Bruce Hird
Retired from Sophia University
Bruce Hird was an English professor at Sophia University, Faculty of Liberal Arts, for 30 years and taught composition, critical reading, and business writing. Upon retirement, he lectured part-time at Tokyo University of Science (Rika Dai), Tokyo Denki University, and NYU School of Professional Studies (Tokyo). He can be reached at brucehird@gmail.com.
Sessions
Writing Business Letters: An Attitudinal Approach
Business letters and email should reflect a positive, natural-sounding, and somewhat personalized writing style regardless of the topic matter—whether good news, bad news, or just routine information. Unnecessarily formal letters, or letters overladen with passive and noun phrase expressions, are not only wordy but also slow down quick-return communication. We will discuss, through four sample letters and exercises, how original letters can evolve into direct, polite, communicative revisions.