16 Business Writing: Writing in Your Job

Expressions

Perhaps that’s why?bureaucratic prose becomes so turgid, whatever the bureaucracy.

turgid? 這里是第三個(gè)意思，混亂的,紊亂的

1. <液體>混濁的,溷濁的

2. <煙、云等> 彌漫的,濃密的 (heavy)

3. <思想、文體等> 混亂的,紊亂的

The engineers spoke in an arcane language studded with acronyms.

stud的形容詞，1.decorated with small raised pieces of metal用飾釘裝飾的:

?a studded leather belt飾釘裝飾的皮帶

這里意思2. ~ with sth having a lot of sth on or in it 布滿(或有很多)…的

?The sky was clear and studded with stars.天空晴朗,繁星點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。

?an essay studded with quotations旁征博引的文章

Prominent in every issue was a message of?exhortation from the division vice-president

exhortation?exhort的名詞，規(guī)勸；敦促；告誡

When you were little, heading out the door on a freezing cold day, your mom probably made an exhortation to put on your hat and zip your coat up all the way.?

An exhortation is a loud or enthusiastic urging.

Thoughts

Just as in science writing, anxiety is a big part of the?problem and humanity and clear thinking are a big part of the solution.

Institutions can be warmed up. Administrators can be turned into human beings. Information can be imparted clearly and without pomposity.?

You only have to remember that readers identify with people.

這一章講的是商務(wù)寫(xiě)作——與工作有關(guān)的大大小小的寫(xiě)作。小到備忘錄，大到郵件文書(shū)，都應(yīng)該記住表達(dá)清晰，寫(xiě)給人看才是最重要的，而不是為了權(quán)威虛榮或面子而故作復(fù)雜難懂，充滿冷冰冰的行話術(shù)語(yǔ)。正如作者說(shuō)的四個(gè)原則clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity。

作者舉了一個(gè)兩段的校長(zhǎng)致辭例子，第一段中從不用“我” ,甚至連“我”的含義都不帶。雖然他的致辭充滿自己的專(zhuān)業(yè)術(shù)語(yǔ)，他有了安全感，但卻沒(méi)有注意到他實(shí)際上并沒(méi)有告訴家長(zhǎng)任何事。第二段代入了“我”，展現(xiàn)的才是是一位溫暖有人情味的人，而第一段則迂腐、含糊。

所以說(shuō)，The way to warm up any institution is to locate the missing “I.” Remember: “I” is the most interesting element in any story.代入“我”，順其自然，如何寫(xiě)與如何說(shuō)都將展示出白己的個(gè)性。

?建議：運(yùn)用主動(dòng)動(dòng)詞和避免“抽象概念名詞。using active verbs and avoiding “concept nouns.”?

最后，能不用術(shù)語(yǔ)就別用吧，畢竟，幾乎所有科目都能用通俗易懂的語(yǔ)言表達(dá)。

如果要結(jié)構(gòu)邏輯清晰的話，作者前面章節(jié)其實(shí)有零散的提及。要系統(tǒng)學(xué)習(xí)，可以看看《金字塔原理》，尤其是做匯報(bào)溝通，以結(jié)果為導(dǎo)向的清晰論述過(guò)程。