Business writing

It pays to nitpick.

Five tips backed by neuroscience and psychology.

Peter L. Bernstein, the economist and author who wrote the landmark book on risk Against the Gods, has died. He was 90. The news came to us at HBR just...

Advice for tackling one of the toughest parts of the job-hunting process.

What do businessmen answer when they are asked, “What’s the most troublesome problem you have to live with?” Frequently they reply, “People just can’t write! What do they learn in college now? When I was a boy…!” There is no need to belabor this point; readers know well how true it is. HBR subscribers, for […]

There are rules.

It's a great way to train playful but disciplined thinking.

Brain scans are showing us in new detail exactly what entices readers. Scientists can see a group of midbrain neurons--the "reward circuit"--light up...

How to make that little blurb work harder.

Be politely persistent.

Go out of your way to set the right tone.

The general manager of a corporation circulates a memo advising his employees on company policy about copier use. He carefully revises his original memo...

After all my posting about what makes for bad business writing, what is my advice for writing well? I'm glad you asked - because that's the subject of...

An example from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

To bring your A-game, it’s mission-critical that you never leverage these low-value-add terms again.

I’ve written before about how the “cold call” email can leave the recipient feeling, well, cold. Below is a guest post from Nadia Nassif on the topic from the international perspective. I work predominantly with international folks grappling with English. Often their well-meaning intentions are buried by grammatical errors and a lack of awareness of […]

Four ways to get better.

There are too many ways to communicate at work. Let's set some ground rules.

How to capture their attention.

Like Hercules, Luke Skywalker, and Jack Welch, we all struggle with five recurring challenges as we journey through work and life: We wander without knowing where we’re going. Data and circumstances confuse us. Fear blocks us from acting. Change paralyzes us. And despite our best intentions, we talk more than we listen. An examination of […]