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Focus on the Reader
Always choose simpler words. Avoid jargon and specialized terms unless the reader knows and expects them. If the reader knows the vocabulary, it makes the message clearer and shorter.
Write a short explanation based on the following information. The reader is afraid of computers and has never used a word processor. She has a simple task to perform using a word processor and only needs to know how to correct text. Your objective is for her to know how to correct text while she is typing. You don't have to take her through the entire process, but do explain these two options.
Assume that the reader knows nothing and has to be guided through everything. Spoon feed the reader. Imagine you are telling the message to her.
Options: Use the backspace key to delete letters to the left. Use the delete key to delete letters to the right.
Focus on the reader as you write. Remember, she needs you to be patient, detailed, and clear.
Write your explanation here:
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What did you learn?
It was probably difficult for you to spoon feed the reader. You may underestimate the reader's need for patient, clear, detailed explanations. In general, all readers need the same attention to detail that you used in writing this short explanation.
In your business writing, focus on the reader in the same way, regardless of how much help the reader needs. Imagine the reader before you. In your reader analysis, if you decided that the reader knows little about the subject or actually misunderstands something, work especially hard at envisioning the reader as you write.
Write like you speak
Spoken communication is simple and direct. However, it is also fragmented and relies on non-verbal signals (smiles, nods, voice inflection, gestures) to do what punctuation does in writing. Use the same simple, direct words and sentences in your writing that you use in your speaking, but clean up the writing so it is organized and easy to follow.
Prefer short sentences over long. Long sentences help to show relationships among ideas. However, they are more difficult to read and more likely to contain confusing phrases. When in doubt, choose two short sentences with transitions to show the relationship between them.
Rewrite the following excerpt from a letter using plain, simple words and sentences.
Rewrite to make it plain and simple:
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Use Paragraphs to Help the Reader Follow Your Message
Paragraphs help the reader follow your message. They are like pauses you would use when telling your message orally, or statements like "OK, now here's what happened next." They tell the reader that you have finished one idea or segment of an idea and are going on to another. The reader can close the previous idea and begin the new idea.
Signal your change of ideas by putting a blank line after the close of the previous idea to separate it from the new idea. If you are using double-spacing, don't skip an extra line, but indent the first line of the new idea.
Start by putting in a blank row at every new idea. If you end up putting one at every sentence, then you're breaking the ideas too finely. Group the sentences together and signal where the first real change to a new idea is by inserting a blank row.
When you have written the entire document, go back and either make a paragraph where you have a break or include the sentence after the break as part of the previous paragraph.
If you make a new paragraph, open the idea that is in the new paragraph with a generalization called a topic sentence. It should explain what is in the paragraph.
If you include the new idea with the previous paragraph, look to see what transition word you could put there to explain to the reader how this new idea fits with the others. Include a transition unless one just doesn't fit.
Practice that by making paragraphs and generalization sentences (topic sentences) for the following memo. It has three points pertaining to a startup business: financing with personal savings, selecting a product, and hiring staff. Start by just putting carriage returns in to separate every idea. Then go back and decide whether you need to use the breaks for paragraph breaks or whether you just need a transition.
Rewrite Using Paragraphs and Generalization Sentences:
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