THE SMART GUIDE TO BUSINESS WRITING is a hands-on, easy guide to writing all the different business materials that may be required in the course of a career. You will find tips on writing everything from business emails to power points to performance reviews to sales reports to business letters (yes, they still exist). The book is a quick and simplified guide to writing business materials you can be proud of, business writing where you will shine. There’s even a bit of humour along the way.

About the author

Gay Walley is a writer in New York. She is a writing coach (nycwritingcoach.com) and ghostwriter for people’s memoirs. She has worked in advertising and marketing as a writer for much of her career.

1. Business writing: we’ve all got to do it
2. Should you have a voice?
   1. Be direct
   2. Don’t be personal
   3. Don’t use colloquialisms
   4. Don’t use the passive voice
   5. Humour
   6. Don’t express anger
   7. Be polite and appreciative
   8. Use fresh language
   9. Be specific
   10. Be concise
   11. Don’t agonize about your voice
   12. Edit
3. Succinctness is next to godliness
4. Writing that helps get you a job
   1. Cover letter
   2. Resume
   3. Your website
   4. Facebook/linkedin
   5. Thank you note
   6. Follow up notes
5. The business of business emails
   1. Familiarity
   2. No swear words or jokes about the company
   3. Copying everyone under the sun
   4. Don’t be too abrupt
   5. Don’t be too short
   6. Always put an action request
   7. Should you email the person sitting next to you?
   8. Sign offs that are professional
6. Business letters are still in fashion
   1. The salutation
   2. Your first paragraph
   3. The second and third paragraphs
   4. The fourth paragraph
   5. The close
   6. Politeness is the currency of business letters
7. Some points about power points
   1. The power point as documentation
8. The whole issue of business content on the web
   1. Writing for the web
9. Writing marketing materials
   1. Advertising brief
   2. Key selling proposition
   3. Direct marketing emails
   4. Press releases
   5. Fact sheets
   6. Customer testimonials
10. Writing business reports
    1. Annual reports
    2. Writing standard business reports – a few tricks
    3. How to write a sales report
11. Writing employee performance reviews
    1. Set goals
    2. Assess the employee’s performance
    3. Share your findings
    4. Sometimes the employee will write in the review, too
    5. Don’t only write criticism
12. Writing white papers
    1. Basic types of a white paper
13. Conclusion