Business Writing

Email: A Great Place for a One-Track Mind

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:34:36 -0700

In a recent Better Business Writing class, several participants had a challenge that most of us have: They could not get readers to respond to everything they requested in their emails. They tried to be efficient by covering more than...

A Lesson on "Fewer" and "Less"

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:21:58 -0700

This past week, when I led the online class Writing Tune-Up for Peak Performance, I was surprised at the number of people who used the word less where they should have used fewer. Test yourself on the items below to...

Improve Life for Your Proofreader

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Sat, 04 May 2013 08:57:11 -0700

I recently led two proofreading workshops for an organization. At the beginning of both sessions, I asked attendees what causes them to miss errors in documents when they proofread. They mentioned some of the usual reasons: short deadlines that limit...

The Differences Between Our Writing and Shakespeare's

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:35:56 -0700

Today is William Shakespeare's 449th birthday. Imagine being remembered for your fine writing hundreds of years after your death! But if you are a business writer, being remembered is not as important as being effective day by day. Has the...

T-Shirt Error Loses Sale

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:24:59 -0700

I was walking around Seattle's Sea-Tac International Airport yesterday, waiting for my flight to Maui, when I admired a T-shirt with a clever slogan: Washington Rain Festival, Jan. 1st – Dec. 31st What a perfect message, since it rains in...

Tricky Pronouns: Whoever and Whomever

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:59:27 -0700

In a comment on last week's pronoun tips and test, a reader named Jasmine asked for more examples of whomever. Whoever and whomever can be very tricky because they do not always play the role they seem to be playing...

Pronoun Tip Sheet--Pass It On!

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:09:16 -0700

Pronoun errors shift my attention from the message to the mistake. Instead of listening to speakers' meaty ideas, I am thinking about their incorrect Is and mes. Are you like me? Are you hearing him where you hoped for he,...

The Case of Two Investment Firms

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:49:26 -0700

As the executor of my father's estate, I have been dealing with the two investment firms at which he had accounts. The companies' names are household words, but let's call them Firm A and Firm B. I will tell you...

A Fine Example of Meeting Readers' Needs

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:32:09 -0700

I am away on a writing retreat on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and I took myself to Doc's Marina Grill for dinner tonight. The menu included something I have never seen on a menu before, yet it makes perfect sense for...

Is Your Writing Inside Out?

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:03:54 -0700

Often business writers communicate from their company perspective, looking at things from the inside out rather than the outside in. But if you write to people outside your organization, you need to reverse your perspective. For instance, in a recent...