5 common myths about business writing

If today was an average day, you probably received about a hundred emails, and had to read perhaps a proposal or a report. How many of these did you really understand? How many did you have to re-read? How many did you just put to one side because you got tired of searching for the point?

Alas, most employees don’t know how to write properly for the workplace, resulting in wasted time and poor decision-making.

Many people are not even aware that they write badly. And why should they? It’s not something they were taught at school, where the emphasis was, understandably, on literature, grammar and vocabulary.

So in the absence of any training in business writing, most employees labour under the following myths:

1. It’s all about language (grammar, punctuation and sentence structure)

2. If it’s important, people will read it

3. Readers have to be fully informed

4. You must use formal language

5. You must put your conclusion at the end

Let’s look at these myths in a series of short pieces, starting with Myth #1 — it’s all about language.