Business Writing

Lesson 3: Presentation and Format

Special Characters and Special Formatting

When using words borrowed from French or other languages which use accents, you should try to include the accent symbol if you can. Such words are sometimes used without accents in their native languages, but only in highly informal writing. Accents should be ignored in typewritten documents, if the appropriate special characters are not available - they should never be drawn in by hand - but most word processors provide accented letter characters in the 'special character' section within the 'insert' menu.

Foreign words and phrases which are frequently used in English - eg: 'genre', 'fiancée', 'ç'est la vie', 'objet d'art', 'café', 'et cetera' - may be written using a standard typeface, but words which are seldom or never used in English should be written in italics.

Access to special characters on your computer is also useful in other contexts. If you expect to do any significant amount of writing by hand, it may be worth your while to practice drawing them.

The ampersand ('&') is not used in formal writing, but is used in formal titles - many businesses include it in their company names. When you have to write these names out yourself, it's better to use the ampersand than to write out the word 'and' in full. If you must use an abbreviated form of 'and' in writing, an ampersand is by far preferable to a plus sign ('+').

Percentage signs ('%') are acceptable in formal writing, but only when they follow after numerals. If you write out numbers in full (eg: 'twenty' as opposed to '20'), you should also write the word 'percent' rather than using the symbol.

The 'at' symbol ('@') is less common and is not an acceptable short form for use in anything but the most casual writing. It is, however, appropriate for use in typed e-mail addresses. Many word processors will automatically highlight e-mail addresses and website URLs by presenting them in a different color. This can make printed documents look odd. Unless you wish such material to be highlighted so that it makes a special impact, be sure to turn this function off when you are producing documents which are to be printed.

If you wish to note copyright status (your own or somebody else's), you should use the symbol '©'. If you do not have access to this symbol, writing the word 'copyright' in full is acceptable. Any such notice should be accompanied by the copyright holder's name (whether individual or corporate) and by the date from which copyright commenced (usually the date of first writing, design or publication). It should be noted that, in Britain, copyright notices do not need to be written out in order for copyright law to apply; but in the USA, copyright which is not explicitly stated may be lost.

Trade marks should be registered using the letters 't.m.', and registered trade marks using the symbol '®'. It's important to remember to include these (where applicable) when you are writing about other companies' products as well as when you are writing about your own.

It's important to use the proper symbols for currencies with which you are working - such as '£', '$', '?' and ¥. Since the dollar symbol is used for the national currencies of several different countries, you should remember, where there is any possibility of confusion, to add the appropriate extra letters before the dollar sign, eg: US$ for US dollars or AU$ for Australian dollars.

In most modern business communications, footnotes are referenced by number. This is made easy by the footnote function in most word processing programs. If you wish to put across a more traditional image, you should use an asterisk or 'star' ('*'). Asterisks should only be used to reference footnotes which appear on the same page, and not for footnotes which appear at the end of a multi-page document. A second such footnote may be referenced using the crossed swords symbol, or, as is becoming more common these days, two asterisks together.

Italicization is used, as described above, to indicate foreign words with which the reader is likely to be unfamiliar; it is also used to indicate emphasis. A single word can be italicized in this manner (eg: "You should never do that!"), or a whole passage can be italicized. Putting a whole passage in italics is rare, and should normally be reserved for important instructions and abjurations. A single italicized paragraph on a page full of standard paragraphs can make quite an impact.

Occasionally, italics are used to indicate that a piece of text is a quotation. Titles are often written in italics rather than appearing in quotation marks or being underlined. Whichever method you use, try to be consistent.

Another way to emphasize text is to use a bold typeface. Bold paragraphs stand out more vividly on the page than italics do, and you should bear this in mind when designing a page which will have a balanced appearance. Some business people like to use a short bold paragraph to introduce a new idea at the top of a page following it up with standard paragraphs.

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