4 Daft Punk-Inspired Ways to Instantly Improve Your Business Writing

My English teacher, Mrs Neill, instilled in me a lifelong love of words. Looking back with rose-tinted glasses (for the room was stuffy and the desks too small and the background chatter too loud), what I loved what the precision. Everything had a very specific nomenclature: apostrophes, juxtaposition, pathos, melancholy.

If confusion is the enemy, then precision is the arch-angel of clarity.

So, what does business writing and Daft Punk have in common? Four words: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (if you know, you know).

HARDER

Some habits make your writing imprecise and therefore harder to understand. The result is that your message is lost, because it's too difficult for your audience to grasp. Don't make your audience labour.

Use shorter, simpler words.

Long words, sentences and paragraphs are often used in an attempt to convey gravitas. But, they make text harder to read, especially online and when reading on a smaller device.

• Mix shorter sentences and paragraphs with longer ones; variety is the goal. Spit the marbles out of your month. Shave the fuzzy balls off the sweater. Send the insipid side salad back to the kitchen. Let your message stand alone. And, remember, 'simple' (straightforward, unequivocal, short) does not mean 'simplistic' (lacking in the nuance and analysis that adults expect from business writing, and potentially misleading readers). Skim back over this paragraph. It's a mixture of short, medium and longer sentences.
• One caveat to remember is that when you're writing for a technical audience (finance, medicine, law, enterprise software), you can use all the big words you want. It's necessary in the context and, assuming you've done your research, most of your audience will understand them. But, always explain them the first time they're used. This establishes clarity from the start, and non-expert readers and learners (not used to the many acronyms in such industries) will thank you.

BETTER

So, what makes your writing better?

• Write only about things in which you have an interest. OK, this is a hard one. One day you may be writing product descriptions for a product that bores you. Turn your focus off the actual content and instead think how you could make things clearer and simpler for the reader and in turn secure your customer more leads. You'll soon find you're back in the weeds.
• Writing that has the audience in mind is targeted, engaging and specific – better. Book some time into your schedule to craft your audience personas. It's a fascinating exercise. (For example, we found out that our usual decision maker on certain types of work is an amateur cyclist – you know the kind that circumnavigates Lough Neagh on a Sunday? It's so consistent, but we're not yet sure what to do with that particular piece of information!) You'll find out what age your usual audience is, what their typical day looks like, and what their real concerns are. This means you can incorporate this into your writing and they will ask if you've read their mind.
• Active writing keeps the reader's attention. Think back to the last time you read a business document and found that many sentences seem to have been written back to front, or read awkwardly somehow. Academic writing and financial services documentation tends to be infested with the passive voice. Writing in the passive voice ('the form should be left on the reception desk') is dragging and lifeless. The active voice ('leave the form on the desk') is simply easier to understand. You can mix it up, but make sure there are many more active sentences than passive ones (this is active). Passive sentences can be used (this phrase is passive), but ensure you use them only when something cannot be said another way (this one is active), or for variety.

FASTER

Whether you're writing internal company procedures, client-facing documentation or external help for customers, meandering musings suck.

Get to the point, quickly.

Use the first sentence to make your point.

• The reader can tell from the start the topic of your website page, product landing page, long-form blog post, client case study, guide, article, section, press release, or email newsletter.
• This has become more important as more content is published and consumed online, where the audience skim reads before delving into the body text.

Remember those horrible creatures from GCSE Biology, the ones with exoskeletons?

Make your structure visible.

• Depending on the content, use headings and sub-headings oozing with keywords. A short email newsletter may not require headings; a report will.
• Create additional white spaces around your text with images, lists and charts.
• Add a table of content or a short index.
• Sideline long items to an appendix. Label everything clearly, so internal or external references are obvious.

STRONGER

We could line the banks of the Danube with this list. I will curtail my ire for a few of the worst transgressions.

If lazy writing was a pizza, the crust would be stuffed with clichés.

If you've read it a thousand times already, then don't repeat it. People are engaged by novelty; they're turned off by meaningless, trite, overly-dramatic, and overused phrases (e.g. 'Like water off a duck's back'). Use your own words.

When you write corporate-speak, imagine it crawling with slaters.

Corporate-speak is a special type of cliché, most commonly found scuttling along drab conference room tables. It conveys nothing original or relatable for readers. Often hailing from war ('pincer movement'), sport ('slam dunk this project') or other competitive ('smash the other guys!') terminology, corporate-speak is usually unnecessarily aggressive and alarming. It sounds at once both inappropriate for the context and silly –?particularly among cultures that value directness. But, perhaps you're project managing Spartans or targeting Major League players? ;)

When you're tempted to do this, say it out loud. This helps steer the language into something a little more conversational, which is great springboard for straightforward business writing.

I'll finish with the words of Harder, Better Faster, Stronger, which seem to be to be written for the business copywriters out there.

"Work it harder

Make it better

Do it faster

Makes us stronger

More than ever

Hour after

Our work is

Never over"

If you need help with your business writing, get in touch.

Image credit: Daft Punk, created by Anastassia Miranda Fernández on Flickr