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1. BUSINESS WRITING
ETIQUETTES
Yes, they really matter!

2. CONTENTS
1. Audience
2. Message
3. Purpose
4. Tone
5. Style
6. Jargon
7. Wordiness
8. Redundancy

3. IMPORTANCE OF WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS
1. Professionalism
2. Formal Tone
3. Clarity
4. To get results
5. Branding
6. Establishing long working relations
7. Saves time and Efficiency
8. Record keeping
9. Accuracy

4. AUDIENCE
•Importance
•Level of Formality
•Formal
•Informal
•They are the judges!
•Choice of words and tone.
•Level of Seriousness

5. AUDIENCE
Knowing your audience is extremely important because the audience decides the
worth of your craft. In business writing, in order to achieve results, one should
always tailor-made his or her content according to the needs and wants of your
audience. For knowing your audience better, one has to perform audience analysis.
For performing an audience analysis, following steps should be considered:
Their age
Interests
Social Class
Needs and Wants
Level of Formality (so you can select better words for communication).
Preferred channel of communication (email, text, Instagram).
Cultural values

6. MESSAGE
Clear:
Message has to be written clearly, using clear and easy to read words so the receiver can understand
our point better and reply accordingly. Otherwise, the receiver will get confused. Here, the Call to
Action, also needs to be mentioned clearly.
Comprehensive
The message has to be comprehensive (it should discuss all the points) in order to get results while
communicating. Care should be taken that while explaining all the main points, irrelevant details
should be strictly avoided.
Accurate
In communication, be it written or oral, supporting your point with the help of concrete (solid) data and
facts is highly important otherwise misquoting information or using outdated data will affect your
credibility.
Appropriate
We all know that in the modern world, no one lives in isolation! Cross-cultural communication enables
one to interact better globally. However, cross-cultural communication must be done carefully and the
factor of appropriateness must be kept in mind so you do not say or write anything that can hurt the
sentiments of people practicing different social and cultural beliefs.
Composition
Everyone likes to read a well organized piece of essay or email. A message must be composed properly

7. PURPOSE
Before sending out an email or a
professional phone call or interview, a
person should be aware of his or her
purpose for communicating a certain point.
If the purpose will be clear, then audience
can be engaged easily. Similarly the speaker
will make his or her stance clear and the
receiver will not remain clueless. Otherwise,
the audience will loose interest and the
purpose of communication will fail.
Following points can help in knowing the
purpose:
1. Why should the other person care about
it?
2. Why they should be interested in hiring
me or buying something from me?
3. How can I make it more about them?
4. Why am I here?

8. TONE
Humble
Courteous
Not Passive Aggressive
Not Gender Discriminatory
Not Offensive
“We” approach instead of “I” approach

9. TONE
Tone refers to the choice of polite or impolite words used while
communicating in a verbal or written manner. Words are powerful and
can either benefit you or land you in trouble. In business
communication, politeness holds a certain value as it helps in
establishing the ties and making you appear as a professional person.
One should always focus on the “We” attitude instead of the “I” or
“You” attitude otherwise mutual partnerships can be at stake. The
Tone must be polite, professional and courteous. With fellow age
members and colleagues, professional tone should be adopted
whereas while communicating with boss or senior colleagues, a
respectful tone must be adopted.
Moreover, gender discriminatory language, racist and stereotypical
humor should also be avoided.

10. STYLE
Expository
Narrative
Persuasive
Descriptive
Why are they important
What are the Dos and Don'ts

11. STYLE
Style refers to the format of writing you follow based on the type and
purpose of the document. Style also affects the tone of your writing.
For example:
Using persuasive style of writing and using a polite and engaging
tone.
Writing a negative message and using a courteous tone (choosing
words properly).

13. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STYLE AND
TONE
Tone is a part of style.
In written communication, tone shows your overall professionalism
and how you want the reader to judge you.
Based on different styles of writing, tone will change.

14. JARGON
Different terms and phrases used in different texts based on the
discipline and purpose.
How it can be bad
Why to avoid it

15. WORDINESS AND REDUNDANCY
What is it?
Wordiness means using difficult vocabulary words in business communication when
they can be easily replaced with easier vocabulary words. Because wordiness creates
difficulty in understanding the text or message. For example using excessive
adjectives instead of action verbs. “I am a highly passionate individual” replace this
with “I am a skilled individual who has worked on multiple projects and has delivered
results”.
Redundancy refers to repeating the same point over and over again. This should be
avoided as it adds unnecessary weight in written message and sounds unpleasant
while hearing the same information repeatedly.
Why and how to avoid it:
It should be avoided by following the Message components:
Clear, Comprehensive, Accurate, Appropriate and Composition.

16. ONLINE LINKS FOR READING
1. https://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/cmchang/chapter/17-1-
purpose-audience-tone-and-content/
2. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_techni
cal_writing/tone_in_business_writing.html
3. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/written-
communication
4. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/tone-and-
style-in-writing
5. https://literarydevices.net/jargon/
6. https://canvas.hull.ac.uk/courses/213/pages/avoiding-cliches-and-
wordiness#:~:text=Wordiness%2C%20or%20redundancy%2C%20often%20t
akes,the%20quality%20of%20your%20writing!