Affect an Effect—15 Tips to Improve Your B2B/B2C Writing

[Updated 3/11/19, 2/25/20]

Perception Is Reality

“If your standard [English] usage causes other people [i.e., prospects/clients] to consider you stupid or ignorant, you may want to consider changing it.”

Paul Brians, Emeritus Professor of English, Washington State University

Professor Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage can help you easily improve your writing in a friendly (and often humorous) way. But you don’t necessarily have to purchase his book; you are invited to browse (and bookmark) https://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html to see for yourself. If you find the site useful, there is much more in Brians’ brainy $18 book (third edition) that will give you more confidence in your writing.

(Buy it for your staff: The publisher offers a 20% discount on orders of 10 or more, with free shipping for orders delivered to the same address.)

Here are a few examples:

Affect is a verb meaning “to have an influence on.”        

• Harmonics affect the incoming power…

Effect is a noun.

• The effect of setting the gymfratz parameter affects all nodes.

More examples:

• RETCO Endurance Drives have fewer problems which result in less downtime.
• The engineer should have a clear line of sight when visiting the site.

1. Should I use an apostrophe when pluralizing an acronym?

Everywhere today you see references to CPA’s, DVD’s, FAQ’s, and even TV’s when referring to more than one. Regardless of its current prevalence, this is incorrect. An apostrophe should only be used for the possessive form (i.e., belonging to), such as “….the PLC’s instruction set,” or in contractions (see #2). When referring to more than one VFD, therefore, it’s VFDs. Similarly, RFIs refers to more than one RFI.

And as Sgt. Joe Friday reminded those being interviewed, “Just the FAQs, Ma'am—just the FAQs.”

2. Apostrophe Use – Plural or Possessive?

Most words are made plural by adding an s or es to the end of their singular form. For example, the plural of temp (abbreviated from the word temperature) is temps, never temp’s.

Only use an apostrophe to denote the possessive form, e.g., the PLC’s instruction set, or in a contraction (e.g., it’s, meaning “it is”).

3. Run-On Sentences

Avoid run-on sentences, as in the following example:

The combination of RETCO’s main headquarters, located in Sunnycity, CA, and Southern California’s fully staffed satellite office, located in Sunniercity CA, coupled with highly qualified California registered engineers and SCADA and PLC programmers shall ensure the appropriate level of expertise in the completion of this project.

Try reading that paragraph out loud and consider your reader(s)—please! Are too many ideas being conveyed in that one sentence? Was it easy to read and understand? How will it appear in a blog post viewed on a mobile device?

One business writing rule of thumb is to aim at readers having a seventh-grade education, even if your readers all have doctorate degrees. Especially in today’s insta-hyper, attention-deficit world, this makes your content much easier to quickly scan and comprehend.

(Speaking of attention spans, consider this 2015 Time article regarding a Microsoft report: https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/)

When in doubt, break up your long sentence into two or more.

Also, make every word count. If the word isn’t essential in conveying your message, then delete it. Tighten up your writing to make it more interesting and impactful.

Forbes founder Malcom Forbes put it this way:

Let's look at a rewrite of the RETCO PR blurb:

RETCO is headquartered in Sunnycity, CA, with regional offices in Sunniercity, CA. Our combination of highly-qualified engineers and an experienced PLC/SCADA programming team ensures the highest level of expertise dedicated to the success of your entire project.

4. Shall I Use “Shall?”

Look at the run-on sentence again (#3). Except perhaps in certain governmental documents that may require its use in RFPs and similar documents (or may not—don’t assume!), avoid the use of “shall.” It’s an example of stilted (formal|unnatural) language that decreases readability (i.e., slows down the reader) and can possibly instill in the reader an undesired impression.

My guess is that it’s a holdover from a bygone era, now supplanted by the Plain Writing Act of 2010.

Especially avoid using “shall” for internal SOPs if you expect those documents to be easily understood and referred to frequently. (One reason they’re not regularly reviewed by those who should be revisiting them is glassy-eye syndrome caused by having to read this word over and again.) I shall be released. ;<)

5. Should I Hy-phenate This Word?

Don’t hyphenate words that don’t require it. Examples:

• Subcontract, not sub-contract
• Reexamine, not re-examine
• Online, not on-line

MS Word’s spell checking is never the final authority (and is all too frequently in error); the same holds true of Adobe Acrobat and your email software. It takes but a moment to Google the word and learn how most sources treat it. The free Google Books Ngram Viewer can be useful in this regard (check this tool out).

6. WaYwaRD CaPitAliZatOn – What Are the Rules on Capitalization?

This issue seems to affect many. Consider the following:

• Easily transport the Program and Configuration between PLCs.
• 11,000 Lines of code are processed per second.
• ...call our Service Department at...

