Writing Business Messages By: Kalgi Shah 1834 Prerna Gupta 1816 Hetal Solanki 1841 Dipak Hadiya 1817 Imtiyaaz Gogda 1814

Three-Step Writing Process Planning Writing Completing

Flow of the Presentation Adapting to the audience Being sensitive to the audience needs Building strong relationships with the audience Controlling our style and tone Composing our message Choosing strong words Creating Effective statements Creating coherent paragraphs

Adapting to the audience Audiences want to know what is their benefit in the message. We will be able to write most persuasively if we know our audience and their expectations and if we organize our message to address their needs. Thus message should be composed in a way which shows: Sensitivity, Strong Relationship and Our appropriate style and tone.

Being Sensitive to audience needs Adopt a “you” attitude Demonstrate business etiquette Emphasize the positive Use bias-free language

The “YOU” Attitude Speaking and writing in terms of audience’s wishes, interests, hopes and preferences. Replace I, me, mine, us by you and yours. I, me Selfishness or Disinterest You, Yours Empathy

Contd… For Example: Instead of this: “To help us process this order, we must ask another copy of the requisition.” Use this: “So that your order can be filled promptly, please send us another copy of requisition.”

Business Etiquette Practice courtesy to show consideration and create a suitable environment for communication. Be diplomatic to communicate calmly and politely. Respond promptly to avoid miscommunication.

Contd… For Example: Instead of this “Because of your incompetent working we lost an order.” Use this : “Lets go over what went wrong with the last order so that we can avoid future mistakes.”

Emphasize the Positive While communicating bad news the difference between delivering bad news and being negative should be understood. Elaborate the positive points when communicating bad news. Using Euphemisms. For Example: failing – underperforming elderly – senior citizens

Bias-Free Language Avoid age, gender, racial and disability biases which might offend the audience. Example: Not: Connie Green performed the job well for her age. But: Connie Green performed the job well.

Building a strong Relationship Establish your credibility Projecting the company’s image

Establishing Credibility Honesty and objectivity: Tell truth to gain trust and respect. Awareness of audience needs Credentials, knowledge, expertise: Let the audience be aware of your credentials to gain faith. Endorsements Performance Communication style Your audience's response to every message you send depends heavily on their perception of your credibility, a measure of your believability based on how reliable you are and how much trust you evoke in others. With colleagues and long-term customers, you've already established some degree of credibility based on past communication efforts, and these people automatically lean toward accepting each new message from you because you haven't let them down in the past. With audiences who don't know you, however, you need to establish credibility before they'll listen fully to your message. Whether you're working to build credibility with a new audience, to maintain credibility with an existing audience, or even to restore credibility after a mistake, consider emphasizing the following characteristics: Honesty. Demonstrating honesty and integrity will earn you the respect of your colleagues and the trust of everyone you communicate with, even if they don't always agree with or welcome the messages you have to deliver. Objectivity. Audiences appreciate the ability to distance yourself from emotional situations and to look at all sides of an issue. They want to believe that you have their interests in mind, not just your own. Awareness of audience needs. Let your audience know that you understand what's important to them. If you've done a thorough audience analysis, you'll know what your audience cares about and their specific issues and concerns in a particular situation. Credentials, knowledge, and expertise. Every audience wants to be assured that the messages they receive come from people who know what they're talking about. To establish credibility with a new audience, put yourself in their shoes and identify the credentials that would be most important to them. Endorsements. If your audience doesn't know anything about you, you might be able to get assistance from someone they do know and trust. Performance. It's easy to say you can do something, but following through can be much harder. That’s why demonstrating impressive communication skills is not enough; people need to know they can count on you to get the job done. Communication style. If you support your points with evidence that can be confirmed through observation, research, experimentation, or measurement, audience members will recognize that you have the facts, and they'll respect you.

Projecting the Company’s Image When communicating with outsiders one acts as a spokesperson for his or her company. Hence a company’s interests and reputation take precedence over one’s personal communication style.

Controlling Style and Tone Tone in writing refers to the writer's attitude toward the reader and the subject of the message. Style is the way words are used to achieve a certain tone or overall impression. Use a conversational tone Write in plain English Select active or passive voice

Conversational Tone Tone ranges from informal-conversational-formal. For business messages conversational tone is appropriate. Ways to achieve conversational tone are: Avoid using pompous language Avoid preaching or bragging Control emotions and intimacy Use humor carefully

Using Plain English Straightforward Easy to understand Conversational

What happens here?

Contd… Instead of this Use this Subsequent to the passage of the subject legislation, it is incumbent upon you to advise your organization to comply with it. After the law passes, you must tell your people to comply with it.

Choosing the Right Voice Active voice Subject + verb + object Less Formal and easy to understand. Passive voice Object + verb + subject Unnecessarily vague and can make sentences longer.

Passive Voice Active: You are past due on your registration payment. Passive voice gives the advantage of being diplomatic, leaves the actor out of the statement and avoids usage of personal pronouns to create an objective tone. It can be less confrontational as for e.g.: Active: You are past due on your registration payment. Passive: Your registration payment is past due.

Composing Message Choosing Strong words Creating Effective Statements Crafting Coherent paragraphs

Choosing Strong words Correct grammar Effectiveness Example: “In view of the fact that the model failed during the time that we tested it, we are at this point in time searching for other options.” This can be simplified as “ As the model failed we are searching for other options.”

Using Functional and Content words Functional words: Have only one meaning. Content words: Multidimensional and subject to various interpretations. Denotative meaning: Literal or dictionary meaning. Connotative meaning: Includes association and feeling invoked by the word. Abstract word: Expresses characteristic. Concrete word: Used for real things.

Finding Words that Communicate Choose powerful words Prefer familiar words Avoid clichés Use jargon carefully

Writing Effective Sentences Types of sentences Simple Compound Complex Compound-complex

Is it effective?

Writing Coherent Paragraphs Paragraph elements Topic sentence Support sentences Transitional Elements

Effective Transitions Additional Detail Causal Relationship Comparison Contrast Illustration Time Sequence Summary Moreover, furthermore, in addition Therefore, because, since, thus Similarly, likewise, still, in comparison Whereas, conversely, yet, however For example, in particular, in this case Formerly, after, meanwhile, sometimes In brief, in short, to sum up

Paragraph Development Illustration Comparison and contrast Cause and effect Classification Problem and solution

Composing E-Mail Keep content appropriate Avoid personal messages Respect the chain of command Promote e-mail hygiene Don’t send unnecessary messages Avoid insensitive, insulting e-mail

Arranging E-Mail Arranging Include the original question State the desired response Write a concise message

Adapting E-Mail Level of formality Audience Purpose Informative subject line Personalized message

Formatting E-Mail Prefer basic formatting Use proper capitalization Minimize acronyms Avoid emoticons

Example of Ineffective E-Mail Subject: Travel Site Deepa, We called the HD because when we clicked on the travel site we got a funny error message. Not sure what is going on. We don't have this problem.  I'm getting calls from clients. They want something done about it. RAJEEV

I bet you will figure this out. This is the error message Subject:  Need Help >>> Travel Site dead ______________________ Hi Deepa,   I left you a voicemail. I bet you will figure this out. This is the error message when you click on "Travel" on the home page: ASP error, line 205, no find match: 456XXpp35, SQL error: 456DD. Please take a quick look and give me a ring. Many thanks.  Rajeev phone: 2-5533

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