When it comes to any sort of written communication the tone of communication is one of the most important facets. An incredibly formal communication to a peer, friend or colleague can sound rude. And an informal communication to a potential client or employer will probably result in them not taking you seriously.
To determine what sort of style is most appropriate, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
What is the purpose of the communication?
A communication to pass a few facts will need to be brief and straight forward. A proposal, tender response or job application should always be more formal and business like, while a letter outlining services or discussing something with a regular correspondent will be best kept somewhat informal.
What is your relationship with the person you’re writing to?
A friend, a peer, a client, a subordinate or an employer/boss will all demand a different style of writing depending on your familiarity with them.
What are you hoping to achieve by the communication?
If you are asking for something – formal and/or business like will probably be more appropriate. If you are solely passing on facts, something a little more crisp is appropriate.
Once you’re clear on who you’re writing to and the purpose of the communication, it’s easy to select the best style. Regardless of who you are trying to communicate with, there are a few things that are never appropriate in business communications. They are:
Text speak
You may be writing to a friend who is text literate but if it’s a business communication, basic English literacy is appropriate.
Spelling mistakes
There is NO excuse for spelling mistakes anymore. Most programs check spelling automatically and there are a million places for you to check the spelling of a word. Spelling errors these days are just a sign of laziness.
Jargon
I don’t mean that you shouldn’t use technical terms where appropriate, and don’t try to dumb every message down to the lowest possible level, but don’t use jargon just for the sake of using jargon. If you want to use industry specific acronyms, make sure they are either VERY well known, or spell them out the first time you use them in the communication and put the acronym in brackets.
Swearing
Duh! Even if you are writing to a friend and even if the f-bomb really is the best descriptor of a situation or person, remember that things get forwarded, things get sent to the wrong person and a lack of professionalism is a lack of professionalism.
Unfamiliar language styles
Don’t try too hard to use language you wouldn’t normally use. If you try to fill an email or letter with “big words” or technical jargon that you never usually use. At best you’ll end up with a sentence that is difficult to read. At worst you’ll end up looking stupid when you use a word or phrase out of context.
So there are just a few tips to keep in mind when deciding the tone of written communication. Keep in mind that a written communication will probably be around for a while. Whether it’s hardcopy in a filing cabinet or email in an inbox or sent folder. Inappropriate written communications live on and can come back to haunt you at some later date.
If you’d like some more ideas, check out my previous posts on Communication.
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