Tips for better business writing
I do a LOT of business writing. While I may technically be a technology and justice agency consultant, I actually make a living most often by writing. Accordingly, it is important to write well in order to attract a sufficient amount of work and in order to charge enough based upon value received. I was reminded recently by a TechRepublic blog that recommended use of the "inverted pyramid" method of writing in order to put your important conclusions at the front end of your writing instead of burying them in the middle or end of text. In today's busy, attention-deficiency, information-overload world, this is now a critical survival skill in everyday writing, including (and especially) writing email.
The world of journalism has long practiced the trick of top loading the meat of an article or press release. In fact, I first heard of the "inverted pyramid" when I self-trained as a press spokesperson for a large court. Traditionally, we were taught to construct our writing in this order:
# Identify the problem
# Build case for your solution, including technical justification
# Lead the reader to the conclusion(s)
Instead, a graphic of a pyramid is turned upside down to indicate that the conclusion should go first, while the background and justification follows in the order of importance. The amusing journalistic justification for this trick was, "so a drunk editor can come along and hack off the majority of your piece, and it still make sense.”
In my business writing I always include an executive summary. I am convinced that this is the section of the report that will be read most often by the largest number of readers, while few will ever get to the inside of the report.
I now also include an appendix summarizing the recommendations and providing a matrix assigning a priority, a risk assessment and an indication of which stakeholders are affected by the change. This way, the reader can thumb to the appendix and choose only those recommendations that are high priority, and/or those that affect the reader.
To me, technical writing is not some dull, mechanical exercise. The bottom line is compelling individuals and organizations into action. Writing should inspire, illuminate and motivate action.
Getting people to change the status quo is hard unless you've got some powerful reward or punishment to compel someone to change. If all you have is a written report, the challenge is to make a compelling case despite these odds.
For another short article on using the "inverted pyramid" method of writing, visit:
http://mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11178/171/pyramid.htm
Your readers will be glad you did.
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com