Chapter 4 Chapter Overview & Objectives

Business Style: Word Choice, Conciseness, and Tone

Chapter Overview

In this chapter, you will learn strategies for effective word choice to ensure your messages are understood easily by diverse audiences in a range of business contexts. You’ll be introduced to plain style and techniques for keeping your messages brief, to the point, and powerful. You’ll also learn to control the tone of your messages to project confidence, frame information positively, and make receivers more receptive to your messages.

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn to do the following:

  1. Use plain, precise, and familiar language to make your point, prevent misunderstanding, and write with impact.
  2. Identify and eliminate problem words that do not convey your meaning clearly and directly.
  3. Choose appropriate words for constructive, inclusive, reader-oriented, and ethical messages.
  4. Identify strategies for writing concise messages.
  5. Develop a conversational and confident tone and adjust it to suit a range of writing purposes, professional situations, and readerships.
  6. Differentiate between personal and impersonal styles.
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