Brief-writing workshop
Business Communications
How readers consume content
Agenda
1
2
3
4
Tactics for writing briefs
Persuasion & influence
Making data meaningful
HOW READERS CONSUME CONTENT:
Gaze plot and eye-tracking
studies show that most people
commonly exhibit patterns when
consuming written materials.
Improve comprehension and
increase consumption rates for
your writing with these tips >
“The true scarce commodity is
increasingly human attention.” --Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
• Put your most important information up
front (above the fold)
• Reduce copy as much as possible
• Use subheads
• Use bulleted lists
• Keep each paragraph focused to one idea
TACTICS FOR WRITING BRIEFS: Reading Patterns
From most to least
common
Default style for
readers encountering
content
Well-structured
content engages
readers
Used by readers
searching for specific
keywords
Used by readers who
consume the entire
copy
It’s called F-Shaped Pattern Layer Cake Spotted scanning Commitment
Use these tactics • Format the copy
• Organize info
• Keep them on the
page
• Give them
somewhere to go
• Bolded, underlined
words, subheds,
lists
• Cross promote
related content
• Keep it fresh k
C O N F I D E N T I A L A N D P R O P R I E T A R Y C O M C A S T I N F O R M A T I O N
TACTICS FOR WRITING BRIEFS:
The Inverted Pyramid
One summary sentence
that explains everything.
The Inverted Pyramid is a style of writing where the first
sentence summarizes the most important information. The
remaining content is organized from most to least important,
followed by context or background information or materials at
the end.
Building blocks like facts,
statistics, arguments
ordered from most to least
relevant or important.
Context,
attachments,
relevant artifactsPROS CONS
Readers can leave at
any point and still be
informed – you make
the most of a reader’s
attention span.
Is formulaic, not
engaging, encourages
scanning.
C O N F I D E N T I A L A N D P R O P R I E T A R Y C O M C A S T I N F O R M A T I O N
TACTICS FOR WRITING BRIEFS:
BLUF
BLUF or Bottom Line Up Front is a style of writing that puts the
conclusions and recommendations at the beginning of the text
to facilitate rapid decision making. Commonly used as an
interview tactic, in medical or scholarly articles, in military
briefings or for planning and management.
PROS CONS
Immediately focuses the
audience to the topic.
Helps decision makers
save time.
Requires analysis and
time on the part of the
preparer.
C O N F I D E N T I A L A N D P R O P R I E T A R Y C O M C A S T I N F O R M A T I O N
PERSUASION & INFLUENCE: Persuasive writing, calls to action
When writing persuasively Sources of personal power for influence
• Clearly articulate your position
• Provide evidence from credible sources
• Differentiate fact and opinions
• Address counter arguments
• Expertise; possession of valued knowledge
• Referent; respect and admiration of others
• Connection; the people one knows and can influence, reciprocity
• Information; knowing what is happening in the organization
Tips, Best Practices for Calls to Action
What it is:
• A statement that instructs the reader to act or identifies a clear action
path
How to do it: • Assess the audience or reader and provide a motivation, illuminate a
consequence
• Give the reader all the information necessary to commit the action
• Use an active voice
• Clear any obstacles, barriers
PERSUASION & INFLUENCE: Pressure tactics commonly appear in business
Be aware of high pressure negotiation
tactics that sometimes appear in
business communications
How to deal with them
DEADLINES: Use of deadlines to create action.
Can be internal or external, artificial or real.
• Resist the anxiety and ask direct questions about the deadline, is it real, what’s the source, what’s the
consequence of missing it.
COMPETITION: Can impact timelines, prices.
Bluffing, puffing.
• Ask questions that focus on the product to differentiate
• Challenge bluffs, or inflated figures by asking direct questions to expose
DELAY TACTICS; Limited Authority / Missing
Person tactics, deal dropping
• Find out who makes decisions and arrange a meeting with that person.
• Start negotiations with the person who has the final authority
• Find out what standards are used to determined if agreements can be authorized or now
MORAL APPEAL; Appeals to sense of fairness,
tries to get negotiator to empathize with
opposition
• Name the tactic, stand firm in your position, expose a motive
BLANKETING / ASSOCIATION; Generalizing
statements made to create credibility and weaken
resolve from the opposite party
• Use objective criteria to challenge generalizations
• Ask for specific details that drill down to the actual details
PERSUASION & INFLUENCE: Writing with confidence
Active vs. Passive writing Unnecessary Qualifiers, words, phrases that
undermine credibility / authority
Affirmative vs. Negative sentences
• Active voice. In most English sentences with an
action verb, the subject performs the action
denoted by the verb.
• Using the active form of writing conveys
confidence and is the preferred style for business
communications.
• Statements that hedge “Feel free to disagree but
…” invite doubt
• Replace weak words and phrases like, “I think,
believe, feel, try,” with stronger ones like “We’re
confident, I’m convinced, Optimistic, we expect”
• Masking statements or opinions as questions
invites rebuttal, criticism
• Qualifiers limit or modify the meaning of words;
apparent, presumed, some, in general, unlikely,
possibly, estimate, intent, might, suggest, often,
several, most.
• Negative statements fail to provide information
• They sound defensive
• Negative sentences are usually longer than their
affirmative counterparts
MAKING DATA MEANINGFUL: Analyzing audiences / data
Communicate / Present
Compile and collect
Clean up and validate
Provide context, benchmarks
Combine
Analyzing data
Communicate / Present
Consider Demographics
Disposition / Actions
Knowledge and Gaps
Customization
Analyzing Audiences
MAKING DATA MEANINGFUL: Writing about numbers
• Start off paragraphs with a theme sentence that contains no numbers.
• Avoid the use of elevator statistics
• Avoid or define upon first reference any jargon, technical terms or acronyms
• Provide context for big numbers to make them relatable
• Consider using a visualization to present data
• Control the “Cognitive load” of your content, visuals or statements. The Cognitive
load is how hard the reader has to work to understand what you’re trying to
communicate.