Consistency in business writing means making the same choice every time: one spelling variant, one date format, one style of capitals, and one rule for numbers, from the first page to the last. Many writers overlook it, yet it is one of the basics that make a document look professional.
Why is consistency important?
Your writing should engage the reader and make an impact. An inconsistent document can hardly do either.
Inconsistency also distracts your readers. When they see an irregularity, they automatically try to work out whether it means something different, something important, or simply careless writing.
Consistency also makes a document look more professional, and in business, that is always the right impression to make. Here are 4 elements of your writing that deserve special attention.
1. Consistency in spelling and grammar
Are you writing in American or British English? Once you have made your choice, spell every word according to that variant, and be careful not to mix the two: organize on page one and organise on page three tells the reader that nobody looked closely. British or American English? lists the spellings that differ most often.
To check your spelling and grammar, run your document through the Spell Checker. Choose your variant before you check, for example British English, and words spelled the other way are marked along with your typos.
2. Consistency in writing dates
There is no single correct way to write a date. As long as you are consistent, you are fine. Some of the styles you can use are:
- 1st January 2020
- 1 January 2020
- January 1, 2020
- January 1st, 2020
If you dislike commas, the first two are the obvious choices. For the last two, you need another comma after the year when the sentence goes on, like this:
On January 1, 2020, the aliens visited Earth for the first time.
Most style guides prefer the plain number (January 1) to the ordinal (January 1st). Whichever you pick, use it everywhere. Writing dates and times covers more formats.
3. Consistency in capitalization
Consistent capitalization across a business document helps it look organized.
Take a look at the headings you just wrote. Do you capitalize every word except articles, conjunctions, and short prepositions (title case), or only the first word and proper nouns (sentence case)? Either is fine. Make sure every heading follows the same style.
Now, what about lists? If you have any, each item must follow the same capitalization standard as well. The same goes for terms: when you decide to capitalize a certain term, such as Sales Department, keep doing so throughout the document. It keeps the document neat and professional. The rules of capitalization explain the basics.
4. Consistency in writing numbers
A common rule is to spell out small numbers (one to nine) and to write larger numbers as numerals, which saves space. Style guides differ on where the line is, so choose one and stick to it. Whatever the rule, a number at the start of a sentence is always spelled out:
- Two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed within less than a year. (correct)
- 2 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed within less than a year. (wrong)
The rules for writing numbers go into more detail.
Write your own style guide
Those are the 4 areas where your business writing most needs to be consistent. Here is a tip to make it easier: write your own personal style guide.
A personal style guide records your preferred approach to business writing: the spelling variant, the date format, the heading style, the rule for numbers, and the terms you capitalize. It serves as your standard for word choice, style, grammar, and more, so you make each decision once instead of in every document.