Writing concisely for business

Being able to write well for business means being able to write your message clearly and concisely. These tips and examples will help you to keep your writing brief and professional.

1. Plan

Planning what you want to write before you start writing is a good way of making sure you only include the relevant information. It's often helpful to put your points into paragraphs before you start, so that you can avoid repeating the same ideas.

2. Use an objective sentence

Starting your writing with an objective also helps you to focus your writing. The following phrases are useful:

Asking for information
I would like some more information about (your range of)

Making a request
Please could you (send me your price list)
I would be grateful if you could (arrange a meeting)

Making an appointment
Are you free (on Tuesday for a meeting about)

Responding to a previous email
Thank you for your email (about the meeting)

Attaching something to your email
Please find attached (the report you wanted)

There are more ways of stating your objective (such as how to inform, confirm, explain, suggest, announce, complain and threaten) in our business writing ebook.

3. Use modal verbs

Modal verbs help you to write concisely. For example, instead of writing "There is a slight probability that we will get the order tomorrow" you can write "We may get the order tomorrow" or "We might get the order tomorrow".

Modal verbs also help you to keep your writing polite. See our article on staying polite in business.

Here are some ways you can use modals instead of longer phrases:

For likelihood and probability = may / might / will
It is likely to / There is the likelihood that = We may / We might / it may / it might…
It is unlikely to happen = It might not happen
It is definite that = We will / It will…

For necessity = must / have to / need
There is a necessity to / It is necessary to = We must / We have to…

For ability = can
I have no ability to = I can't…

For possibility = can / could
There is a possibility that = We can / We could…
I have no possibility to = I can't…

4. Keep sentences grammatically simple

You are less likely to make grammatical mistakes if you avoid complicated constructions such as "not only, but…" or "in spite of the fact that"…

If in doubt, use simple word order principles when you write, such as the SVOMPT principle:

Subject Verb Object (Manner Place Time)
"I am writing to confirm our meeting on Tuesday at 3pm. "

Keep sentences short, with one idea in each sentence. Avoid using too many commas or parentheses, which can make your sentences over-long.

5. Don't use over-formal words

A good rule is to use general business words rather than old-fashioned formal words.
For example, avoid "above-mentioned" (use "above"); "herewith" and "hereby" (you can normally delete these without changing the meaning of the sentence); and "hitherto" (use "up to now").

6. Edit out unnecessary words

You can replace some phrases by single words.

"as of the date of" = from
"by means of" = by
"at this moment in time" = now
"for the purpose of" = for
"so as to" = so
"in the event that" = if
"further to" = following

Avoid words that don't add meaning. For example, "very" can often be deleted without changing the meaning. For example, you can write "expensive" instead of "very expensive" without losing any extra meaning. Other words that can generally be deleted to make your writing more concise are "really" and "absolutely".

7. Use verbs rather than noun clauses

Verbs will give your writing more impact than heavy-sounding noun phrases. For example, use "discuss" instead of the longer phrase "have a discussion".

Other examples of this are "have a meeting" (meet), "give consideration to" (consider) and "be of concern to" (concern)

8. Avoid cliches

A cliche is an expression that everyone else seems to use.

Cliches don't add any new information to what you write, and they make your writing boring and predictable. Examples of cliches are "to all intents and purposes", "to think outside the box" and "to push the envelope". If you have made a plan before you write so that you only include relevant information, then you don't need to add cliches to "pad" out your message.