Business Writing for Dummies (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Writing is an invaluable communication skill in almost every aspect of business. Yet so many of us -- though we do it day in and day out -- aren't satisfied with our writing abilities and continue to find it difficult to put words to paper. Business Writing For Dummies comes to the rescue! Equipped with Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts' sage and friendly guidelines and her Six Steps of effective business writing, prepare yourself to be a great business writer!

From the Publisher

This is the Guide that gives you the Write Stuff!

Turn off your inner critic and get drafts completed in record time

Add humor to your writing without getting pie in your face

Create documents that pack a visual punch

Karate-chop through writer's block

Write as part of a collaborative team

Cut information overload in the e-world

Edit your way to more effective writing

Discover the action words that are guaranteed to get results

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (March 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764551345
• ISBN-13: 978-0764551345
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #436,488 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the answers you need, February 11, 2002

By	loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Alas, if only it were this simple really. This text purports to offer expert advice on letters, proposals, presentations, and more. It does deliver average tried and true tricks but whether this advice is "expert" is debatable. The information on writing memos and letters provides generally useful advice about white space, headings, and using simpler words.

But the advice provided on more in-depth issues, such as cutting the length of sentences, is limited. For instance, to cut the length of sentences, one is to look for compound sentences (find the conjunctions), and break the sentences into components. More useful advice about collapsing ideas into dependent clauses or eliminating redundancy is not discussed in detail or illustrated.

The advice about using a variety of fonts and boxes could cause inexperienced writers to go astray and litter documents with visual clutter that will distract from the message. Worse is the lack of any real solid advice on using graphs and charts. The examples are cluttered and offer some of the worst elements of visual design such as hard-to-follow legends, pie charts that consume paper and ink but yield little information, and a hopelessly confusing figure. A suggestion to use "a strategically placed red bar" runs counter to business etiquette of remembering that quite a few people suffer from some degree of color blindness.

One of the better parts of the book, Enlightening Letters, does provide easy to adapt examples of simple business letters intended to help solve simple problems. Likewise the chapters on proposals and reports will help the neophyte up to a point.

Still, there is enough OK advice scattered through the book to make it a useful low-level introduction to business writing. Keep in mind that all corporate cultures vary, too, and assessing what is acceptable in your workplace will still be essential. My advice is to keep this book in your desk drawer when needed or read it at home. You'll learn more by examining the work of the seasoned pros down the hall and picking their brains over lunch (and consider picking up the tab).

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of immense practical help to people in business today, December 1, 2000

By	Azlan Adnan (Kota Kinabalu) - See all my reviews

In writing this dummy's guide to business writing, the author has given us readers the verbal tools with which to build our careers with confidence and competence. It provides expert advice and loads of practical tips on writing effective letters, memos, reports, proposals, presentations and more.

Of special interest are the three whole chapters devoted to writing eloquent e-mails and on using proper Netiquette, subjects not covered in most other books on business writing available in the market today.

This book is actually serves two purposes for it not only provides help on business communications that is applicable to any language, it also is a guide to the correct usage of the English language, of course, with particular reference to business usage. Of immense practical help are the four Appendices on punctuation, grammar, abbreviations and spelling. While English spelling can be quite a headache, the simple rules provided do help you make sense of the numerous variations in English spelling.

This book is highly recommended for people in business today who intend to be the leaders in business tomorrow as it is useful to a spectrum of readers from large company managers to fresh graduates just entering the business world. It has an excellent blend of practical basics, advanced concepts, and skilled insight that will make them better communicators.

Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts, MA is a marketing communications specialist, training consultant and author of more than a dozen books.

Among other things, Azlan Adnan, MA is a tutor at Excel Tuition Centre where he teaches English to secondary school students and Business English to adults. He previously taught Business Communications at the School of Management, Royal Holloway College, University of London. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School in London. He may be contacted at Tel: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail]

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Follows in the For Dummies Style, June 25, 2000

By	"douggiechan" (Tokyo) - See all my reviews

Business Writing For Dummies is a great source of information, layed out in an easy to use way. It covers everything from business letters to email in a light easy to read manner. My only complaint is that there should be more sample letters to go with each chapter, aside from that, it is useful and never talks down to the reader.