Kurt Vonnegut said, "Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you're writing." Whether you're an entrepreneur who needs to write a great press release, a manager writing daily emails to a busy team, or someone searching for a new job who needs to <a href="https://www.moneycrashers.com/write-cover-letter-job/">write a winning cover letter </a>, good communication skills are a must. Words matter in life, and you'll benefit greatly from knowing how to use them effectively.

It can help to think about how people read. Novelist Elmore Leonard offers some succinct but great advice when he says, "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip." Generally, this means long paragraphs that have more to do with what you want to say than what the reader needs to hear. Always keep your reader in mind.

In writing, your goal is to be clear and direct. If your reader has to use Google to decipher what you're trying to say, they're going to feel alienated and annoyed. Mark Twain once said, "Don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do." Avoid the temptation to use flowery, pretentious words to sound smarter. Stick with the fifty-cent words.

<ol><li>The cat scratched the woman. </li><li>The woman was scratched by the cat. </li> </ol>The first sentence is written in the active voice. It's clear and direct. The second sentence is passive. In an active sentence, the subject performs the action of the verb. In a passive sentence, the subject is letting the action happen to them. Here's another simple example: In the first sentence, the subject (the golfer) performs the action (hit the ball). In the second sentence, the subject (the golfer) comes after the verb; it's receiving the action.

To spot the passive voice, look for forms of the verb "to be," such as "will" or "was," in front of a verb. For example, "The meeting will be held at 8pm," is passive. Instead, say, "The meeting is at 8pm." Sometimes it's tempting to throw in a joke or include some office gossip in an email. However, these add-ins don't contribute to your message and can negatively affect your reputation. They're also easily misunderstood. Yes, you need to be authentic and to let your voice shine through in your writing. But you also need to stay professional; it's a balancing act. A good way to check the appropriateness of your content is to ask, "Would I be comfortable with this if it was on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow morning?" If this makes you cringe, do some editing.

Don't leave it up to your reader to figure out what you want them to do with this information. Spell it out, and be specific. For example: <ul><li>Please send back any edits by 5pm Tuesday. </li><li>Please call this client back by Friday to resolve the issue. </li> </ul>

Stop and think about how many emails you write each day at work. According to a study conducted by Carleton University, professionals spend one-third of their time at work reading and answering emails. You might spend more than this, or less, but chances are, a significant portion of your day is spent writing something.

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10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Business Writing Skills

The stress doesn't stop there. The country's notorious work culture ensures most people put in long hours at the office, governed by strict hierarchical rules. Overwork is not uncommon and the last trains home on weekdays around midnight are filled with people in suits. How do they manage?

<div> </div>Buettner suggests making three lists: your values, things you like to do, and things you are good at. The cross section of the three lists is your ikigai.

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For Japanese workers in big cities, a typical work day begins with a state called sushi-zum e, a term which likens commuters squeezed into a crowded train car to tightly packed grains of rice in sushi. The stress doesn't stop there.

10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Business Writing Skills

Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life

Joshua Park