Business Writing for Dummies.

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Foolish Assumptions -- Icons Used in This Book -- Beyond the Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part 1 Winning with Writing -- Chapter 1 Making Writing Your Weapon for Success -- Putting Strategic Writing to Work for You -- Planning and Structuring Every Message -- Applying the Goal-Plus-Audience Strategy to More Media -- Succeeding with email, letters and business documents -- Writing to present yourself powerfully -- Writing online: From websites to blogs to tweets -- Leveraging your writing skills -- Remembering to think globally -- Chapter 2 Planning Your Message Every Time -- Adopting the Plan-Draft-Edit Principle -- Fine-Tuning Your Plan: Your Goals and Audience -- Defining your goal -- Defining your audience -- Brainstorming the best content for your purpose -- Writing to groups and strangers -- Imagining your readers -- Making People Care -- Connecting instantly with your reader -- Focusing on what's-in-it-for-me -- Persuading with benefits, not features -- Finding the concrete, limiting the abstract -- Choosing Your Written Voice: Tone -- Sound positive, never negative -- Align tone with the occasion, relationship and culture -- Writing as your authentic self -- Using Relationship-Building Techniques -- Showing active caring and respect -- Personalizing what you write -- Framing messages with "you" not "I" -- Chapter 3 Making Your Writing Work: The Basics -- Stepping into Twenty-First-Century Writing Style -- Writing to be understood -- Applying readability guidelines -- Finding the right rhythm -- Achieving a conversational tone -- Energizing Your Language -- Relying on everyday wording -- Choosing reader-friendly words -- Focusing on the real and concrete -- Finding action verbs -- Crafting comparisons to help readers.

Employing Reader-Friendly Graphic Techniques -- Building in white space -- Choosing a typeface -- Keeping colors simple -- Adding effective graphics -- Breaking space up with sidebars, boxes and lists -- Chapter 4 Self-Editing: Professional Ways to Improve Your Work -- Changing Hats: From Writer to Editor -- Choosing a way to edit -- Distancing yourself from what you write -- Reviewing the Big and Small Pictures -- Assessing content success -- Assessing your language -- Avoiding telltale up-down-up inflection -- Looking for repeat word endings -- Pruning prepositions -- Cutting all non-contributor words -- Moving from Passive to Active -- Thinking "action" -- Trimming "there is" and "there are" -- Cutting the haves and have nots -- Using the passive deliberately -- Sidestepping Jargon, Clichés and Extra Modifiers -- Reining in jargon -- Cooling the clichés -- Minimizing modifiers -- Energizing What You Write -- Chapter 5 Fixing Common Writing Problems -- Organizing Your Document -- Paragraphing for logic -- Building with subheads -- Working with transitions -- Working in lists: Numbers and bulleting -- Catching Common Mistakes -- Fine-tuning punctuation -- Using comma sense -- More punctuation tools -- Using "however" correctly -- Weighing "which" versus "that" -- Considering "who" versus "that" -- Choosing "who" versus "whom" -- Beginning with "and" or "but" -- Using sentence fragments -- Ending with prepositions -- Fielding Pronoun Challenges -- Match nouns and pronouns -- Be mindful of personal pronouns -- Spot common pronoun errors -- Fixing Common Word Confusions -- It's or its -- Their, there and they're -- Your, yours and you're -- Affect versus effect -- Reviewing and Proofreading: The Final Check -- Checking the big picture -- Proofreading your work -- Cutting to fit -- Creating your personal writing improvement guide.

