Before all those retired English teachers start to shriek, let me explain: You need to develop a comfortable, natural writing style that resembles a conversational tone. Too often, I read statements from engineers like this:

1. Please be advised that any variations from these assumptions will constitute a change in the scope of work, requiring corresponding additional services on our part.
   
   Or how about this one, which I suspect had input from a legal person:
   
   
2. This proposal is made subject to the General Conditions of Service attached hereto. If you are in agreement with this proposal, kindly sign below indicating your notice to proceed and acceptance of the terms and conditions stated herein.
   
   Look what happens when we start to get involved in technical details:
   
   
3. The concept of allowing the north-south corridors to be considered as un-rated passageways could be permitted so long as they connect to rated corridors leading to exit enclosures as discussed in our meeting.
   
   The problem with this “over engineered” language is that it sneaks into are daily communications and becomes our “natural” writing style:
   
   
4. It is because of my scrutiny of the budget that I feel it would not be an inopportune time to spend agency resources for the reception.

I would bet my paycheck that if I ran into an engineer in the hallway and asked: “How’s that project going?” that the response would be something like “We’ve had a few delays but are back on track and expect to deliver the final report to the client on July 14, right on time.” Now that’s more like it: Clear sentences spoken very eloquently, directly, and simply. And, in grammatically correct structures. But for some reason, when fingers get placed on the keyboard, we tend to have the need to sound “professional” and end up being incomprehensible.

Let’s see if we can translate, decipher, interpret the above samples. Here’s what I think the writers were trying to say:

1. Please note that any variation from these assumptions changes the scope of work and requires us to provide additional services at additional costs.
   
2. This proposal corresponds to the attached General Conditions of Service. To proceed with the project, we require your signature below, which indicates your acceptance of the outlined terms and conditions.
3. As we discussed in our meeting, we can consider the north-south corridors as un-rated passageways if they connect to rated corridors leading to exit enclosures.
4. I have looked at the budget, and we have agency money to cover the reception. (Just like algebra, the double negative makes it a positive.)

Simple, clear, direct, language builds trust and integrity with your reading audience, just as it does with your listening audience.

Einstein once said “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

The “text message generation” and Blackberry prisoners need to be careful about being too cryptic or using slang.

1. Cool…can do…time?
2. B4 mtg ck #’s w bob.
3. Answers: no, yes, not sure, maybe

I appreciate that we can’t interpret these statements without the full text of the communication, but it takes more work than it should to comprehend the message. I guarantee that whoever has to read statements like this will spend more time trying to interpret them than it would take for the writer to write a clear, concise and complete sentence.

I encourage you to develop a writing style that is natural yet remains professional. Remove all the stuffy, complex, four-syllable words along with the cryptic short cuts and slang. Think about the language and tone you use when you are in a business meeting and adopt that to your writing. One way to test your writing is to read it out loud and see if it sounds and feels right. If you can’t pronounce a word, or can’t breathe because it is too long, then I suggest a revision.

Next time you get stuck and don’t know what to write, pretend your audience is in front of you and has just asked you a question. Then write the way you speak.

Please do not hesitate at any given time in the future to contact the writer of this article with your issues, questions or comments about the text provided herein at the following email address.

UGH! Email me at LisaM@rgilearning.com if you have questions or comments.

Online instructions on business and technical writing is available at www.rgilearning.com

Lisa Moretto is a Sr. Consultant with RGI Learning. For 16 years she has helped engineers improve their oral and written communication skills. Visit www.rgilearning.com or call (585) 461-3617 to learn about RGI’s courses.

© 2008 RGI Learning

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