Pocket Guide: Business Writing for Startup Founders

Writing well is important.

Especially if you are running a company.

• It is faster to read
• It leaves no room for confusion
• It makes the next steps obvious

To write more clearly, apply the following:

Active Speech

Don't write "the report was prepared by our sales lead."

Instead, write "Our sales lead prepared the report."

No Redundancies

Don't write "the successful campaign had positive results."

Instead, write "the campaign was successful."

Specificity

Don't write "we processed a lot of requests in the past few weeks."

Instead write, "from 2/12/2020 - 3/11/2020 we processed 500+ requests."

Structure

Don't write without a structure.

Instead, pick a structure (bullets; headlines; etc.) and stick with it.

Narrative

Don't go from A to Z to B to D.

Instead, go from A to B to C (beginning, middle, end).

Next Steps

Don't leave the next steps open for interpretation.

Instead, communicate who (owner), will do what (task), and by when (ETA).

Save time. Show direction. Trigger action.

Write clearly.

Someone helped me with these tips many years ago. I hope it helps you.

If you have feedback, thoughts, or want to get in touch, ping me on twitter.

Further Reading

• The Day You Became a Better Write (Scott Adams)
• A Guide to Better Writing (Art Lapinsch) 👈 This is an in-depth guide with 35 of my favorite resources on writing
• The 80/20 of Remote Team Leadership (remote fabric) - online course about documentation for remote teams