The changing language of business

And therein lies the paradox. Decades ago, the speaking style of our ancestors matched their writing style. As it should be. Over the decades, our style of speaking has evolved. But what has happened to our writing?

Leave the past in the past

Each language evolves to reflect current times and changing needs. In the early mid-19th century, business communication was very formal, relationships were slowly forming, resulting in passive voice and excessive politeness as the norm. When writing, people embellished their messages with flowery and bombastic words. Long messages were filled with redundancies and verbosity. This was perfectly fine in those days. It was completely normal for the times we lived in. In those days, the oral communication style coincided with the written communication style.

Today, the language of business communication has changed. We speak to our colleagues, clients and stakeholders in a very warm, friendly, natural, relaxed and personal style. And it’s still professional, or at least it should be. It is essential that our written messages reflect this.

So how can you leave the past where it belongs and transition to today’s Global Business English?

Communicate with the heart

When you talk to a colleague, I’m sure you don’t beat around the bush or use long sentences, and I’m sure you don’t use big words or old-fashioned language. So don’t do it in your writing either. Get to the point quickly but politely, use everyday words, short sentences, and keep your writing style warm, natural, friendly, and relaxed.

When communicating with a potential customer, business partner, or customer, make your interaction relational, not transactional. Remember that you are talking (or writing) to a real person and they all have a heart. Let your interactions speak to the person, the human with feelings. Do this when you speak, and then when you write, do the exact same thing – write in a style similar to how you would speak if you were having a conversation.

This is the essence of communicating with the heart.

Focus on expressing, not impressing

Decades ago, our ancestors wanted to impress with their writing. Today, the key is to express yourself. This means using plain English, which means writing in a simple and clear way that considers your reader and gets the results correct. It’s faster to type, faster to read, easier to understand, gets straight to the point, and is also courteous. It is also much friendlier.

Among the many benefits of adopting this writing style is the development of excellent relationships, which will develop greater confidence and security. This is more likely to result in better customer relationships, happier customers, higher sales, and successful partnerships.

Consider your reader

No matter what our country or our culture is, one of the key considerations when communicating something will always be the audience. In the case of writing, this is your reader. I’m sure that every time you write a message, you probably expect a positive response and great results. If you are going to achieve this, I suggest that you:

• Think how your reader thinks.

• Feel what your reader feels.

• Use words that your reader can relate to.

• Write clearly that your reader understands.

Where do you start making changes?

Some simple but very specific changes can save you time and have a tremendous impact on the results you get from all your written communications. Here are some key points to remember:

• Make your written communication style very similar to your spoken language.

• Keep all your written messages warm, friendly, natural, sincere, and relaxed.

• Communicate from the heart and aim to build good relationships with your messages.

• Express yourself simply and clearly, with a focus on your reader.

• Use a conversational style when writing, as if you were speaking.

• Write effectively and you’ll build trust and respect with every message you send.