Be a Brilliant Business Writer: Write Well, Write Fast, and Whip the Competition

Most of us could use some help in the writing department. And this is exactly what "Be a Brilliant Business Writer" offers. This savvy book gives us the tools and strategies we need to easily transform our writing. The authors show us how to write with clarity and power, how to strike just the right tone, how to save time by skipping the need for rewrites, and much, much more.

We know the title might make the book sound a bit dry. After all, many business writing books are bland and boring. But not this one. The writing is smart, funny and very accessible. You'll find yourself actually having fun reading this great book, and you'll hardly be aware you're learning new skills and strategies.

"Be a Brilliant Business Writer" is a book we can all learn something from. Whether you sit on the executive board or are just getting started in the workforce, if you write, then you'll be a better writer by reading this book.

The authors, Jane Curry and Diana Young, own the Chicago-based Curry-Young Consultants. They provide business writing and editing training to Fortune Five Hundred companies, and this book is a compilation of what's taught in their training sessions.

So, keep listening to find out how to make your emails actually get read, how to let your speech guide what you write, and how to know when you shouldn't use email to communicate.

"Be a Brilliant Business Writer" is divided into 22 chapters. And they all have names that enable you to easily find the information you're looking for.

For instance, one chapter is titled "If you want to know when an email isn't the best political choice". Another is titled "If you think you should write the way you talk."

As you may have gathered, the authors kept their sense of humor intact when they wrote this book. You'll probably find yourself laughing out loud in some sections, which might be a first for a business writing book.

The first chapter focuses on persuasive writing. And this is a skill that many of us depend on. After all, how many times have you had to persuade your boss in an email to move forward on a project, or extend a deadline? Or how often do you have to write senior management to ask for additional funding?

Knowing how to write persuasively can make a big difference to your career. And right off the bat, the authors start hitting us with some great tips to get us started.

For instance, how many times have you read an email only to discover the most important information was buried half-way down the text? If you want to make sure your emails actually do their job, make sure your opening sentence passes the "So what?" test.

All you need to do is write your opening sentence. Then, read it over and ask "So what?" You want to make sure the information you just wrote is relevant to your reader.

Here's an example of a sentence that fails the "So what?" test.

Hi Bob,

I'm Sam King, and I'm not sure you remember but I work in the HR department.

Who cares, right? Here's how that sentence could be rewritten so that it passes the "So what?" test.

Hi Bob,

When we met at the industry trade conference last week, you asked me to contact you about any open job opportunities in our HR department.

That second sentence is much better because it immediately tells your reader what you want, and why they should care.

Another strategy we liked from this first chapter has to do with organizing information. When we're writing longer letters or emails, we should divide the text up with bold subheadings. You might think that subheadings are only for books or reports, but they really help the reader grasp concepts and digest the information.

We should make sure those subheads are focused on why the reader should care about what we have to say. This helps guide the reader through the text, and convinces them that they should keep reading.

Of course, this only scratches the surface of what's covered in this first chapter. Like all the chapters in this book, there are plenty more tips and strategies you can use to make sure your writing is persuasive and compelling.

The authors focus all of chapter two on how we can get people to actually read and respond to what we've written.

Most of the time, the authors say, people really don't want to read that email that took us 15 minutes to write. After all, they're busy! The authors say on average, people only devote 4.5 seconds to an email or memo before moving on to something else. So, we need to make sure they're captivated immediately.

One of the best ways to do this with email is to think about your subject line. Many of us just write vague subject lines, like "Vacation" or "Report Question". Instead, take just a few seconds more to write a specific subject line, such as "Taking an Emergency Vacation Day" or "Urgent Question on the Pitney Report". This gives your reader necessary information, and lets them know they need to open your email right now.

We felt this was one of the most useful tips in the book because all of us have piles of email in our inboxes. Finding and organizing all these emails is really difficult sometimes, largely because of vague or uninteresting subject lines. If all of us just put a bit more thought into these headlines, we'd make life much easier for our colleagues.

Another chapter we enjoyed was chapter five, titled "If You Think You Should Write the Way You Talk."

Most conversation, the authors say, is rambling, unfocused and unorganized. Do you really want to be writing this way? Probably not.

On the other hand, we don't want to write dry, complicated sentences either. Some people love to use big words and complex sentences to prove how smart they are. These writers, the authors say, must be stopped at all costs. And make sure you're not one of them.

We need to let our speech guide what we write. This will let our words connect with our audience and ensure we don't sound like an android.

So how do we do that?

