This week I am picking an issue that speaks to me from the book Business Communication Essentials by Courtland Bovee and John Thill, 5th Edition. One issue that tends to irritate me and that the book only shortly addresses is “Varying Your Sentence Length” p. 97. The main problem I tend to notice with this subject is an excessive use of long sentences. As the book mentions, long sentences can be the “best way to convey complex ideas;” however, many people do not properly do this. In my experience, examples can be seen in emails from friends, documents written by students and messages within the workplace. The following is an example of a confusing long sentence from a business memo:
To assist in addressing the ongoing problem of employees in buildings A and B arriving late to work, the company has purchased several electric carts to transport those who work in building A from the parking structure to their building every five minutes, and those in building B will be transported by a bus, which is scheduled to leave the parking structure at 7:30 a.m., 7: 45 a.m., and 8:00 a.m.
This may be extreme case but unfortunately it is seen too often.
An article written by Daphne Gray-Grant, addresses this issue: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/how-to-write-long-sentences-that-wont-confuse/. Although humorously stated, her opinion is one I share. “I often think of five-year-olds on bicycles when I read long sentences.” The article states that when you need to use a long sentence, keep the “subject and verb close together, and near the beginning” of the sentence. I would also suggest avoiding long sentences altogether, especially in a business setting. Usually all it takes to remedy the problem is breaking the sentence in half. The proper length of a sentence is important in business communications because a message needs to get to the point. Typically managers do not like spending a lot of time deciphering the meaning of a simple email or report.
What is the easiest way to eliminate the problem? A person should use short to medium sentences that are direct.
English 210 