Kevin Wilson - The AMA handbook of business documents guidelines and sample documents that make business writing easy

Guidelines and Sample Documents
That Make Business Writing Easy

KEVIN WILSON
and
JENNIFER WAUSON

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This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilson, K. (Kevin), 1958

The AMA handbook of business documents : guidelines and sample documents that make business writing easy / Kevin Wilson and Jennifer Wauson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8144-1769-0 (alk. paper)

1. Commercial correspondence--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Business writing--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. English language--Business English--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Wauson, Jennifer. II. Title.

HF5726.W675 2011

2011 Kevin Wilson and Jennifer Wauson.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.

This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

About AMA

American Management Association ( www.amanet.org ) is a world leader in talent development, advancing the skills of individuals to drive business success. Our mission is to support the goals of individuals and organizations through a complete range of products and services, including classroom and virtual seminars, webcasts, webinars, podcasts, conferences, corporate and government solutions, business books and research. AMAs approach to improving performance combines experiential learninglearning through doingwith opportunities for ongoing professional growth at every step of ones career journey.

Printing number

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

SAMPLE BUSINESS DOCUMENTS

(See for a list of business documents figures.)

The AMA Handbook of Business Documents is a desktop job aid for all corporate communicators. This book is a collection of guidelines and samples for creating a wide variety of business documents.

In addition to being the authors of the Administrative Assistants and Secretarys Handbook, and The AMA Handbook of Business Writing, we are also the founders of a corporate communications consulting business with over 25 years experience working for many Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, AT&T, Sony, Chevron, Hewlett-Packard, and Cox Enterprises. In our work, weve developed hundreds of business documents including Web sites, brochures, reports, presentations, marketing plans, policy manuals, software tutorials, and training materials, In The AMA Handbook of Business Documents we take the best of these corporate business writing guidelines and organize them in a way business writers will appreciate.

Readers can easily find information on a particular document and quickly get back to their writing project. The book includes guidelines, tips, and samples of a wide variety of business documents, including annual reports, brochures, business letters, business plans, grant proposals, mission statements, newsletters, policies, press releases, proposals, rsums, surveys, speeches, training manuals, user guides, and white papers.

We believe The AMA Handbook of Business Documents is an essential desk reference for the following business writers:

Corporate communications writers and managers

Marketing writers and managers

Human resource administrators and managers

Sales representatives and managers

Training developers and managers

Technical writers

Grant writers

Public relations writers

Administrative assistants

In writing this book, we referenced many sources to confirm guidelines we used throughout our professional careers while working with a variety of Fortune 500 companies. In addition, we used our own book, the Administrative Assistants and Secretarys Handbook, as a source for content on language usage, grammar, and punctuation. We therefore thank James Stroman, who coauthored the Administrative Assistants and Secretarys Handbook.

The following is a list of sources we referenced while writing this book to confirm the accuracy of our content:

James Stroman, Kevin Wilson, and Jennifer Wauson, The Administrative Assistants and Secretarys Handbook, 3rd ed. (New York: AMACOM Books, 2007).

Microsoft Corporation Editorial Style Board, Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, 3rd ed. (Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 2004).

David A. McMurrey, Online Technical Writing, 2009. < http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/acctoc.html#introduction > See also David A. McMurrey, Power Tools for Technical Communication (Heinle, 2001).

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Center for Writing Studies, 2009. < http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/ >

Purdue University. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL), 2009. < http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ >

UsingEnglish.com, English Glossary of Grammar Terms, 2009. < http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary.html >

THE AMA HANDBOOK OF BUSINESS DOCUMENTS

An abstract is a summary of a larger document, such as a report. Abstracts are also called summaries or executive summaries.

There are two types of abstracts:

Descriptive abstracts are short summaries that appear on the front page of a formal report or journal article. (.)

A descriptive abstract does not summarize the facts or conclusions of the report.