Communication is only effective if you succeed in making your conversation partner see in their mind what you see in your own. Good communication points at things, and a good communicator makes sure that he and his audience are pointing at the same thing! Nothing seems more simple in principle, but this sort of verbal "pointing" is often challenging to achieve in writing. Below are some helpful hints for getting your point across accurately and effectively. The examples of ineffective communication given below are my own modifications of real, repeated, and characteristic errors that I observed students at all levels making over my long stretch as a teaching assistant. Although the examples come from an academic context, the principles given below can be applied to any context where concise, practical, and clear communication is necessary.
Know your audience. How much about your topic can you assume the reader is already familiar with? What is common knowledge between you and the reader? If something is common knowledge, then there is no need to rehash it in your text, unless, of course, you are challenging such common knowledge, in which case you have to give a brief overview of it.
Hit the nail on the head. Keep introductions short and to the point. Only give background information that is strictly necessary to understanding the context of your argument. This should not be extensive. Get to the thesis of your argument as fast as possible.
Make your hypothesis explicit.
e.g.: "I will argue that Gramsci's theory of hegemony provides key insights into how merchants succeeded in establishing themselves at the head of Freiburg's society at the turn of the fourteenth century."
Stay on topic. Don't relate information for information's sake, but make sure it contributes to your argument in some way, and make sure to show explicitly how it does so.
Don't snap the thread. If you use a quotation or include an image, table, etc., explain its relevance to your argument. Don't simply plunk it down out of context. Try to integrate it into the logical flow of your argument and of the paragraph in which you are including it. Don't make excessive quotations; the bulk of the writing should be your own. No one enjoys reading "cut and paste" productions!
Avoid the passive voice. When you write in the passive voice, the reader often doesn't know who is performing the action in question. This is especially unhelpful in a business context, when it is crucial to know who has responsibility for team objectives or which stakeholders will be affected by a given course of action. The active voice is much clearer, more forceful, and, hence, much better.
Bad: It is argued that an investment of labour is a precondition of ownership.
Good: J. S. Mill argues that whoever has invested labour in a plot of land has a title to ownership of it.
Avoid using rhetorical questions to move the discourse along. Most often they simply try the reader's patience with useless verbiage.
Bad: How could Augustine have arrived at this notion?
Instead, simply show how he arrived at the notion.
Good: Augustine drew upon the theology of Origen in formulating his teaching on grace.
Avoid vague statements.
Make sure your sentences say something concrete, with an identifiable subject, object, and verb.
Bad: The covenant is hugely important in Judaism.
Good: The covenant is central to the self-understanding of Jews as one party in a binding contract with God.
Don't rely on your opinion alone. Avoid writing "I believe" or "I think." Bring forth evidence to support your assertions, which will help you to make a more convincing case. You don't have to believe, when you have evidence that makes a probable case.
Stay professional. Writing in a professional context has a degree of formality that sets it off from the sort of language we use in text messages, tweets, and when chatting to one another. You don't wear a wrinkled shirt to the office, so neither should you be sloppy about the way you communicate.
Avoid contractions. Write "it is," not "it's"; "do not," not "don't," etc.
Avoid colloquial language. Avoid introducing statements with "All in all," "Nowadays," and using the word "cool" or "huge," unless you are actually describing the size of something.
Don't use "get" as an auxiliary verb. It isn't one!
Bad: God got angry with Israel, since they failed to uphold the covenant.
Good: "God became angry with Israel . . ." or "God rebuked Israel for failing to uphold the covenant."
Don't use the phrase, "is known to be." It is awkward, wordy, and unnecessary. It can be replaced by simply writing "is."
Bad: Augustine is known to be one of the greatest Catholic theologians.
Good: Augustine was one of the greatest Catholic theologians.
Better: Many medieval writers affirmed that Augustine was one of the greatest Catholic theologians.
Avoid using "you" to indicate a generic person. Use "a person" or "a human being" or "one." Or, better yet, indicate the specific group to which the statement pertains.
Bad: In Judaism, God commands you to uphold Torah.
Good: In Judaism, God commands one to uphold Torah.
Better: God commands every Jew to uphold Torah.
The verb "to argue" does not generally take a direct object, but has a subordinate clause as its object.
Bad: Grant argues the significance of the history making spirit for the mass age.
Good: Grant argues that the history making spirit is the most characteristic feature of the mass age.
Avoid the expression "as to."
Bad: The argument as to why modern economics has no ethical framework . . .
Good: Certain scholars argue that modern economics has no ethical framework because . . .
Or: The argument for why modern economics . . .
The overloaded adjective construction is appropriate in German, but not in English.
Bad: What is necessary is a human initiative powered movement.
Good: A movement powered by human initiative is necessary.
Bad: The philosophical ethical considerations are paramount.
Good: Philosophical and ethical considerations are paramount in this instance.
Respect complexity.
Avoid making categorical or unqualified statements, which are rarely, if ever, accurate.
Bad: People today are getting dumber.
Good: Studies show that many post-secondary students are less adept at critically stating their thoughts in writing than they were twenty years ago.
Respect diversity. Unless an evaluation is strictly called for, avoid using evaluative terms, such as "normal," "better," "easier". These terms imply a value judgment, which is not generally the purpose of writing in a professional context. Focus on descriptive and analytical writing rather than prescriptive writing.
Bad: The Qur'an provides a better understanding of Jesus' religious significance.
Good: For Muslims, Jesus has a different religious significance than for Christians or Jews. Unlike Christians, they do not consider him to be the Son of God.
The second sentence is informative, while the first tries to tell us what we ought to think.
Use "however" correctly. There are three ways to use "however" as an adversative (when it means "but"), and only three. Since we use this word so often, it is absolutely necessary that we use it rightly!
Brown argues that Smith's view is inaccurate; however, Smith's interpretation does have redeeming elements.
Brown argues that Smith's view is inaccurate. However, Smith's interpretations does have redeeming elements.
Brown argues that Smith's view is inaccurate. Smith's interpretation, however, does have redeeming features.
Note the position of the comma(s) and semi-colon. If you use "however" without this punctuation, it might be understood as "no matter the extent."
e.g.: However much you think you know how to use "however," you ought to look over these guidelines again!
Be a Master of Tenses! For native English speakers, writing in the correct tense is usually not a problem. However, when to use the pluperfect tense is often a source of confusion. The pluperfect tense is only used for describing an action that occurred before another action in the past. Make sure that you don't abuse it! If you are simply describing a single action in the past or a series of actions that aren't related to one another, use the past tense. If you want to indicate that one action occurred before another in the past, use the pluperfect for the first action and the past for the action that followed it.
Bad: I had noticed the purple flowers on the wall.
There is no reason to use the pluperfect here, since I am simply describing a single action in the past.
Good: I noticed the purple flowers on the wall, left the house, and ate a sandwich.
Here I don't need to use the pluperfect, since I don't wish to emphasize any connection between these past actions.
Good: I had stepped on a rusty nail before my foot began to bleed profusely.
Here I use the pluperfect because I want to indicate that the stepping occurred before the bleeding and that the actions are connected.