Business writing (cont.)
persuasion, 117
virtues of, 12
Buzz words, 74
C
capital, capitol, 84
Cause and effect, 115
Charts, in competitive analysis, 146
Chat systems, 14
Chronology, 107
Circumlocution, 35
cite, site, sight, 84
Clarity, 65–74
of business writing, 12
characteristics of, 66, 74
difficulty with, 27–28
of information in writing, 138–39
as lost art, 51–53
passive voice and, 68
simplification and, 67
of subject line, 137
Classification, 114–15
in evaluations, 142–44
examples, 143–44
Clauses, dependent, 71
Clichés, 129
Closing, in information request, re-
sponse to, 186
Code, 120
Cognitive dissonance, 158
Cold call messages, 177–81
examples, 179–81
preparation for, 177–78
purpose for, 178
self-centered trap, avoiding,
179–81
value of, 178–79
Communication
with audience, 122
of bad news, 172–76
with Blackberries, 10
code, 120
contact, 120
content of, 120
credibility and, 6
effective, 65
e-mail as, 1
flow of, 118
form, 121
receiver, 118
sender, 118
subject of, 119, 121
200 The Language of Success
Comparisons, 94, 111–14
in evaluations, 140–42
examples, 112, 113
Competitive analysis, 146–50
examples, 147–50
Complaint letter, 24
complement, compliment, 84–85
comprise, compose, 85
Conciseness, 74–80
of business writing, 12
constructions and, 80
difficulty with, 27–28
nominalization and, 77, 78
repetitious redundancy and, 76
unnecessary determiners and, 76
wordiness versus, 74
concurrent, consecutive, 85
Consumer Reports, 124
Contact, 120
Contractions, 88
Contrast, 111–14
in evaluations, 140–42
Correctness
audience, suitability for, 90–92
suitability for purpose and, 102–16
uninformed audience and, 92–96
well-informed audience, 96–102
Correctness, of usage, 81–116
affect, effect, 82–83
alternately, alternatively, 83
anxious, eager, 83
beside, besides, 83
biannual, semiannual, 84
bimonthly, semimonthly, 84
capital, capitol, 84
cite, site, sight, 84
complement, compliment, 84–85
compose, comprise, 85
concurrent, consecutive, 85
council, councilor, counsel, counselor,
85
data is, data are, 86
discreet, discrete, 85
disinterested, uninterested, 86
e.g., i.e., 86
farther, further, 87
flammable, inflammable, 87
foreword, forward, 87
insure, ensure, assure, 87–88
its, it’s, 88
lead, led, lead, 88
loose, lose, 89
penultimate, 89

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