Your college professors don’t have much time to give you writing tips. But when they do, they emphasize one main point: “Pay attention to the thesis statement. It’s what defines your paper. It’s what makes it successful or brings it to failure. This skill is important for your career, too.”
Well, they might not say those exact words, but more or less, that’s what they will tell you.
The thesis statement is what makes or breaks a paper.
But what does it have to do with your career?
You want to start your own company in the future. You want your business to thrive and you’re willing to learn anything that would help you on that journey. But writing an essay in college? How is that connected?
Your thesis writing skills are more important than you assume. We’ll discuss that connection, so you may end up more inspired to write a thesis statement after reading this article.
HOW THESIS WRITING IS IMPORTANT FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Maybe you have plans to become a successful entrepreneur or you already are. If that’s the case, then you surely know that you’ll be writing things on a daily basis. Emails, business reports, presentations, recommendations, reminders, blog posts… you name it. If you get really successful, you’ll want to write a book at one point or another.
These types of content are not even similar to academic writing, but knowing how to write a thesis statement makes you better at writing anything.
1. THE THESIS STATEMENT IS IN THE PAPER’S INTRO, SO IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO GET TO THE POINT
When you’re working on a persuasive paper, the introduction should grab the reader’s attention from the very first sentence. It should provide some background on the topic, so the reader will understand what you’re talking about. At the end of the introduction, you’ll expose this statement, which is the main point of your entire paper.
This method works very well in business writing. It trains you to stay away from digressions. It teaches you to make a point right away, so you won’t leave the reader wondering what you’re talking about.
When you write emails, blog posts, or anything else as an entrepreneur, that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.
2. IT SHOWS YOUR OPINION
In academic writing, you use various sources of information to support and prove your stance. The thesis statement, however, is completely based on your own opinions. It shows how you interpret the matter of discussion. It shows that you’ve been thinking about this issue and you’ve come down to your own conclusions, which you’re going to prove in the continuation of the content.
This is a standard requirement for essays, but it’s also very effective in business writing. Every entrepreneur needs to show their uniqueness. The process of academic writing trains you for that challenge.
3. PERSUASION IS THE MAIN FOCUS
When we’re talking about persuasive writing skills, we’re practically talking about the thesis statement. It’s the foundation of the discussion, so it has to be persuasive enough to start with.
This statement will show your dominant idea. It’s not a mere fact or observation that’s obvious. It’s your conclusion drawn from facts and observations. If, for example, you want to write about people using shampoo to wash their dogs in the lake, you won’t just expose that fact. You’ll write a statement like “People are poisoning the fish in the water merely to keep their dogs clean.”
Then, you’ll expose the facts that prove that point of view. By the end of this paper, the reader should be persuaded to at least consider what you’ve said.
When you’re writing business proposals, you’ll be doing the same thing. You’ll be trying to persuade the readers to consider your proposal as valid.
4. IT TEACHES YOU TO BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC
The thesis statement shouldn’t be too general. Your professors will ask you to narrow down the topic, so you’ll come to a very specific claim that enables you to write a focused discussion. You’re not just skimming the surface; you’re getting into the very essence of a particular issue.
In addition, this statement has to be as clear as possible. You want to make sure the reader understands your point, so you’ll be using simple expressions to capture even the most complex ideas. That’s exactly what entrepreneurs do, too!
Business writing is characterized by clarity, focus, and specificity. Practicing academic writing takes you there.
ENTREPRENEURS NEED TO KNOW HOW TO WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT
Can someone become a successful entrepreneur without having an idea about thesis statements? Sure! But will that someone become better at some aspects of their work once they master this skill? Of course!
The thesis statement is clear, concise, and convincing. It’s the style of writing an entrepreneur has to master if they want to become more convincing.