In the competitive era of business today it is imperative that all your written work be accurate and concise. Be it’s sales letters, brochures, newsletters, or daily correspondence,clients and prospects will measure your company’s professionalism by the quality ofyour marketing material.

• Keep your writing simple and easy to read.

• Vary sentence length and arrangement.

• Use active voice whenever possible. A passive voice slows the pace and the reader.

Active voice: Our Company produces ten thousand widgets each month.

Passive voice: Ten thousand widgets are produced each month by our company.

• Use positive statements.

Positive: As a leader in total home security, Trusty Alarms can protect your investment.

Negative: No other security company can protect your investment like T rusty Alarms.

• Keep verb tenses consistent and understandable.

Common verb tense errors:

I should have went to their office yesterday. [should have gone]

The dog has bit the boy seriously. [has bitten]

• Use strong nouns and verbs to eradicate as many adjectives and adverbs as possible.

• Write to “express,” not “impress” the reader. If the right word is long, use it, but if a shorter word will do, use the shorter word.

• Ensure that your words can’t be misinterpreted; e.g., the senior citizens were reluctant to book their holiday to the “hot” destination described by the travel agent.

• Get to the point and finish.

• Never state the obvious as it wastes words; e.g., never begin a sentence with “I am writing you…” of course you are, start right in.

• Avoid wishy-washy openings; e.g., Do you like…

• Avoid clichés. Tired expressions such as “a good time was had by all” are annoying and lack creativity.

• Write the way you talk. Keep the tone conversational, but grammatical.

• Read everything out loud. If you stumble over a word or phrase – revise it.

• Proofread for spelling and grammatical errors.

Ananda in the Himalayas
Uttaranchal, India

The location: This 100-acre estate in the foothills of the Himalayas, formerly home to the Maharajah of Tehri-Garhwal, is set at 3,000 feet and has sweeping views over the Ganges River and the nearby temple villages of Rishikesh and Haridwar. The facilities include a 21,000-square-foot spa, several meditation and yoga pavilions set among gardens, and the former maharajah’s palace—which now houses an elegant tea lounge and an antique billiards room.

The practice: One-on-one guided meditation sessions tailored to each guests’s individual needs. Sessions can incorporate Buddhist teachings or yogic breathing techniques, can be conducted indoors or out, and can last from an hour to an entire morning or afternoon at a stretch.

The accommodations: 78 posh rooms, suites, and villas with huge windows for taking in the mountain views (and, unusually for retreat destinations, minibars and televisions).

Be mindful: A not-especially-spiritual crowd frequents Ananda. Although serious peace-seekers will find what they want here, they’ll also be rubbing shoulders with jet-setting comfort hounds.

Shambhala Mountain Center
Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

The location: The 600 pristine acres of Shambhala spread across a Rocky Mountain valley in the northern part of Colorado. The property includes extensive botanical gardens, a bird sanctuary, several spacious meditation halls, and, most dramatically, the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, a traditional spired Buddhist shrine.

The practice: Buddhist meditation in a variety of forms. The program offerings at Shambhala range from week-long “Learn to Meditiate” retreats to multi-week intensive study for advanced practitioners; there are also specialized workshops for children, painters, and writers, and those who prefer to combine meditation with activities like canoeing and hiking.

The accommodations: 65 elegant, clean-lined single and double rooms, some of which have shared bathrooms. Single-sex dormitory-style rooms, and in the summer, platform tents with shared bathhouses, are also available.

Be mindful: The staff at Shambhala also leads “Sacred Journeys” several times a year in places like Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia.

The Middle Way Meditation Retreat
Loei, Thailand

The location: A compound surrounded by rolling green hills and lush tropical forest in northeastern Thailand (adjacent to Phu Ruea National Park, where the woodland-covered mountains are crisscrossed with hiking trails). The property encompasses several indoor and outdoor meditation spaces, waterfall-fed gardens, and an outdoor dining pavilion.

The practice: Dhammakaya meditation, a form of Tibetan Buddhist practice that focuses on the center of the body as both an energy center and a gateway to higher consciousness.

The accommodations: A cluster of spartan but immaculate wooden bungalows, with separate shared bathhouses. Fraternizing between sexes is discouraged, so men’s and women’s ungalows are in different areas.

Be mindful: Guests are expected to refrain from all destructive behavior while on the retreat, including telling lies and killing any living creature (including mosquitoes).

White Cloud Sanctuary
Santa Ana, Costa Rica

The location: Just west of San José in central Costa Rica, on a jungle mountainside that feels a world away from civilization. The 13-acre property includes a small organic vegetable farm; several outdoor practice areas; mango, banana, and papaya trees (which guests can pick from as they like); and lots of friendly resident animals, including horses, goats, ducks, and rabbits.

The practice: Only one guest at a time can stay at White Cloud, which allows for intense individual study in Tai Chi and QiGong—Chinese meditation-in-movement practices. Retreat participants adhere to a daily schedule of guided sessions and quiet seated meditation.

The accommodations: A one-person tile-roofed casita, set at the very top of the property and with glorious mountain views. It includes a single bed, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living area where, oddly, you can plug in your laptop.

Be mindful: The lodging rates don’t include meals, although meal-plan options can be arranged.

Osho Meditation Resort
Pune, India

The location: A slick, modern 40-acre “campus” just outside Mumbai that includes extensive, manicured Zen gardens, a soaring meditation auditorium, seminar spaces set inside a complex of black space-age pyramids, and a few other very unorthodox amenities: tennis courts, a nightclub, and a mini-mall.

The practice: “Active meditations” are the signatures at Osho. Although traditional silent, seated sessions are practiced here, they’re interspersed with meditative dancing, whirling, vocalizing, and power-breathing.

The accommodations: The Osho Guesthouse’s 60 minimalist-chic double rooms could easily be mistaken for W Hotel accommodations—that is, without the TVs.

Be mindful: All guests at Osho must wear dark red robes during meditation sessions. This has to do with the belief of the resort’s founder (also named Osho) that “the color maroon, when worn by many people meditating together, adds to the collective meditative energy.”