GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Good writing demonstrates our care for clients...

“ As I read your (report/proposal/letter/email) I was struck by

how you made complex issues seem so simple. Your writing
style enticed me to venture further into the document.
You told me a story that captured my imagination whilst
delivering the facts. The more pages I turned, the more I

”
felt like you had read my mind. I can’t wait for the
next edition.

A Client
For an electronic version go to : the Strategy Corner on the Compass home page.
January 2010 Document 2 Strategy Tool Kit
GHD Business Writing Style Guide
Index

Getting Started ...............................................................................................................................4

GHD..................................................................................................................................................5

Punctuating Words..........................................................................................................................6

Punctuating Sentences...................................................................................................................9

Capitalisation.................................................................................................................................12

Numbers.........................................................................................................................................14

Tricky Words..................................................................................................................................16

Names and Greetings...................................................................................................................19

Setting it out...................................................................................................................................21

Tips on tone...................................................................................................................................23

GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Getting Started

Guidelines for authors Use the following or similar to describe GHD’s capability:
GHD has established author guidelines to communicate information about our • Is a leading consultant providing…
company effectively and avoid making misleading statements.
• Has specific skills in…
These guidelines are relevant to all GHD literature including GHD News, Annual
• Is experienced in…
Review, our web site, marketing materials, CVs, proposals/tenders and the like.
• R
 ather than using “supervision” consider “contract administration services”,
Legal obligations determine we cannot use the following words and/or terms:
“construction phase services”, “project management services”, etc
• Best practice
• Ensure Spelling and grammar
• Expert, expertise Always spell check your documents before submitting them for approval/review.

• Fit for purpose Microsoft Word provides several ways to check and correct spelling and grammar
as you go.
• Guarantee, indemnifies
Authors in Australia should make sure they select the international or Australian
• High/best/highest level of service dictionary in MS Word. Authors in the US and in countries where American English
• Promise, warrants is the preferred style need to select the American English dictionary.

• Specialist expertise
Automatically correct spelling and grammar
• S
 upervises work (unless our commission specifically includes full-time Resident
To fix spelling and grammatical errors as you type, use the AutoCorrect feature
Engineer/Clerk of Works supervision services).
(under the Tools menu) and check all of the boxes. For example, if you type
• World’s best practice definately and then type a space or other punctuation, AutoCorrect will replace it
with definitely.

Automatically check spelling and grammar as you type

To check for spelling and grammatical errors “behind the scenes,” use automatic
spelling and grammar checking (under the Tools menu, click Options, and the click
the Spelling & Grammar tab). As you type, the spelling and grammar checkers
check the text, and then mark possible errors with wavy underlines.

4 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

GHD

About GHD The word strategy should only be capitalised if it is used as part of a title.
GHD is a company and should therefore always be referred to in the singular, e.g. o We recently launched our new Strategy.
GHD is/GHD has/GHD provides/GHD delivers/GHD employs etc.
We recently launched our new strategy.
p 
p GHD is building its business in China.
We recently launched Strategy: Accomplish More Together.
p 
GHD are building a business in China. (But “we at GHD are building a business
o 
in China is ok” because we is the subject and is plural.)
Web
Like the word government, the word board should only be capitalised as part of a
The correct way to refer to the GHD web site address is
formal title.
www.ghd.com
p The GHD Board
p The board Our market sectors
The Board
o  When referring to the industries we serve use lower case and the word and.

When referring to the titles of our global sector leaders, and their sectors as a title, p e serve clients in the industries of water, environment, transportation, energy
W
use capital letters and ampersands where appropriate. and resources, and property and buildings.

p Water o e serve clients in the industries of Water, Environment, Transportation, Energy

W
& Resources, and Property & Buildings.
p Environment
p Transportation
p Energy & Resources
p Property & Buildings
Joe Bloggs is the Global Sector Leader, Energy & Resources.
p 

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 5

Punctuating Words

Apostrophes Possessive pronouns

Possession When a possessive pronoun (including my, mine, our/s, your/s, his, her/s, their/s) is
used as an adjective, no apostrophe is needed.
Use an apostrophe to show possession.
p This is their idea. The idea is theirs.
p The job manager’s report
o This is their idea. The idea is their’s.
o The job managers report
p This writing guide is yours.
p The client’s brief
o The clients brief Lower case plurals
Apostrophes are used to form the plural of letters that appear in lower case. To
Contractions form the plural of a lower case letter, place an ‘s after the letter.
Contractions can be used for informal documents such as emails, but should be
p Three c’s
avoided for formal documents where possible. Use an apostrophe to show an
omission. o Three cs
p The mail doesn’t (does not) come on Saturday. Time and money
p I can’t (cannot) finish that today. Words showing periods of time or amounts of money need apostrophes when they
are used as possessive adjectives.
You could’ve (could have) finished that today if you weren’t (were not) late for
p 
work. p a day’s pay

