Business Communication

Characteristics of a Good Paragraph:
1.
Unity: Like sentences, paragraph should have unity. The contents of the paragraph should
concern one topic or idea. When the paragraph ends it should give a sense of completion.
2.
Coherence: There is flow from one sentence to another in a good paragraph. Each sentence
should be logically connected with the preceding and the following sentence. There should
be a movement of thoughts from sentence to sentence.
3.
Length: Length of the paragraph should neither be too short nor too long. How long a
paragraph should be depends on its content. Shorter paragraphs are appropriate for messages.
Short paragraph helps the reader to follow the papers organizational plan. In addition, short
paragraphs are more inviting to the eyes. People simply prefer to read materials that give
them frequent break.
However, the break should not be too frequently. A series of very short paragraph gives an
unpleasantly choppy effect.

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Fig. 6.1: Logical Paragraph
4.
The topic sentence: The most efficient way of organizing a paragraph is to use topic
sentences, as the topic sentence expresses the main idea of a paragraph. And the remaining
sentences build around and support it. In sense, the topic sentences serve as a headline for
the paragraph and all the other sentences supply the story.
But not every paragraph must have topic sentences. The topic sentences can come first, can come
last or in the middle depends upon the writer’s plan.
5.
Omitting unnecessary detail: Induce in paragraph only the information needed. What
you need, of course, is a matter of judgement. You can best judge by putting yourself in your
reader’s mindset.
(a) How will be used?
(b) What will be used?
(c) What will not be used?
Then make decisions. If you follow this procedure, you probably will leave out much that you
originally intended to use.
6.4.8
Overall Tone