COMMUNICATING IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS

Stephen Hall of St. Louis reported his group's recommendation as Holly Faulkner of St. Louis listened.

So you want to learn how to write in the business world.

A good first step is to bone up on your grammar skills and remember three words: concise, concrete and courteous.

But there is much more to learn.

Patricia Karathanos, Phd., and Darlene Dunning, Phd., are professors of business communication at Southeast Missouri State University. Their advice for good business writing is be clear, concise, direct, professional, courteous, concrete and positive.

Concise writing is important, so instead of writing "in the near future," replace it with "soon." Don't write, "in the event of," write "if."

Concrete writing is also very important.

It means being specific, not etching your name in freshly poured cement.

But then again, "Bob was here" etched in the sidewalk is a good example of concrete language.

The most difficult lesson of all is to be courteous in your writing.

If you've just been turned down for a job, don't fire off a letter that in any way expresses the phrase, "I'll get you for this, you no-good..."

Instead, write about how much you enjoyed being considered for the job. Sure it doesn't feel as good as the revenge letter, but it may help you in the future.

The courteous writing tip is also good for the seasoned business professional who has the unenviable task of writing the rejection letter. Don't write to spurned applicants and say things like "upon review of your application, we have decided that you could quite possibly be the most unqualified loser we've ever come into contact with."

Instead, write something positive to the loser, er, unlucky applicant, like, "We've reviewed your application and we were impressed, but the pool of applicants was so competitive that we decided to go with someone else. But that's no reflection on your qualifications. Good luck in your search for employment. We will keep your application on file for six months and will consider you in the future for possible openings in our company."

Now that you've got all that remember there are still many pitfalls your writing could fall into.

On your resume, instead of saying "responsible for handling cash," say "handled cash." The use of noun derivatives is one of the biggest mistakes Karathanos sees today.

Don't be afraid to use analogies and metaphors. While you do this remember to be direct, unless you're dealing with another culture where being direct is considered an insult.

While you need to be positive in your business writing, you don't need to use trite phrases such as "thanking you in advance," as a closing.

Also, don't be redundant. Also, don't be redundant. Don't write things like "past history," or "true fact" or "free gift."

Another important point that Karathanos and Dunning agree wholeheartedly on: Make sure to use parallel construction in your writing.

Lackadaisical parallelism is easily noticed, especially when you are listing past job duties.

Wrong: "Responsible for cleaning the kitchen, sweep up the lot and balanced the budget."

Right: "Cleaned the kitchen, swept the lot and balanced the budget."

But we're just scratching the surface.

Who are these tips for? Everyone in, or planning to be in, the business world, i.e., almost everybody.

Karathanos and Dunning have tips for seasoned business professionals too. These rules don't just apply for people looking for a better job.

Dunning said no matter how great your vocabulary is, remember that whoever you are writing to may not have such a firm grasp on vocabulary as you.

The lesson here: use understandable words. Let's be redundant here and say that again using stilted language -- apply lucid locutions.

Did anyone know what that meant? Of course, you did because I told beforehand, but you see the point, don't you?

Now, having said that, let's raise the bar and remember to be sure not to speak down to the reader.

Dunning and Karathanos listed some points to remember, like everything on a resume should be in reverse chronological order. In other words, the first should be last.

Cover letters should be written to complement the resume, not just restate it.

Also, those of you who use sample resumes, don't be afraid to not include a category like hobbies that doesn't apply to you.

Dunning had this pointer for older job seekers and their resumes. Don't give out personal information. It used to be on resumes, but not anymore. Save that information for the water cooler.

The "job objective" heading on a resume brings down more than its fair share of job applicants because they either are too specific or too vague in their objective statement.

Dunning said it's up to you whether to use the job objective statement, but remember to not limit your opportunities by stating something like, "My goal is to become your company's human resource manager." That may disqualify you from becoming the company's assistant human resources manager.

References, Dunning said, can be included, but they don't have to be. Phrases like "references upon request," can be used. References can also be placed on a separate page. The reasoning here is that most companies will ask former employers about your job performance instead of asking people you've listed as a reference.

So it's a good idea to use the name of your supervisor as a reference, unless, of course, you don't do a good job, your supervisor's mean by nature or you don't want your employer to know you're on your way out.

A phrase like "application submitted in confidence," is a good way to let the potential future employer know you wish they wouldn't contact your boss just yet.

Of course, by doing that you do run the risk of running up the red flag in the mind of the hiring officer at the business where you applied.

Now that all of that's out of the way, don't forget to sign those cover and business letters with black ink. You may like purple, green, red and yellow, but black is the ink of the business world.

Another pointer often overlooked is correct spelling.

Besides using spell-check programs on a computer or word processor, let someone else have a look at your important business communique before you mail it and prove to the world you can't spell.

Dunning said that she went to a conference where many employers were asked to state things they look for in job applicants and appearance and spelling were big determining factors.

A real pet peeve she has is when a business letter has the greeting "Dear Mr. John Smith, ..." It should be "Dear Mr. Smith:" so lose the first name and the comma.

You could also get away with no punctuation in the business letter greeting as well, so save the commas for personal letters. But Dunning said you should use a comma after your closing like "Sincerely,".

If you are unsure of the gender of the person you are writing to because their name is something like Chris, Terry, Lee, Pat or Moonchild, your greeting should be "Dear M. (last name):".

Other common format problems that should be avoided occur in the return address on the top of the letter.

Do not put your name on top of your address. It is okay, however, to include your name if you have designed a letterhead, Dunning said.

So you've taken these pointers and you've deciphered them and you think you understand them, then it's time to write that memo, business letter, cover letter or resume.

But say you want the utmost attention of whoever you are writing to. What do you do? One good tactic is to make sure the letter doesn't arrive on Monday or Friday.

Practice mailing letters to yourself to gauge mailing times, since the post office frowns on people tampering with mail.

Still have questions about what is proper business writing?

There will be a workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. April 27 and 29 on business writing basics, punctuation and grammar in the Robert Dempster Hall of Business on the campus at Southeast Missouri State University.