book

Business Writing for Technical People

by Carrie Marshall

July 2018

Beginner

84 pages

1h 32m

English

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

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Why bad writing is bad news
Take your timeBorrow bright ideasKey takeaways

Selling the sizzle: an IT exampleLights, email, action!Key takeaways
Know your audiencePick your platformHope for the best and plan for the worstTake a pictureKey takeaways
Unnecessary expertiseThe passive voice and weak verbsToo many wordsLong sentences and endless paragraphsShowing offClichésWoolly writingTake advice from George OrwellKey takeaways
What is jargon?Bad buzzWhy you should banish buzzwords and junk the jargonKey takeaways
How to win friends and influence peopleWriting presentationsThree is the magic numberIt’s a shame about ROIHow to present your business case for a large projectROI: plan for the best but try to predict the worstKey takeaways
Writing for GoogleSEO: how to do it the right wayTL;DRWhat to do about long documentsWriting for email newslettersSomeone invented a new way to get readers; you’ll never guess what happens next!Key takeaways
Let go of your egoSimplicityBrevityAccuracyEffectivenessKey takeaways
Goodwill huntingNow for the bad newsKey takeaways
Have a deadlineBreak it into bitsWrite an outlineDon’t start at the startDon’t stopForget about perfectHave a KitKatGo and do something elseKey takeaways
Aviva accidentally fires its entire workforceElop needs some helopProof that spell checking mattersWhy Damore should have written lessWhy Jack got attackedWhen hashtags go badThe worst motivational memo everKey takeaways

Overview

In this book you’ll discover how to give your communication skills an upgrade, exploring the tips and tricks that will enable you to write effectively and persuasively for any audience. You’ll discover how to optimise your words for maximum impact, which terrible traps to avoid and how to make your expertise and enthusiasm even more infectious.