The Plain English Approach to Business Writing

by Edward P. Bailey, Larry Bailey

In offices across America, the Masters of Gobbledygook are hard at work. They're bombarding in-boxes with those long, confusing memos that colleagues don't have the patience to read--and bosses don't have the time to rewrite. They use words like "commence" or "prior to" instead of "begin" or "before." They bury their main point somewhere in the last paragraph--and take two pages to get there. Everybody knows one of them; in fact, you may even be one of them. But now there's help for anyone who's ever fallen prey to businessese, academese, legalese, or any other "ese" when faced with a blank memo pad.
In The Plain English Approach to Business Writing , Edward Bailey--who spent twenty years working in the bastions of bureaucratese--offers readers a powerful new communications tool. Written for busy professionals who want to improve the quality and clarity of their own (or their staff's) writing style, this no-nonsense guide is an indispensable office companion. Bailey's approach is 5urprisingly just write as you would talk. Plain English is not only easier to read; it's also easier to write. And it's so effective that many large organizations are endorsing, if not demanding, its use in the work place. Pithy and entertaining, Bailey points out all the dos and don'ts of plain English. He then illustrates them with examples drawn from a wide array of sources, including business documents, technical manuals, trade publications like Consumer Reports , and the works of writers such as Russell Baker and John D. MacDonald. From the basics to the fine tuning, he
offers practical advice on clarity and precision, organization, layout, and a host of other important writing topics.
A delightful, down-to-earth guide, The Plain English Approach to Business Writing is for professionals of all backgrounds (government, military, legal, financial, technical, corporate) and staff at all levels (from the company CEO to the ambitious secretary). The Plain English Approach to Business Writing can be read in an hour--and used for the rest of one's life.

Genres: Writing, Communication, Business

Paperback

First published September 13, 1990

About the author

Dr. Edward P. Bailey Jr. is a retired writing and speaking teacher. Before his retirement, he was a Professor of Business Communication at Marymount University.

Reviews

[J. Wootton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short & effective. Should be required reading for anyone who wants a job (or to volunteer), unless that job entails never communicating in writing by any means (email, text).

At 25 years old, its examples could use updating but its advice remains spot-on.

[Sheri Trapp-Cordova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the size of the volume (slim) it is hard to think of a more concise book on the topic of writing for the workplace. It's a good starting place.