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2 thoughts on “Infographic: 10 Commandments of Business Writing”
We offered to mail out an A3 poster version of our 10 Commandments to the first 10 people to reply and confess their sins (any sin!).
For those willing to go public, here were their sins! (Some wanted to remain anonymous.)
Copywriter/virtual assistant:
“I confess. My business-writing sin was asking a presenter (doing a webinar for my client) for their headshit instead of a headshot (photo). Oops!”
Lady from a large investment bank:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is leaving the copy as British English despite the client’s request to convert it all to American English…and then sending the brochure to print.”
Guy from a railway company:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is that I love talking in corporate-speak… with all the aligned values-centric key delivery commitments, as appropriate, for me to leverage across multiple channels within the cluster.”
Lady from a major Queensland bank:
“I have little to confess. My business-writing sins have all but disappeared after completing Magneto Communications’ course in business writing.”
Peter Wolff, Wolff Communications:
“Waffles are where I’m at my worst! I look forward to hanging your poster in the busiest place in my office – on a client’s forehead.”
Helen Gray:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is using posh fancy words when simple words would be so much better.”
Soo Bin Moon, BankSA:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is not making my writing specific to clients’ needs.”
Meegan Waugh:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is using too many commas resulting in loooong sentences.”
Denise Pastor, Outstanding Results:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is getting lost in the words, other people’s words, my words, using too many words, losing the message in the words.”
Lady from a major Australian bank:
“I confess. My business-writing sin is not being articulate and using too many words.”
And two “anonymous” contributors said their biggest sin was not answering their readers’ biggest prayer first!
Thanks for playing (and praying)!
Paul
Absolutely love this infographic! The “10 Commandments” are such a clever and effective way to highlight key principles of strong business writing. Clear, concise, and engaging communication is essential in the workplace, and this makes it easy to remember what matters most. Thanks for turning valuable advice into something fun and shareable—definitely bookmarking and passing it along to my team. Great work on making business writing feel less daunting and more divine!