Business Etiquette This book teaches individuals how to represent their

The Elements of Style
, by Strunk and White,
if you’re looking for a concise review of the most important
rules.
Use the spell check in your word processing program
to catch any spelling errors you might have missed, but make
sure it’s proofread by a qualified human being, too. (Spell

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47
Correspondence
checkers have a way of passing over errors such as “two
much time” or “wind-win situation.”)
In addition:
Š
Take care in capitalizing names and titles.
Consult a style guide, such as 
The
Chicago
Manual of Style,
if you are uncertain about the
approach you should take.
Š
As much as possible, use the active voice
(“John will write the memo”) rather than the
passive voice (“The memo will be written by
John”). The active voice adds strength, brev-
ity, and definition to your sentence structure.
Š
Avoid using incomplete or run-on sentences.
Write in complete sentences that have a sub-
ject and a verb.
Š
Check your document carefully for punctua-
tion. Make sure it’s been used properly and is
consistent throughout the piece.
If the document is an important one and you feel un-
certain about your grammatical skills, you will probably
want to get feedback from more than one source on your
spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The more care you
take, the better both you and your correspondence will be
received.
Tip #18
Tip #18
Tip #18
Tip #18
Tip #18
Make sur
Make sur
Make sur
Make sur
Make sure your document looks sharp.
e your document looks sharp.
e your document looks sharp.
e your document looks sharp.
e your document looks sharp.
Here are just a few simple guidelines for creating a pro-
fessional-looking document:
Š
Avoid using too many typefaces. Today’s word
processing programs make it possible for you
to set up a letter that features, say, six or seven

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48
Business Etiquette
fonts. Such a document is likely to leave the
recipient’s head spinning! Recommendation:
Choose one “display” font for headlines and
subheadings, and one “text” font for the main
body of your message.
Š
Keep it (relatively) formal. Remember that
you are writing something that will be received
by a business colleague, not a friend. So go easy
on any personal touches (“Hiya Bill,” or “Let’s
confab pronto, buddy!”) you may be tempted
to inject.
Š
Be consistent in your formatting. If you indent
the beginning of your paragraphs, then indent
them throughout the document. If you high-
light text by using italics, avoid switching to
underlining later. Take care that titles and
spellings (especially spellings of proper
names), are consistent. Avoid referring to
someone as Ms. Roderigo in one line—and
Mrs. Rodderigo in the next.
Š
Avoid cramming a single page with too much
text. Again, word processing programs may let
you fit vast amounts of type on a page if you
jam everything into six-point type. But would
you want to read such a document? Once
again—proofread! Aside from grammar,
punctuation, and spelling, you may have acci-
dentally omitted a word or two, or included
something that is best deleted.

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49
Correspondence
Tip #19
Tip #19
Tip #19
Tip #19
Tip #19
Humanize your e-mail messages.
Humanize your e-mail messages.
Humanize your e-mail messages.
Humanize your e-mail messages.
Humanize your e-mail messages.