FIRST FORMAL LETTER ASSIGNMENT

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SELECTING APPROPRIATE WORDS Choosing the best words requires thinking about what you want to achieve and with whom. Do you and your readers know each other, or are you writing to strangers? How well educated are your readers, and what kinds of knowledge can they be presumed to have? How do you want your readers to feel about you, your company, and what youre writing about?

Adaptation requires asking yourself these question and more. The following sections will help you think through your choices.

LO 4-1 Simplify writing by selecting familiar and short words.

Use Familiar Words

To communicate clearly, you must use words that your readers are familiar with. Because words that are familiar to some people may be unfamiliar to others, you will need to decide which ones your readers will understand.

Tailor your style to your intended reader. Page 67

In general, using familiar words means using the language that most of us use in everyday conversation. The U.S. government calls this kind of wording plain language and defines it as “communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.”1 (Read more about plain language in Exhibit 4-1.) To write clearly, avoid the stiff, more difficult words that do not communicate precisely or quickly. For example, instead of using

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the less common word endeavor, use try. Prefer do to perform, begin to initiate, find out to ascertain, stop to discontinue, and show to demonstrate.

EXHIBIT 4-1 A Guide to Plain Language

A great resource for business writers—and a great model of the advice it gives—is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's A Plain English Handbook: How to Create Clear SEC Disclosure Documents (available at http://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf).

Here's what the handbook says about using familiar words:

Surround complex ideas with short, common words. For example, use end instead of terminate, explain rather than elucidate, and use instead of utilize. When a shorter, simpler synomym exists, use it.

EXHIBIT 4-1 A Guide to Plain Language

The suggestion to use familiar words does not rule out using more difficult words in some cases. You should use them whenever their meanings fit your purpose best and your readers understand them clearly. A good suggestion is to use the simplest words that carry the meaning without offending the readers' intelligence.

The following contrasting examples illustrate the communication advantages of familiar words.

Unfamiliar Words Familiar Words This machine has a tendency to develop excessive and unpleasant audio symptoms when operating at elevated temperatures.

This machine tends to get noisy when it runs hot.

Purchase of a new fleet is not actionable at this juncture. Buying new trucks is not practical now.

We must leverage our core competencies to maximize our competitiveness. Relying on what we do best will make us the most competitive.

Company operations for the preceding accounting period terminated with a deficit.

The company lost money last year.

Prefer Short Words

According to studies of readability, short words generally communicate better than long words. Part of the explanation is that short words tend to be familiar words. But there is another explanation: A heavy use of long words—even long words that are understood—creates an impression of difficulty that hinders communication.

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This point is illustrated by the following examples. Notice how much easier to understand the short-word versions are.

Long Words Short Words The proposed enhancement is under consideration. We are considering your suggestion. They acceded to the proposition to undertake a collaborative venture.

They agreed to work with us.

Prior to accelerating productive operation, the supervisor inspected the machinery.

Before speeding up production, the supervisor inspected the machinery.

This antiquated merchandising strategy is ineffectual in contemporary business operations.

This old sales strategy will not work with today's customers.

LO 4-2 Use slang and popular clichés with caution.

Use Slang and Popular clichés with Caution

At any given time in any society, certain slang expressions and clichés are in vogue. In the United States, for example, you might currently hear “for real” (or, “for real?”), “no worries,” and “all over it” (in control), while other such expressions—“no way,” “get out,” and “bodacious”—now sound dated.

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Clichés catch on because they represent popular concepts, but with overuse, they begin to sound like a replacement for thinking.

Business clichés come and go as well. “State of the art,” “cutting edge,” and “world class” have given way to “moving forward,” “thought leaders,” and “best practices.” More examples are listed in the Communication Matters feature on page 67.

It is true that business clichés can sometimes increase your credibility with other businesspeople and make you sound like “one of them.” These expressions can also add color to your language and quickly convey an idea. But they can also work against you. As Harvard professor Marjorie Garber puts it, “Jargon marks the place where thinking has been.”2 clichés catch on because they represent popular concepts, but with overuse, they begin to sound like a replacement for thinking. Plus, they run the risk of sounding out of date, and they can create problems in cross-cultural communication.

