Business Writing Introduction

Your business writing is often the only way you will communicate with others – from clients to the general public to CEOs. It does the same thing that dressing up for an interview does: it sets the stage for a professional relationship; it sets the tone of that relationship. How seriously is that new client going to take what you have to say if the "way" you say it contains a multitude of errors?

Introduction
Imagine a new client coming into the office. The floor is littered with balls of crumpled paper where you were shooting baskets at the trash can. You're wearing a ripped T-shirt and jeans with lunch spots on them. Your desk has papers scattered all over it, and there's even a can of juice tipped over, oozing goo on some forms.

Do you really think that client is going to pay attention to "what" you have to say, regardless of how good a deal you can cut him or how important it is to his future financial security? No way! He's going to be busy going over in his mind all the other companies like yours that he's come across so that after he leaves – the faster, the better – he can find one that's actually professional.

Content and presentation go hand in hand in business writing. That's why we'll start these lessons with the area of the most commonly made AND commonly noticed errors in business writing – punctuation. Since this isn't a Basic Writing course or a Grammar course, we will assume you already understand basic usage conventions such as the way parts of speech function in sentences and so on. Also, since commas are the biggest evil ever created – or so some people think – they get a full lesson all their own. Tips for other punctuation can be found in Lesson 2 - So here we go!! Onward, to punctuation!!