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.
I’m increasingly using ChatGPT for different writing related tasks. To be clear, I’m not asking it to write original text for me, rather to help with the support tasks, such as research, analysis, proofing, and validation.
This is the first in a series of articles on how to use ChatGPT – Google Gemini and Claude are just as effective – to refine your response to RFPs.
A few weeks ago I wrote that I didn’t like business writing when I started out. Why? Well, it took me several centuries to write very long white papers, data sheets, and other sales collateral. Strange word ‘collateral’ isn’t it? The main reason we did this was the ‘assumption’ that customers preferred lengthy documents. These doorstoppers covered all aspects of the product/service. Sure, it had its place. But not all documents have to land with a thud. It’s the same with writing Business Plans. It doesn’t have to be fifty pages if you can get it under twenty and keep the material focused.
AI tools can be very helpful in drafting and reviewing executive summaries. Writing executive summaries plays to AI’s strengths in that it summarizes material you’ve provided and structures it accordingly. It has no reasoning or creative elements involved, which is where AI struggles.
So, with that said, let’s look at how to start writing executive summaries using Google Gemini, my personal go-to AI tool. You can follow the same steps with Claude and Microsoft Bing if you prefer.
Last week, I was teaching a group of business analysts how to rethink their approach to business case writing. It was a shortish course, so we zeroed on a few details. The aim was to give them enough guidance to feel confident when writing the next set documents, without being too prescriptive.
During the sessions, we identified three main problems when structuring the business case:
Seeking feedback is essential to improve any skill whether it’s writing, planning or coding. Instead of running away from feedback, look for ways to weave it into your overall writing process.
By leveraging feedback, you’ll be able to identify blind spots and areas where you can improve, ultimately leading to higher-quality writing.
Here’s a favorite quote from Anne Lamott from the introduction to “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” about the value of feedback:
“I know I’m somewhat criticism-deaf, criticism-resistant, but I try to keep an open mind about it because I know that being a good writer has to involve being a good reader and a good listener.”
A business writing checklist ensures your documents are clear, brief, well-organized, accurate, and professional.
A writing checklist ensures you include the key elements in your document, and protects you from overlooking some critical step when writing to a tight deadline.
Summary: A business case summarizes the rationale for a proposed project or initiative.
Use the following five pillars to structure your document: strategy, options, commercial viability, affordability, and achievability.
How can you develop a blog for your new business? Elli from Botswana wrote in to ask how she could develop a blog writing framework for her new accountancy business. She says, ‘Writing article after article is a bit of a grind. Is there some way I can speed up what I’ve written or re-use […]
What’s an Executive Summary? Think of it as a sales pitch. It’s designed to encourage the reader to turn the page and read the rest of the document. How do you do this? What’s its purpose? Its purpose is to: Highlights the major points of the report Describes any results, conclusions, or recommendations from the […]
Looking for abstract writing guidelines? In this tutorial, we look at how you can write better abstracts for business and technical documents. Learn more about this Business Plan template Here are some guidelines to get you started: One idea per paragraph – keep to one idea per paragraph. This keeps the reader oriented. It also […]