Simple plurals p a morning’s work

When you’re thinking of putting an apostrophe in a word that ends in s, ask yourself two cents’ worth (the apostrophe comes after the s because cents is plural)
p 
whether you’re merely showing that there is more than one thing. If so, it’s a simple
p 21 years’ experience (because years is plural)
plural and you don’t need an apostrophe.
p There are many cars on the road. Plural letters, abbreviations and years
There is no need for apostrophes to indicate a plural of capitalised letters, numbers,
o There are many car’s on the road.
years, symbols or abbreviations.
o There are many cars’ on the road.

6 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

p KPIs Use a hyphen when two words function as an adjective (describing word) before a
noun, even if they would not take hyphens when placed elsewhere in a sentence.
o KPI’s
p A client-centred culture
p 1990s
p A two-storey building
o 1990’s
Use a lowercase ‘e’ with no hyphen when spelling words prefixed with ‘e’
However, use an apostrophe to show missing numbers.
(electronic).
p ’78 (1978)
p email
It’s and Its p eLearning (for GHD programs)
It’s is a shortened form of it is or it has.
The Macquarie and Australian Oxford dictioneries suggest no hyphens are needed
p It’s due today. for email or elearning.
p It’s in my calendar. Use a hyphen in commonly used compound words.
Its is the possessive form of it and denotes ownership. p pre-approval
p Its name is Fred. p full-time and part-time
p I like its design. Use a hyphen as a linking device to show a range of numbers, time and distance.
p Pages 72-84
Hyphens
p 56-60 Lonsdale St
Use a hyphen with sets of words formed with prefixes when the hyphen is needed
to clarify the word’s meaning. p June-September

p re-sent (otherwise confused with resent)
o sub-heading
Use a hyphen when the last letter of the prefix is a vowel, and the word that follows
begins with the same vowel (except for double o).
Use a hyphen to connect numbers up to ninety-nine that are made up of two
words.
p Seven hundred and fifty-six
Don’t use a hyphen instead of and when using the word between, or instead of for.

p re-enter p The office will be closed from 24 December to 2 January.

p cooperate o The office will be closed from 24 December-2 January

These words should always feature hyphens – north-east, north-east, north-west, You can find the information in the report between pages 56 and 72.
p 
south-west, south-east, etc (as per Macquarie Dictionary). You can find the information in the report between pages
o 
56-72.

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 7

 Shortened forms Acronyms
Abbreviations Acronyms are strings of initial letters and sometimes other letters pronounced as
one word. No punctuation is needed in acronyms and the acronym is usually all
Open punctuation rules apply to abbreviations where no punctuation is needed for
capital letters. An exception exists for some familiar acronyms that have an initial
commonly used abbreviations.
capital letter if they are proper nouns.
 Tues
 TAFE
 Vic
 Qantas
 Mr
o QANTAS
o Vic.
Initialisms
o Mr.
Initialisms or jargon terms are strings of initial letters not pronounced as a word. No
Always spell state names in full in the first instance. Abbreviations can be used punctuation is needed in initialisms and all capital letters are used.
thereafter.
 NSW
Punctuation o N.S.W.
No punctuation (no full stop) is needed in titles and capitalisation is the same as the
 TV
uncontracted word.
Use the full name with the initialism or acronym in brackets after the name the first
 Mr
time it is used. Use the initialism or acronym for the rest of the document. Don’t put
o Mr. the initialism or jargon term in brackets if you don’t plan to use it again.
 Rd  GHD has experience in integrated water management (IWM).
Use punctuation for the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. They should be introduced with o GHD has experience skills in IWM (integrated water management).
a comma.
 There are many animals at the zoo, e.g. lions, tigers, bears.

