We hear a lot about style. People say, “when will I find my style? How can I develop a style?” They think style is something they can go down to the mall and buy at the style store and 1)drape on their words. There is no style store. Style can't exist separately from who you are. Your style is you. When we say we like a writer’s style, what we mean is that we like the writer's personality as he or she projects it on paper. We like the person. All writing is a journey. You the writer, are asking somebody to go on a trip with you, whether you're writing a book or an article or a business letter or a memo or a marketing analysis, whatever. If it's a memo, you are asking somebody to come along on a trip in which you present your ideas on how you think something should be done and you hope the reader will find the trip clear and interesting and enjoyable. The way to make it enjoyable is to sound like who you are, not to be ornate or pretentious. Don't ever try in your writing to be someone you're not. How you write is how you define yourself.
So, if your style is not true to who you are, you're violating not just your writing, you're violating yourself. If what you write is 2)stiff and 3)pompous, that's how you'll be perceived. The reader has no other choice. If you're the head of a company and what you write is stiff and pompous, that's how your company will be perceived. The customer has no other choice. Think of all the times when a piece of writing is your only chance to introduce yourself to someone whose business or money or goodwill or affection or trust you want. Don't blow that chance. Don't 4)squander your best asset, which is yourself. Whenever you write anything, however anxious you may be that you won't get it right, remember your humanity and you really can’t go wrong.