BUSINESS writing is often poorly organised, unclear, imprecise or filled with jargon. The problem is that we often don’t realise how ineffective our writing is. The good news is we can improve.Here are four steps you can take to fix your writing:1. Challenge yourself to be more concise: Whether you’re writing an email or a report, ask yourself if you’ve made it too long. If you chopped out a sentence or two — or eight — would the reader notice it was missing?2. Identify your bad habits: Learn to recognise jargon, passive constructions and imprecise language as bad habits that make it harder for readers to understand what you’re saying.3. Pair up with another writer: People tend to have complementary problems: Maybe you write too long, while your colleague has problems organising ideas. The job of an editor or a peer reviewer is to show you what you cannot see. That’s why even two flawed writers can make each other better.4. Build disciplined feedback into writing processes: When goo...
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