8 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Punctuating sentences

Full stops Exclamation marks

Use a full stop to mark the end of a complete sentence. Use only one punctuation Exclamation marks are used to express a high degree of excitement or emotion.
space after it. They have limited use in business writing.
GHD is an international professional services company.
p  Use an exclamation mark only for positive emotion, and even then be careful to
avoid using it more than once.
Use a full stop at the end of an indirect question. An indirect question sounds like a
question but is actually a statement. p Congratulations! You are the winner of this month’s raffle.
Please outline what the reasons are for rejecting our proposal.
p  Do not use an exclamation mark to show dissatisfaction or disdain as doing so can
result in reader alienation.
Use a full stop at the end of an imperative sentence. These sentences have no
overt grammatical subject; you is the silent subject. p The meeting will begin at 10.30 am sharp.
Repair the widget with the cap off.
p  The meeting will begin at 10.30 am SHARP!!! Do NOT be late!!!!
o 
Do not use full stops after captions or statements that are not complete sentences Commas
(sentence fragments).
The comma tells a reader to pause. The first letter after a comma is lower case.
Question marks Leave only one punctuation space after it.
Use a question mark after a direct question. Direct questions require an answer as Use the Read Aloud Test (RAT) – if there is a natural pause in the way you read you
they are interrogative. are likely to require a comma.
Are you going to the meeting?
p  Use a comma wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion, ambiguity or
misreading.
It is not necessary to use question marks after polite requests. The polite request,
although it is technically a question, usually ends with a full stop and not a question p Joe, said Iris, was helpful. (In this sentence Joe is helpful.)
mark. This is because the writer isn’t actually asking a question, but rather making
p Joe said Iris was helpful. (In this sentence Iris is helpful.)
a request.
Use a comma to introduce the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. You can use i.e. and e.g.
Could you please fill out the form and return it to me by Monday.
p 
in brackets as well. When doing so, you don’t need the comma.
Do not use a question mark after an indirect question. Indirect questions describe a
p Decide on general topics, i.e. one or two key words.
question and look like a question, but they do not make a sentence interrogative.
If the introduction to indirect speech uses the word that or involves a partial
I wonder why he didn’t get the job.
p 
sentence incorporated into the sentence, you do not need to include a comma.
o I wonder why she wasn’t hired for the position?
p John said that he’d see you at the conference on Friday.

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 9

 Use a comma between items in a series or list (when the items are themselves
not punctated). You don’t need to use a comma before the last item if you use the
coordinating conjunctions and or or.
The managers from Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia were called
p 
to a meeting.
Except when the second last list item contains the word and itself, use a comma
before the coordinating conjunction.
The departments involved are Finance, People, Corporate Marketing and
p 
Communications, and Information Technology.
Use a comma to separate independent clauses joined by connecting words such
as for, and, but, so yet. Place the comma before the connecting word.
p Everyone was on time for the meeting, but it still began late.
When you use a connecting word but do not have a complete sentence on both
sides of it, you don’t need a comma.
I first outlined my strategy and then interviewed the teams to determine the way
p 
forward.
If your sentence is very short (between five and 10 words) and easy to read, you
can leave out the comma before the connecting word.
p Joe Bloggs is young and he is inexperienced.
Use a comma to attach words to the front or back of your sentence. Most
sentences you write begin as a short core sentence. Often we add information
to the core sentence by attaching one or more words to the front or back of it.
The additional information usually tells us when, where, why, how or under what
conditions the main action of the core sentence occurred.
10 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide
p In the winter of 2007, I visited London and New York.
Use a comma on both sides of a non-essential component.
Joe Bloggs, who is chairing the meeting, will outline the agenda.
p 
Organisations that support flexitime are reducing in number. (If you omit the text
o 
in italics the sentence makes no sense at all.)
Semicolons
A semicolon is used between two independent clauses when the two sentences
are inextricably related, but really two thoughts.
However, this rule should be used sparingly in business writing. The
preference is to separate the two independent clauses with a full stop to avoid one
long sentence.
In a list, use a semicolon to separate a series of phrases that also contain
punctuation. (See page 21 for advice on lists.)
Long dashes
Dashes can be used to introduce an explanation or set apart one part of a
sentence or phrase from another. They are also used to show a break in thought.
Any text set off by dashes is likely to be read with a sense of emphasis.
• T
 o create a long dash in Microsoft Word, type your text, followed by two
hyphens, followed by more text.
• Use a space before and a space after each dash.
• Use a lower case letter for the first letter after a dash.
The dash – typed with a space before and after it – is used to connect groups
p 
of words to other groups, or to set words off from the rest of a sentence.
Forward slashes Quotation marks
Use the forward slash to show alternatives (to replace the word or) and as a Use double quotation marks – “like this” – for quotes.
substitute for per. No space is needed before or after the slash and you should use
Use a comma to introduce a quote from a speaker.
a lower case letter for the first letter after it (unless the word is a proper noun or
title). When the quote is a complete sentence, the close quote mark goes outside the
final punctuation.
yes/no
p 
“I am very pleased.”
p 
o yes / no
“I am very pleased,” he said.
p 
male/female
p 
o “I am very pleased”.
o male/ female
When the quote is partial, the close quote mark goes inside the final punctuation.
Do not use a forward slash with units of measurement that are spelled out.
He said our work was “the best by far”.
p 
45 metres per minute
p 
He said, “Your work is the best by far”.
p 
o 45 metres/minute
Use single quote marks for a quote inside a quote.
45 m/min
p 
“He told me our work was ‘the best by far’, and asked me to pass on his
p 
Brackets congratulations.”
Brackets are used to enclose text that is not usually essential to the meaning of
Do not use quotation marks for emphasis. Except when they are essential for
a sentence. The most common type of bracket used in business writing is round
clarity, do not put quotes around trade names, makes or models of cars or aircraft,
brackets (or parentheses).
sport events or trophies, report names, nicknames or any other unnecessary
Use a full stop on the outside of the close bracket when completing a sentence words.
with a phrase in brackets.
The design contains many unique features (as can be seen in Appendix 2).
p 
Use a full stop on the inside of the close bracket when a complete sentence
appears in the bracket.
The design contains many unique features. (Please refer to Appendix 2 for
p 
details.)