Google “annoying clichés” and you will see that popular expressions can soon become unpopular. Use them sparingly and only in communication with people who will understand and appreciate them.

LO 4-3 Use technical words and acronyms appropriately.

Use technical words and acronyms appropriately.

Every field of business—accounting, information systems, finance, marketing, and management—has its technical language. As you work in your chosen field, you will learn its technical words and acronyms and use them often when communicating with others in your field, as well you should. Frequently, one such word will communicate a concept that would otherwise take dozens of words to describe. Moreover, specialized language can signal to other specialists that you are qualified to communicate on their level.

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However, communication can fail when you use technical terms with people outside your field. Remember that not everyone will have your specialized vocabulary. For example, does everyone know what an annuity is? How about supply chain management? Or opportunity cost? When possible, use your reader's language, and if you must use a technical term, explain it.

Initials (including acronyms) should be used with caution, too. While some initials, such as IBM, are widely recognized, others, such as SEO (search-engine optimization) and CRM (customer relationship management), are not. Exhibit 4-2 lists common business acronyms that may be unfamiliar to your readers. If you have any doubt that your reader will understand the initials, the best practice is to spell out the words the first time you use them and follow them with the initials. You may also need to go one step further and define them.

EXHIBIT 4-2 Alphabet Soup

Do you know what the following business abbreviations stand for?

B2B CRMEPS FIFOSWOT GAAPROI SAASTQMERP

Find out by typing the acronym followed by “stands for” in the Google search box or Chrome address bar—and then be sure your readers also know them before you use them without defining them.

EXHIBIT 4-2 Alphabet Soup

LO 4-4 Use concrete, specific words with the right shades of meaning.

Use Precise Language

Good business communicators use words that have sharp, clear meanings for their intended readers, as well as the right emotional tone. Choosing such words means being concrete, specific, and sensitive to shades of meaning.

Concrete is the opposite of abstract. While abstract words are vague, concrete words stand for things the reader can see, feel, taste, smell, or count.

The most concrete words are those that stand for things that exist in the real world, such as chair, desk, computer, Bill Gates, and the Empire State Building. Abstract nouns, on the other hand, cover broad, general meanings, as in these examples: administration, negotiation, wealth, inconsistency, loyalty, compatibility, conservation, discrimination, incompetence, and communication. It is difficult to visualize what these words stand for.

Notice how much clearer the concrete words are in the following examples:

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Abstract Concrete A significant loss A 53 percent loss The leading companyFirst among 3,212 companies The majority 62 percent In the near future By noon Thursday Substantial amount $3,517,000 Page 69

from the tech desk Grammar and Style Checkers Help Writers with Word Selection

Today's word processors can help you with grammar and style as well as with spelling. You can even tell some of them what issues to look for. In Word 2010 or 2013, go to File > Options > Proofing and then click the Settings button, indicated in the red box below. That will open an extensive list of options in the Grammar Settings box. Word will look for whatever options you check.

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In the example shown here, a writer using Word 2010 checked “Passive sentences” to have Word catch instances of passive voice.Then, when she had written the first part of a document, she clicked Review > Spelling & Grammar to have Word check it. The review identified an instance of passive voice. To see how to correct it, she

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clicked the “Explain” button, and an explanation appeared. (In Word 2013, the explanation will automatically appear.) Now she will need to decide if she wants to keep the sentence as is or change it to active voice.

If you use your word processor to help you identify potential problems, just remember that no computer application can tell you if your wording is appropriate; only you can determine that.

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Like different clothing styles, connotations project different moods and meanings.

Closely related to being concrete is being specific. Even if you are talking about something intangible, you can still make your wording as precise as possible. These examples show what we mean:

Vague Specific We have a great company.

We've been voted one of the Business Courier's “Best Places to Work” for the last five years.

Our batteries are better. Our batteries cost less and last longer. Please respond soon. Will you let me know by June 1?

