Writing for Business Success/Effective business writing/Emphasis
On this page, we identify some techniques for creating emphasis in written communications, to attract and hold the attention of your audience.
The correct amount of emphasis in business communications can help readers easily understand the intended message. However, what is considered appropriate emphasis can differ drastically in this age of texting and social media. Remember that business communications are a part of a professional setting. While humans write the communications, the situation remains one company communicating to another or to a customer. This is not a personal communication that might include emotion or symbols for emotions.
| Avoid | Try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ABC Company loves the opportunity to fill your Pick n Pack order. | ABC Company appreciates the opportunity to fill your Pick n Pack order. | “Love” is an intense human emotion, not the emotion of a thing, such as a company. |
| Your order is appreciated!!! | Your order is appreciated. | The exclamation mark is a mark of personal enthusiasm. Yet, most business communication is a “thing”(the company)communicating, rather than a human. The introduction of the exclamation mark symbol into business writing is relatively new. It can make the writer seem immature in the workplace. |
| Please see the corporate request. There are FIVE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER. | Please see the corporate request. There are five questions to answer. | Using all capital letters is seen as yelling at someone. This effect is even stronger when it comes in a message from people further up the company hierarchy than the intended reader(s). Write so that the words communicate meaning clearly. |
| Recently, employees have erroneously entered wired rather than re-wired on service orders. | Recently employees have erroneously entered wired rather than re-wired on service orders. | Use of Italic font provides emphasis without the negative impact of all capital letters. |
| She wanted to be called Susan, not Sue. | She wanted to be called Susan, not Sue. | Use of bold font provides emphasis without the negative impact of all capital letters. |
| If a RX5 cable is shipped, an EU45 must be shipped at the same time. | If a RX5 cable is shipped, an EU45 must be shipped at the same time. | Use of underline font provides emphasis without the negative impact of all capital letters. |
In the examples above, notice how italic, bold, or underlined fonts all provide emphasis in a similar fashion. Any of the three are equally helpful, and the choice should be made based on what the organisation or the writer prefers.
When thinking about emphasis in a message, we could compare it to thinking of salt in food. Some salt is helpful and enhances the dish, but too much salt is off-putting and may even be sickening!
Acknowledgements
The content on this page (apart from the activity) was adapted from Word choice and tone, authored by Susan Kendall and provided by Lumen Learning under a CC-BY-4.0 licence. The content is part of the online course Business communication skills for managers.
