Top 10 Basic Written Communication Skills Etiquette

Here are the 10 basic etiquettes to be applied in written communication:

1. Written communication lacks in vocal inflection, gestures or shared environment hence it should be as clear and unambiguous as possible. The recipient normally does not have time to ask for clarification.
2. Strictly avoid typos mistakes in business writing. It looks completely unprofessional. Your writing reflects your personality and endorses your business. Hence take special care of your spellings, grammar, and punctuation rules.
3. Your subject line should be proper and descriptive. It should be able to narrate the basic purpose of your writing. In case your message might take long time to read, use ‘long’ in the subject field while sending email.
4. A big ‘no’ to caps lock because it seems like you are yelling at the recipient. Your message might just end up in the trash bin for that matter. However, you may use caps lock on in headings or titles in your messages or to EMPHASIZE certain words.
5. Do not beat round the bush. Learn to skim your content. Long contents are less likely to be taken seriously or for that matter even less likely to be even taken into consideration. Nothing is more frustrating than scanning through long uninterrupted paragraphs.
6. Never use sarcasm as a tool while writing. Today most people use emoticons to convey emotions but excess of it might look unprofessional at the same time. Hence keep a check.
7. Written form of communication is not a substitute of personal contact. It should be the last option to take into consideration if you are upset with someone. Rather go for face-to-face or voice-to-voice communication for that matter.
8. Never use inappropriate words or slangs and try your best to avoid abbreviations. Cliches should be a big ‘no’ too. Brackets may be used if you intent to play down words or phrases.
9. Use dashes to lay emphasis and make sure to us the right and appropriate salutations. Make no mistakes while mentioning about the names of people and companies you are addressing to.
10. Proofread your text once it is completed. Never be in a hurry to hit the ‘sent’ button. Turn on the grammar and spell check on your computer and pay close attention to the highlighted words. Mistakes look unprofessional and might hamper your written communication’s goals.

To sum up, communicating through words is more concrete than verbal communications and not much mistakes are entertained. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, writing style and actual wording etc. all needs to be taken into serious consideration.

source article: Communication Skills Etiquette