Eng 209W Leeward CC Hurley 1

Writing for Business Audiences

Adapted from a Presentaton by the Purdue University Writing Lab

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What does writing for business mean?

Employees write for the workplace to customers, co-workers and others to complete job tasks and goals.

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What does writing for business mean?

Business writing is persuasive writing. At the most basic level, business writing

seeks to convince the reader that what is being said is true.

Goal: to get our readers to do what we want them to do and to build goodwill

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What is the difference between writing for business and writing for school?

For Business Audiences:

You often don’t know your reader.

Readers won’t read your writing if it isn’t easy to read and understand.

For School Audiences:

You and your teacher know one another

Your teacher is a captive audience obligated to read what you write.

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Writing for business vs. writing for school

For Business Audiences:

Your goal is to get your readers to do what you want them to do and to build goodwill.

You want to accomplish this goal the first time the document is read.

For School Audiences: Your goal is to show

the teacher what you know for a grade. You don’t really care how the reader FEELS.

Because you’re writing to a teacher, you aren’t concerned about the reader’s reading ability.

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When you know your reader, ask yourself:

How involved in the subject is my reader? How knowledgeable is he or she on the subject? What is my reader’s purpose for reading? To

make a decision? To be better informed? Does my reader have special concerns or

strong views about the subject? How does my reader regard me personally and

professionally? What is my reader’s style of doing business?

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When you do not know your reader

Two general types of business readers are skimmers and skeptics.

Your documents will be most effective if you write for both types of readers.

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When you do not know your reader

Skimmers are readers that are typically very busy. Pressed for time, they often skim documents in a rather short period of time.

State the main point up front

Place the most important information at the beginning or ending of paragraphs

Highlight key dates or figures

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When you do not know your reader

Skeptics are cautious and doubtful, questioning validity and the writer’s claims.

To meet the needs of the Skeptical reader, you must support your statements with specific details - examples, numbers, dates, names, and percentages.

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Plan Your Messages

Considering your audience will help you to determine what information to include in the document.

Your Goal: to include enough information to keep the reader’s interest but not so much information that you waste the reader’s time

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Plan Your Messages

Begin writing your document after you have planned what you want to say.

Ask yourself:1) How much background

information is needed?2) How can I best support

my conclusions?3) Would examples,

details, or graphics help readers to understand?

4) Do I need to do any more research?

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Organize Your Messages

Place information where readers are most likely to look for it:

– Skimmers are most likely to read the first and last paragraphs of a message.

– Within paragraphs, skimmers are most likely to read the first and last sentences.

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Remember the 20-second test

Skimmers are likely to spend 20 seconds or less skimming a document to decide whether or not to read it more carefully.

Have someone skim your document for 20 seconds before sending it and mark what stands out most to you in that amount of time.

This will help you see if your message is clear to them as well.

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For more information, see “Writing for School vs. Writing for Work,” Eng 209W Booklet

Visit the Purdue University Online Writing Lab with questions about business messages.– On the web at

http://owl.english.purdue.edu