WRITING FOR A

PURPOSE:
BUSINESS DOCUMENTS
By:
Algene De Guzman
When beginning to write, consider these:

 Who are you writing to?

 What is the primary purpose of your
document?
 Why should the reader care about your
message?
 When and where does the action take place?
 What are your expected outcomes?
STARTING BUSINESS DOCUMENTS
 Start by brainstorming and writing down any ideas that come into
your mind.
 Logical order and sequence can be looked at further on but the most
important thing is to let the ideas flow at this point.
 Once you start doing this you may find that the ideas start coming
into your mind quite quickly as one topic brings to mind another
related thought or idea and so on.
 Write everything down no matter now frivolous as it may turn out to
be a brilliant idea down the track when developed more.
 The idea of any business correspondence is to convey your thought
that will set off some kind of action - instantly or remotely. There are
two important points for writing effective communication. The first
is, you should know what you want to say and the second is, say it.
Planning and Structure
 All documents should have a structure or format – a logical
beginning, middle and end.
 Include a sequential argument.
 Adjust the content to suit your audience and their
different learning styles.
 Study different communication styles – the visual, the
auditory, kinesthetic, Auditory-Digital (AD).
 Keeping your focus and the desirable outcomes in mind.
 Organize your material into manageable chunks.
Key Points to Writing a Business Document
 Use of language
 Appropriate
 Industry Jargon
 Plain English
 Content
 Simple sentences and or statements
 Use of bullet points
 Everything to the point
 Be job specific
 Documents
 Must be written in a way that it can be edited or changed
 Every time the document is used, it is tested.
 Constant continuous improvement
 Know what triggers editing or change
Key Points to Writing a Business Document
 What triggers change
 Change in procedure
 Change in equipment
 Better way to do the same job
 Organizational change
 Wanting to deliver • What to do with the finished draft
• Test the document using someone else to red pen
 Best practice
it – don't be “precious” – keep an open mind for
 Writing the documents editing and changes
• Discuss the suggested changes and include the
 What to write agreed changes Final quality check
 How long to write
 Start point and finish point
 Answer the who, what, and when questions
Steps in Writing Business Documents
 PREPARATION
 Purpose
Why are you writing? For example, the purpose may
be to:
 inform

 persuade

 present a point of view

 propose ideas
 report findings
 recommend a course of action
 What action or outcome are you hoping for?
Steps in Writing Business Documents

 Identify Reader’s requirements

 To whom are you writing?
 What does the reader want to know?
 What does the reader know about the topic already?
 What is the reader's attitude to the topic?
 What specific requirements or limitations are there?
 How much detail is required?
 When is the document required?
Steps in Writing Business Documents
 Content
 What information do you need to include? Brainstorm
and record all ideas that come to mind about the topic.
Brainstorming methods include:
 Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? questions;
A mind map of the main concepts, sub-concepts and minor
concepts.
 Method
 What type of document will be the most appropriate?
(e.g. memo, letter or report)
 What is the most effective way of sending the message?
(e.g. personal delivery, mail, e-mail or fax)
Steps in Writing Business Documents
 RESEARCH
 You may need to research the topic.
 Record the main points and relevant details.
 Record the source details (i.e. author, title and publishing details)
of your research.
 ORGANISATION
 Evaluate each point against the topic and purpose of your
document.
 Only retain relevant information.
 Group like points and arrange them under appropriate
headings, sub-headings and minor headings.
 Arrange the headings, sub-headings and key points into a
logical order. This creates a content outline.
Steps in Writing Business Documents
 WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT
 Talk your ideas through with someone else before you
start writing. This helps you to express your thoughts
clearly.
 Type your first draft quickly. Write what you can, then
fill in the missing information later.
 Follow the appropriate document structure.
 Followyour content outline, and use headings, sub-
headings and minor headings.
 Ifdesired, use decimal numbering and indentation for
the headings, sub-headings and minor headings.
Steps in Writing Business Documents
 EDITING THE DRAFT
 When you have completed the draft, lay it aside for a day or two if possible.
 You can then criticize it objectively, keeping in mind the desirable qualities it should have.
 Evaluate, correct and improve the draft.
 Read every word, sentence and paragraph with a view to making constructive changes.
 Make sentences clearer, tighter, unambiguous and more polished.
 Remove unnecessary details or words.
 Add any necessary details that have been omitted.
 Check that the tense is consistent.
 Use active voice and first person where possible.
 Correct the spelling, grammar and punctuation.
 If the flow needs to be improved, re-arrange the sequence of sentences or paragraphs.
 Check that the writing style is appropriate.
Steps in Writing Business Documents

 RE-DRAFTING
 Several drafts are usually required in the editing stage.
 An editing checklist is useful for reviewing the final
draft, it may also be helpful to ask actual or potential
members of your audience to provide feedback about
the final draft. It should be tested by two groups:
 people who have been chosen because of their expertise; and
 people who have been chosen because of their lack of
expertise.
 Revise the final draft in line with the feedback.
Steps in Writing Business Documents

 WRITING THE FINAL COPY

 Type the final copy of the document.
 Proofread word by word, and figure by figure.
 Signand/or type your name or initials at the end of the
document.
 Keep a copy of the final version for your own records.
 Send the document to the reader.
That’s it for today!!!