Persuasive Business Writing

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Improving Technical Productivity

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Persuasive Business Writing

Susan de la Vergne

Taking it Personally

Business writing is often about persuading others – persuading them to buy, to invest, to be patient, or simply to have confidence in a product or service.

In technical environments, writing assignments are also about persuasion, and the challenge is compounded by the complexity of the topics and the incredible rate of change that forces issues out into the open sometimes before they’re ready. The rate of change in technology, a key driver of competition, infuses technical issues with human zeal beyond what one might expect from engineers (a profession not known for emotional high drama).

Nonetheless, it is true: High tech runs wild with impassioned believers who champion one technology or another. The prospect of favoring one software product over another, one infrastructure product over another, means criticizing – directly or indirectly – the competition. People take that personally.

So how can you put forward a proposal, a report, an architectural design, or a tech strategy recommendation in writing that transcends the emotionalism and gets the points across? While there’s no guaranteed formula for success, here are some suggestions that can help.

Find a Rock to Stand on with Others

If there’s a technology shift in your future, or the prospect of introducing some technical change, there must be a reason for doing so. Whatever the objective of the change is should be called out explicitly in whatever is written. If the goal is to retire old systems or move away from a failing technology to something newer and more reliable, then the objective – a stable, robust environment – is easy to “get behind.” If the goal is to achieve cost savings by reducing the number of products in use, few people will argue that’s not a responsible thing to do, even if they disagree about the means to get there.

Finding a shared objective is a good place to start. Even if the goal is one set by upper management based on “the numbers” (a subject often of limited interest to true techies), the expectation is that all will rally to it. Making that a premise of what you’ve written is an important point to make early on: “This is why we’re doing it.”

Once you’ve established, then put into words, exactly what the aim is of making a change, you can refer to it later, reminding readers how your recommendation meets the goal.

Recognize Other Approaches

It’s unlikely that your recommendation is the only approach on the market. The number of products on the market today that solve just about any conceivable problem was unimaginable even a decade ago. Even if you believe deeply in what you are recommending, you should acknowledge that there are alternatives, even viable alternatives, that are deserving of respect.

Of course, if you don’t actually think there are workable alternatives, then don’t say there are. Insincerity is easy to spot. But – especially if you think you know that your readership is prepared to resist your suggestions because they already have this all figured out – acknowledge the merits of other approaches. You’re showing you have a balanced view of the alternatives, and your assessment of the limitations will be more credible.

Demonstrate Your Homework

You wouldn’t be writing this recommendation (proposal, strategy, etc.) if you hadn’t done your research. Accuracy counts, and it is even more important when entering controversial territory. If there’s uncertainty about a product’s ability to handle volume, respond quickly, perform fail-over operations or handle sub-zero temperatures in field work, make sure you know the facts about these capabilities before you swear your allegiance to it.

There is no end of research material to assist technology professionals, not the least of which are the Gartner and Giga research databases, for which many companies have memberships that allow them access to the work of powerful, respected analysts. If you don’t have the advantage of using this data, there’s always Google. Besides the internet, there are also reference librarians at universities and industry journals that are available online. So there’s really no excuse for under-researched reports.

Impartial, correct information can always intercept an argument.

Provide a Balanced View

No technology product is perfect, and everyone (except, perhaps, sales people) knows that. Just as acknowledging the strengths of competing ideas makes your criticisms of them credible, so does acknowledging the weaknesses of your idea make your recommendation credible.

Acknowledge That You May Be Wrong

Even if you’re head-over-heels in love with your design, recommendation or discovery, keep in mind that you may be wrong. Technology is not an exact science. What you’re sure of today could be called into question tomorrow. For example, a complementary product, one which your design depends on, may suddenly announce an overhaul that calls into question its overall reliability.

You can’t predict the future, even though you need to in order to be certain in this business. As long as that is true, admit there’s a margin for error. Executives, especially, don’t like to hear this. They live for certainty; at least they need to appear so in order to perform their leadership function. Still, recognizing that what you’ve written contains a margin for error is the responsible thing to do. It also adds humility to your profile as a business writer.

Respect Your Readership

While we’re on that point – No one likes to read a business document that reeks of over-confidence. People who write don’t have all the answers. They have questions they’re attempting to answer, and they’re serving up the product to an informed group of readers.

There’s a certain intimacy in writing – business writing included – and readers can tell whether they’re respected. They expect to be, as you do when you’re a reader. Make sure they can sense that in all that you’ve written, and your messages will enjoy greater acceptance.

Prepare the Way

Don’t expect a single written deliverable to solve world hunger. You will find it’s a good idea to preview it by sending out emails or discussing it with key stakeholders before you release the final product. You should be able to distill the essence of your argument or message to a sentence or two, and use that in correspondence and conversations. (It was Albert Einstein who said “If you can’t say it simply, you simply don’t understand it.”)

By the time your full text hits, your readership will have been introduced to the topic and your intentions.

Key Points:

√ Keep the shared goal in mind; state it outright.

√ Accuracy matters. Make sure your research is solid.

√ Acknowledge the merits of others’ opinions.

√ Respect your readership and prepare them for your message.