But being specific isn't your only concern. You also need to elicit the right emotional response from your reader. Good writers possess a sensitivity to words' shades of meaning. Some words are forceful and some timid; some are positive and some negative; some are formal and some informal. Any given word can occupy a place on many different scales of tone and meaning. To achieve your communcation goals, you need to choose the words that will achieve the desired response from your intended readers.

Consider the different associations of the words in each of these groups:

sell, market, advertise, promote

money, funds, cash, finances

improve, enhance, fix, correct

concern, issue, problem, incident

secretary, administrative assistant, support staff, coordinator

Though the words in each list share the same denotation (basic meaning), they vary widely in their connotations (their social and emotional associations). Being attentive to what different words imply will make you a more skillful and effective writer.

LO 4-5 Avoid misusing similar words and use idioms correctly.

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Select Words for Appropriate Usage

Certain pairs of words in English can cause trouble for writers. For example, do you know the difference between fewer and less? Fewer is used with items that can be counted (e.g., customers), while less is used to refer to an overall quantity of something that can't be counted (e.g., traffic). Affect and effect are often used interchangeably. But affect is usually used as a verb meaning “to influence,” whereas effect is most often used as a noun that means “a result” of something (in its verb form, effect means “to bring about”). Similarly, careful writers use continual to mean “repeated regularly and frequently” and continuous to mean “repeated without interruption.” They write farther to express geographic distance and further to indicate “more, in addition.”

You'll find more examples of often misused words in the Communication Matters feature on page 71 and in the “Wrong Word” section of Bonus Chapter B. Watch out for them.

In your effort to be a skillful writer, you should also use idioms correctly. Idioms are word combinations that have become standard in a language. Many of these seem arbitrary, but to avoid unclear or distracting writing, you need to use the word combinations that people expect. For example, there is really no logic behind using the word up in the sentence “Look up her name in the directory,” but leaving it out would make the sentence nonsensical. Other idiomatic errors just sound bad. “Independent of” is good idiomatic usage; “independent from” is not. Similarly, you “agree to” a proposal, but you “agree with” a person. You are “careful about” a sensitive situation, but you are “careful with” your money. Here are some additional illustrations:

As you can see, some word choices are unwise, some are awkward, and some are just plain wrong.

Faulty Idiom Correct Idiom authority aboutauthority on comply to comply with different than different from equally as bad equally bad seldom or everseldom if ever based off of based on Page 71 communication matters Don't Be Hoodwinked by Homophones

Words that sound alike (or nearly alike) but are spelled and used differently are called homophones. Some English homophones, like “beat” and “beet” or “allowed” and “aloud,” are easy for native speakers to keep straight—but many can be tricky. Be sure you know when to use each word below:

Accept To take in Except Other than Affect To influence Effect A result (or to bring about) Aid To help Aide An assistant Cite To quote or refer to Site A specific location Compliment Words of praise (or to give words of praise) ComplementSomething that completes (or to complete)

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Discreet Tactful Discrete Distinct Elicit To evoke Illicit Illegal It's A contraction meaning “it is” Its A possessive pronoun (e.g., “its handle”) Its' [no such word] Led Guided Lead A type of metal (or to guide) Passed Moved ahead Past The time before the present (or beyond, as in “we went past the school”) Personal Private or pertaining to a particular person Personnel Employees or staff Principle A rule or standard Principal The highest ranking person; main or primary Their A possessive pronoun (e.g., “their employees”) There Beginning of a clause or sentence (e.g., “There are ”) Theyre A contraction meaning “they are” Your A possessive pronoun (e.g., “your application”) You're A contraction meaning “you are”

As you can see, some word choices are unwise, some are awkward, and some are just plain wrong. If you are unsure which word you need or would have the best effect, consult a dictionary.

LO 4-6 Use active verbs.

Prefer Active Verbs

Of all parts of speech, verbs do the most to make your writing interesting and lively, and for good reason: They contain the action of the sentence.