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 11

Capitalisation

Capitalise the first word of a sentence. Capitalise the official titles of the principals and chief executives of institutions. With
the exception of monarchs and heads of state, these titles should be presented in
Today is the first day of the week.
p 
lower case when abbreviated to the generic element.
Capitalise the first word of a sentence that is a direct quote or is direct speech.
the Prime Minister, the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, the President
p 
According to William Strunk Jr, ‘Vigorous writing is concise’.
p 
The Minister met with the a group of Managers from our offices.
o 
Use capitals for the days of the week and special holidays, but not the seasons.
The Minister for Agriculture came to our office. The minister met with a group of
p 
June
p  our managers.
Summer
o  Service lines
Only capitalise service lines and other business divisions in the context of a name
Titles or title.
When using market sectors in titles, capital letters and ampersands should be  The Planning Service Line; the Urban Development Business Group

used. The correct terminology for external use is Global Leader and Business
Leader. We service the Mining and Oil & Gas industries.
o 

 Pat O’Dwyer is the Global Leader, Energy & Resources.  We service the mining and oil and gas industries.


 Ian Dawson, Global Leader, Transportation Operating Centres

 Gavin Becker, Business Leader, Mining & Metals When you are talking about a single or specific operating centre, use upper case.

Capitalise position titles when writing the title of a specifically named person.  The Perth Operating Centre held a successful client function.


 G
 HD Chief Executive Officer Joe Bloggs; GHD Chairman Joe Bloggs; Service
Line Leader, Water, Joe Bloggs
Do not capitalise the position title when the person is not named.
When you are talking about operating centres in the plural, use lower case.
 he Victorian and New South Wales operating centres are celebrating a year
T
of success.

 The council’s chief executive officer has been invited. We have Operating Centres in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, etc.
o 

o The Service Line Leaders for Planning, Water and Tunnels attended
the meeting.

12 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Organisations and government departments
The official names of organisations, such as government departments, should
be capitalised (except for articles, prepositions and conjunctions). When these
names are abbreviated, leave them uncapitalised, except where they retain specific
elements.
eg. the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Reserve Bank,
the bank.
eg. the Department of Finance, the Finance Department, the department
Government programs follow a similar style when they are abbreviated.
eg. the Greater Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative; the Artesian Basin Initiative;
the initiative.
Particular words need capitals to distinguish them from their generic
meaning – the Cabinet; the Treasury; the Crown; the House (meaning either
parliamentary chamber); the Budget; and in the legislative context, the Act;
Ordinance; Regulation; Bill.
Publications and elements within a publication
The titles of books, periodicals, chapters, articles and document begin with a
capital letter. It is recommended to use minimal capitalisation for all but the titles
of legislation, journals, magazines and newspapers which are conventionally given
maximum capitalisation.
...in the chapter entitled ‘Three Australian Engineers’
p 
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
p 

The word government should only be capitalised as part of a formal title. All other Business Review Weekly
p 
references should be lower case. Where more than one government is mentioned, p the Journal of English Linguistics
the word governments should be lower case. Always write ‘local government’ in
lower case, except where you are referring to the name of a specific council. p He writes for The Age

The South Australian Government will adopt the new policy next month.
p  ...in the Age editorial on Monday
p 

The state government will adopt the new policy next month.
p  It is recommended that references to elements of a publication other than pages be
capitalised when mentioned in running text. For example:
The State Government will adopt the new policy next month.
o 
This is discussed in Chapter 4.
p 
The Australian/United States/ACT Government said it would act quickly.
p 
Population growth is shown in Figure 3.2.
p 
The Government said it would act quickly.
o 
This is discussed on pages 59-63 in Section 5.
p 
The Victorian and South Australian Governments will meet next week.
o 
...(see Table 11 Section 5)
p 
The Victorian and South Australian governments will meet next week.
p 
Council has asked us to prepare a report.
o 
Toowoomba City Council has asked us to prepare a report.
p 

