The Rules of Two in Business Writing

There are two components of every communication, written or oral: a Sender and a Receiver. Both are mandatory. If you have a Sender, but no Receiver, it’s like the proverbial tree falling in a forest–if no one is there to hear or read your communication, it doesn’t mean anything.

In oral communication, it can be argued that both sides are equally important–the Sender (the speaker)  and the Receiver (the listener). Speakers should do their best to communicate clearly. If listeners aren’t sure they understand, they are responsible for seeking clarification.

In written communication, however, the onus is on the Sender (the writer) to make sure the Receiver (the reader) gets the intended message. In most cases, writers and readers aren’t in close proximity while the document is being read. If readers have questions, most of the time, they have to figure them out by themselves. If they have too many questions, they may just quit reading, and the message is lost forever.

This applies to all types of writing, but in business writing it is especially important. Business writers don’t write to entertain (at least, we hope, not intentionally); they write to inform, record, instruct, request, or persuade. If their writing is unclear, in the short-term, they may lose a sale or otherwise fail to make their point;  in the long-term, they may damage their and/or their companies’ credibility.

Business writing has two goals: Clarity and Readability.

CLARITY–the message must be easy to understand:

• Avoid jargon and acronyms unless you’re certain readers will understand
• Don’t use a quarter word when a nickel one will do
• Keep paragraphs to about 10 typed lines
• Keep sentences to about 12-17 words in length

READABILITY–the document must be easy on the eyes:

• Make sure there is plenty of white space (top, bottom, left, and right margins)
• Use a ragged right margin
• Double-space between paragraphs, OR indent first lines of paragraphs
• Use headings to break up long documents into sections
• Use bullet points to draw attention to important information

As business writers, remembering these two rules of two will help ensure that our readers get the right message.