How the style of business correspondence helps to make the right impression on the addressee

Imagine: you come up with a great idea, decide to share it with your bosses or clients, send a letter or message to the messenger. And on the other side they read and think: “Well, what a dunce wrote this!” Or: “What a bore!” And they decide not to consider your proposal.

And you are no bore. And the idea was good. You just missed the style and created the wrong impression about yourself.

What are the styles of writing

Correspondence style can be measured on a scale from conversational to formal.

Moving along it, we emphasize certain qualities, trying on different images. The more to the left, the more emphasis is placed on openness, sincerity, dynamism. The more to the right, the more noticeable are the qualities associated with our position, position, status: conservatism, solidity, rationality.

Different situations require different styles. Here are the options.

If you miss the style, it's easy to ruin everything. For example, if we write to colleagues in the same way as we address officials (“I am sending a proposal to reduce time spent to fulfill our production goals”), then they will most likely decide that we want to show our superiority, put on airs. And the problem will not be solved.

And if we turn to the boss in the style of “Friend” (“There is a topic on how to do our work faster”), then he may well think that a frivolous person is writing to him, who is hardly able to offer something good.

How the style of correspondence depends on the communication channel

We can send our offer both by e-mail and by message to messenger. However, it is important to remember that the last channel is more “human”, informal. And the style that makes you look like a business person in an email can look pompous, unnatural in a messenger. Therefore, when switching to this communication channel from the mail, it is worth making an adjustment on the scale by half a step.

How language affects communication style

How to maintain the desired style in a letter or message? First of all, it is worth paying attention to what words and phrases we choose.

Let's write "Our guys are great fellows" - we will be "Friend". We indicate that “We have excellent specialists working for us” - we will become a “Colleague”. If you write "Professional specialists work in the company", you get "Employee". Well, if "Team members are distinguished by the presence of professionalism" - we will act as an "Official".

When communication style allows the use of emoji, and when not

In modern correspondence, we formulate thoughts not only with the help of words. In the course of funny or sad faces, hearts and even poop - emoji. And they also influence the style of the author and the impression of him.

Using emotions, we kind of say to the addressee: “We are open, modern!” Therefore, emoji suit the lively and dynamic “Friend” and “Colleague”. When using the second style, it is better to use the "classic" options: a smiley, a heart, a hand with a raised thumb. "Buddy" can also afford creative emoji like devils and poop.

Well, serious “Employee” and “Colleague” will be disturbed by emoji: what kind of solidity and balance can we talk about if the message is full of faces.

Let's take two examples using emoji.

1. We want to please our colleagues with good news:

"Great news! 🔥 Our department won the first place in the competition "On Time to Work". 👍The prize is a big chocolate alarm clock. Come to HR. Everyone gets a piece! 😊»

We need to look open, lively, democratic, and therefore we use the style "Colleague». And emojis fit perfectly here.

2. We turn to management with a serious proposal:

“Good afternoon, Ivan Yurievich! 😊 We offer to discuss the possibility of using our equipment to increase the production capacity of your company. 🔥»

And here the pictures are out of place. It is important for us to look serious, professional, the “Employee” style is required - and emojis do not fit with it.

You should be especially careful in situations related to negativity. We often use emoji to show that we are upset. But the effect can be reversed.

Let's say you wrote this: “Good afternoon, Margarita! We just found out that the factory is not able to ship your order on time. 🤷‍♀️ We are very sorry! 😢»

Will Margarita believe in our chagrin? Is not a fact. For many, emoji is still something frivolous, “toy”. And Margarita may think: “Here are the deceivers! They write that they are sorry, but they draw faces themselves. They have no regrets!"

How sentence structure affects style

To "fit" into the chosen style, you should also pay attention to how sentences are built in our text.
There is always a “hero” in the construction - the one about whom or what we are talking about. Usually he does something: builds, thinks, writes, reads... And we can tell the reader about it in different ways.

Let's consider how it works, using the example of a line from Agnia Barto's poem.

The most suitable design for business correspondence: "The bull is walking, swinging". In it, the “hero” is in the subject (we underlined it), and his actions are indicated verbs (highlighted in bold).

This design is suitable for "Friend", and for "Colleague", and for "Employee". For example: “Managers are discussing a project in a meeting room” or “Accounting has calculated salaries.”

If we need to emphasize our weight and solidity, we can add 1-2 sentences with a different design: "The steer performs walking and swaying."

Here "hero" is still the subject, but its action is now denoted by a noun. “Walks” has become “walking”, “rocking” has become “swaying”. Examples of such proposals: “Managers are discussing the project in the meeting room”, “Accounting has calculated salaries».

Please note: in this case, we pay for additional "weight" and solidity with clarity. With such sentences, our letter becomes more difficult to read, so it is better not to abuse them.

However, this is not the limit. There is a more formal construction: "Walking and swaying are carried out by a bull." In it, the action is indicated not by a verb, but by a noun, and “hero” is not a subject. Examples of sentences with this construction: “The project is discussed by managers in the meeting room” and “Payroll was made by the accounting department.”

Such sentences are very difficult to read. They are associated with the reader with the language of bureaucrats - the clerk. Therefore, they should be used only if we need to make the letter extremely formal. For example, in a formidable claim, a demand - so that the addressee feels: that's it, the jokes are over, then the court and prison.

Choosing this or that style, we broadcast an additional message to the addressee. Therefore, it is better to use this tool consciously, then it will become an effective means of influence.