Writing for Executives

SBA HonorsFall 2009

“Writing is easy:  All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

Today, we’ll…

Examine some common grammar and punctuation problems

Gain some tips to help construct better sentences and paragraphs

Review organizational structure and the Executive Summary

Grammar and punctuation

Punctuation It’s and its Commas vs. semicolons

Commas separate an independent from a dependent clause

She flew home to Chicago, leaving her dog behind.

Semicolons are used to separate two independent clauses

I flew home to Chicago; it will be good to be home.

(don’t capitalize the first word in the second clause)

All punctuation sits inside the quotation marks.

According to Dean Dawson, all students are expected to “be as honest as George Washington.”

Capitalization

Proper nouns are capitalized Portland State University John Smith President Wim Wiewel

The position people hold is not capitalized unless the name succeeds it. He was a vice president in the finance

department.

Capitalization

Departments, fields of study, topics are NOT capitalized unless they appear at the start of a sentence.

Advertising is an exciting field He studied advertising in school.

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.  ~Mark Twain

Common grammar mistakes

Run on sentences When you incorrectly connect two

independent clauses

The decrease in new college graduates entering education can be attributed to more difficult job conditions rather than low pay, in fact, education graduates have decreases 20 percent in the last decade.

Sentence fragments

The opposite problem – your sentence is missing a verb or noun.

The committee, discovering the size limitations of the conference center, deciding to look for an alternative.

Poor Parallelism

The process of constructing a series of things in a similar fashion.

The committee will study the problem, a recommendation for correcting it and oversee the correction procedures

Why we like parallel structure

Friends, Romans and you people from the countryside, lend me your ears.

Lack of conciseness

Too many words clogs your writing, making it hard for your reader to find your meaning.

With a red pen, Martha made a circle around the dress she wanted in the catalog, so she would know where and be able to find it when she called to mail order it later that day.

With a red pen, Martha circled the dress she wanted in the catalog so she could find it when she called to mail order it.

Faulty subordination

Placing your sentence emphasis in the wrong place

I gazed out of the bus window while seeing a person getting mugged

While gazing out the window, I saw a person getting mugged.

Modifiers in the wrong place

Modifiers are words that describe (modify) your subject or verb.

My dog chased a kid down the street on a bicycle.

My dog chased a kid on a bicycle down the street

Or, no modifiers at all…

Sailing into the harbor, the Statue of Liberty was seen.

As we sailed into the harbor, we saw the Statue of Liberty.

Passive voice

Making your writing dull by using is, was, has been and other “to be” forms.

So many mistakes were made by the student when he took the test that he received a failing grade

The student made so many mistakes on the test that he received a failing grade.

The student is the subject…put him first!

Subject verb agreement

Singular noun = singular verb

Too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the pizza

Correct?

Verb tense agreement

Keep the tense within your sentence appropriate for the time

Sarah attended the Crockett School of Business, which was in San Antonio, Texas.

Idioms and word choice

Frowned upon Accompanied by a

person Accompanied with

a thing Angry with

someone Angry about

something

Argue about an issue

Argue with a person

Concerned with a problem

Concerned for a person

Good/well

Idioms and word choice

Accept/except Affect/effect Among/between (3 vs

2) Amount of/Number of

(can’t be counted, can be counted)

Fewer/less (can be counted/can’t be counted)

More than/over

Passed/past (the former is a verb, the latter never is)

Because/that (“the reason is because” is redundant; “the reason that” is correct

Regardless/irregardless (no such word in English)

Who’s/whose

Sentence corrections

Handout

Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.  ~Sholem Asch

Organizing sentences into paragraphs

Begin with the topic sentence The topic sentence defines the

entire paragraph Supporting sentences offer logical

support in logical order to the topic sentence

3-4 compound sentences in a paragraph should be adequate

Paragraphs should contain

A controlling idea, defined by the topic sentence

The body of supporting information. The conclusion of the controlling

idea. Paragraphs will also often contain a

transitional sentence

Transitions To show addition:

again, and, also, besides, equally important, first (second, etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, moreover, next, too

To give examples: for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that is, to illustrate

To compare: also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly

To contrast: although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite, even though, however, in

contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet

To summarize or conclude: all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in summary, on the whole,

that is, therefore, to sum up To show time:

after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last, before, during, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, since, shortly, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, when, while

To show place or direction: above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther on, here, nearby, opposite,

to the left (north, etc.) To indicate logical relationship:

accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore, thus

Writing is thinking on paper – William Zinsner

The Executive Summary

Purpose: to briefly deliver the main points of the

plan or article. State critical information (i.e. who did the work, who is the author, what is the title of this project, etc.)

Executive Summary

Structure: begin with the main outcome,

recommendation or decision

Provide the supporting evidence that led to the outcome or recommendation, in descending order of importance

Executive Summary

Conclude

Restate the original point, recommendation or decision

Tragedy of the Commons

Read the article and prepare an Executive Summary for me by the start of winter term. Deliver it to my box

No more than 2 pages 12 point type