together.

A good report or other major document doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t position yourself to start from scratch when the deadline is tomorrow. Consider collecting information gradually in a folder, on your computer or desk (or both), for each section. Add to the folders over time so you’re not overwhelmed at the last minute and desperately trying to remember what happened, where the figures are and what it all means. Before you draft, give yourself time to read through all of the material you gathered and decide on your message, as I describe earlier in ‘Focusing reader attention.’

Drafting the report

When you’re ready to pull the whole report together, begin at the beginning with the first section after the executive summary. For each section open with a good summary statement – the lead. As with the lead for many kinds of writing, aim to capture attention and explain what information is coming. For reports and other business documents, a good generalization that puts the information in perspective works well. A section on staffing changes in a quarterly report, for example, may begin:

The department successfully added three new highly-qualified specialists in high-need technical areas this period, while losing two mid-managers by attrition. This improves our positioning and enables us to better accomplish our goal of upselling technical services to current clients. Only one of the managerial jobs needs to be refilled.

Then go on to fill in the details on the level you deem appropriate. To stay organized painlessly, try identifying subsections for each major part. To follow up the preceding lead, your subsections might be:

New technical hiresExpanding service capacitiesManager attritionOverall staff situation/outlook

Stay conscious of how each section contributes to your overall message, as well as how you’re relating to the company’s problems and priorities. Know thoroughly how things fit together and make sure you clearly communicate that to your readers.

Don’t bury what matters. To avoid overwhelming people with information, analyze what you can leave out. Providing too much detail may trivialize the important things you want people to absorb. If you don’t provide a strong perspective, you can leave readers drawing their own conclusions. Lawyers routinely confound the other side by dumping tons of unsorted documents on them that they are forced to wade through. Don’t information-dump your readers, especially if you work for them.

Fast-tracking Yourself through Proposals

If the futurists are right, you may have more proposal writing ahead of you than you suspect. Every year many companies and not-for-profit organizations cut staffing and hire more consultants and independent contractors. Even if you stay in-house, you may find a growing need to pitch for new assignments or responsibilities, in writing.

Sometimes you may need to prepare formal proposals in a format either prescribed by an organization, or the occasion – if you’re aiming for investment capital, for example, you need to meet your audience’s expectations of content and style. In many cases, however, a far less formal proposal can succeed and may even be preferred by your target reader. More and more consultants I know use the much shorter and easier kind of proposal to sell their services. Accordingly, I show you how to write both kinds,

Writing formal proposals

Most RFPs (Request for Proposals) are formal and standardized. This is true in most big-business situations, and also for many grant applications. You may have a list of specifications to meet and a prescribed format. Follow any RFP to the letter, especially if you’re bidding for a government contract. At other times you may have more leeway to organize your document as you like, or to interpret a set of guidelines.

For help with preparing a long-form, high-stakes proposal, check out Internet resources and business management books. You can find abundant good advice on formatting and specific buzzwords, but you don’t find much about the process of writing the proposal itself. So I focus on presentation tips that can make the difference between winning and losing:

Tell a story: Even if the prescribed format makes storytelling tough, use the space to communicate a cohesive picture of what you recommend, what you’ll do and why you’re the best person or company to do the job. True, specialists may scrutinize only a few sections, but key readers review the whole document and want it to make sense cumulatively – with as little repetition as possible. (See Chapter 9 for storytelling tips.)

Know your audience’s goal:If you’re pitching for a complex contract, take the time to understand the company and its problems. Read the RFP between the lines and research to see how the requested work fits into the company’s overall needs – and by extension how you can fit in.

Give your audiences what they need: Include content and details that specifically match audience expectations. Remember that most businesspeople want to increase profitability or efficiency, while a grant giver may be more concerned with how your project aligns with an organization’s mission or generates change. All reviewers want to know a project’s timetable, how you measure success, the budget, who will do the work and their credentials, your track record, and more depending on the nature of the need to be filled.

Write simply and conversationally. But use a slightly more formal feeling than for everyday communication – only a few contractions, for example. Writing in the third person, with the company as an entity, is generally best, unless you are the central or the only person involved. A two-person organzsation can use ‘we.’ Make your language lively but jargon-free. See Chapter 4 for more tips.

Speak their language: In order to echo the RFP’s language, read it many times to pick up its voice. Respond in a similar tone. Notice any statements that are emphasized or repeated. These are clues to the organization’s hot buttons and perhaps sensitivities honed by experience. Incorporate key phrases and ideas in your responses to show you are on the same wavelength, but don’t come across as if you’re parroting back their words and not providing substantial answers.

Remember the decision is about you: Whatever you’re proposing, you’re asking someone to choose you and your team. Never skimp the biographical section. Show why each team member is right for the role, how the team works together, its accomplishments, and why you in particular can be trusted to deliver: on time, within budget, and to specification.

