Communication and Beyond

business english

Archana Parmar

How to learn business writing? Keep it simple!

Clarity, simplicity, and good approaches are more important in business writing than fancy or long phrases. Tell me what you want me to know or accomplish in a concise manner—and make it appealing to the eye! It is as simple as that. When you utilize Plain English strategies, especially those that focus on the audience: use everyday English whenever feasible, your reader will understand your message clearly. Use simple sentence structures—two lines should plenty. Use headings and lists to draw the reader’s attention and guide them through the text. The source document Use tables—a picture is worth a thousand words. If required, define technical terms. Use the active voice—rather than saying, “It was done by us,” say, “We did it.” Use direct speech—rather than saying, “The organisation shall,” say, “We will.” Use a lot of white space in your document—the document’s body language. Are short and sweet Are upbeat—’when you send us the paperwork, we’ll…’ not ‘we are unable to’ Until you return the form, I’ll be able to assist you. How to check of you are using simple structure? Read something aloud, and then ask yourself this question: “If the person was sitting opposite me, would I say this to them?” If the answer is “No”—then don’t write it! What causes all the confusion in writing efficiently at work? During our formal study, we have been taught specific types of writing which are not the best ways of writing business letters, memos, reports or even emails. Remember, you were always asked to elaborate/explain/describe the topic/picture in 200/300/500/1000 words. Let’s look at the four broad types of writing and each of them requires different skills from us:  Academic: to demonstrate knowledge, skills in analysis and reasoning Evidentiary: to tell the exact story as I experienced it—what I saw, heard, smelled Literary: Shakespeare, Milton, Dan Brown, Bryce Courtney, Tara Moss Workplace: to get things done You learn to use the first three all these years and when you move to corporate world, you are expected to use the fourth one. Resulting, during your appraisals you were told to work on your communication skills. Workplace Writing requires different techniques… You don’t believe me? Read further. The given two images will explain the difference between the academic writing and business writing- So you see, what you do in your academic writing, is no more relevant in your business writing. The workplace writing requires you to reverse the triangle. Therefore, in order to turn your written communication into a fluent, effective and satisfying process. You need to understand how to: Reverse the triangle Brainstorm all the ideas that you want to communicate Structure your thoughts in a logical manner Be clear about what you want your reader to know or do (clear call to action). Write to me at archana@archanaparmar.com to know more how you can master your business writing. or Schedule your discover call with me.

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Archana Parmar Leadership Communication

What is your purpose of learning Business English ?

So you decided to advance your conversational skills in English? Congratulations. Improving your language skills can be a great way to move into a better job or even get the job you’ve been dreaming of for a long time. But, have you asked yourself this very important question? Exactly what profile/industry are you aiming for? This is a question many English language learners never really ask! Why am I asking you this question? You see the language we use changes depending on the situation. The type of industry, the work environment, and many other factors will influence the language used in one field from another. Of course some language and communication purposes stay the same, but a lot is different. This isn’t really too hard to understand, but let’s look at a simple example to simplify what I’m talking about here. Imagine two people who work for different companies in different industries. One works for http://microsoft.com as a programmer in the IT industry, and another works as a check-in attendant for Ethiad Airways in the airline transportation industry. Both require business English, but quite clearly the language the programmer uses to talk with “client/colleague/partner” will be very different from the language the check-in attendant uses. You won’t hear the programmer asking a client “Do you want an aisle or window seat?” very often. Nor will you find an airline attendant telling his or her supervisor that the latest sub-routine has a bug in it that is causing client’s computers to crash. This just makes simple sense. The work you do, the place you work, and the people you work with will all affect the language that you use on a daily basis. So, when you are studying English for business purposes, you need to remember a very important thing. You need to study the general business English that will be common in most business situations, but you also need to focus on the language that is specific to the business world that you will be working in. A combination of both of these is critical to your success. If you cannot use the language of your industry because you don’t really know it, you will have a very hard time getting (or keeping) a job. Pro tip: when learning Business English make sure it industry specific as well. What’s the Difference Between Business English and General English? Drop me a line at archana@archanaparmar.com to learn about the ways you can incorporate industry specific content to your Business English lessons.

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Archana Parmar

7 steps to better Email Writingbuei

Professional emails are an important part of Business Writing. Nowadays, there are very few jobs that do not involve the daily use of emails, and due to the pandemic and remote working concept the adoption of lean media conversation is of unparalleled significance. We all know that the medium of communication in the business world is mostly English, also known as Business English. Emails have become an inseparable part of our business communication. Whether we are at office, co-workspace, or working from home, one thing that we keep checking/sending/responding to, is email. Email is incredibly important in the Business Communication. In order to make your emails communicate well, you must write them effectively. Business emails tend to serve two purposes: a. Giving information b. Asking for information. To make sure your emails do justice to these two purposes, follow the 7 steps to effective business email. Always start your email with a greeting (being polite is important in business). Tell the recipient who you are (state your name and how you would like to be recognized as). Clearly state the purpose of email (clear sentence to the point). Provide essential details (mention the attachments as well). Do state what action is needed. Close the email with suitable sign-offs Don’t forget to end with your signature. When the main purpose of your email is to communicate a problem and your proposed way to resolve it, you can follow the SCRAP structure. Situation: Start positively, explain the situation and your purpose for the email Complication: explain clearly the problem Resolution: explain your proposed solution to the problem Action: clearly state what you would like to happen next, the actions for the recipient and for you Politeness: includes thanking or praising the recipient. Write Better! Drop your email address here or drop me a message at archana@archanaparmar.com to join my free email writing course to learn more about writing better emails.

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