Non-native English speakers often face significant hurdles when communicating when they move to English speaking countries, such as the US or UK. These challenges can include navigating language nuances, cultural expectations in written communication, and industry-specific jargon.
Some of you may struggle with the directness of US business writing, in contrast with the more indirect communication styles of your own cultures.
Additionally, the fast-paced nature of business comms can be daunting, requiring you to quickly adapt your writing skills for case studies, white papers, and technical documentation.
Recognizing these difficulties, this article aims to equip non-native English speakers with practical, actionable tips to enhance your business writing skills. By focusing on key areas such as structure, tone, and cultural adaptation, we at Klariti seek to boost the confidence and effectiveness of professionals navigating complex business communication in an English-speaking environment. Let’s start.
Getting Started
One of the differences between what they teach kids in high school these days and what I was taught is… business writing skills.
When I went to school we studied Macbeth, Lord of the Flies, John Donne and Yeats. Wonderful stuff but not much use when you got into the real world.
Most of us were never taught how to how to write business letters.
Instead we learnt by reading other business documents, saw what worked, and tried to weave the best parts into our proposals, case studies, and marketing materials.
But we’re kind of working in the dark. We have a sense of what we need to say, but not sure if we’re on track. With that in mind, here are four ways you can improve almost any type of business document.
1. Start with the most important point
A quick word on how to “avoid throat clearing” in business writing.
“Throat clearing” in writing refers to unnecessary introductory text that delays getting to the main point. It’s like when someone clears their throat before speaking, but in written form. For non-native English speakers, this concept is particularly important to understand and avoid.
In many cultures, it’s considered polite or necessary to provide extensive context or pleasantries before stating the main purpose of communication. However, in American business writing, this approach is often seen as inefficient and can frustrate readers who are looking for key information quickly.
Examples of throat clearing in business writing include:
- Lengthy greetings or personal inquiries
- Overly detailed background information
- Unnecessary apologies or qualifications
- Excessive formalities or flattery
To avoid throat clearing:
- Identify your main point or purpose before you start writing.
- Lead with that main point in your opening sentence or paragraph.
- Provide only essential context or background information.
- Save pleasantries or personal remarks for the end of the message, if appropriate.
For instance, instead of writing:
“I hope this email finds you well. I trust you had a good weekend. I wanted to reach out to you regarding the project we discussed last month. As you may recall, we were considering various options for the marketing campaign…”
I want to reader to confirm (or reject) if they can meet at that specific time for that specific project. I don’t want to start email ping pong. This also warms up the reader to what’s coming next.
Stating your goal at the start helps the reader orient themselves and creates expectations of what follows.
Keep it short. Write the opening line with the same clarity as you’d write a one-line summary.
2. Use visual formatting
Next, how to map the information.
In high school, you were encouraged to write large blocks of text, use long paragraphs, and fill the page. In business, the opposite applies.
We scan for information.
Remember the person looking at your, for example, marketing plan isn’t really ‘reading’ your document – their scanning.
Isn’t that what you do?
You scan through the headings, looking for words and phrases.
With this in mind, use headings, bullet lists, and the occasional formatting, such as bolding, to help the reader navigate through the document.
This works in almost all types of documents. The exception may be business proposals where you are told to use specific headings. But you can get around this limitation by adding your own subheadings.
Again, think of what happens when you open a PFD report and see large blocks of text.
“Oh, God, here we go…”
…compared to nicely formatted pages with lots of white space – which lets the text flow and breath – and the occasional image or table to break things up.
Write to be scanned!
3. Write in a natural voice
“Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.” – Winston Churchill
You often hear it said, ‘write the way you talk’. Well don’t.
If we did that our documents would be littered with ‘you know, like, um, ah, well,’ and so on.
Instead, adopt a calm, courteous tone. Write the way you’d like someone to talk to you. Polite, helpful, and to the point.
I think what tends to happen, especially when starting out, is that we adopt words and phrases from our peers, assuming this is the correct way to write. They’re probably copying those before them and those before them.
Instead, commit yourself to clear, positive, and jargon-free writing. This will really make your work stand out.
Try to use short words instead of long, flowery ones. For example, use ‘buy’ instead of ‘procure.’
There’s many good reason to use short words.
- It encourages the reader to respond in the same language, which is usually clearer and speeds things along.
- It shows the reader that you’re not talking down to them, using flowery words instead of everyday terms.
- It builds trust. We don’t trust people who try to ‘fast talk’ us. We suspect they’re trying to deceive us, which makes us wary of responding.
4. Learn to edit
“I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” – Blaise Pascal
After writing (and editing) for twenty years, I *expect* to find errors in what I’ve written. Sometimes there isn’t, but my attitude is to check and check again before I send it out.
Here’s what I do:
- Read it from the last line back up to the top. Why? This stops you reading automatically. Instead you will be able to judge each sentence individually and make the necessary corrections.
- Again, if you have time, or if it’s critical, print it out and use a ruler to review each line, working up to the top. Hard work but worth it.
- Read it aloud. This takes time but is one of the most effective ways to check how the narrative flows, how it sounds, and if there are any gaps. No spell checker will catch this!
- Next, select all the text (Ctrl+A).
- Double-click the Language option and select US English. Why? I often receive documents from overseas clients whose language settings will be different. This ‘confuses’ the spell checker. Apply the same language to the entire document and then spell check it.
- If you have time, print it out. Formatting errors you missed on the PC, for example, numbering in the footer is easier to see when printed out. This is also a good way to see what happens when your client prints out the document. If you accidentally embedded fonts, and their printer doesn’t have these fonts, it will undermine your work and credibility.
That’s it.
- Start with the most important point.
- Use visual formatting. Write to be scanned!
- Write in a natural voice.
- Learn to power edit.
What else would you add?