Words have been the most effective tool in the history of Mankind.
The more effective the words, the more customers you attract.
And Amazon emphasizes teaching its employees how to write, because effective communication is the bedrock of corporate success.
Here’s Writing 101, as taught to Amazonians.
- Brevity
Keep your sentences short and precise. Avoid writing more than 15-30 words.
Fewer words get easily retained in the customers’ minds.
- By the numbers
Make your sentences more interesting by adding data to them.
Numbers are catchy, and they stick to the mind of the consumer.
- Be descriptive
Make your sentences more descriptive rather than interpretive.
- Keep the audience in mind
You write for a particular audience and situation.
Re-read your words, again and again, to find out the loopholes and to spice it up more.
- Embrace objectivity
Avoid being subjective to avoid the explanations of further questions.
Be objective so that your information looks more impressive and undoubtful.
- Explain acronyms clearly
Always explain the technical terms or acronyms the first time they appear.
For example: If you sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
Here, NDA has been explained in the first place so, if it is used again in the sentence then, we can just write ‘NDA’, and the consumer will understand the meaning easily.
- Reimagine your writing
Write Subject-Verb-Objective sentences.
Always know your audience.
Whom you are writing for,
why you are writing and
the purpose behind your writing.
- Simplify
Use concise words to save your consumers’ time.
For example:
Avoid using- Due to the fact that
Instead, use- Because
If you save your customers’ time, they may save your time by taking a quick decision.
