Business Writing - How to Become a Great Writer

Structure and Communication 1 lecture 02:48 Video -- Structure and Communication The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. Structure and Communication 1 lecture 02:48 Video -- Structure and Communication The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. Video -- Structure and Communication The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. Video -- Structure and Communication The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. Video -- Structure and Communication The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. Video -- Structure and Communication The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. The pyramid structure is an absolute must for your longer pieces of writing. You start at the top, then you support your most important point with layers of evidence, opinion, data, research and facts.The pyramid structure ensures your report appeals to many readers with many different needs. But to make it work, you need to plan before you write. Top Down Communication 2 lectures 03:45 Top Down Communication It’s time to share a trade secret with you. Good business writers know that thinking is a bottom up activity, but effective communication is top down.Let's talk about dating. Or – more specifically – telling your intended where you’d like to take them out. And forgive me for my patriarchal assumptions, but I’mgoing to explain this from the point of view of a man.I really fancy Claire. She interviewed me for an article about behavioural finance and I found the whole process fascinating (after all, I was talking mostly about myself and what’s more interesting than that, eh?). I mooched around for a couple of days before plucking up courage and pecking out a stammering email. Would she, er, be interested, er, in talking about other things. ‘Sure’, she replied, after a delay where each second was a torture, each minute a knife through my heart, ‘Where and when?’Men always complicate the next stage. We believe the choice of place, day and time is absolutely crucial and so we analyse many different logistical and emotional factors. I wanted to create the impression of being financially well off without being unnecessarily flash. So I looked for a place that was stylish without being formal, comfortable without being scuzzy, hip without waiters asking if I was here to pick up my great grandchildren.I had to think about price as well, and whether splitting the bill was a good or bad thing. And was it drinks, dinner, dancing at the Ritz? And where should this place be?Then I had to decide on the night? Monday’s a dead night socially, and suggests you’re not giving sufficient importance to the date. Tuesday’s I teach creative writing. Wednesday’s good, but I know (because of my great listening skills) that it’s the night Claire goes to her German class. Thursdays are a no-no for me but what about Friday? Do I want to get drunk with her workmates? Possibly not. What about Saturday night for the date? Is that a bit risky, a bit too bold? I haven’t even considered time. Should I be unconventional and suggest we meet in the afternoon? Or play it safe and meet at six? Or be a bit more Mediterranean and say nine?All these decisions? So what was in my reply? I wrote nothing about my reasoning, my doubts or the choices I considered and rejected. My reader doesn’t need to know how I’ve come to my conclusion, but she does want to know exactly what I’ve concluded.I came to my decision through a bottom up process. But my communication is top down. Just the facts, ma’am.I’ll see you on Saturday at 7pm in the Hansom Bar at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. Video -- Top Down Communication Remember this the next time you get lost somewhere in the middle of a report. If the writer hasn’t stated her main point up front, you won’t keep reading. If the early pages are a morass of statistical tables and lists of examples, you’ll give up. And if there’s an entire chapter called ‘Background’, you’ll be sure to skip it. Why? Because when you’re reading for business, you demand the answer first.Always write in a top-down manner. Communicate your main idea and themes first, and then present your more detailed evidence and sub-themes. Chapter 2 Quiz Top Down Communication. 2 lectures 03:45 Top Down Communication It’s time to share a trade secret with you. Good business writers know that thinking is a bottom up activity, but effective communication is top down.Let's talk about dating. Or – more specifically – telling your intended where you’d like to take them out. And forgive me for my patriarchal assumptions, but I’mgoing to explain this from the point of view of a man.I really fancy Claire. She interviewed me for an article about behavioural finance and I found the whole process fascinating (after all, I was talking mostly about myself and what’s more interesting than that, eh?). I mooched around for a couple of days before plucking up courage and pecking out a stammering email. Would she, er, be interested, er, in talking about other things. ‘Sure’, she replied, after a delay where each second was a torture, each minute a knife through my heart, ‘Where and when?’Men always complicate the next stage. We believe the choice of place, day and time is absolutely crucial and so we analyse many different logistical and emotional factors. I wanted to create the impression of being financially well off without being unnecessarily flash. So I looked for a place that was stylish without being formal, comfortable without being scuzzy, hip without waiters asking if I was here to pick up my great grandchildren.I had to think about price as well, and whether splitting the bill was a good or bad thing. And was it drinks, dinner, dancing at the Ritz? And where should this place be?Then I had to decide on the night? Monday’s a dead night socially, and suggests you’re not giving sufficient importance to the date. Tuesday’s I teach creative writing. Wednesday’s good, but I know (because of my great listening skills) that it’s the night Claire goes to her German class. Thursdays are a no-no for me but what about Friday? Do I want to get drunk with her workmates? Possibly not. What about Saturday night for the date? Is that a bit risky, a bit too bold? I haven’t even considered time. Should I be unconventional and suggest we meet in the afternoon? Or play it safe and meet at six? Or be a bit more Mediterranean and say nine?All these decisions? So what was in my reply? I wrote nothing about my reasoning, my doubts or the choices I considered and rejected. My reader doesn’t need to know how I’ve come to my conclusion, but she does want to know exactly what I’ve concluded.I came to my decision through a bottom up process. But my communication is top down. Just the facts, ma’am.I’ll see you on Saturday at 7pm in the Hansom Bar at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. Video -- Top Down Communication Remember this the next time you get lost somewhere in the middle of a