2 Genre Conventions
In a business writing context, genre conventions are standards we follow to meet professional expectations. These conventions apply to the form (style, formatting, and structure) as well as the content (language, tone, imagery) of the writing. Because a reader recognizes these conventions, they can more efficiently locate and review the information they need. Meeting the expectations of your reader is, therefore, extremely important, as defying those conventions can signal a lack of professionalism.
That’s not to say these “traditions” of business writing are impervious to change. Consider the memo (fig. 1), for example. Because of technology and other changes, email has replaced memos for many uses. Still, More than just a list of necessary components, these conventions signal that the writer recognizes the expectations of a professional community. Because the values of those communities change over time, genre conventions may change as well to reflect the community’s perspective.
On a practical level, following genre conventions regarding form is also important for efficient readability. Emails that adhere to professional standards, for example, contain a short yet specific subject line that can help the recipient determine the nature of the message without even opening it. Reports and other longer forms of writing also follow genre conventions but are often adapted to reflect an organization’s in-house style and branding.
Incorporating genre conventions into personal branding can be a worthwhile challenge for those whose professions rely upon creativity and innovation. Custom-designed stationery, for instance, should still provide the same information in a familiar fashion so that the recipient may still locate important contact information.
Follow Business Conventions
Conventionality refers to your ability to conform to professional expectations (format, style, etc.). For instance, a résumé looks like a résumé, a report looks like a report, and an email looks like an email. Following conventions is important in business because it implicitly signals that you belong in the community. You know the rules, and you know how to follow them. Alternatively, if you break the mold, you do it with high-quality creativity so that your receiver has no doubt that you still know the rules and belong in the community.
Conventions of business communication are culturally bound. They differ from country to country and, to a lesser extent, from organization to organization or industry to industry. Generally, conventions remain fairly constant and slow to change, although they may change rapidly with new technologies or as societal standards change.
You can see some of the changes to conventions most vividly in how people dress for business, how email technologies have changed how people write memos, and how text messaging and instant messaging have changed the way people write emails. For example, dress codes have become decidedly more relaxed following the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Communication has become somewhat more casual over the years, and it has become more common for business people to use emojis in emails.[2]
Identify and Follow Conventions
So, how do you identify conventions, especially in business writing and presentations? There are numerous examples provided in books, from how to write cover letters to how to develop a PowerPoint presentation. We won’t go into details of all the different conventions here. Instead, we offer basic steps you can follow to learn what the conventions are for any type of message.
Gather Examples of a Particular Message Type (business letters, annual reports, etc.)
These will be most helpful if they are gathered from within your own company or at least your own industry. You can also search the Internet for examples of any kind of document.
Look for Similarities Across the Examples
These can be in how things are formatted (fonts, colors, white space), how content is ordered, or even how particular turns of phrase are used with regularity. The similarities you notice are the standards of the conventions.
For example, if you look at business letters, you will likely notice several similarities. Business letters normally appear on some form of company letterhead (i.e., the stationery with the company logo). The information is ordered in the same way (date, name, and address of the receiver, a salutation, the letter itself, and a signature block). Paragraphs are single-spaced with blank lines in between. Those are the standards, and you should not deviate from them.
Look for Differences Across the Examples
Now, look for ways in which the documents differ from each other. The differences demonstrate where there is wiggle room.
Things that might look different are varying fonts. Sometimes the salutation uses “Dear,” and sometimes not. Sometimes the closing says “Sincerely,” but other times it says “Regards,” “Best,” or something similar. Sometimes, paragraphs are indented, and sometimes they are not. Those are the areas of wiggle room. In those regards, you can use your judgment and personal preference to decide how you want to write the letter.
Check for Company Guidelines
Another thing to keep in mind is that your company may have its own strict guidelines for how it wants messages to be formatted. Company standards are more common in large companies than in small ones. For instance, your company may have a designated template to use for PowerPoint presentations that includes approved company colors, fonts, and logos. These can be called “brand standards,” and they are particularly important if you are communicating with external receivers.
Break Conventions Carefully
In some instances, you may decide you want to break the conventions to catch your receiver’s attention. You can do this by exhibiting high-quality creativity. The catch is that any time you break the conventions, it must be both high quality and creative. Anything less risks looking like an unprofessional error. You have to decide whether the potential payoff of breaking the convention to catch attention is worth the risk of being judged as unprofessional or incompetent.
