A Difficulty in Business Writing

by Dr Davis on August 22, 2009

A friend wrote the following on my Facebook page:

My problem at work is I write my company email too technical. They want me to tone down the verbiage. That can be hard if one email is directed to an engineer and then copied to the marketing division.

My suggestion was:

One suggestion is instead of copying the marketing division, you could send them the email, with a header and explanation.

The customer asked for a different program because his needs were not being met, based on his work in water because he grows rice. The following was sent to engineering:
blah blah blah.

This is an interesting issue and I don’t think I have seen it discussed per se in the business texts I have taught from.

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Writing Circle

by Dr Davis on August 22, 2009

Has writing come full circle in our technologically advanced world?

Cables used to be only 140 characters, according to Jack Devine, a CIA agent who spoke on C-Span today.
Twitter is only 140 characters.

Email replaces both memos and letters.
This is why many people have different expectations for email. I learned email as a replacement for memos. Other professors seem to have learned it as a replacement for snail mail, which we certainly emphasize in our use of the two terms email and snail mail.

Updated due to a comment on the obtuseness of the post. Sorry about that.

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