Teaching Business Communication

A strong business proposal is a top opportunity to win new business. It is the ultimate sales document, a condensed version of all the value your solution brings to a client’s problem.

Yet, not every proposal puts your business’s best foot forward. There are a lot of aspects to consider. From the audience to the content to the formatting, each part of a winning business proposal requires thoughtful planning and development.

‘Tis the season for out-of-office emails!

Yes, with all the holiday planning of feasts and gifts and decorations, there is also the important task of drafting your holiday auto-responder text. You need to let your colleagues and clients know that you’ll be away from your desk celebrating the spirit of the season (and not reading their emails!).

Earning more business starts most often with an effective proposal. Preparing a winning proposal means writing for the client and providing a clear, valuable solution to their problem.

The world of business writing can seem vast. Each office seems to have variations of documents, each with their personalized templates and industry focus. Varying scenarios require varying forms of business writing. However, the innumerable documents can be distilled into to four main categories.

Since 2010, the Center for Plain Language annually judges the quality of content produced by US government agencies. The results for 2017 are shown below. I love these report cards for several reasons but chief among them is that they use an evidence-based approach. On a shoestring budget. Most complaints about content quality are vague. But the…