Go for the proof: Don’t say ‘the team is creative, reliable, and efficient.’ Cite examples, case histories, statistics and testimonials that demonstrate these points, as appropriate. Impress with substance rather than empty claims.

Edit and proof: After writing, edit and proof several more times (see Chapters 4 and 5). One error costs you your credibility. Ask a friend with sharp eyes to proof for you too. If you fail to showcase your ability to communicate well and correctly within the document itself, you lose ground regardless of what you’re trying to win.

Make it look good: Your competitors will. Use all the graphic options to help your proposal read well and easily. Give your readers opportunities to rest their eyes, and entertain them with visuals that are relevant, never extraneous. (See Chapter 3 for advice on using graphic tools.) If a lot rests on this document, ask a friend with design ability for guidance. Or find a good model and adapt elements of its design or the whole layout.

Ask questions as you go: Often the people in charge of the RFP or grant-giving process provide a way for you to ask questions. Don’t be too proud to do so. If you’re not sure whether you’re eligible, better to find out first. If you don’t understand a requirement, say so. If you don’t know what supporting materials are welcome, ask. Take care to sound intelligent, listen, follow up on the clues – and do some relationship building during the process.

Always do a big-picture review before sending out a proposal. Check yourself by asking:

Did I demonstrate my understanding of the problem or goal?

Did I explain who I am (or who we are) and why I’m the best choice?

Did I clearly state what I will do to address the problem and the expected outcomes?

And if different people worked on the proposal, has the whole piece been edited to read consistently and well?

Many candidates focus proposals on process and short-sell results. For example, a training proposal to update staff technology skills should talk less about how many workshops the program includes and more about the gains that result in efficiency, problem-solving, and error-reduction after the training.

And, remember the professional proposal writer’s mantra: Be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-sensitive.

Writing informal proposals

In fast-moving times, few consultants or contractors want to do more than is necessary to win the job. If you’re vying for a government or big-industry contract, or a grant, you usually have no choice other than to follow the given specifications. But in many other situations, you can save yourself a bundle of time.

One way is to build the proposal into the selling process and make it a simple agreement – confirmation of a plan already discussed. You can use a letter format (see Chapter 7) or just create a logical sequence to cover what’s necessary. This approach requires a different selling process because it builds on a personal discussion of the job at hand rather than analysis of a written request. So the first step is to achieve that conversation. As any sales professional can tell you, aim for a face-to-face meeting with your prospect. Then write the proposal based on what you discover. Proposals based on phone conversations, or even less, are harder sells. Ideally, you want to gain a second appointment to present your solution – that is, your proposal.

At the meeting, rather than aggressively selling your qualifications, hold a conversation. Encourage the prospect to talk – a beginning that often works well is, ‘I’d love to know how you came to this position.’ Listen very carefully and use friendly prompts to keep the person talking and gently steer the direction. Ask open-ended questions:

What problem would you most like to solve?

How is this problem affecting your business?

What difference would solving it make for you?

Watch for clues as to how you really can help the organization and how much they’ll value having you fix their problems. It’s unlikely that you’ll be told the problem you (or they) identified is after all not important, but it’s perfectly possible that exploring the fit between you and the prospect will reveal that it’s not a good fit. It’s better to find this out before you’re highly invested!

If the conversation indicates a mutually beneficial arrangement is possible, you can move on to preparing an informal proposal. This can take the form of a simple, logical agreement that covers:

The problem you propose to addressWhy that problem is very important What you recommendHow you will carry the program out step-by-stepWhat will resultMutual obligations, timeframe and so onFee

At the end of this simple letter-like format, you can add, ‘Agreed to by . . .’ with room for signatures and date.

Adapt the thinking behind this strategy to your business and situation. If a meeting can’t happen, use a phone conversation to find out about the company and its needs.

Here’s an example of a simple proposal to pitch for an opportunity in my business of teaching practical writing.

A Workshop Proposal for Company XYZ

From ABC Writing Workshops Inc.

I am pleased to propose a series of writing workshops to help XYZ customer service representatives handle customer complaints more effectively and actively build customer relations through email and letters.

The Problem: Alienated customers

Your recent review of 24 representatives’ interactions with customers showed:

• A growing number of complaints from customers unhappy with how their original complaints were handled

• An abrupt, sometimes rude tone in many outgoing messages

(I can add a few more specifics here to define the problem.)

Impact of the problem on XYZ

The situation is affecting your company adversely and in your own analysis, is a major factor in the recent 8 per cent decline in your customer base.

ABC Workshops proposes:

(I include a step-by-step outline of the proposed workshop series here – specific but very concise.)

Program goals

The workshop series will achieve . . .

(I list the outcomes that correspond to the problems and note how results will be measured.)

