Grammar can be confusing. All the more so when you throw in the jargon that only English professors and editors of high stature understand (What do you mean, it’s an irregular verb? Looks pretty normal to me.).

Let’s consider some fundamentals that many business writers have trouble with.

Question marks:
Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you write a question, end it with a question mark. If you don’t write a question, don’t end it with a question mark.

Sound overly simple? Consider the following common errors:

1. Can you let me know.
2. I think this job is demanding but I’m not sure?
3. How much are you asking for your equipment??????????????????????

Okay, the last one’s not actually an error—it’s just silly. One question mark is sufficient for every business situation.

Exclamation points:
Normally, these should be avoided in business writing. However, sometimes it is acceptable to use one:

Remember your safety equipment!

However, always avoid using exclamation marks like this:

Here’s the third quarter annual report!! Our numbers are up again!!! Yay!!!!

Commas:
Commas can be tricky. You need to use them occasionally, but not always where you might expect. Here’s a very common error:

Let me know about that report, I need the results by tomorrow.

The problem? This is a comma splice error. The portion of the sentence after the comma could stand on its own as a separate sentence. Therefore, the sentence must be written in one of the following two ways:

• Let me know about that report; I need the results by tomorrow.
• Let me know about that report. I need the results by tomorrow.

On the other hand, not using commas enough creates its own problems:

• The report is due but I don’t know if our department is ready willing and able to make it.
• Correction: The report is due, but I don’t know if our department is ready, willing, and able to make it.

Of course this barely scratches the surface of everything involved with using correct punctuation, but it’s a start. If you understand the principles listed above, you’ll be ahead of many business writers today.

Although you would imagine that all writers know that it is important to write complete sentences. They do not always follow the rule.

That’s true. In fact, only one of the phrases above is a complete sentence. Which one? If you chose the second one, you are correct. The first one is a sentence fragment. Most of the time, it is obvious whether or not a phrase is a complete sentence. At other times, it may be a bit more difficult to tell.

A complete sentence does not need to be long. The following, for example, are complete sentences:

I am listening.

She is coming.

John is home.

He won.

It arrived.

What makes those very short sentences complete is the fact that they each have a subject and a predicate. Simply put, a subject is the who or what of a sentence. In other words, it designates who or what the sentence is about. The subjects of the sentences above are, in order, I, she, John, he, and it.

A predicate is what the subject did or does or will do or what happened to it or is happening to it or will happen to it. The predicates of those sentences above are, in order, am listening, is coming, is home, won, and arrived.

Sometimes, recognizing a complete sentence or differentiating between a subject and a predicate is not simple. In the case of the two phrases at the beginning of this essay, the first one is only a subject. It needs a predicate in order to be a complete sentence. Even though the second phrase is, in actuality, a complete sentence by itself, if it is added to the first phrase, a new, complete sentence is formed: Although you would imagine that all writers know that it is important to write complete sentences, they do not always follow the rule. In this case, the predicate, the part that indicates what is happening to the subject is do not always follow the rule. All of the words preceding that phrase make up the subject of the sentence.

So…how does this information help in terms of writing full sentences? The truth is, most of the time, you can tell, upon re-reading your writing, whether or not the sentences are complete. If you are not sure, then, by all means, look for the who or what (the subject) and the what happened or is happening or will happen to the subject (the predicate).

If you are still not sure about this or any other writing skill or if you want your paper to be professionally proofread or edited, then submit it to proof-reading.com.

Ever get a business document that has coffee (or other) stains on it? It happens, but not to professionals who are serious about their work. It’s important to make sure your hard copy materials leave the department or office clean and undamaged.

Of course this seems to be common sense in an age where clean paper and quality printers are easy to come by. But consider, too, the fact that neatness also applies to the actual writing itself. Sure, we wouldn’t send out a document with smudges or stains, but what about typos? How carefully do we check for these?

Consider the difference a misplaced letter or two makes in a sentence:

• It is her that we find the real problem.
• Everyday we look for anyway possible to make improvements.
• It seams our department can’t never get enough resource s too farce though the charges require too be com mare efficient.

And you know what? Spell check and grammar check will not find a thing wrong with any of these sentences. But what about the recipient of a business document with typos? You might think a little spelling or grammar error, here or there, is no big deal. But it is.

True, not everyone will notice. However, it only takes one reader who’s paying attention, who may not yet be familiar with your company, to decide to forego doing business with you. After all, if you’re not careful enough to avoid typos like those listed above, you might be careless in a lot of things—and there are always plenty of other companies to choose from.

So, whether it’s a sales letter, business memo, email, report, or other correspondence, remember—neatness counts. And if you’re too busy to handle all the editing and proofreading yourself, consider a professional service such as Proof-Reading.com.

Technical writing seems to be a big challenge for many companies. How many times have we tried to decipher instruction manuals that may as well be written in another language? (Well, actually they do tend to be written in two or three languages these days, but clear, understandable English is too often not one of them.)

