We’re a little late with this one.
But we recently stumbled across a great example of brilliant business writing.
We planned to get to it in our blogs a bit earlier, but we got distracted by CrowdStrike breaking Windows and causing the internet to crash.
But it’s better late than never.
Not got time to keep reading? Listen to the blog instead
The writing was provided by Tesco ahead of the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain.
Under the headline ‘Every fan helps’, the supermarket giant wrote:
“It’s time.
Time for another massive final.
That’s why we’re giving our incredible colleagues the time to enjoy it by closing every Express store across England from 7.30pm tonight.
It’s the least we can do after their hard work.
And come kick off, England deserves every little bit of support.”
What’s so good about it?
Well, firstly, it is timely. It connects the brand to what everyone was talking about at that moment and links it to people getting together to watch the game.
It’s also simple. There are no football puns or attempts at clever headlines, just subtle nods to its usual ‘Every little…’ tagline. And it uses everyday language – and has a conversational style - that mirrors the words and phrases those reading the sentences would use.
It is also packed with praise for its employees – “incredible colleagues” and “it’s the least we can do after their hard work.” It makes it feel like a nice place to work and where effort is rewarded and people are, well, valued.
It is also worth highlighting Tesco took out front-page adverts with the tabloids to share these words, together with a giant red T on a white background to reflect an England flag.
It is another reminder that while sales continue to decline, print still has impact and remains part of the national conversation.
But I digress. Let’s get back to writing skills.
Perhaps we should not be surprised by these Tesco words. It has a solid track record.
Cast your mind back to the pandemic if you can bear it, and you may remember pubs with beer gardens were the first to be allowed to reopen their doors as lockdown restrictions eased.
The supermarket giant took out a newspaper advert telling customers to “Pop to your local if you can.”
It said: “Pubs have had it tough this year. That’s why, for once, instead of telling you about our fantastic deals, we’re using this space to ask you to support them instead (as long as you feel safe to do so). Because right now, every little helps.”
Again, the language we all use, and a conversational tone. And beautiful simplicity.
The crucial thing to remember is that excellent writing is not only needed when your business opts to take out front-page adverts.
Writing is an essential workplace skill.
Emails, blogs, social media posts, online copy, press releases, speeches, branded content, marketing material, letters, business documents and white papers all require us to organise our thoughts and outline what we want to say in an easy-to-follow way.
Writing emails alone accounts for 10 per cent of our working lives, according to researchers. And the average office worker receives 120 emails a day.
That’s a lot of words.
Whether it's email, presentations, reports, letters, or you want to take out a front-page advert like Tesco to tell people you are closing a few hours earlier, how can you improve your writing?
Here are a few tips from our writing skills training courses.
Simple
Don’t show off your vocabulary.
People will not be impressed by your use of long words.
But they are unlikely to keep reading if they struggle to follow your thoughts and ideas.
And those who stick with it may misunderstand what you say.
Conversational
I mentioned the conversational style of the Tesco advert.
It reads like something a human would say. You can picture the words being said.
And that makes it engaging.
People are far more likely to read something with a chatty style and natural flow.
How can you do it?
Loosening grammar rules is a handy starting point. For example, sentences can start with ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘or’, despite what you were taught at school.
You can also finish your sentences with a preposition, such as ‘on’, ‘off’, ‘with’, ‘about’ and ‘others’.
Ultimately, how conversational you can make your writing depends on who you are writing for.
But remember, you are writing for your audience - not the grammar police.
Avoid long sentences
Long sentences are not appealing. They take time and effort to read and can be hard to follow, particularly if they include lots of clauses and different ideas.
Aim to be succinct and direct.
Short sentences are striking and improve readability and understanding. The longest sentence in the Tesco advert is 22 words. The shortest is two.
Cut the extras
One way to make those sentences shorter is to cut out the unnecessary and redundant words that we all tend to fall back on.
For example, in an internal report, you might say something like “In my opinion, I think…”, when you only need one of those phrases.
Here are a few more examples and concise alternatives:
In the event that – if
Briefly summarise – summarise
In spite of the fact that – although
End result – result
During the course of – during
Absolutely essential - essential
Plan ahead – plan
Other words that fail to add meaning to sentences and should be cut include, ‘definitely’, ‘probably’, ‘basically’, ‘certainly’, ‘very’ and ‘really’.
More than words
Good business writing isn’t just about the words you use.
If your text doesn’t look appealing, many people will opt against reading it.
How do you feel when you see pages and screens crammed with text? Overwhelmed?
Adding white space makes them look less cluttered and more attractive.
It also allows readers to briefly process what they have just read and pause before moving on to the next section – improving understanding. It is easier on the brain.
Another good approach is to ensure paragraphs consist of a single sentence. Almost every paragraph in a newspaper consists of one sentence because editors know long paragraphs are off-putting for readers.
Subheadings are an excellent way to break text up into more readable sections. And they entice readers to carry on by highlighting what is coming next.
Lists are another handy trick.
As well as providing a visual break, they are easy to scan and allow readers to find the most pertinent parts.
Check and edit
When you are happy with your words, spend time checking for mistakes and typos that can undermine your hard work and change its meaning.
Check it. Then check again. And then get someone else to check it.
It’s hard to spot errors in your work. Our best advice is to leave time between writing and proofing – you will spot plenty more mistakes.
We’ve got many more proofing tips in this recent blog about a $2 billion typo – another reminder, if you still need it, of the importance of good business writing skills.
Need a little more help? Speak to us about our writing skills training options.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
Click here to find out more about our writing skills training.
Subscribe here to be among the first to receive our blogs.
