Self Help

Establishing a living mutual relation through written communication is no easy task, but it can be done. It requires that you visualize your reader during the process of writing, to form a mental image of your reader sitting on the other side of your desk. Moreover, it requires that you put yourself into your writing; to write as though you are talking to the reader. Such an approach will help your writing come alive. It will read as though one living human being is addressing another living human being.

Below are 3 additional tips when writing for your subordinates:

1. Choose a style and stick to it. It is important to appreciate that your style of writing will have an impact on the reader and may communicate as much as the content. The style is your mode of expressing your thoughts in language; it is your tone. Style includes choice of words, sentences, and paragraph format. It should be appropriate to the situation and to the parties involved. The important thing is to select an appropriate style and do not deviate from that style.

2. Make the paragraph the basic unit of composition. If you can write a good paragraph, then you have mastered an important part of writing. The paragraph should hold together: it should be all of a piece. Typically, each paragraph should contain one idea. This idea is reflected in the first sentence of the paragraph, the topic sentence. As you write the paragraph, you are developing the idea. The next step is to then connect the paragraphs through good transition sentences.

3. Use definite, specific, concrete language. There is a story about a man who wrote to an insurance company in search of his long-lost cousin. He knew that his cousin at one time had a life insurance policy with this company and thus thought that the company might know his whereabouts. The man’s initial letter of inquiry brought this reply: ‘’We are sorry to inform you that your long-lost cousin failed to achieve the expectations delineated in the actuarial tables.” The man wrote back with the question: “What does your letter mean?” And this was the reply: “He’s dead.”

4. Use the active voice rather than the passive voice. The active voice has more impact and more punch than the passive voice. Grammatically, this sentence written in the passive voice is acceptable: “My first visit to Geneva will always be remembered by me.” But much better is one written in the active voice: “I shall always remember my first visit to Geneva.” Rather than say, “I was in receipt of your letter,” you should say, “I received your letter.”