How we will work together

(I describe collaborative planning, timeframes, obligations of each party.)

The presenters

(I detail who will deliver the program, their credentials and so on.)

Fee structure

Agreed to by_______

The entire document should be a few pages at most. Some more standard sections, like the ‘presenters’ section that describes staffing and credentials, can appear as a separate add-on.

Your tone and language for an informal proposal are even more important than for a formal one, which I talked about in the section before this one. After all you’ve spoken personally with the individual who might hire you. You’ve also seen how he presents, what his office looks like, how he communicates, what sparks his interest and concern, how important the problem is to him. Be alert to all these clues and picture him in your mind as you write. (Chapter 2 gives you ways to consciously analyze your audience so you can resonate with it in your writing.)

Creating Business Plans

You write a business plan for two basic reasons: To obtain investment funds (or the equivalent if you’re pitching an idea in-house); and to give an existing or prospective business a roadmap for growth. You may want to accomplish both goals.

Advice on business plans is everywhere: government offices that exist to help entrepreneurs and small businesses, business management books, online templates, software with ready-made formats, and plenty of companies that want to help you, for a fee. Check out Business Plans For Dummies by Colin Barrow for more information on writing business plans.

Business plans have much in common with proposals, and the two formats tend to blur into each other. So the foregoing advice on proposals – and also reports (see ‘Shaping Successful Reports’) – applies to business plans as well.

Analyzing audience and goal is especially helpful in creating a business roadmap. If your goal is to raise capital, ask yourself what your readers – the possible investors – demand to know. Your plan needs to effectively answer these universal questions:

What’s your mission, or idea – what exactly do you want to do?

How do you plan to accomplish that mission?

What are the risk factors?

What’s the profit potential and timeframe?

How much will implementing your idea cost?

What milestones are you setting?

Why are you and your team especially qualified to succeed?

Professional investors often complain that too few business plans pay enough attention to the last point. As with proposals, you’re asking someone to invest in you. If you want them to risk their money, logically, you must show them you are reliable, resourceful, resilient, not easily discouraged, and fully equipped to succeed.

Tell the story of why you’re undertaking the venture. (Note the phrasing of the final question above.) Present your track record. Show you have solid business sense as well as a good idea. Communicate total conviction in that idea and in the team. Come across as confident, sincere and down to earth.

As with many forms of communication I cover in this book, when writing a business plan, don’t bury the lead. Articulate your mission and business advantage in a single sentence and put that right at the beginning. At the same time, you must make what you want clear. Readers don’t bother to figure these things out for themselves.

Building a good one-liner isn’t easy. Marketers call it the core value proposition. You need to write it, and say it, to inspire yourself and your team as well as investors. A few examples of how your core value proposition may read, incorporating statements of what the writer wants:

JZ Pizzatoria Inc. plans to open the first pizza concession inside a federal penitentiary, with a customer base of 3800 inhabitants weary of bland food. We seek a capital investment of X million to fund this model.

Jane Marvel, the Boot Queen of Alaska, seeks investment partners to upgrade manufacturing capacity for high-fashion boots made from recycled snow tires and bottle caps.

PHD Company seeks to capitalize development of its original, patented software that identifies computer hackers, repels their attacks, and feeds a destructive virus into their own computers.

For an in-depth discussion of creating core value statements, see Chapter 9.

Writing Tips for All Business Documents

For your own line of work, you may need business materials that differ from the specific types I cover in the preceding sections of this chapter. Most of the ideas still apply, but some general writing guidelines and techniques are helpful. Establishing the tone, writing headlines and building in tactics of persuasion benefit all your business writing, from proposals and reports to business plans, white papers and RFPs that you write, rather than answer.

Finding the right tone

Important business communications must come across as authoritative, objective, credible and confident. You’re trying to persuade someone to do something, so you don’t want to sound ponderous and dull. To the contrary, the more lively and engaging your document, the more responsive your audience and the more likely people are to respond with what you want. Given the mounds of boring material your readers face, they may actually be grateful for giving them a good read.

If anyone tells you that to compete for a lucrative contract you must write expensive-sounding, verbose, grandiloquent prose, don’t listen. You want a transparent writing style that showcases your thinking, not fancy language that calls attention to itself. Employ all the good writing techniques at your disposal. Chapter 5 covers a bounty of useful strategies, but the following are core.