One tactic you can use is to read your letter or email out loud once you're done writing it. If your own eyes start to glaze over from complicated technical terms or overstuffed sentences, you need to rewrite it. Remember, you want to be professional but you also want to let your humanity shine through.

Chapter six covers flow. And if you struggle with making your writing flow on the page like water, you won't want to miss this chapter.

One way to make your writing flow is to keep your sentence length between 15-28 words. Fewer than 15 words means you're writing short sentences, which often sound choppy. Long sentences of more than 28 words are just hard to deal with. So, shoot for the middle ground between these two, to make your writing flow better.

Another helpful technique is called Old-New Information Flow. The authors say writing is often difficult because, although we know what we're talking about, most of the time our readers don't. Sometimes we forget our readers have no understanding of our subject. Or they might know a little bit, but we may not explain ourselves well enough to improve their understanding.

The Old-New Information Flow is easy to start using. All you do is start each sentence with old, familiar information, and finish it with new information.

Now, this might not always be easy to do. Fortunately the authors give us some useful tips.

One way to make Old-New Information Flow easier is to use explicit connections. This means we need to repeat a word, phrase or idea from one sentence to the next.

For instance, imagine you just wrote a client and introduced the idea of a new contract. In sentence one you'd use this idea at the end of the sentence, since it's a new idea. In the very next sentence, you'd put the contract idea at the beginning of the sentence, since the idea is now known and familiar.

Here's an example of how this works.

"Stoneheart's revenue from some of its outsourcing contracts depends on the number of participants in the clients' benefit plans. Those participants may decline due to slow economic growth."

The old, familiar concept is the revenue of the fictional company, Stoneheart. The new idea is the number of participants in the clients' benefit plans.

This technique could be especially useful if you're in a management role. When you're giving directions or presenting new ideas to your team members, it's easy for you to miss important points or go too fast. This is because you've already been briefed by your boss, or you may be very familiar with the project because you came up with it yourself.

Using the Old-New Information Flow will ensure your team members can easily understand new concepts or ideas without feeling overwhelmed.

The authors give us plenty of examples to help illustrate this concept, like the one you've just heard. And, once you've read the examples without this technique, and then see it used, you'll be convinced. This technique definitely makes new ideas easier to grasp and understand.

Other chapters in "Be a Brilliant Business Writer" cover specific types of writing. For instance, if you often have to write emails or reports for senior management, you'll want to turn straight to chapter 10. If you have to write technical information and want to make sure it's understood, head to chapter eleven. Writing procedures, PowerPoint presentations and financial documents each have their own chapter in the book.

Chapter 14 handles the tricky subject of conveying bad news. Most of us probably have had to do this at least once, and it's not easy to do tactfully in writing. If we can master this subtle art, though, our customers, team or boss will be grateful.

If you have to convey some bad news to a client, make sure you anticipate their concerns beforehand. Address them in your message, and offer reassurance. The authors include a great example that really shows what a difference this can make in a letter.

So how do you handle situations where you have to communicate disappointing news? Perhaps you have to raise your rate, or your client's shipment is going to be delayed by several weeks.

In this situation, the author says, we need to stress our commitment to helping our client, by offering solutions instead of just delivering the news.

As with other techniques, the authors give us before-and-after examples that prove what a difference the right wording will make in this situation.

We thought chapter 20 was a worthwhile addition, because it covers when email shouldn't be used. And since we all depend on email to communicate, this is a chapter we can learn something from.

There are plenty of times when email shouldn't be used, or when its use will cause a political firestorm in the office.

The authors say if you've already exchanged two emails on the same subject and haven't yet reached a solution, it's time to pick up the phone.

Another time you should talk in person is when you feel the recipient has misunderstood the content or intent of your email. When this happens we need to make a personal connection to explain ourselves.

So, what's our last word on "Be a Brilliant Business Writer?"

We loved this book, for several reasons.

The most important reason is that it's truly useful. The authors filled this book to the brim with helpful strategies and practical tips. You can open up any chapter and within minutes be a better writer.

Another reason we loved this book is that the authors made the information really accessible. There are plenty of bullet points, sub headings and loads of examples which really help clarify what they're talking about.

It's also laugh-out-loud funny, which was a really pleasant surprise. This book could have easily been as exciting as watching paint dry. After all, it's business writing. How fun can it be? But the authors prove they have a passion for this topic, and they let their personality shine throughout the book. Thanks to their wit and humor, the pages fly by.

We have no trouble recommending this book. If you want to improve your writing then "Be a Brilliant Business Writer" would be a welcome addition to your book collection.

"Be a Brilliant Business Writer," by Jane Curry and Diana Young, is published by Ten Speed Press.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.