report. If the writer hasn’t stated her main point up front, you won’t keep reading. If the early pages are a morass of statistical tables and lists of examples, you’ll give up. And if there’s an entire chapter called ‘Background’, you’ll be sure to skip it. Why? Because when you’re reading for business, you demand the answer first.Always write in a top-down manner. Communicate your main idea and themes first, and then present your more detailed evidence and sub-themes. Chapter 2 Quiz Top Down Communication It’s time to share a trade secret with you. Good business writers know that thinking is a bottom up activity, but effective communication is top down.Let's talk about dating. Or – more specifically – telling your intended where you’d like to take them out. And forgive me for my patriarchal assumptions, but I’mgoing to explain this from the point of view of a man.I really fancy Claire. She interviewed me for an article about behavioural finance and I found the whole process fascinating (after all, I was talking mostly about myself and what’s more interesting than that, eh?). I mooched around for a couple of days before plucking up courage and pecking out a stammering email. Would she, er, be interested, er, in talking about other things. ‘Sure’, she replied, after a delay where each second was a torture, each minute a knife through my heart, ‘Where and when?’Men always complicate the next stage. We believe the choice of place, day and time is absolutely crucial and so we analyse many different logistical and emotional factors. I wanted to create the impression of being financially well off without being unnecessarily flash. So I looked for a place that was stylish without being formal, comfortable without being scuzzy, hip without waiters asking if I was here to pick up my great grandchildren.I had to think about price as well, and whether splitting the bill was a good or bad thing. And was it drinks, dinner, dancing at the Ritz? And where should this place be?Then I had to decide on the night? Monday’s a dead night socially, and suggests you’re not giving sufficient importance to the date. Tuesday’s I teach creative writing. Wednesday’s good, but I know (because of my great listening skills) that it’s the night Claire goes to her German class. Thursdays are a no-no for me but what about Friday? Do I want to get drunk with her workmates? Possibly not. What about Saturday night for the date? Is that a bit risky, a bit too bold? I haven’t even considered time. Should I be unconventional and suggest we meet in the afternoon? Or play it safe and meet at six? Or be a bit more Mediterranean and say nine?All these decisions? So what was in my reply? I wrote nothing about my reasoning, my doubts or the choices I considered and rejected. My reader doesn’t need to know how I’ve come to my conclusion, but she does want to know exactly what I’ve concluded.I came to my decision through a bottom up process. But my communication is top down. Just the facts, ma’am.I’ll see you on Saturday at 7pm in the Hansom Bar at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. Top Down Communication It’s time to share a trade secret with you. Good business writers know that thinking is a bottom up activity, but effective communication is top down.Let's talk about dating. Or – more specifically – telling your intended where you’d like to take them out. And forgive me for my patriarchal assumptions, but I’mgoing to explain this from the point of view of a man.I really fancy Claire. She interviewed me for an article about behavioural finance and I found the whole process fascinating (after all, I was talking mostly about myself and what’s more interesting than that, eh?). I mooched around for a couple of days before plucking up courage and pecking out a stammering email. Would she, er, be interested, er, in talking about other things. ‘Sure’, she replied, after a delay where each second was a torture, each minute a knife through my heart, ‘Where and when?’Men always complicate the next stage. We believe the choice of place, day and time is absolutely crucial and so we analyse many different logistical and emotional factors. I wanted to create the impression of being financially well off without being unnecessarily flash. So I looked for a place that was stylish without being formal, comfortable without being scuzzy, hip without waiters asking if I was here to pick up my great grandchildren.I had to think about price as well, and whether splitting the bill was a good or bad thing. And was it drinks, dinner, dancing at the Ritz? And where should this place be?Then I had to decide on the night? Monday’s a dead night socially, and suggests you’re not giving sufficient importance to the date. Tuesday’s I teach creative writing. Wednesday’s good, but I know (because of my great listening skills) that it’s the night Claire goes to her German class. Thursdays are a no-no for me but what about Friday? Do I want to get drunk with her workmates? Possibly not. What about Saturday night for the date? Is that a bit risky, a bit too bold? I haven’t even considered time. Should I be unconventional and suggest we meet in the afternoon? Or play it safe and meet at six? Or be a bit more Mediterranean and say nine?All these decisions? So what was in my reply? I wrote nothing about my reasoning, my doubts or the choices I considered and rejected. My reader doesn’t need to know how I’ve come to my conclusion, but she does want to know exactly what I’ve concluded.I came to my decision through a bottom up process. But my communication is top down. Just the facts, ma’am.I’ll see you on Saturday at 7pm in the Hansom Bar at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. Top Down Communication It’s time to share a trade secret with you. Good business writers know that thinking is a bottom up activity, but effective communication is top down.Let's talk about dating. Or – more specifically – telling your intended where you’d like to take them out. And forgive me for my patriarchal assumptions, but I’mgoing to explain this from the point of view of a man.I really fancy Claire. She interviewed me for an article about behavioural finance and I found the whole process fascinating (after all, I was talking mostly about myself and what’s more interesting than that, eh?). I mooched around for a couple of days before plucking up courage and pecking out a stammering email. Would she, er, be interested, er, in talking about other things. ‘Sure’, she replied, after a delay where each second was a torture, each minute a knife through my heart, ‘Where and when?’Men always complicate the next stage. We believe the choice of place, day and time is absolutely crucial and so we analyse many different logistical and emotional factors. I wanted to create the impression of being financially well off without being unnecessarily flash g than that, eh?). I mooched around for a couple of days before plucking up courage and pecking out a stammering email. Would she, er, be interested, er, in talking about other...