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 13

Numbers

Rule of nine p 61 427 690 763

Write out numbers one to nine in full when used in general text. Also, write zero p 1 949 250 0501
instead of 0. Use numerals for 10 and above.
Time
Use numerals to express numbers in tables, graphs, charts, etc. Use numerals
when introducing tables, appendices, visuals, items or figures. Always use numerals for time. Use a full stop rather than a colon to separate the
hour minutes
Exception: Make an exception to the rule of nine when a number begins a
sentence. Even when the number is over 10 write it out in full. The preference is to 4.45 pm
p 
rearrange the wording of the sentence so that the number isn’t at the beginning. No punctuation marks are used for the commonly used abbreviations
Decimals are ok (e.g. 6.67). am
p  pm
p  min (minute)
p  hr (hour)
p 
Punctuation Use noon and midnight instead of 12 pm and 12 am to
Do not use an apostrophe when presenting decades in numerals avoid confusion

1990s
p  Symbols
o 1990’s Use numerals for all numbers that are combined with standard units of weight,
measurement or accompanied by a symbol. Do not use a full stop before the
Insert a comma between two sets of numerals that appear together in text symbol unless it is at the end of a sentence. Do leave a space before the symbol as
In 2009, 6000 people worked at GHD.
p  shown below.

Use a comma from 10,000 and thereafter to separate groups of three numerals 3 cm
p 

6000
p  5 kg
p 

o 6,000 4 km
p 

60,000,000
p  7°C
p 
5%
p 
Telephone numbers
GHD is a global company. Always write telephone numbers in international format. 5L
p 
Don’t use brackets. 8 m2
p 
After the country code and city code, group in lots of four numerals. Write mobile 8 sqm
o 
numbers as four-three numerals separated by spaces.
Use a forward slash for per, an or a when units of measurement are abbreviated
o (03) 8687 8000
85 km/h
p 
p 61 3 8687 8854

14 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Use the word percent with the numbers written out in full or with numerals. Spell p USD40 million
out percent rather than use the symbol in general text.
o USD40,000,000
nine percent
p 
Abbreviations
18 percent
p 
Use abbreviations for all measurements except tonne or litre.
o nine %
Hectare ha Celsius C

Dates Square metre m2 Millilitre ml

Consistently use the date written in full when there are no space limitations. Do not Square centimetre cm2 Knot knot
use extra words and suffixes in the date. When using the day, it is not necessary to Ampere A Kilometres an hour km/h
use a comma after the day of the week.
Volt V Metres a second m/s
… on 25 April 2009
p 
Joule J Revolutions per min rpm
o … on the 25th of April 2009 Petajoule PJ Millibar mb
… on Monday 27 April 2009
p  Newton N Cubic centimetres cc
o … on Monday, the 27th April 2009 Hertz Hz Litre litre
Use six digits (dd/mm/yy) when using the numeral-only form. Kilohertz kHz Kilolitre kL
Metre m Pascal Pa
Currency
Use the numerals combined with symbols for amounts of money. No space is Millimetre mm Megawatt MW
needed between the symbol and the numeral. Use a full stop for the decimal point Centimetre cm Kilowatt kW
and apply the rules for commas as above. Kilometre km Watt W
p $53,792.91 Tonne tonne Gram g
p 20c Kilogram kg Megalitre ML
p $4400
When using the international three-letter code without the dollar sign, use AUD,
USD, etc. Use a combination of words and numbers for larger, more complex
numbers.
p AUD40
o AUD$40

