Does creative business writing sound like a contradiction in terms? Unfortunately, that’s often the case.

• “About Us” company pages sound like the building itself wrote the content
• Business writing is peppered with so much jargon the reader needs a decoder ring
• But how do you avoid the dreaded B-word in your business communication?

You can’t force creative. Can you?

What if you could turn that task you hate into child’s play? Put back the fun in your business writing.  Find the bonus Word Lists below to rocket you to a win. You can download them to keep playing the game.

Playing at Creative Business Writing

What were your favorite childhood games? The ones that had you laughing until your sides ached or had you rushing outside to play.

• Jump rope or double-dutch, Hide and seek
• Red Rover, marbles, telephone
• Or if you’re not as old as this boomer – video games

Favorite childhood games are challenging and fun. That’s how they become favorites. There’s no reason business writing can’t be fun. Really. Who made a rule it couldn’t be?

So, let’s recapture the challenge and the fun with a few creative business writing games. The simplest place to start is with something you (or someone else) already wrote. Make the draft “it” and chase the boring into extinction.

Attack the Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns in your writing. In this game, picture the Bland Adjective as our main character.

Tip: The word Bland is an example of an adjective. Bland describes the noun, Adjective.

To give you a head start on the game, download this list of adjective examples. Here’s how the game goes.

Let’s play the game with sentences from the following business writing content. It is a fictitious excerpt (to protect the innocent) from a white paper about working remotely.

Remote work has many benefits for companies and their employees.

Let’s rack up some points in the Attack the Adjective Game.

1. Find the bland adjective – The bold font identifies the adjectives. We want to keep remote, but the adjective, many, is bland.

2. We probably don’t want to blast many without replacing it. The resulting sentence, Remote work has benefits for companies and their employees, is even more bland than the original. So, let’s go to #3.

3. Some alternative adjectives for many – numerous, multiple, several – better but not great.

4. Let’s do some serious editing to punch up the benefits for readers – Who could have imagined it would take a global pandemic for companies to see the value of working remotely. Production soared while office costs dropped. Despite the stress of COVID-19, employees embraced reduced commuting time and the chance to spend more time with family.

Action verbs and stronger adjectives are a game-changer in business writing. You can download a list of Power Words to nudge the creativity gene inside you.

Sense the Power

A fun business writing game embraces our five senses (Sight-Hearing-Taste-Touch-Smell). Use sensory words to lure your reader into the story so they feel like they are right there with you. Download the Sensory Word list to give you a leg up on the competition.

 

Want to give this game a shot? Let’s go back to our remote work white paper.

Remote work has many benefits for companies and their employees. Productivity is up and office costs are down. Employees like not having a commute and being able to spend more time with their family.

Now, let’s insert sensory descriptions.

COVID tossed the world into a giant pressure cooker. Companies sweated how to stay afloat while employees’ worries over health, family, and jobs bubbled over. Companies and their employees scrambled to adapt to working remotely.

Amidst the chaos created by a global pandemic, a funny thing happened. Remote work delivered delectable benefits. For both the employer and its employees.

Did you spot the sensory words?

• Sweated
• Bubbled
• Scrambled
• Delectable

When you tap into a reader’s emotions, the result is powerful. Anger is pretty powerful, too, if it’s directed at a bad situation and not you.

Adore the Analogy

An analogy compares two items to clarify an idea or point in your business writing. A good analogy paints a picture in your reader’s mind.

In my corporate days, I had a boss who I called the Master of the Analogy. I swear he had an analogy for every situation. For example ~

When speaking to a roomful of dentists, my boss shared a case of claims submitted for the removal of four impacted wisdom teeth – in two children – in the same family. His response was the following analogy.

That would be like me going outside this morning and finding all four tires on my car and my wife’s car had gone flat (without being slashed). Not too likely.

Kissing Cousins

Analogies are a bit different from metaphors or similes. They’re more like cousins.  Analogies are persuasive arguments to illustrate your point (like my boss’s example above). Below is a definition of the three cousins to help you out.

All three cousins are great tools for creative business writing.

But, for this game, we’re going to focus on the analogy.

Personally, I prefer original analogies – like those from a creative writer (one of my favorites for creative business writing is Henneke Duistermaat). Business writing quickly loses readers when worn-out analogies override your message.

Creating Analogies

However, creating an original analogy can be challenging. The following breaks down the thought process behind creating one. Well, at least my (perhaps strange) thought process.

What could be more remote than outer space? You can use your analogy and continue your persuasive argument.

Remote work is a space walk with employees tethered to the Mother Ship and focused on the task at hand. To keep employees productive, companies need strong leadership who employees trust will navigate them through the communication and logistics challenges.

Creating analogies may be a trial-and-error process, but it does get easier. Once you know the point you want to prove, try making a list of traits (physical, philosophical, or other). Read them over until a picture pops into your head.

One Last Trick

I borrow from my mind-mapping trick for blog post ideas.

1. List objects in front of your face (e.g., items on desk)
2. Choose one (e.g., router)
3. What words pop into your head (e.g., connection, network)
4. Use that to create your analogy

Remote work is the network router between your employees, customers, and our pandemic world.

Game-Changer Business Writing

When you were a kid, you always made time to play. Why not make time to play with your business writing? Try one of the 3 games.

1. Attack the Adjective – blast the bland, power through descriptions
2. Sense the Change – get in touch with sensory words
3. Adore the Analogy – find your persuasive argument

Coax the creative in your business writing.

What writing games work for you? Please share the fun in Comments.

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Helping you Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours

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