Minimize use of:

Stiff, pompous tone

Arrogant or self-aggrandizing atmosphere

Passive, indirect statements

Long, complicated words and sentences

Jargon, acronyms, and buzzwords

Long meandering sentences that demand two readings

Abstractions

Empty hype, including flowery adjectives and unproved claims

Hedge words and qualifiers: might, perhaps, hopefully, possibly, would, could and the like

Extra or extraneous material that doesn’t support your point

Mistakes in grammar, punctuation or spelling

Maximize use of:

Conversational but respectful style

Low-key, quiet confidence

Straightforward clear sentences, average 12 to 18 words, with action verbs

Short, basic words

Short paragraphs of three to five sentences

Expressions that are easily understood by anyone

Short sentences with rhythmic flow

Concrete, graphic words and comparisons

Proof/evidence: facts, statistics, images, examples

Positive language that doesn’t qualify or hedge

Story line: have one and stick to it

Very correct spelling, punctuation and grammar

Putting headlines to work

To make all your business documents more engaging and reader-friendly, adapt some good journalism techniques. One instantly energizing approach is to stop thinking of section headings as labels and to start writing these elements as headlines.

The difference is that labels are static, dull, and uninformative. Headlines, on the other hand, tell readers what’s happening right now, in what they’re about to read. They have a feeling of action and at best, provoke curiosity.

You can use headlines to begin sections in reports, proposals and business plans. They are easy to write when you think about delivering information rather than naming a category. Here are some labels transformed into headlines:

Label: Admissions: Results compared to forecasts
Headline: September admission results exceed forecast

Label: Overall financial results
Headline: June starts disappoint – collaborative action needed

Label: XY Program case history
Headline: How the XY program turned an oil company’s image from black to green

If you’re responding to given categories and must use them, simply add a headline after the label. Adding a colon at the end of the standardized label line can help:

Admissions Performance:This year’s enrolment up 19 per cent over last

Most reports, proposals and business plans benefit hugely from working in subheads as well as headlines. Try this method to solve organizational problems. As I suggest in Chapter 4, write a series of subheads before drafting the material itself and then add the appropriate information and ideas under each.

Breaking long sections of big documents into sequences of smaller sections with subheads pulls readers along and helps them make sense of what you’re presenting. Planting guideposts helps you focus your audience on what is most important for them to know and what you want them to know.

If you have a multipage section on financial indicators, for example, write a headline to capsulize the whole picture, and then a set of action subheads for each topic. For example:

March Indicators Promise Much, Prove Little

Skilled worker recruitment loses traction: down .5per cent from plan

Stock price climbs to 126, up 2 per cent

Sales jump to 2012 levels, led by Jumex breakthrough

Company economists express cautious confidence for April

You may question whether the preceding headlines and subheads are too specific, encouraging readers to not look past them. Your concern may be justified but realistically, you must allow for skimmers. This is all the more reason to present a fair, honest and balanced picture through these mini-statements.

The more clearly you signal where you’ve located specific types of information in your document and why they matter, the better the response. Helping people choose what to read is an excellent technique, given how selective people are about investing their energy and time.

The headline/subhead technique makes your material look more interesting and helps you look like a more take-charge, action-oriented leader. This is true even when the news you’re delivering is bad!

Incorporating persuasive techniques

Persuasion is a big topic that obsesses psychologists, communicators, marketers, and even neuroscientists today. Digging into some material on the subject and absorbing core ideas into your writing is definitely worthwhile. Persuasion and Influence For Dummies by Elizabeth Kunke is a good place to begin.

In the meantime, try implementing the following strategies into your writing right now whenever you want to persuade someone to your viewpoint, change her mind, introduce a new idea or make a convincing case :

Write with conviction: Nothing is more persuasive to other people than your own strong belief in whatever it is you want them to agree with.

Provide evidence. Always give people substance rather than vague generalizations about your product, proposal, or idea. Needless to say, always be honest.

Key in to your audience’s viewpoint: Connect to its concerns, problems, ideas, level of knowledge and so on (see Chapter 2). The best argument is useless if your reader doesn’t care about solving that problem.

Focus your message: Know it thoroughly and make sure every word, sentence, and paragraph supports it. Cut out unnecessary details and distractions.

Sound in command of your material: Be positive in tone, never wishy-washy. Don’t hedge. Look for ways to be engaging and interesting – anecdotes, examples, stories are good; jokes, probably not.

Don’t dismiss opposing ideas: Take them into account, and you’re more credible. For example: ‘Some scientists believe that eating more sugary products is good for children. However, the evidence shows. . .’

Take special pains with transitions: Know how each piece of your story connects to the rest. Make these links clear with strong transitions between every sentence, idea, paragraph and section. Good transitions contribute to a mesmerizing flow and makes your argument feel logical and inevitable (see Chapter 5 for more on this technique).

And, keep in mind that scientists and economists are finding more and more proof of what marketing gurus have always believed: People make decisions based on emotion rather than facts. Therefore, when you want to persuade, paint pictures, tell stories and offer visions. Spark your readers’ imagination.

All these tools and techniques for creating reports, proposals and other business documents are valuable for promotional and marketing materials, too, which I cover in Chapter 9.