Written communication means sending messages, orders, or instructions in writing through letters, circulars, reports, manuals, telegrams, office memos, bulletins, et cetera.
Written communication is aimed at engaging your reader and conveying your message.
Most roles required for effectiveness in the workplace will require written communication skills to some extent. These roles may include writing emails, taking meeting minutes, or producing reports.
Effective written communication can enable an individual to enter the workplace in the first instance through a CV and cover letter.
Strong written communication skills are important in the work environment and are a good way to capture the attention of recruiters. So, it’s worth putting time and effort into working on them in line with the saying that what is worth doing is worth doing well.
In this article, we will also discuss why written communication skills are important and share some tips and examples to help you build effective communication skills.
Table of contents
Are Written Communication Skills Important?
The written type of communication is an essential element of communication. This is the case because verbal communication unless recorded, doesn’t last. Written communication, however, lasts and can be referred to in the future.
With written communication skills, you are sure to put your perspective or ideas into words in a way that can be easily understood. These skills also ensure that the impact which will stand the test of time easily of your written communication may leave on its audience is the desired one.
It is possible that your job may not need you to do a lot of writing which requires written communication skills. How you come across when you need to pass information through communication through writing is relevant. Being equipped with written communication skills can be of huge benefit to your career and many other areas of your life as well.
What Are The Essential Elements of Effective Written Communication?
In talking about written communication skills in 2023, you must note essential elements of effective communication.
The constituents of good written communication will be dependent on a few things. These may include, who your audience is, the topic of discussion, and the reason behind the communication, amongst other things.
Be that as it may, four essential elements form the basis of all good written communication, and they include:
- Connection
- Clarity and Conciseness
- Cause
- Correctness
#1. Connection
One of the building blocks of effective written communication skills is connecting yourself and your reader. To effectively connect with your audience, your writing must engage and keep them so. We recommend a few methods for achieving this, including giving your audience a feeling of ownership, creating a tone of familiarity and friendliness, and generating a sense of urgency.
#2. Clarity and Conciseness
While there is a place for creative and overly expressive writing, it is usually not the business environment. Written communication skills have to do with communicating specific information clearly and concisely. This communication is done through the precise choice of words and sentence structure. Don’t beat around the bush. Let your focus be on getting your point across without including excessive amounts of consciousness.
#3. Cause
The time they say, is money, especially in the workplace. Many individuals will not have the luxury of time to sift through your writing in search of its objective. To communicate the cause, you must have an in-depth and personal understanding. You should relate the cause of your written communication earlier in the piece. If your audience needs to take a specific action, this also needs to be spelled out.
#4. Correctness
Part of what makes written communication skills effective is their correctness. This correctness includes using tone, language, grammar, and formatting corrections. It’s a good idea to never solely rely on spellcheck for correctness because there’s much more to getting it right beyond spelling and punctuation alone.
See 15 Ways On How To Be a Good Conversationalist in 2023
Tips For Improving Your Written Communication Skills
Effective written communication skills play out in the presentation of information so that your intended audience can easily understand what you are trying to communicate and act upon it.
Below are a few tips and examples that will enable you to improve the way you communicate through writing:
- Clearly define your goal
- Use plain English
- Keep it short and to the point
- Use active voice
- Get the grammar right
- Avoid over-styling
#1. Clearly define your goal
To clearly define your goal through written communications, you need to understand it deeply. So, don’t start writing a piece before you have an end goal. Rather have an end goal in mind before commencing the writing. This will enable you to maintain clarity and focus during writing. Whether the goal is to make the reader aware or act on it, make it known as close to the beginning of the message.
Commence with key information and lead on with the details required to comprehend or act on it. By structuring your written communications this way, you will surely have your point passed across, even if the reader skim-reads it.
Example:
“Dear Alice,
I hope this finds you well.
Recently I spotted a job advertisement for the marketing coordinator position at ABC Corp on Indeed. As I know you’ve been working there for a number of years, I’m hoping you may be willing to refer me for the role.
I was elated that the position involves working closely with you and your team on campaign development. I have gained measurable experience in Google Analytics and best SEO practices since we last worked together at XYZ Corp. It is my utmost desire to put these skills to good use at ABC Corp.
Attached is a copy of my resume. Please let me know if you need any further information or would like to cite examples of some projects I have worked on.
Yours sincerely,
Carol Dayes”
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#2. Use plain English
Using ‘plain English’ guarantees a lot of time and space to be saved in your written communications.
Using ‘plain English’ does not only help get your message across, but it also helps you to see to making use of limited efficiency.
