Business Writing: Clear, Correct, Purposeful Messages
Business Writing asks you to choose or produce writing that is clear, correct, and suited to its purpose and audience. Items may ask you to pick the best version of a sentence, spot an error, choose the right tone, or organize a short message.
Know these concepts: audience and purpose, direct versus indirect organization, active versus passive voice, parallel structure, subject-verb and pronoun agreement, punctuation of lists and clauses, and word choice (concise, specific, professional). You should also recognize the parts of a message: purpose statement, needed details, and a clear next step or call to action.
Traps: (1) Choosing the fanciest option over the clearest one. (2) Burying the main point under background. (3) Tone mismatches, such as overly casual language in a formal notice. (4) Agreement errors hidden by intervening phrases ('the list of items is,' not 'are'). (5) Vague requests that lack a deadline or owner.
Worked example: Which is best? A) 'Pursuant to our prior discussion, it is requested that the report be submitted by you at your earliest convenience.' B) 'Please send the report by Friday, May 3.' B wins: it is direct, specific, and gives a deadline. Rule of thumb: write the point first, add only the details the reader needs, and end with a clear action. If a sentence can lose words without losing meaning, it should.