If you ask employers to name the most important skills they expect in new hires, you’ll get a wide range of responses. But if you ask employers what one skill they look for that employees often lack, you’ll find a much more consistent response. Employers overwhelmingly say that they with their workers had better written communication skills. Professional writing skills are vital for a range of careers and education, not just those that are based on writing, like journalism or PR. The ability to write clear memos, business letters, essays, and emails and to produce usable written reports that others can easily understand is invaluable. That’s why employers want these skills, and it’s why improving your professional writing skills is so important nowadays.
8 Effective Ways to Improve Your Professional Writing Skills
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In this article willingly provided by a team of academic experts, we’ll take a look at some easy and effective ways to improve your professional writing skills so you can become a better writer and a more successful employee.
So, where should you begin to develop and polish your academic writing skills? How do start polishing your skills immediately?
1. Know your subject
First and most importantly, you must have a good command of the facts. Whenever you write, whether it’s a report, an academic essay, a memo, or just an email, you need to be sure that you know what you’re talking about. Credibility derives from your ability to use facts and evidence effectively, so be sure that you have all the relevant information before you start to write. That way, you can be sure that what you say not only makes sense but communicates your message effectively to your audience with no embarrassing errors or omissions.
2. Be concise in your writing
Unless you get paid by the word, writing concisely is more important than filling the page. Good writing gets to the point quickly, and this is doubly true for business writing. In the professional world, everyone is pressed for time, and no one wants to read a lot of irrelevant filler text. Pare your ideas down to their essence and use simple and specific words to convey meaning with a minimum of extra material or extraneous digressions.
3. Provide all necessary details
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This might seem like the opposite of being concise, but you should be sure to provide all of the details that your audience will need to know. Remember, the purpose of business writing is to achieve a goal, not create mystery. You don’t want to spend the hours after you send your writing out into the world answering emails from colleagues asking for clarification and more detail. Express your ideas clearly and concisely, but be sure that you don’t leave out anything essential that your readers will need to take action.
4. Ask yourself what the audience will likely misunderstand
After you have a written draft of your paper, take time to think about what you wrote like your worst enemy was reading it and trying to make you look bad. How would that person misunderstand what you wrote to try to harm you or to make your proposal or academic project look foolish? Believe it or not, however bad you think your enemy would mangle your words, your readers are likely to do worse, not because they are malicious but because they aren’t reading carefully, may not have great reading skills, or are ignorant—or because your words weren’t completely clear. Revise carefully to make sure that you have clearly and effectively presented your position in a way that can’t be misconstrued.
5. Take advantage of online writing help
A lot of professional online writing services like SmartWritingService aren’t just for students’ academic essays, research projects, college term papers, and dissertations. Custom writing assistance is also available for urgent business needs, and expert essay writers with years of business and industry experience are available to help you with your most pressing professional writing needs. If you find that you’re stuck when it comes to your academic writing, getting a professional’s expert view can often be an effective solution to your business writing woes.
6. Watch your tone
Sometimes business writers can be too formal and too curt, mistaking abruptness for efficiency. Try to use a tone that indicates friendliness and collegiality in order to demonstrate respect for your readers. Your readers will appreciate the acknowledgment of their humanity and will think more highly of your ideas if they feel as though you are writing to them like fellow humans and not computers.
7. Remember, not everything needs to be in writing
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We are bombarded with writing all day every day. The average worker is drowning in emails, letters, papers most of which are irrelevant to their assignments or could better be delivered in another medium. Before you compose a massive missive, remember that one of the biggest writing skills is knowing when to write and when to stay quiet. Ask yourself if your audience truly needs the message you are about to send. Will they read another long email full of legalese? Do they need to know your thoughts on the day’s news? If your message is brief, you might be better off stopping by a colleague’s desk to ask a question. If you are asking for feedback, a video call might get you there faster.
8. Always edit and proofread before you finish
Save yourself the embarrassment and edit and proofread before you send your writing out into the world. When it comes to professional writing, a single misplaced comma can change the meaning of a sentence and cost you a fortune. Make sure you have proofread and edited carefully to ensure you said what you meant.
In conclusion, we would like to say that professional writing skills play a vital role in our modern life. You should master them perfectly to be able to create attractive and creative content which can be used in all spheres of your life.
