Have you ever stopped to think what it is that makes you go into a particular shop to buy something? What is it that catches your eye? The answer, of course, is the display in the shop window. If the display isn't appealing, or it doesn't contain the products you are looking for, or it doesn't display prices, you'll probably walk straight past. Your impression of the shop comes, firstly, from that shop window. And, if your impression is a poor one, you are unlikely to become a customer. Remember, first impressions are usually lasting impressions. Often, they may be the only impressions you have.

You are probably wondering what shop-window displays have to do with business writing. The answer is plenty. Yes, for many businesses, a written document is their only shop window. That document may take many different forms - from a website, to a newsletter, to a letter, memo, e-mail, or fax, to a complex technical report, or even a simple quotation. But that document, like the shop window, may be the first, and often the only, impression that people have of you and your business. So, what do you need to do? You need to ensure that your documents create a positive image of you and your products or services.

There are many things you need to do to achieve this. The first of these is to ensure that your documents convey a pleasant, dignified, and modern image. And to do this, you need to think carefully about such things as:

So, in this short article, I will try to give you some useful hints to help you to improve your image. Of course, there are many other things you need to think about like spelling, grammar, sentence structure and length, and content.

White Space
One of the most important tools you should use to improve the readability and appearance of your pages is to use plenty of white space - the margins around your text and the spacing between the paragraphs.
For documents typed on standard A4 (210 x 297 mm) pages, you should have margins of at least 25 millimetres all round your text, increasing to 30 millimetres in the binding margin. And you should ensure that you keep at least one clear line between your paragraphs. This you can do either by using a double carriage return at the end of each paragraph, or by setting your paragraph spacing to at least equal the size of type you are using.

Typeface (Font)
Your choice of typeface, and its size, affects both the appearance, and the readability, of your documents. There are many hundreds of different fonts from which you have to choose, but they fall into two main categories - Serif and Sans Serif. Unfortunately, most word-processing and desktop-publishing systems have a Serif font - Times Roman - as default. But that is old-fashioned and is not easy to read. So, change your default to a more modern, and easier to read Sans Serif font, like Arial, Helvetica, or Univers.
To see the difference this will make to your documents, compare the following two examples:

"This piece of text is set in Times New Roman."
"This piece of text is set in Arial."

Please note that both the examples are set in 12-point type so you have a fair comparison.

Another point - please don't play around with fonts. I know some people who love spending time going through their font library to see how many different designs they can find. They then use as many different fonts as possible, in many sizes, in their documents - the result is an absolute mess. As a general rule, you should never use more than two fonts in any document, preferably only one.

Having decided on the font, you then have to decide on its size. For most of your documents, I recommend that you standardise on 12-point for the body text to allow easy reading. Unfortunately, most word-processing and desktop-publishing systems have 10-point set as the default, and this is far too small for easy reading. Not only is the character size too small, but the lines of type will have too many characters on them. Remember, for easy reading, lines of type should be between 40 and 65 characters in length.
This recommendation is based on typing set in a single column. However, if you type your documents in two, or more, columns, the type you use will have to be smaller. So, in a two-column layout, you would have to reduce your type size to 10-point.

Paragraph Length
One of the most important things you need to do to improve the appearance and readability of your documents is to control the length of your paragraphs. Like your words and sentences, your paragraphs should be short. But how short is short? Your paragraphs should average 8 to 10 lines, and should never be longer than 15 lines. If you get to 15 lines, make a break anyway and start a new paragraph.

As a matter of interest, if you want to stress a particular thought or idea, write it as a short sentence, and then make that sentence a paragraph on its own.

Although the laying out of your pages comprises only about ten per cent of the work involved in creating a document, it is an extremely important part. So, you need to get it right. If you follow the principles I have given you in this article, your documents will present a pleasant, dignified, and modern image of you and your business. As you will have cleaned up your shop window, people will be more likely to come in. They will then start to read what you have written. And that is a good start.

Chris is the founder of Curwen Communications Corporation. He can be contacted on (016) 349 3031 or click here to email. To find out more about Curwen's various courses and seminars, see www.curwen.za.com.