Business Writing Courses:

We understand that being able to write in a clear and professional style is important to your business. That is why we have developed the Business Writing Institute and the Effective Business Writing course. This practice-driven business writing course will significantly improve your ability to write in English, so that your readers will receive a clear, concise, effective message. Most professionals spend at least 15-20% of their time writing for business; emails, memos, business letters, reports and other business correspondence. Our customized approach guarantees an improvement in business communication skills that will increase your productivity, success and job satisfaction.

Learn more about our business writing courses here, or contact us for more information.

 

Benefits of business writing training courses:

  • learn how to write a business letter
  • discover the skills of writing a business letter
  • learn to create clear business correspondence
  • understand the difference of writing for business
  • improve overall business communication

Business Writing Courses: Can I "Quote" That? The RIGHT Way to Use Quotation Marks

Quotation marks (" ") are a beloved form of punctuation in the English language, used to indicate verbatim what someone said, and used in a great deal of business writing. They are often misused. This article will clear up some misconceptions held by many about proper usage of these marks.

Where to Place Periods (.) and Commas (,) - The United States

In the United States, commas and periods ALWAYS go INSIDE the quotation marks, whether or not the comma is part of the actual quotation. Here are some examples I gleaned from some discussions on LinkedIn. Don't expect this rule to be logical:

  1. Correct (in US): E.g. stands for "exempli gratia."
  2. Correct (in US): As for [the phrase] "graduating college," I'm not sure when it became correct.
  1. Incorrect (in US): You are my "go to person".
  2. Incorrect (in US): I was unaware of the difference [between initialisms and acronyms] until I heard it on the NPR program "A Way With Words".
  3. Incorrect (in US): "Its" is the possessive form of "it", and is rare among possessives...

Where to Place Periods (.) and Commas (,) - The UK & Australia

Leave logic to the Brits. In the UK and Australia, they keep punctuation inside the quotation marks only when the punctuation is part of the quotation. For example:

  1. Correct (in UK): I was unaware of the difference [between initialisms and acronyms] until I heard it on the NPR program "A Way With Words".
  2. Correct (in UK): You are my "go to person".
  3. Correct (in UK): "Its" is the possessive form of "it", and is rare among possessives...
  1. Incorrect (In UK): E.g. stands for "exempli gratia."
  2. Incorrect (in UK): As for [the phrase] "graduating college," I'm not sure when it became correct...

Punctuating Letter Names

Some grammarians say we should use the logical way of punctuating in the case of letters. For example:

  1. The eighth letter of the alphabet is "h".
  2. Name three words that start with an "e", and three that start with a "k".

I prefer to avoid this issue by italicizing the names of letters:

  1. The ninth letter of the alphabet is h.
  2. Name three words that start with an e, and three that start with a k.

Exclamation Points (!) & Question Marks (?)

When it comes to exclamation points and question marks, we all get to be logical. If the quoted language is a question or exclamation, include the punctuation inside the quotation marks. If it's not, don't.

  1. She asked, "Which way is it to the theater?"
  2. Did she say, "I absolutely love the theater, darling"?
  3. I'm so excited to see "In the Heights"!
  4. I get chills every time I hear King Richard declare,"Off with his head!"

Semicolons (;) and Colons (:)

Here's some more good news: We get to be logical with semicolons and colons too!

  1. The following items go in the bin labeled "Paper Recycling": magazines, newspapers, envelopes, and clean cardboard.
  2. Put magazines, newspapers, and envelopes in the bin labeled "Paper Recycling"; do not put paper towels, tissues, or greasy pizza boxes in there!

(It's so much fun to sneak a public service announcement into a grammar blog!)

What if I'm Canadian?

All bets are off (or on, as the case may be), in Canada. Do it the way you think your readers will expect you to do it. As far as I can tell, you get to choose, unless you are following the rules of a company, in which case follow their protocol.

Source: Brenda Bernstein link

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