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 15

Tricky words

Word vs Word Practice vs Practise

Enquire vs Inquire Practice is a noun that means the repeated performance of something, the exercise
of a profession or the business of a professional person. Practise (to practise) is a
Enquire is a verb that means to ask. Inquire is a verb that means to seek
verb.
information or to make an inquiry. The words can be used interchangeably.
I practise engineering.
p 
Affect vs Effect
I do a lot of practice.
p 
Affect is a verb that means influence.
The lawyer practises law.
p 
The decisions affect the operations of the operating centres.
p 
The doctor has a practice.
p 
Effect can function as a noun meaning result or as a verb meaning to bring about or
cause. To reduce confusion, it is best to avoid using effect as a verb. In the US this is reversed.
The decisions have had a good effect on staff morale.
p  Principal vs Principle
And vs & Principal is an adjective or noun that means primary or chief.
Use the word and rather than & in general text. Use the ampersand if it is part of a Principle is a noun meaning a rule, law or general truth.
title.
John Doe, Principal Water Engineer
p 
Licence vs License p The principle outcome of our work is to drive community acceptance.
The word licence is a noun that means a permit to own or do something.
That vs Which
I have a licence to drive.
p 
Essential clauses are often introduced by that and are not separated from the rest
The word license is a verb that means to grant a licence or to authorise. of the sentence by commas. They tell the reader necessary or essential information
about the subject.
The government licensed us to carry out this work.
p 
The shop that is on the corner of Pitt Street and Flood Street has been sold.
p 
Led vs Lead
Non-essential clauses are often introduced by which and are separated by commas
Lead is a verb that means to guide someone to a place or guide the action of a
from the rest of the sentence to indicate further detail, non-essential to the meaning
person.
of the sentence.
She leads her employees by setting a good example for them.
p 
The shop on the corner of Pitt Street and Flood Street, which went on sale only
p 
The past tense of the verb lead is led. last week, has been sold.
They led me to understand the deadline was today.
p 

16 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Do not use a comma between the subject and its verb. This is often a problem p Our team doesn’t want to lose the project to another competitor.
when the subject is long.
Loose means not tight.
The general manager will attend the meeting next week.
p 
p The rules were much too loose so we recommended they tighten up security.
o The general manager, will attend the meeting next week.
Accepted vs Excepted Spelling
Accepted means you have taken or received something, or agreed to it. The following is a list of commonly misspelled words.

I accepted their proposal.

p  o alot p a lot

Excepted means something was excluded or left out. o accidently p accidentally

p It was excepted from the proposal. o accomodate p accommodate

o acknowlege p acknowledge
More than vs Over
More than means a number, amount, quantity, measure or degree greater than o aquire p acquire
another. o adaquate p adequate
Over – often interchanged with more than – means above and is more commonly o argueing p arguing
used to describe the position or place of something.
o catelogue p catalogue
More than is the preferred use but can be interchanged with over to avoid using the
same phrase twice in a sentence. o catagory p category

p GHD has a network of more than 100 offices. o comitment p commitment

o GHD has a network of over 100 offices. o commitee p committee

p We have more than 70 service lines. o decieve p deceive

GHD has a network of more than 100 offices, with over 6000 staff. o definately p definitely
o dissappear p disappear
Lose vs Loose
Lose means to lack the possession of, to care to be without. o embarass p embarrass

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 17

 o enviroment p environment
o exagerated p exaggerated
o exeed p exceed
o existance p existence
o favorite p favourite
o fulfill p fulfil
o guage p gauge
o goverment p government
o grammer p grammar
o harrassment p harassment
o incidently p incidentally
o independance p independence
o irelevant p irrelevant
o irrisistible p irresistible
o knowlege p knowledge
o learned p learnt
o liason p liaison
o likelyhood p likelihood
o miscellanious p miscellaneous
o neccesary p necessary
18 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide
o ocasionally p occasionally
o occurence p occurrence
o ommission p omission
o ommitted p omitted
o parrallel p parallel
o personell p personnel
o practicly p practically
o priviledge p privilege
o prominant p prominent
o persue p pursue
o questionaire p questionnaire
o recieved p received
o refference p reference
o repatition p repetition
o shedule p schedule
o seperate p separate
o suceed p succeed
o thankyou p thank you
o unecessary p unnecessary
Names & Greetings

Greetings p Mr D Jones
There are a number of correct ways to greet your reader. For letters and more o Mr. D. Jones
formal correspondence, use Dear. For less formal (but just as professional) email
messages, you can use Hi or Hello. Avoid using just the person’s name as it can o Mr D. Jones
come across as being abrupt. o Mr. D Jones
In line with the new open punctuation rules, you no longer need a comma in the p Mr David Jones
greeting after the name. Open punctuation means that unnecessary punctuation
is removed from the name, date, address, greeting and complimentary close of Complimentary closes
documents. Essential punctuation is still used in the text to ensure good sentence There are a number of correct complimentary closes you can use, depending on
construction and a clear message. the nature of the document and the level of formality. Avoid signing your name
Use the first name in a greeting if you know the recipient. You can use the without the complimentary close.
recipient’s first name if s/he has previously used your first name. When in doubt, As a general guide, use ‘Yours sincerely’ for most correspondence, particularly if
choose the more formal greeting. you are offering advice (which is done so in a sincere manner).
Use Mr Surname or Ms Surname if the person has addressed you in that way. If p Yours sincerely
you don’t know if a female recipient is married or single, use Ms instead of Mrs or
Miss. o Yours sincerely,