In the first example, why are Program and Configuration capitalized? It beats me—there is no rhyme nor reason for it. In the second example, Lines begs the same question. Including the previous capitalization error, just because all three are nouns and are the sentence subjects doesn’t qualify them for capitalization.

In the third example, it’s just a garden variety service department. It’s not on par with, say, the Department of Homeland Security—the official title of a governmental entity. Speaking of which, internet fraudsters break federal law, not Federal Law or even Federal law.

In most business communication, never use capitalization for the sake of placing emphasis. (An exception might be when you’re calling out NOTICES, WARNINGS, and DANGERS in operation manuals or IFUs, where a governing authority such as the FDA may require such usage.)

• Incorrect – in the Marketing and Demand Generation realms...
• Correct – in the marketing and demand generation realms...
• Incorrect – QNX? Real-Time Operating System (RTOS)
• Correct – QNX? real-time operating system (RTOS)
• Incorrect – …its Conformal Coating resists…
• Correct – …its conformal coating resists…
• Incorrect – …drive proven in Deep Mining…
• Correct – …drive proven in deep mining…
• Incorrect – …uses Line Reactors, DC Chokes…
• Correct – …uses line reactors, DC chokes…
• Incorrect – ...in Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)...
• Correct – ...in content delivery networks (CDNs)...
• Incorrect – ...Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)...
• Correct – ...security information and event management (SIEM)...
• Incorrect – …as its Project Manager, Roscoe Lubek has…
• Correct – …as its project manager, Roscoe Lubek has…

but also

• …as Project Manager Roscoe Lubek reiterated…

If you still have a question regarding the exact way in which any product or technology should be referenced, Google it or check the website of the manufacturer’s/association’s website (although it may or may not be correct).

This web page provides seventeen rules of capitalization: www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp

7. Should I Spell Out Numbers?

Spell out single-digit whole numbers. Generally speaking, use numerals for numbers greater than nine. And yet please be consistent in your scheme. If your company has an internal style guide, it takes precedence over everything else, including the likes of The Chicago Manual of Style (which is also a style guide—not a rule book).

Example:

I want nine copies of the white paper and ten copies of the prospectus.

For more information, see www.grammarbook.com/numbers/numbers.asp.

8. Right Or Wrong, (At Least) Be Consistent

Jazz musicians are instructed that if they make a mistake, repeat it several more times. In this way, the “mistake” sounds intended and no one is the wiser. So What.

Likewise, if you make an error in your writing, at least be consistent about it. For example, seeing a technical reference laid out three different ways across five pages conveys that your work was hurriedly produced, you didn’t have it checked for errors, you didn’t care, or all three.

If your business communications are erratic, what does that suggest to your prospect/client/partner/stakeholders about the company’s quality control in the factory and the field? Remember:

                                        Perception Is Reality

9. How to Reference Media

When referencing printed media or referential resources, the correct way is to italicize it. Never underline publication titles or place them in quotes, as was done in the era of the manual typewriter. And please double-check to ensure you have accurately referenced the exact title of the source.

Examples:

• California Rural Water Association’s Wastewater Certification Review
• Wayne County Service Area Characteristics, Revised April 30, 2012

10. Do I Need to Use “Quotation Marks?”

Don't use quotation marks for easily-understood, common terms, e.g., CSIA-certified, not CSIA “Certified” (also note the hyphen addition; I Googled it). When in doubt, leave out the quotation marks.

However, you may use quotation where use of a word isn’t literal, as I did in #8.

11. What About Those Two-Letter Latin Clarifiers

Don’t use i.e. when you mean e.g. The first means “that is” and is used to clarify preceding text. Here's an example (note the correct use of both periods and commas):

• This morning I ate the contents of an elliptical, shelled object a female bird produces, i.e., an egg.

Use e.g. as “for the sake of example” (many think of this as “example given”).

• Tomorrow morning I’ll most likely eat some granola, e.g., Bear Naked Maple Pecan.

While we’re at it, use etc. (never ect.) sparingly. If you do use it, note that it’s always preceded by a comma and that it’s an abbreviation for et cetera. If you say that out loud, you can hear the t before the c, so that may at least help you spell it correctly.

I usually assess the use of “etc.” as nothing more than lazy writing. Say what you mean.

12. It’s Always a Problem With Its

Apostrophe usage in denoting the possessive form is just plain confusing: It’s Andy’s office and within it everything is in its place. Huh?

The sentence is correct as written; in this example, Andy’s is clearly possessive, so it gets an apostrophe. It’s is a contraction for It is—there is no possession involved. Yet later in the sentence, its is possessive, but doesn’t receive an apostrophe (unlike Andy’s). Weird.

Note that spell check will not flag this error.

