 Assignments:  Assignment 4: Positive Message (draft) DUE  Job Package (first draft returned) w/ review  Blog Post:  Give an example of an effective (or ineffective) piece of business communication (written, verbal or otherwise) that you’ve encountered. Don’t just tell what it was, but describe what made it work (or not). Be specific.  New:  Designing Documents  Assignment 8: Designing Flyers & Forms  Assignment 9: Individual Oral Presentation  Assignment 10: Visual Impression Analysis

 Well written, articulate, introspective  Some thoughts…  Paragraph breaks  Proofread…  Myself vs. my self  Apart vs. a part  Altogether vs. all together  Their vs. there vs. they’re

 Move to top  Reverse chronological order  Complete university name, college name(s) (Don’t abbreviate), city, state  Name your degree  Years attended (regardless of degree or not)  Expected graduation date  Major, minor, GPA  Awards? Dean’s List?  Related Coursework w/ proper course titles  “Integrated Communication in Business”

 Use action verbs:  Delegated, Designed, Administered, Produced, etc.  Emphasize results (if possible)  “Increased sales by 13%, Cut costs by $5,000,” etc.  Emphasize Skills (NOT Tasks)  “Provided customer service” vs. “Waited on customers”  “Reconciled cash in excess of $150,000 annually (balanced ±0.01% )” vs. “Ran a cash register”

 Make documents look professional and inviting  Not sparse and thrown together  Make it easy to read  It’s a reflection on you  No “essays” – incomplete sentences in active voice  Begin with active verbs in the correct tense  Directed, managed, coordinated, moved…

 Don’t claim “Attention to detail” unless you can prove it.  Don’t say “Excellent oral and written communication skills” unless yours ARE  Be perfect – proofread(!)  Be specific – set yourself apart from the rest  Make your document look professional, more than just a bulleted list  Use headings  Sweat the details

 Format professionally  Return address  Use paragraphs (intro, body, conclusion)  Correct sentence structure  Match their requirements  Attention-getting; emphasize strongest skills  Bullet points  Closing sentence  Be perfect – proofread  trademarks, capitalization, punctuation, grammar

 Be specific – tell them what you want  Avoid passive language…  Use active voice  Tell them something they DON’T know…  “I am writing this letter in response to…”  “I am writing this letter because I am…”  “I would like to be considered…” Vs.  “Please consider my application…”

 Don’t just say it… PROVE it...  “I know I would be a great asset to your company…”  “I feel like I would be a very good……”  “This would be my dream job…”  …PROVE that you’re qualified  Match your skills to their requirements  Use their words; their description  Be positive  Be confident

 Saves time and money  Reduces legal problems  Builds goodwill  Attractive pages look friendly, aids readability  Grouping ideas shows structure 8-11

 Think about design at each step  As you plan, think about audience ▪ Skilled or busy? ▪ Read straight through or skip around?  As you write, use lists, headings.  Use visuals to convey numerical data clearly  Get feedback from your audience  As you revise, check the design guidelines that follow 8-12

 What are conventions?  Vary widely by audience, geographic area, industry, or department  Change over time  Rarely use Courier typeface anymore  Italicize magazine titles rather than underline  Violating is risky  Presents incorrect interpretations  Signals author is unreliable or unknowledgeable

Color  Use the color wheel to create matching color schemes  Four or Fewer colors  Emotion-Saturation  Dark, desaturated colors = serious and professional  Bright, desaturated colors = friendly and professional  Fully saturated colors to grab attention  Know how people and cultures respond to colors  Treat white as a color, treat black as a color black

Contrast  Use contrasting colors for clarity and visual interest.  Size matters: most important thing biggest and boldest  Typefaces: use different font families (headings vs. text)  Highlighting: use bold, italics sparingly (NOT ALL CAPS)  Overlays: contrast the background with the text significantly to avoid conflicts or visual noise.

Arrangement  Give purpose; show relationships - avoid arbitrary placement or “floating” objects  Alignment: everything on a page should be aligned to something else. Avoid center- alignment  Proximity: Avoid randomizing  Stability: Arrange objects to show stability  Flat and horizontal = stable and calm.  Vertical arrangement can appear more active.  Tilted objects can appear in motion.  Position strategically. Space implies time. Tilted objects imply instability.

Organization  Five ways 1. by location/space, 2. by alphabet, 3. by time/chronology, 4. by category 5. by hierarchy (most important vs least important)  Make text scannable  Rule of Thirds  Bleeds: move edges of objects off the page

Negative Space  1 + 1=3: be aware of the shapes created between objects  Empty Noise: white space (negative space) increases readability “What’s left unsaid, says it all.”  Avoid thin or awkward margins

Typography  Two Fonts Max  Know your font families  Fonts have personality  Apply appropriate font  Avoid default and overused fonts.  Be sure your font is legible  For names, use only very legible fonts.  Readability  Increase readability by increasing line spacing, using legible fonts, shortening line length, and using contrast

Photography  Picture Superiority  Will remember up to 60% more  Resolution NOT pixilated or distorted  Face-ism Ratio  Increase face: personality, intellect.  Increase body: health, vitality  Direction  Faces look toward the inside  Match Photographic Styles

Use these eight guidelines to create visually attractive documents. 1. Use white space 2. Use headings 3. Limit words in all capital letters 4. Use no more than two fonts per document 5. Justify margins selectively 6. Put key items at top left or bottom right 7. Use a grid for graphic unity 8. Use highlighting, decorative devices, and color in moderation 8-21

 A graphic should...  Contribute to overall meaning  Reinforce and supplement written or spoken words  Communicate ideas that cannot be conveyed effectively in written form  Have a simple, effective design that is easy to understand  Depict information honestly

 Introduce graphic, show it, then interpret and analyze  When possible, position graphic immediately following text introducing it  Avoid only restating what graphic shows; instead, interpret based on audience interest

 What is the color of money? Of love? Of the ocean?  In the United States, most people would say… money is green, love is red and the ocean is blue.

 Read: Ch 14: Developing Oral Presentations  (p )  Assignment 8: Designing Flyers & Forms  Final DUE August 10 (no draft)  Assignment 9: Individual Oral Presentation  In Class August 3 & 5  Assignment 10: Visual Impression Analysis  Final DUE August 12 (no draft)  Blog post: Describe how you feel about writing (of any sort). Is it difficult for you? How so? Or does it come easy? Do you enjoy it? Dislike it? What’s your favorite type of writing? (fiction, journaling, nonfiction, etc.) Least favorite? Why?