Use Sir/Madam in the greeting only if you don’t know the recipient’s name. p Regards

p Dear John o Regards,

o Dear John, p Kind regards

p Dear Mr Jones o Kind regards,

o Dear Mr. Jones Emoticons

p Hi Joan Do not use emoticons in external or corporate correspondence.

p Dear Sir/Madam
p Hello Jim

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 19

 Names Titles
Foreign names do not necessarily follow the western first name, surname style. As Order
a general guide:
When introducing someone in a document, use their name first and then their title.
• Chinese: The family name is the first name. Thus Lim Yew Lee is Mr Lim
Joe Blogs, Service Line Leader Water, will present at the conference.
p 
• Indonesian: The style varies from region to region so it is best to ask. Raden,
Service Line Leader Water Joe Bloggs will present at the conference.
o 
Datuk and Tengku are titles, not names
• V
 ietnamese: Most Vietnamese have three names. Although the first is usually Honorifics
the family name, the last is the one by which people are usually addressed. Omit the honorific at the first reference (Mr, Mrs, Ms) and thereafter Mr Adams, Mr
Thus Pham Viet Thanh should be referred to as Mr Thanh Kent, etc.
• J
 apanese: The family name is the first name – Yamnanaka Ichiro – but when Joe Bloggs is attending the event. Mr Bloggs’ secretary has replied on his
p 
speaking or writing English,the custom is to reverse the order. So you would behalf.
refer to Mr Ichiro Yamnanaka, and then Mr Yamnanaka
Mr Joe Bloggs is attending the event.
o 
• K
 orean: The last two names are hyphenated. Otherwise use the same style.
For women, it is best to ask if Ms, Miss, or Mrs is preferred.
Thus Yoo Ji-hwan is Ms Yoo
• T
 hai: Most Thais have two names. The first is the given name and the second
is the family name

• Malaysia:
Malay: most Malays differentiate gender with bin (male) and binti (female). The
first is the given name, followed by gender and the family name. Tun, Tan Sri,
Dato’, Datuk, Dato’ Seri are titles, not names. Thus Samsudin bin Omar should
be referred to as Mr Samsudin.

Indian (Malaysian): most Indians differentiate gender with a/l (male) and a/p
(female). The first is the given name and the second is the family name. Thus Mr
Selvadass a/l atnaladass should be referred to as Mr Selvadass.
• Middle East: There is no definitive standard for names used by most arabic
countries. In the case of formal documentation, the given name/family name
standard is generally accepted.

20 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Setting it out

Headings • The back page of the contract entitled ‘Terms and Conditions’
Capital letters • The confidentiality statement on Page 24
The readability of lower case letters is greater than that of capital letters. Therefore, Convention 2: With punctuation (full stop)
it is recommended that instead of using title case, you use sentence case for
headings. This convention is used for list items that are imperative sentences. In this instance,
the sentences require a full stop.
p Request for agenda items
Standalone items or sentence fragments. These do not need terminal punctuation,
o Request for Agenda Items so no full stops or commas or colons are used at the end.
Punctuation The steps to be followed are outlined below:
Avoid using terminal punctuation (i.e. full stops or colons) in headings. However, • Please make sure the computer is turned on and plugged into the main power.
when headings are written as direct questions, they need to end with question
marks. • Place the computer carefully in the space provided for it on the surface area.
• Once turned on and in place, the computer is ready for use.
Bulleted lists
Bullet points or list items are usually introduced by a sentence or phrase that lets Pull quotes
the reader know what is included in the list. In documents, a leader sentence is Pull quotes are used for visual effect and to emphasise key points in a document.
used to introduce a series of bullet points or list of items. The leader sentence
should begin with a capital letter and end in a colon. Quotes should always be repeated in the body of the text for context.

Convention 1: No punctuation Use double quotation marks. See the GHD Visual Style Guide for further guidance.

This convention is used for list items that are standalone items or sentence
fragments. These do not need terminal punctuation, so no full stops or commas or Example pull quote, care of GHD news 131:
colons are used at the end.
p The following service lines were included in the survey: “Infrastructure is certainly a hot topic...
• Tunnels The community is now well aware of
• Risk Management Australia’s infrastructure needs and its
• Planning importance to stimulating economic growth.”
There are three places requiring your signature:
• The front page of the contract
Tom Pinzone, GHD