Résumés are a common document in which people break conventions. Let’s face it: The job market is competitive, and you need to stand out. Unconventional approaches to résumés can include things like infographics, online portfolios, video showcases, and QR codes that link to websites or blogs.[3] Nontraditional formats like these can draw positive attention and show off your skills—especially if you are seeking a job in a creative field. But other human resource professionals warn that creative résumés may actually prevent you from getting called for an interview. If you are not sure about your ability to demonstrate both high quality and creativity, you are more likely to have a better outcome following the established conventions.
- For a story about how dress codes have become more relaxed since the COVID-19 pandemic, check out Rachel Martin and Milton Guevara, “The Pandemic Has Changed Workplace Fashion. What Does That Mean to You?” NPR, July 7, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1109317208/pandemic-workplace-fashion. ↵
- Research has shown that when leaders use emojis, it can help them better communicate with their employees and reduce defensiveness. See Tomoko Yokoi and Jennifer Jordan, “Using Emojis to Connect with Your Team,” Harvard Business Review, May 30, 2022, https://hbr.org/2022/05/using-emojis-to-connect-with-your-team. ↵
- See Cheryl Vaughn, “The 7 Best Alternative Resume Formats for Professionals,” Make Use Of, February 19, 2022, https://www.makeuseof.com/best-alternative-resume-for-professionals/. ↵
Genre vs. Medium Vs. platform
One important distinction to be mindful of is the difference between genre and medium. While genre refers to the type of document you are composing, the medium describes the method you are using to distribute that document. These two are similar in that the purpose and audience for your document will determine both. In the example above, the genre used is a memo while the medium is good old-fashioned paper!
To add to this, we might also consider the platform being used to distribute your documents. How would Mr. Joannes distribute his memo? At the time, it was probably snail-mail sent through the post office. In this case, the post office is providing a service which is the foundation of any platform: identifying which service we use will likely be determined by the medium used but, more importantly, can help us better adapt our professional voice to that platform.
Reviewing each medium and platform is beyond the scope of this resource but be sure to consider these factors for each professional writing genre we encounter.
Aisha, the Marketing Intern
Aisha, a marketing manager at a tech startup, has been asked to create a promotional piece about their new productivity app. Her boss, David, initially only offers vague instructions: “Get the word out there, Aisha! Make it exciting!”
As she sits down to plan, Aisha realizes she needs to clarify a few things before she starts creating. She heads to David’s office for a quick meeting.
“David, about this promo piece… to make sure I’m on the right track, can you help me figure out some specifics?”
“Sure thing, Aisha,” he replies. “What do you need?”
“First, what genre are we thinking? Should this be a blog post, a social media campaign, a video explainer, or something else entirely?”
David thinks for a moment. “You know, a video explainer would be great! Short, snappy, gets the point across.”
“Okay, great! Now, what about the medium? Should we create a high-definition video for our website, or maybe a simpler animated video for social media?”
“Let’s go for high-definition. We want to showcase how sleek and user-friendly the app is.”
“Perfect. So I’m thinking that the platform we will use to distribute this will be our website. We can also post high-def videos to our business profiles on YouTube and LinkedIn. These also provide low-res options which will help accessibility.”
“Excellent point, Aisha,” David beams. “I hadn’t thought about that. But what about email to clients and other social media platforms? Won’t high def videos be too big?”
Aisha thinks for a second before responding. “For email,” she begins, “we can share a thumbnail image with a link to the video. For social media accounts, we can also export lower resolution videos.”
“Hot diggity, Aisha – that sounds perfect!”
—
Aisha leaves David’s office with a clear understanding of her task. By determining the genre, medium, and platform, she can now create a targeted and effective promotional piece for the new app.
If we were to break this down into a rubric, we might come up with something like this:
| Question | Genre | Medium | Platform |
| What type of content will best showcase the app and its features? What is the purpose of this promotional piece? What kind of tone and style should it have? | Video explainer | N/A – Medium is not relevant to the type of content, but rather its format. | N/A – Platform is about distribution, not the content itself. |
| What format will be most engaging and effective for our target audience? What level of visual quality do we need? What are our production resource constraints? | N/A – Genre is about the type of content, not its format. | High-definition video | N/A – Platform is about where content is shared, not the format of the content. |
| Where does our target audience spend their time online? What platforms will give us the best reach? What are the best platforms for sharing high-definition video content? | N/A – Genre is about the type of content, not its distribution. | N/A – Medium is about the format of the content, not its distribution. | Website, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram |
GAI USAGE
This scenario and chart were generated by Google Gemini, a generative AI platform, and then edited by me. How do you think I used GAI to create these? What prompts do you think I used? Can you identify what edits I made to the scenario? What skills did I need to accomplish this?