If you’re the one producing or contributing to technical writing (such as an instruction manual), make sure the information is as clear as possible to the reader. Here are some important things to remember:

Avoid jargon:
Okay, so you and your colleagues may know what a Mergan nut is, but your audience may not. Instead, create a legible diagram and clearly identify the part you’re making reference to. Then, refer to it is Mergan Nut X (for example).

Use diagrams that make sense:
Assume that the person reading your work knows how to read, but has never read anything before. Assume no technical knowledge whatsoever. You may also want to assume the reader will have a short temper and little patience, and will make a nasty phone call to your company asking for the hide of whoever wrote this blankety-blank manual that doesn’t make a lick of sense.

Make good use of bulleted and numbered lists:
Rather than use huge blocks of text with lots of semicolons, make your instructions and information easier to read. A good format to follow is something like this:

Introductory line or two

1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Step 3
   • Part a
   • Part b

Next section’s introductory line (Example: Features include)

• Feature 1
• Feature 2
• Feature 3

Like any other type of business writing, remembering to write from a “you” perspective (i.e., pretending you’re the average reader, not the expert). Your goal should always be to make things as clear as possible; then, anyone who reads your work will think you’re a genius for making things so easy for them to understand.

If you happen to pick up a document written in the old days, you might see something like this:

words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words

Now, which is easier—to read all that without losing your place, or to see something like this?

words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words

words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words

words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words

You make the call. It really does pay to separate large blocks of text into smaller, more readable paragraphs. Your audience will appreciate your consideration and will be much more likely to read what you’ve written.

How do you prepare for your business presentation, lecture, or speech? How prepared should you be? Is it better to over plan or are you better off simply knowing your material, and letting the words flow freely? If it is a PowerPoint or other kind of video presentation, how much should you say?

Those are all good questions, and there is no one answer. But, in general, it is better to be more prepared and polished rather than less. In other words, it will not hurt you to have every word that you plan on saying on paper, even if, while you are speaking, you decide to vary from your plan. You should have the script of your electronic presentation on paper and in front of you while it is running, just in case of mechanical failure.

To begin with, before you write a speech, organize a lecture, or create a PowerPoint or any other type of presentation, you must thoroughly know your subject. Whether this means collecting and organizing notes, reviewing files, or spending time researching your subject, you should know it inside and out. And…be prepared to answer questions, should they be asked. Do not be lulled into believing that you are bulletproof just because you have put together a graphics presentation. What if your software fails or the hardware does not work? You should be prepared to fill in, if you have to do so.

Even if all of your electronic components work, including audio files that may be part of the presentation, you cannot simply stand there as if you are part of the audience. You must know each and every frame that is about to appear. This is true of a slide or overhead projector presentation also.

Recently, I attended a PowerPoint presentation about retirement plans. The presenter stumbled and fumbled over almost every picture, graph, and chart. And…that is besides the fact that much of the text contained grammatical and spelling errors! Needless to say, I was not impressed with his presentation or his product.

If you are speaking, as opposed to an electronic presentation, you cannot simply read from your note cards. You must practice until you sound relaxed, self-assured, and professional. That does not mean you must be a tower of unyielding seriousness. A few well-placed bits of humor never hurt. Of course, if your subject is a grave or solemn one, then you may want to leave out the comedy.

The most important point in terms of preparing a presentation is that you must be organized, both in terms of your research and your approach. Nothing is more of a turn-off than having to listen to a speaker who is uncomfortable and unsure of what he or she is saying. So…be prepared!

If you’re not sure what a comma splice is, here’s a very common example:

The procedure should be clear, however many in our department do not yet grasp it.

For some reason, the word “however” seems to lend itself to comma slices perhaps more than any other word. Here’s how the above sentence should be written:

The procedure should be clear; however, many in our department do not yet grasp it.

Alternatively, you could divide this into two sentences:

The procedure should be clear. However, many in our department do not yet grasp it.

The rule to remember is actually pretty simple. If two complete sentences are joined by a comma, it’s a comma splice error. As shown above, the original sentence can easily be divided into two separate sentences. Therefore, it cannot be separated with a comma, but must be either separated by using a semicolon or starting a new sentence.

Let’s look at another example:

The new parts have arrived, the ones we’ve been waiting on.

This could be a typical company memo. Does it contain a comma splice error? No, because the latter part of the sentence, “the ones we’ve been waiting on” cannot stand as a complete sentence.

Word processing programs are pretty good about catching comma splices. However, they cannot be relied upon to tell you whether it’s better to start a new sentence or to use a semicolon. A general rule of thumb is that if the sentence is lengthy, it’s usually clearer to just start a new sentence.

Of course no one can remember every rule. Even professional writers have to look things up sometimes. For the average person composing business correspondence, it can be a challenge to follow every rule of grammar precisely.

