Tag Archives: Grammar

10-Point Checklist For Headline Writing

Looking for headline writing tips that will capture attention immediately and force readers to stop in their tracks? Who doesn’t? What exactly are headlines? What purpose do they serve? Headlines are the ‘ad’ for what’s about to follow. Its purpose is to tease the reader into clicking or reading more. If your headline fails, no one […]

Business Rules vs. Business Requirements

Summary: Understand the difference between business requirements and business rules before you start defining the business process. This Klariti tutorial will explain how to write business requirements and how, and where, to include business rules in your process and workflow designs. Business Rules vs. Business Requirements One area where many graduates and business analysts get […]

How to Write Abstracts – Part 1

I had planned to call this article ‘The Nine-Step Strategy for Writing Summaries That Intrigue Readers’ but had a second look. It’s a bit long. And as this article is about writing headlines, summaries and abstracts, well… Let’s stick to the plan.

“An abstract highlights the key points you want your reader to remember after they’ve read your document.“

1 Minute Writing Tip: Active v Passive Voice

Know when to use the active and passive voice in your business or technical documents? Maybe? Let’s look at voice for a minute. What does it mean to write in the active voice? Is the passive voice as *bad* as people say it is? Obviously not. The voice tells us whether the subject of the […]

How To Increase the Number of Words You Can Type Per Minute

typing skills for business writers

My friend PM wants to go into freelance writing. I think it can work for him. He’s determined, has a nice writing style, and knows how to hustle for work. But typing is a problem. It’s that simple. He pecks and pecks at the keyboard. Last weekend, his house he showed me some gizmos, ‘hacks’, […]

How to write first thing in the morning

My wee brain is very slow to start in the mornings. Typing is not easy. Neither is thinking. Video – Daily Writing Routine Warm Up Writing Exercises So, how do you start to write first thing in the morning. Here’s a few ways: Decide on a specific target, say 100 words. Identify the topic the […]

How Students Can Overcome Writer’s Block For Exams

Summary: Writer’s Block is a result of poor planning and feeling overwhelmed as a result. Here’s how to overcome writer’s block and ensure your success in exams. If you find yourself struggling to write your term paper, prepare a report, or some other writing assignment, the following might help. Here’s the problem. When we think […]

How to improve the subject line of an email

First, think of the response you want from the reader. Second, put the most important point at the start. Third, highlight one thing only. The problem with most subject lines in emails is that they’re written either: As a placeholder, something to put in while you write the actual email After the email is written […]

Are good business writers made or born?

If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking… made. Why do I say this? Because if you are a ‘born writer’, and have written from a very early age as most do, you’d feel  that most writers are born, not made. You either have it or you don’t. But it this true? I hate to say it […]

Business Requirements: Should you use Shall v Will?

Should you use Shall or Will when writing business requirements? Or something else? For example, some business analyst friends prefer to use Must. Others insist that Shall is the international standard, so we should stick with it. Download this Business Requirements template Download Now for only $9.99 Learn more about this template Business Analysts use […]

Why grammar is (probably) not your problem

Know the difference between affect and effect? Or where to use that but not which? Or when to use which but not with a comma before it? I know. MS Word forbids it. But can expect from a bot? Anyway… You could fill several multi-story car parks with people who — or is it that? […]

Em Dash v En Dash

Noreen Malone, senior editor at New York magazine, admits what everyone else thinks about those pesky em-dashes. “The problem with the dash—as you may have noticed!—is that it discourages truly efficient writing. It also—and this might be its worst sin—disrupts the flow of a sentence. Don’t you find it annoying—and you can tell me if […]