Don’t feel bad—this one trips us all up and warrants careful scrutiny when proofreading. (You do proofread all of your work—including quick email correspondence, right? A time-proven trick is to reread your work out loud. TIP: Up to date versions of MS Word and Adobe Acrobat are able to read written text out loud.)

13. Dash to the Hyphen?

Never use a hyphen when you really want a dash. For example, the preceding section uses three examples of the em dash.

There are two types of more common dashes, an en (–) and an em (—), their difference being length:

• En Dash – It's often used to denote a range, e.g., 1–10. To easily create an en dash in MS Word on a PC, press [Ctrl]+[-]. On a Mac it’s [Command]+[-]. In other PC applications, hold [Alt] while pressing 0-1-5-0 on the numeric keypad. On a Mac, substitute the [Option] key for [Alt].
• Em Dash—Look back at #12, where I’ve used several em dashes. In book publishing, a space isn’t used on either side (as shown). For this longer variant in MS Word on a PC, press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[-]. On a Mac it’s [Command]+[Option]+[-]. In other PC applications, hold [Alt] while pressing 0-1-5-1 on the numeric keypad. On a Mac, substitute the [Option] key for [Alt].

More at: www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/HyphensEnDashesEmDashes/faq0002.html and www.grammarly.com/blog/hyphens-and-dashes/

14. Should I Use the Oxford / Harvard / Serial Comma?

Forget what Miss Thistlebottom may have pounded into your head back in elementary school. Being insistent, she had instructed us that it was always “apples, oranges and pears”—without exception. To use a favorite expression of my great uncle, “Tommyrot!”

“Whether to include the serial comma has sparked many arguments. But it’s easily answered in favor of inclusion because omitting the final comma may cause ambiguities, whereas including it never will.”

> Garner’s American Usage (Oxford, 2009)

Consider the following sentence:

This decision is to individually affect all Work by subcontractors, fabricators, suppliers and purchasing agents, and is to be keyed to the proposed construction sequence.

In this example taken from a potentially binding project description, the work of each group is to be treated somewhat differently. The implication is that suppliers and purchasing agents will be equally affected in the same way, but this is not what is intended. Instead, suppliers and purchasing agents may each be affected by the decision somewhat differently—but the sentence doesn’t make that absolutely clear.

Now consider the same sentence, but with the serial comma added:

This decision is to individually affect all Work by subcontractors, fabricators, suppliers, and purchasing agents, and is to be keyed to the proposed construction sequence.

Now it’s made certain that suppliers and purchasing agents are, in fact, two separate groups; the decision may affect each somewhat differently.

Unless you’re creating marketing material where serial comma omission is occasionally desirable, your writing should always follow the “apples, oranges, and pears” rule.

For this I section I’d like to thank my parents, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. ;<)

15. Make Every Word Count

Consider this example:

The way they make shows is they make one show. That show’s called a pilot. Then they show that show to the people who make shows and on the strength of that one show they decide if they’re going to make more shows.

Aargh! Beyond committing several other infractions, the writer of that sentence knows nothing about using synonyms to make content far less tedious for the educated reader to wade through. But the real reason I included this example is to demonstrate its annoying repetitive word use and verbosity—in addition to its overuse of the same word over and over again. ;<)

Here is a rewrite:

Interested parties create a pilot episode, which they then show to various network executives. If it’s given the green light, then more episodes are produced.

Bonus Tip – What About Spacing After Punctuation?

Although you were likely instructed to do so when writing term papers back when, please stop using two spaces after punctuation—regardless of what the APA still promotes for manuscripts. Any printed matter, traditional or digital, that uses it screams “self-published” by someone who hasn’t kept up, and the “finished” work has white splotches (a.k.a., rivers) all over the text. Google “spacing after punctuation” to learn more (including the history of this archaic practice, if you’re interested in such things).

Can’t kick the habit? You can configure MS Word to check for instances of double spacing after punctuation. Select File > Options > Proofing, and then click the [Settings] button. Set it up per the accompanying graphic, then click [OK].

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Click the following link for a catalog of all of my posted articles: https://chrismorton.fyi.to/tips-about-linkedin-editing-writing-branding-high-tech-windows

As the principal of Isn't That Write, Chris Morton is a freelance B2B/B2C marcom editor, author, proofreader and jargon translator working in the high tech realm with companies like MedQIA, Exabeam, Philips Lifeline, and Medrobotics—always seeking to "Do the write thing."

Specializing in technical writing and the user experience (UX)—coupled with a marketing bent—ITW edits and creates marcom collateral and technical documents for audiences ranging from CTOs and CIOs, from developers to operators, and end users across a wide range of disciplines.

ITW also coaches up-and-coming content authors as their work is being edited, so they can “learn to fish” (as the Chinese proverb/Italian adage/Native American saying/Anna Isabella Thackeray Ritchie quote goes).