Although parallelism sounds as if it might be a gymnastic feat, it is a writing technique that involves skillful, balanced writing. Sentences written so that their parts are balanced or parallel are easy to read and understand. Parallelism satisfies our basic love of symmetry. We remember expressions such as of the people, by the people, for the people and Seeing is believing (not Seeing is to believe).

To achieve parallel construction, use similar structures to express similar ideas. For example, the words computing, recording, and storing are parallel because the words all end in ­–ing. To express the list as computing, recording, and storage is disturbing because the last item is not what the reader expects. Try to match nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, and clauses with clauses. Avoid mixing active-voice verbs with passive-voice verbs. Your goal is to keep the wording balanced when expressing similar ideas.

Improve the following sentences by perfecting opportunities for parallelism.

1. My boss is well-informed, witty, and she is fair.
2. Business messages must be concise, correct, and written with clarity.
3. In preparing to write a business report, you should determine the report purpose, identify the relevant issues, and then information must be collected.
4. Good listeners do the following: (a) They usually stop talking, (b) Remove distractions (c) Questions are asked but they must be relevant.
5. Guidelines for improving workplace safety include changing locks before moving into a new office, interior lights should be left on even when the business is closed, and fire exits must always be kept unlocked.
6. Not only do we design and support your new wireless network, but also troubleshooting and free consulting are provided by us.
7. The most important considerations for today’s job candidates are the salary, the environment of work, and candidates give special consideration to career advancement opportunities.
8. This week’s program is all about money—earning it, investing it, and how you will spend it!
9. A high-powered MBA costs hundreds of dollars an hour. Our program covers the same sage advice (a) Starting a business (b) You will learn information about writing a business plan and understanding taxes (c) How to write a marketing feasibility study (d) Employment benefits plans and licensing requirements are studied.
10. Not only were the training sessions stimulating, but also they were a challenge.
11. The proposal will elaborate on (a) dealing with the public, (b) how to obtain corporate contributions, and (c) the timing of a marketing campaign.
12. One way small businesses can attract talented employees is to provide opportunities to telecommute, working in virtual teams, and encourage employees to collaborate online.
13. Classes will be available in training for strength, being flexible, reduction of stress, and aerobic/cardiovascular conditioning.
14. We have hired a consultant to help managers stay on track with the new organizational plan, team resources must be developed, and they will monitor customer feedback.
15. [Convert to a vertical list.]  To make a YouTube video you should first obtain a video recording device such as a cell phone, webcam, or camcorder. The most popular YouTube videos are video blogs, comedy skits, how-to videos, and travel videos. Decide what you want to make. Remember that your video must be 10 minutes or less for traditional YouTube membership accounts. You will want to create a video with good light quality, and that usually means daytime recording. Finally, be sure to use computer editing software to change or delete anything.

Polishing Parallelism Exercise

Key-Polishing Parallelism