A cost-effective, time-saving solution is to consider a professional editing company such as Proof-reading.com. For now, just remember—two sentences joined together by a comma is a comma splice error. This error is avoided by using a semicolon or starting a new sentence.

The mistakes in the title are pretty obvious. Still, such errors occur every day in business writing. Experienced, well-trained writers won’t make errors like this—but they may make different ones.

Living in the 21st Century, we are blessed to have sophisticated word processing programs like Microsoft Word, Corel Word Perfect, etc. Such software is invaluable in catching errors for us (a big plus for fast typers!). Now you’ll be warned if you type things like “the the.” In fact, there are many mistakes that are automatically corrected, such as “didnt.”

The problem is that no matter how advanced a word processing program may be, it won’t catch everything. For example, if you write something like “My pea sea catch as ever e spelling air,” you will not get an error message (or an “air” message, for that matter). That’s because software, like computers, will always be brainless.

There are two ways to avoid embarrassing mistakes when writing:

1. Be a really proficient and careful writer
2. Hire a really proficient and careful writer

The first option will obviously be more demanding, but it’s something that anyone with basic writing skills can do. In the Information Age, you can just get online and find all kinds of resources about how to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes (which MS Word helps you with anyway); increase your vocabulary; write persuasively; etc.

The only trouble with this approach is that it takes time—today’s most valuable commodity. But there is a viable alternative: hire someone who knows how to write well. One such resource is Proof-reading.com. For a very reasonable fee, Proof-reading.com editors will thoroughly examine your work, make any necessary corrections, and ensure that your writing says just what you want it to.

A suggestion: Even if you’re already a pretty good writer, it’s a good idea to brush up on your skills. And to save time in getting your document polished and correct, consider Proof-reading.com.

There is an aspect of writing business documents that is even more important than merely getting your point across. It is maintaining the interest of the reader. After all, what is more counterproductive than putting together a well-written email, proposal, report, or any other business-related document, if your intended audience is not interested in reading it carefully?

One way in which to write in an appealing manner so that your document is read with care and concentration is to vary your vocabulary. This need not be difficult or time-consuming. All you need to do is to be just a bit imaginative. Instead of referring to persons or people throughout your document, for example, how about using individuals, personnel, or staff members? Rather than repeating the word plan, you might want to substitute strategy, idea, or proposal.

This is pretty obvious, right? Unfortunately, all too often, writers of business documents rely on the same old tired set of words. They just do not think about alternatives. Besides your own mental storehouse of options, you can find a wide choice of substitute words in the Microsoft Word Thesaurus. To activate this function, go to Tools, then click Language, and then Thesaurus.

Business writing need not, and should not be dull. Why not get your point across and put together a vibrant piece of writing that holds the attention of the reader all the way through to the end? After all, you do want the message that you are putting into writing to be read carefully. Otherwise, why would you write it?

Business writing is not meant to be fine literature. That is not to say that it should be dull or poorly written. Certainly, if you want your audience to read your email, memo, business plan, or other business-related document, it should be well written and interesting, but the heart of the matter must always be the content that you are attempting to communicate.

In a nutshell, you want to make your main point or points early on in your document, without a lot of background information or a long, drawn-out introduction. Busy people do not have the time to read extensive, tedious introductory paragraphs or mildly humorous anecdotes that do not quickly lead into the main topic of the paper. They want to determine the pertinent information in what they are reading as rapidly as possible.

On the other hand, beginning a business document with a bit of humor or an interesting angle is a good idea. The trick is to make it short and sweet, and to make sure your introduction does, in fact, lead to your main point.

A good way in which to write clearly and to make your content easily identifiable is to write your main idea first. Make it as simple as possible. That is the heart of your document. Then, if necessary, add additional information to clarify the point. Look at the example below. The sentence in boldface is the main point. The rest of the paragraph contains additional information that is used to clarify that point.

In an attempt to protect vital company information, a new procedure will be effect as of 9 AM tomorrow. All written documents (computer printed, fax generated, and those written by hand) will be stored in a labeled black folder, which will you will find on your desk in the morning. At the end of the day, your folder, containing all written documents which you have retained, must be brought to Mr. Jenkins in the Human Relations Office for overnight safekeeping. Do not leave the folder until he has logged it in. You will be able to retrieve the folder the next day by requesting it from Mr. Jenkins.

Once you have written that, you may, of course, write an introductory paragraph. In the above example, it would explain the reason for the new security procedure. It should clearly lead into the main content paragraph.

When all is said and done, of course, you should carefully proofread your document. Look for spelling, English usage, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Even a simple email or memo should always be written well.

Getting your point across is easy to do as long as you do not allow extraneous information to interfere. Remember: the point of a business-related document is to convey information. It is not meant to be great literature or a source of entertainment.