Stylistic Options inBusiness Writing

Compiled by

PAPIA BAWA

What makes a document effective?

Appearances count. The documents that get read are those that have been ‘styled’ and:

Are easy to read Are interesting Are brief Have important information

What does styling do?

Styling or Page design is a significant aspect of professional documents, and means the use of specific typographical and formatting elements for specific communications.

What a good layout does:

Removes obstacles to reading.Exposes good organization.Enhances the language.Physically show the relationships between ideas or things.

Tools of Styling

Headings.ListsEmphasisFonts, colorSpecial Notices

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HEADINGS

Alert readers to upcoming topics and subtopicsHelp readers find their way around in long reportsHelp readers skip what they are not interested inBreak up long stretches of dense text to avoid monotony

Good Headings 1

They should clearly indicate their level. Use type size, type style, color, bold, italics, alignment in such a way that the level of the heading is obvious

Good Headings 2

They should be descriptive of the sections they introduce. Headings like "Technical Background" don't tell anybody anything.

Good Headings 3

They should use consistent designs. Use the same spacing (vertical and horizontal location), capitalization, punctuation, and underlining.

Heading Don’ts:

Avoid "stacked headings" -- that's two or more consecutive headings without intervening text. Don't overdo headings: for example, a heading for each of a series of one- or two-sentence paragraphs. For short documents, begin with the second-level heading; skip the first-level.

LISTS

Are useful because they emphasize certain information in regular text. Make for easier reading. For example, in instructions, it is a big help for each step to be numbered and separate from the preceding or following steps. Create more white space and spread out the text so that pages don't seem like solid walls of words.

Good Lists 1:

1. Use numbered lists for items that are in a required order or that must be referred to by number. Use bulleted lists for items in no required order.

Good Lists 2:

Make the phrasing of list items parallel.

Unless some internal style overrides, punctuate list items with a period only if they are complete sentences or have embedded dependent clauses.

Good Lists 3:

Be Consistent. Example, if you use either initial cap or lowercase on the first word of list items, do so consistently.

List Do’s

Use spacing to establish a separate unit.Use asterisks for easiest emphasis.Use bullets for list of short phrases.Use dashes for longer lists of sentences or paragraphs.Use boxes for checklists.Use double-column format for long lists of short items.

List Don’ts

Avoid excessive use of lists of lists with too many items. Seven to ten items is generally considered about the maximum for lists. On a standard page, there probably shouldn't be more than two or three lists, and at least three or four lines of regular text should come between them.

Common Problems with Lists

Mix-up between numbered and bulleted lists Lack of a strong lead-in sentence introducing list items, and lack of a colon to punctuation lead-ins Inconsistent caps style in list items Unnecessary punctuation of list items Inconsistent use of lists in similar text Lists that have too many items and need to be subdivided or consolidated

EMPHASIS

This  refers to bold, italics, alternate fonts, caps, quotation marks, and other such typographical tricks used to call attention to text. Things like italics, bold, underscores, caps, different size type, alternate fonts, color, the various graphical ingenuities (showing, reverse color, outline fonts) can act as emphasis techniques.

Effective Emphasis1

A carefully planned functional relationship must exist between the text that is emphasized and the emphasis technique that is used.

Effective Emphasis 2

Emphasis techniques must be used consistently to prevent readers from becoming confused. To promote consistency, you must use a style guide or style sheet, which records all of your decisions about how you are going to use emphasis techniques.

Effective Emphasis 3

To help your readers understand your highlighting scheme, you must include a brief section somewhere in your document (usually in the preface) explaining how you're going to be using the emphasis techniques.

Emphasis Don’ts

Used in excess, any emphasis technique or combination of emphasis techniques can lose their ability to emphasize and become busy and distracting. Used in excess, any emphasis technique or combination of emphasis techniques can cause readers to be reluctant to read a text, if not avoid it altogether.

Fonts:

Use only the most common fonts -- some readers may not have the same fonts that you do.   Use only one alternate font, at most two. For example, you might use Arial for headings, Times New Roman for body text, and Courier New for text that displays on screen or that users must type in.  

Fonts Continued:

Be careful with smaller type sizes and unusual fonts -- make sure they are readable on other computer systems. In particular, check the appearance on a Mac if you are using a PC and vice versa; check the appearance on Microsoft Internet Explorer if you are using Netscape and vice versa.

SPECIAL NOTICES

Special notices are an important feature of professional  writing: they highlight special information readers need to know to understand what they are reading, to accomplish what they want to do, to prevent damage to equipment, and to keep from hurting themselves or others. your document readable.

Types of Special NoticesNote—To emphasize points or remind readers of something, or to indicate minor problems in the outcome of what they are doing. Warning —To warn readers about the possibility of minor injury to themselves or others. Caution —To warn readers about possible damage to equipment or data or about potential problems in the outcome of what they are doing. Danger—To warn readers about the possibility of serious or fatal injury to themselves or others.

Good Special Notice 1

Place special notices at the point in text where they are needed. For example, place a caution or danger notice before discussing a step in which readers might hurt themselves.

Good Special Notice 2

With warnings, cautions, and danger notices, explain the consequences of not paying attention to the notice. State what will happen if the reader does not heed the notice. .

Good Special Notice 3:

Deciding on which type of notice to use is not an exact science. Don't use a danger notice when a warning is more appropriate (the same as "crying wolf"). Also, use notices in a consistent way throughout a report. Do not create your own notices, such as putting "Important:" in place of "Warning."

Remember:

A poorly designed and layout document will reflect poorly upon the personality and abilities of the writer! My profound thanks to David A. McMurrey