What about my personal style? -- Part 2 Applying Your Skills to Business Messages and Documents -- Chapter 6 Writing Email and Letters That Get Results -- Fast-Forwarding Your Agenda with Email -- Starting Strong -- Writing subject lines that pull people in -- Using appropriate salutations -- Drafting a strong email lead -- Building Content That Achieves Your Goals -- Clarifying what you want -- Assessing what matters to your audience -- Determining the best substance -- Structuring Your Middle Ground -- Closing Strong -- Polishing Your Email -- Monitoring length and breadth -- Simplifying style -- Going short: Words, sentences, paragraphs -- Using graphic techniques to promote clarity -- Using the signature block -- Using Email for Marketing -- Composing Effective Letters -- Chapter 7 Creating High-Impact Business Materials -- Creating Valued Reports -- Writing activity reports -- Reporting project results -- Fast-Tracking Your Proposals -- Writing formal proposals -- Writing informal proposals -- Writing a business plan -- Applying for grants -- Writing an Executive Summary -- Giving perspective to complex material -- Determining what matters -- Putting headlines to work -- Writing Tips for All Business Documents -- Part 3 Writing to Present Yourself Effectively -- Chapter 8 Building Persuasion into Your Writing -- Connecting with Your Readers -- Drawing from psychology -- Communicating with conviction -- Strategizing in Many Dimensions -- Centering on benefits -- Creating a friendly and reasonable tone -- Giving people time -- Planning Your Persuasive Message -- Step 1: Clarify your goal to yourself -- Step 2: Characterize your audience -- Step 3: Determine the best content -- Step 4: Create action headlines that relate to your audience -- Step 5: Develop a compelling lead that connects content and reader -- Step 6: Draft the rest of the message.

Using Persuasive Language -- Choosing words that persuade -- Structuring material to support persuasion -- Knowing what language to choose and what to avoid -- Finding Your Core Business Message -- Searching for true value -- Making your case in business terms -- Finding, Shaping and Using Stories -- Finding your business story -- Building your story -- Story-writing tips -- Translating Words into Visuals -- Chapter 9 Speaking Well for Yourself -- Building Your Elevator Speech -- Defining your goal -- Defining your audience -- Strategizing your content -- Using your mini-speech -- Representing your organization and yourself -- Preparing and Giving Presentations -- Planning what to say -- Crafting your presentations with writing -- Integrating visuals -- Standing and delivering -- Composing Talking Points for Live Interaction -- Chapter 10 Writing for the Job Hunt -- Knowing and Expressing Your Value -- Pinpointing your personal strengths -- Pulling your ideas together -- Assessing All Your Skills -- Writing Résumés That Win the Race -- Choosing a format -- Sidestepping presentation problems -- Styling Language for Résumés -- Using keywords: An essential -- Writing the summary statement -- Building your work history section -- Showing off strengths -- Succeeding with Cover Letters -- Planning a cover letter -- Opening with pizzazz -- Networking with Messages -- Requesting informational interviews -- Saying thank you -- Part 4 Writing for Online Media -- Chapter 11 Writing for the Digital World -- Positioning Yourself Online -- Understanding Visual Platforms -- Choosing Your Platforms -- Breaking down your goals -- Finding your audiences -- Writing for Digital Media -- Loosening up -- Keeping language simple and clear -- Communicating credibility -- Cutting hype, maxing evidence -- Devising nonlinear strategies -- Incorporating interactive strategies.

Using Social Media Platforms -- Engaging with social media -- Exploring content ideas -- Networking with Twitter -- Planning your Twitter program -- Guidelines for tweeting -- Working with LinkedIn -- Chapter 12 Creating Content for Your Online Life -- Creating a Website from the Ground Up -- Shaping your site to goals and audience -- Planning a basic website -- Creating the site structure -- Assembling and writing a home page -- Writing the About Us page -- Writing the inside pages -- Content tips for websites -- Writing tips for websites -- Graphic tips for websites -- Creating a Blog -- Choosing your best subject -- Developing tone and style -- Drawing from the journalist's toolkit -- Creating magnetic headlines -- Organizing with progressive subheads -- Considering articles for publication -- Telling Your Story with Video -- Using video to accomplish goals -- Scripting your video -- Producing video step-by-step -- Sharing expertise with video -- Introducing yourself with video -- Part 5 Leveraging Your Writing Skills -- Chapter 13 Writing for the Workplace: Managing Up, Down and Sideways -- Communicating as a Manager -- Relating to your team members -- Writing to inspire and motivate -- Delivering bad news -- Writing good news messages -- Criticizing with kindness -- Writing requests and giving orders -- Writing to Manage Up -- Guarding your tone -- Avoiding the blame game -- Making it easy to respond -- Writing to Colleagues, Collaborators and Teammates -- Using Backup Memos -- Language for Communicating Sideways -- Using Turnaround Techniques -- Communicating with a Team of Equals -- Chapter 14 Writing for Entrepreneurs and Virtual Workers -- Communicating as a Virtual Worker -- Teaming Techniques and Practices -- Using Everyday Communication Tools: Email and Group Chat -- Making email more personal -- Using team chat to your advantage.

Using teleconferencing effectively.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.