principles of business writing

Focus

 Adjust the scope and scale of your writing to influence the attitude and behavior of your readers. Develop a brief and outline, execute these consistently.

Purpose

 Identify the purpose of what you are writing about and connect it to your readers’ values, beliefs and ambitions. Avoid buzzwords, embrace relationships and use sensory language.

Meaning

 Be precise in your use of language. Do not write what something is, explain what it means to people and the organization.

Substance

 Empower and respect your readers by allowing them to critically evaluate your claims. Elaborate or provide verifiable proof, ideally from independent outsiders.

Structure

 Use sequence, consistency, guidance and balance to build a structure that guides your reader though the text.

Clarity

 Find the essence of your story, make it self-evident, describe it simply and economically, structure it logically and make the whole thing flow.

Humility

 Be humble while writing and editing. Critically judge your work, recognise dissenting views, avoid spin doctoring, be genuine.

Background

 The speech is held six months after the last roundtable of Ministers from UN nations. That conference yielded no specific decisions and was publicly branded a disaster. In the meantime, UN Security Council members have reiterated their opposition to an overhaul of the UN, fearing it would result in a permanent seat on the Council for emerging economies.

Goals and deliverables

 The government wants to use this 15-minute speech (approximately 1,350 words) to galvanize negotiations. The speech should outline our position, acknowledge concerns of other member states and propose a solution that bridges both. The tone of the speech should be diplomatic yet self-assured: the language should communicate we are no longer willing to entertain new options but that we wish to quickly move forward.

Strategy and resources

 Liaise with senior policy members for specific input on the government’s position and use statistics from past reports from the archive section on the server. The concept and final version of speech should be cleared with the Prime Minister’s advisors and possibly be discussed in next week’s Cabinet meeting.