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Chapter 14 Sharing Informative and Positive Messages   Subject Lines   Managing Information   Audience Benefits   Ending   Varieties   Overview   Purposes   Information Overload   Common Media   Organization

Informative and Positive Messages  Informative message - receiver’s reaction neutral  Positive message - receiver’s reaction positive  Neither message immediately asks receiver to do anything Good news! 14-3

Primary Purposes  To give information or good news to audience  To have receiver view information positively 14-4

Secondary Purposes  To build good image of sender  To build good image of sender’s organization  To build good relationship between sender and receiver  To deemphasize any negative elements  To eliminate future messages on same subject 14-5

Information Overload  Employees are bombarded with junk mail, sales calls, spam, and other ads  Even routine communications are becoming overwhelming WARNING: Protect your communication reputation! 14-6

Common Media: Face-to-Face Contact  Use face-to-face contact to  Visit a colleague  Build a business relationship  Save multiple calls or s  Engage in dialogue or negotiation  Acquire something immediately  Avoid leaving a paper trail  Increase visual and aural cues 14-7

Common Media: Phone Calls  Use phone calls to  Convey appropriate tone  Save multiple phone calls or s  Acquire something immediately  Avoid leaving a paper trail 14-8

Common Media: Instant Messages and Text Messages  Use IMs and TMs to  Be less intrusive (than visit or phone call)  Ask questions on tasks that fellow colleagues are working on  Leave a communication trail 14-9

Common Media: Letters/Memos  Use letters to  Send messages to people outside your organization  Use memos to  Send messages to people within your organization External Internal 14-10

Common Media:  Use to  Accomplish routine business activities  Save time  Save money  Allow readers to deal with messages at their convenience  Communicate accurately  Provide details for reference  Create a paper trail 14-11

Organization  Start with good news or the most important information  Clarify with details, background  Present any negative points positively  Explain any benefits  Use a goodwill ending  Positive  Personal  Forward-looking 14-12

Subject Lines  Serves three purposes  Aids in filing, retrieving  Tells readers why they should read  Sets up message Subject: New Smoking Policy 14-13

Subject Lines, continued…  Specific  Differentiate message from others on same topic  Concise  Usually less than 35 characters  Appropriate for the pattern of message  Must meet situation and purpose 14-14

Subject Lines—  Specific, concise, and catchy  Include important information/good news  Name drop to make connection  Make sound easy to deal with  Create new subject line for reply when  Original becomes irrelevant  Re: Re: Re: Re: appears 14-15

Managing Information in s  Give audience information they need  Consider your purpose  Develop a system that lets people know what is new if you send out regular messages  Use headings and bullets in long s 14-16

Managing Information in , continued…  Put the most vital information in s, even if you send an attachment  Check message for accuracy and completeness  Remember s are public documents 14-17

Audience Benefits  Use audience benefits when  Presenting policies  Shaping audience’s attitudes  Stressing benefits presents the audience’s motives positively  Introducing benefits that may not be obvious 14-18

Audience Benefits, continued…  Omit benefits when  Presenting factual information ONLY  Considering audience’s attitude toward information does not matter  Stressing benefits makes audience seem selfish  Restating them may insult audience’s intelligence 14-19

Ending  Not all messages end same way  Goodwill ending – focuses on bond between reader, writer  Treats reader as individual  Contains you-attitude, positive emphasis  Omits standard invitation  Ex: If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call

Varieties: Transmittals  Tell reader what you're sending  Summarize main points  Give details to help reader grasp message  Tell reader what will happen next 14-21

Varieties: Summaries  Conversation summary (internal use)  Identify…  People who were present  Topic of discussion  Decisions made  Who does what next 14-22

Varieties: Summaries, continued…  Document summary  Start with main point  Give supporting evidence or details  Evaluate document if audience wants such advice 14-23

Summaries, continued…  Client / customer visit summary 1.Put main point (in your company’s view) in first ¶ 2.Use umbrella paragraph; name points 3.Give details to support your conclusions; use lists, headings to make structure clear 14-24

Varieties: Thank-You Notes  Make people willing to help you later  May be short; must be prompt  Must be specific to seem sincere 14-25

Varieties: Positive Responses to Complaints  Mention rectification in first sentence  Don’t talk about decision making process  Don’t say anything that sounds grudging  Give reasons for mistake only if it reflects responsibly on the company 14-26