One of the powerful ways of getting noticed in the business world is by writing in ‘plain English.’
Bureaucratic writing, or creative writing, is not always simple to read. It can lead to an increment in the risk of your message being interpreted erroneously. Sometimes less is more, and in written communications, it often is the case.
Example:
“I’m writing about the job you advertised on Indeed” rather than saying, “I’m writing to you regarding the job advertised by your company on Indeed.”
#3. Keep it short and to the point
One of the key elements of good written communication is readability. The readability of your writing can be increased through the use of a combination of short words, sentences, and paragraphs.
Complicated words, long sentences, and never-ending paragraphs slow down the pace at which a reader should move. It’s important not to run off-topic. Stick to the point. Keep it important by avoiding buzzwords, cliches, repetition, and other fluff.
The longer written communications are, the more enticed people are to take up the skim reading approach. So, only include relevant information.
At the end of every sentence you write, there are good examples of quick questions to ask yourself, and they include:
- Is there clarity in the message that was passed?
- Is this detail required for the reader to understand the message?
- Is this written communication presented most simply and directly?
#4. Use active voice
In communication, two grammatical voices exist and include passive and active voices. Getting familiar with active voice is a key step to enhancing your writing skills. There’s more ease in understanding sentences written using an active voice rather than a passive voice. When using an active voice, the verb’s action is performed by the subject of a sentence.
Example:
“The child ate the food” instead of “the child ate the food.”
#5. Get the grammar right
If you are not very good at grammar, there are a lot of writing tools that can help you to have very good writing. It’s also beneficial to ask someone to check your written text for errors in spelling and grammar. Having another pair of eyes proofread your write-up is very advisable and recommended. As such can be good at picking up things you may have missed or gotten wrong.
To have good writing communication skills, there are some vital grammatical basics you are to take note of, and they include:
- End every sentence with a full stop.
- Possessives should accompany an apostrophe; plurals do not need it (business’s vs. businesses).
- Make appropriate use of American or Australian spelling (utilise vs. utilize).
- Commas are used to signify pauses in sentences and should not take the place of a full stop.
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#6. Avoid over-styling
Avoid adding too much styling to your writing when delivering formal written communications. Wacky fonts and wild colors can distract your reader while going through your message. In the same vein, excessive use of bold, capital letters, and italics can have the same effect as those mentioned above. If your written communications are non-personal, they should also be free of emoticons or other “art.”
Where Can I Showcase My Written Communication Skills?
Having written communication skills is very important at every stage of your career, from securing a position to having an optimum performance.
Some of the occasions where you can showcase your writing abilities include:
On your CV
Of all written communications, your resume should be easy to read and highly focused on the relevant information. Bullet points, lists, and clear headlines help communicate your strengths, experience, and achievements.
In your cover letter
Your cover letter provides the perfect opportunity to show your written communication skills. This can be done by weaving key details into well-structured sentences with an engaging narrative. Cover letters are known to have more details than a resume. Be that as it may, they should still be less than a page long and able to tell your story with a defined purpose.
In your daily work communications
In many jobs, one of the usual things is sending emails almost daily.
When communicating with your colleagues via writing, you must use effective written communication skills to come across as professional, credible, and friendly as possible.
Your email should also bear specific information and spelled-out instructions for any next steps required.
RELATED POST: How to write an Entry Level Cover Letter| Sample Templates
In presentations and reports
Presentations and reports are among the occasions you can showcase your writing abilities.
Here, you and your team can inform the rest of the company about what you have been working on, what you have achieved, and your goals and future forecasts.
What makes a presentation or report great is the ability for everybody in the organization to understand it, even those in a different departments.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
To improve your written communication skills, you are to do the following: Write daily, think in English, Ask for assistance from friends who are above you in writing, and read a book on grammar.
Written communication means sending messages, orders, or instructions in writing through letters, circulars, reports, manuals, telegrams, office memos, bulletins, et cetera.
The Top 3 Communication Skills for Workplace Success include Active listening, Awareness of Communication Styles, and Persuasion.
To communicate more effectively, you are to: Be an engaged listener, Be expressive as a person, Be attentive to nonverbal signs, Be in charge of your emotions, and Choose language choices Intentionally.
Conclusion
As you’ve seen here, building effective communication skills requires deliberate effort. We are sure that by conscientiously sticking to and practicing the information we relate to you here, you can build effective communication skills and have them honed. See you at the top!
References
- www.indeed.com – A Complete Guide to Effective Written Communication
- connectedspeechpathology.com – How to Improve Communication Skills: 11 Tips for 2023
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