POLITENESS

Impolite writing is:

Angry showing strong negative emotions in your writing
Sarcastic saying the opposite of what you mean to be funny or rude
Condescending acting as if you are better than the other person
Presumptuous going beyond the limits of what is proper or accepted in a situation
1. If you honestly expect me to meet the November 21 deadline, I need the newest sales
numbers and I need them now, so hand them over!
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2. If you had been paying attention, you would have known that all requests for extra workers
must be made through the human resources department.
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3. We have much better things to do here at our company than speak with customers who could
easily find the same information on our website.
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4. Show me some respect and tell me how the meeting went.
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5. Since youre the team leader, motivating team members is your problem, not mine.
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DONT BE OVERLY POLITE
Dont make unnecessary apologies
X I am so sorry to have to ask you to confirm the time and location of our next meeting.
Please confirm the time and location of our next meeting.
Dont overuse weasel words and phrases that make you sound weak and unsure
I hope, I trust, perhaps if you have time, maybe if its not too much trouble, if you could
possibly, etc.

BUSINESS STYLE REVIEW

CONCISENESS
Eliminate long lead-ins (delete or rewrite opening info that ends in that or because)
Use verbs instead of nouns with ment or tion endings
Dont repeat yourself
Keep it simple and direct
Use adjectives and adverbs instead of prepositional phrases
Introduce the subject early
Dont overuse who, which, that
POSITIVITY
dont use negative words (NOT) if you dont need to
emphasize what the reader CAN do rather than what he or she cant
present your information from readers point of view
use 2nd person pronouns (you, your, yourself) instead of 1st person (I, my, we, us, our)
x We give our customers 5% off their first purchase.
You get 5% off your first purchase.
Dont use 2nd person when giving bad news
Emphasize reader benefits - (put good stuff first)
x Please fill out our survey to receive a free gift
To receive a free gift, please fill out our survey.
avoid negative wording for positive or neutral ideas (NO NOTS)
be careful of word choice - unfortunately, allege, claim, reject, deny, mistake, regret,
unable, deny, fail(ure) can start a conflict
use dependent clauses and passive voice when giving bad news
POLITENESS
dont write in an angry, sarcastic, condescending, or presumptuous way
dont be overly polite
dont apologize when you dont have to
dont overuse weasel words
be confident but dont boast