But not all verbs add vigor to your writing. Overuse of the verb “to be” and passive voice can sap the energy from your sentences. To see the difference between writing that relies heavily on forms of “to be” and writing that uses active verbs, compare the following two passages (the forms of “to be” and their replacements are italicized):

Version A (weak verbs)

There are over 300 customers served by our help desk each day. The help desk personnel's main tasks are to answer questions, solve problems, and educate the callers about the software. Without their expert work, our customer satisfaction ratings would be much lower than they are.

Version B (strong verbs)

Our help desk personnel serve over 300 customers each day. They answer questions, solve problems, and educate the users about the software. Without their expert work, our customer satisfaction ratings would drop significantly.

As these examples show, using active verbs adds impact to your writing, and it usually saves words as well.

In addition to minimizing your use of “to be” verbs, you can make your verbs more lively by using active voice. As the Communication Matters feature on page 72 explains, a sentence with a verb that can take a direct object

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(the recipient of the action) can be written either in a direct (active) pattern or an indirect (passive) pattern. Here are some examples:

Passive Active The results were reported in our July 9 letter. We reported the results in our July 9 letter. The new process is believed to be superior by the investigators.

The investigators believe that the new process is superior.

The policy was enforced by the committee. The committee enforced the policy. The office will be inspected on Tuesday. Mr. Hall will inspect the office on Tuesday. It is desired by the director that this problem be brought before the board.

The director wants the secretary to bring this problem before the board.

Page 72 communication matters Everything You Wanted to Know about Active and Passive Voice

Students are often confused by the terms active voice and passive voice. Here's the lowdown:

Broadly speaking, there are two main categories of verbs in English: those that can take direct objects and those that can't. To illustrate, the verb repair can take a direct object (that is, you can repair something), while the verb happen cannot (you can't happen anything).

Sentences with verbs that can take direct objects are the ones that can be written in either active or passive voice. When you write in active voice, the sentence is in “who + does/did what + to what/whom” order, as in this example:

An authorized technician repaired the new laser printer.

[who][did what][to what]

When you write the same idea in passive voice, the direct object moves to the start of the sentence and bumps the real subject to a phrase at the end of it (or out of it altogether). With this move, you now have

The new laser printer was repaired

[what][had something done to it]

by an authorized technician.

[by whom]

Or even just

The new laser printer was repaired. [real subject removed]

As you can see, inverting the word order this way makes the sentence less energetic, more roundabout, and sometimes less informative.

You can find instances of passive voice in your own writing by looking for two- and three-word verbs that consist of

a form of the verb to be (for example, is, was, has been, will be) and

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a verb in past-tense form (for example, installed, reduced, chosen, sent).

When you find such verbs—was installed, has been reduced, will be chosen—see if your meaning would be clearer and sharper if you wrote in the active voice instead.

Give your writing impact by using strong verbs.

As you can see, the active versions are clearer and usually shorter.

The suggestion to prefer active voice does not mean that passive voice is incorrect or that you should never use it. Sometimes passive voice is preferable.

For example, when the doer of the action is unimportant to the message, passive voice properly de-emphasizes the doer.

Advertising is often criticized for its effect on price.

The copier has now been repaired.

Passive voice may enable you to avoid accusing your reader of an action:

The damage was caused by exposing the material to sunlight.

The choice of color was not specified in your order.

Passive voice also may be preferable when the performer is unknown, as in this example:

During the past year, the equipment has been sabotaged seven times.

In general, though, you should write your sentences in the active, “who does what” order.

Avoid Camouflaged Verbs

Another construction that should be avoided is the camouflaged verb. When a verb is camouflaged, the verb describing the action in a sentence takes the form of a noun. Then other words have to be added. For example, suppose you want to write a sentence in which eliminate is the action to be expressed. If you change eliminate into

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its noun form, elimination, you must add more words to have a sentence. Your sentence might then be “The staff effected an elimination of the surplus.” The sentence is wordy and hard to understand. You could have avoided the camouflaged construction with a sentence using the verb eliminate: “The staff eliminated the surplus.” You'll find more examples in the Communication Matters feature on page 73.

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Verbs give your writing interest. Don't bury them in long-winded, roundabout expressions.