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 21

 Referencing Book
When writing for business, the preferred way to reference your material is to use the Pearson, M 1997, The Journalist’s Guide to Media Law, St Leonards, Allen &
p 
author-date system. Unwin.
When making a reference to an authority in the body of the text, provide the name Chapter in a book
of the authority and the year of publication in brackets.
Pearson, M 1997, ‘Sub judice contempt’, The Journalist’s Guide to Media Law,
p 
p This approach (Hodkinson 1995) suggests that… St Leonards, Allen & Unwin.
The full details of the authority should be listed in an alphabetical reference list Internet document
at the end of your document, using the following order – author, date, chapter/
Benton Foundation 1998, ‘Barriers to closing the gap’, In Losing ground bit by
p 
section (if appropriate), title, edition number (if appropriate), city/country published,
bit: Low-income communities in the information age, retrieved May 20, 2008,
publisher.
from www.benton.org/library/Low-Income/two.html.
General rules on referencing
Journal article
• W
 ith the exception of the titles of books, journals, magazines and newspapers,
Jackson, S 1992, ‘Miracle cure’, Economic Review, vol 275, pp 154-160.
p 
minimal capitalisation is used
• No full stops, and no spaces, are used with people’s initials
• Book and periodical titles are italicised
• S
 ingle quotation marks are used for the titles of chapters and other similar
divisions in books, and for the titles of articles in periodicals
• The elements of a citation are separated by commas
• W
 orks by different authors with the same surname should be arranged by first
name alphabetical order
• If you have two or more references with the same author and published in
the same year, list them in alphabetical order and place sequential letters after
the year of publication to enable distinctions between citations (i.e. Whyte,
TC 1997a)

22 | GHD Business Writing Style Guide

Tips on tone

Tone Writing for the web

In a technical industry, it is easy to use language that excludes people. Jargon, People’s attention span online is short. They tend to scan for the relevant
acronyms and industry-specific terms have the potential to isolate people from your information, rather than reading it from top to bottom.
message.
1. Write short, tight paragraphs. Say what you want using the fewest words
Connecting with your audience requires passion, relevance and open language. possible.
The best writing is accessible, approachable and opens a conversation.
2. Write simply and directly.
Do Don’t 3. Put the most important information at the top.
Talk about the capabilities of GHD Just list the capabilities of the 4. Separate the information into bite-sized bits.
across the international network. immediate office or people you directly
work with. 5. Avoid narrative paragraphs, particularly those incorporating long lists. Use bullet
points instead.
Use “We”, “Our”, “Us”, “GHD”, and Use “I”, “Me”, “He” and “She”, “staff”.
“our people”. 6. Help the reader to move down the page by using visual guides such as sub-
headings, links and bullet points.
Highlight the impact of the project on Just talk about the technical
the wider community. specifications of a project. 7. Never underestimate the power of a picture.
Provide information about the Focus on the technical details and
outcomes of a project. project inputs.
Provide context to a project – what Talk about the specifics of the project
was the issue/problem that your work without providing meaning or value for
solved? What benefits did you provide? your work.
Use language your audience will Use jargon, clichés, unnecessary
understand – write for the average acronyms or highly technical terms that
person. the audience won’t understand.
Be clear and compelling. Use long-winded or elaborate
language.
Provide back-up and examples. Show, Exclude examples and substantiated
don’t tell. reasons.
Consider and understand the needs of Write for your colleagues.
your audience.
Communicate with warmth and Be cold, and focus on only factual
humanity. details.

GHD Business Writing Style Guide | 23

GHD’s Glossary for internal use and reference only LMS Learning Management System
AM Asset Management LN Lotus Notes
BD Business Development M&BDS Marketing & Business Development Services
BGM Business Group Manager MIS Management Information System. Link to Workbench
BL Business Leader OCM Operating Centre Manager
CH Career History PD Project Director
Compass GHD Intranet Site on Lotus Notes PMG Practice Management Group
Corporate Internal contacts database PRD Performance Review and Development database
Directory Prospector Business development tracking database
CV Curriculum Vitae (Resumé) PSE Payroll Services Enterprise
DTC Document Transaction Center QA100 Quality Assurance Authority Levels
EMS Environmental Management System QMS Quality Management System
FTE Full Time Employees Repository Electronic Folder for email (aka Job Code)
GALEXE Software catalog and licensing RPT Roles Positions and Titles Database
GHD Gutteridge, Haskins & Davey RSA Remote Secure Access. Name of the company that
GML Global Market Leader produces GHD network security tokens
ICT Information Communication and Technology SGM Service Group Manager
IMS Information Management System SLL Service Line Leaders
InSite GHD Intranet Site on Internet Explorer for access to SQE Safety, Quality and Environment
Financials TRG Tender Review Group
InTouch External contacts database VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol
IRIS Incident Register and Improvement System WIH Work in Hand
IS Information Services WIP Work in Progress
JFlo GHD Job Management software Workbench Project Management
JM Job Manager YP Young Professional
KPI Key Performance Indicators
Notes
www.ghd.com