Powerful Business Writing: Say What You Mean, Get What You Want. Rev. ed.

Sidney Allinson is the editor at the Royal Canadian Military Institute
and author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

Having presented scores of seminars on business writing, this reviewer
knows first-hand just how difficult it can be to help people learn to
communicate better on paper. First, there’s a need to overcome—and
replace—virtually every precept that has been drummed into them by
formal teachers. Though Canada’s education system is still good
compared to those elsewhere, it seems largely incapable of instilling
effective writing skills in most graduates. As a result, the majority of
people have difficulty when it comes to clear writing.

The main problem is an inability to write simply, to express themselves
in writing with the same ease and directness they apply while speaking.
Whatever the reason, many otherwise highly educated people show an odd
compulsion to write in self-conscious, strangulated prose that is
well-nigh incomprehensible. This problem is so widespread that the lack
of writing ability among job applicants is the complaint mentioned most
often by would-be employers.

Clearly, then, improving writing skills can benefit career prospects.
This slim book offers a well-thought-out approach to learning how to
write well, and save time while doing so. In just 125 pages, it presents
practical material in short bites of information, so it can be used like
a self-paced correspondence course.

It’s a how-to guide in the best sense, including many examples,
formats, word lists, and diagrams to illustrate useful methods of
business writing. The short exercises are really valuable, if only to
help cure the lamentable habit of long sentences and obscure wordiness.
The author works particularly hard to demystify that dread topic,
“grammar.” An excellent book that could quickly help improve
anyone’s writing of business memos, reports, and letters.