Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy Essentials of Business Communication 9e © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Chapter 2 Planning Business Messages

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved The Best Business Writing Is…  Purposeful  Persuasive  Economical  Audience oriented Following a process can make you a better writer or speaker. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 2

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved The Writing Process Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 3

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Planning (analyzing the audience, how much does the audience know….)

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 5 Phase 1 of the Writing Process

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Phase 1: Analyzing Analyze your audience and your purpose for writing.  To whom are you writing?  Why are you writing?  What do you hope to achieve?  What channel is best for delivering your message? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 6

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Selecting the Best Channel Text message Social media Instant message Letter/Memo Report Telephone Voice mail Meeting Conversation Web site Blog/Wiki Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 7

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved How to Select the Best Channel  How important is the message?  How much feedback and interactivity are required?  How fast do you need feedback?  Is a permanent record essential?  What is the cost of the channel?  How much formality do you desire?  How confidential or sensitive is the message? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 8

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Phase 1: Anticipating JON FEINGERSH / ICONICA / GETTY IMAGES Anticipate how your audience will react to your message.  What is your reader or listener like?  Will your audience be pleased, neutral, or displeased with your message? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 9

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Profiling the Audience Primary Audience  Who is the primary reader?  What are my personal and professional relationships with that person?  What does the person know about the subject?  What kind of response should I expect? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 10 Secondary Audience  Who else might see or hear this message?  Are they different from the primary audience?  How must I reshape the message for the secondary audience?

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Phase 1: Adapting Create a message that will suit your task and audience.  Spotlight audience benefits.  Cultivate the “you” view.  Sound conversational but professional.  Express yourself positively.  Choose courteous language.  Adopt bias-free language.  Use plain language and familiar words. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 11

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Spotlighting Audience Benefits Focus your statements on the audience, not the sender. Poor: We are adopting a new claim processing procedure that we believe has many outstanding benefits. Improved: You will enjoy the new claim processing procedure that will reduce paperwork and time. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 12

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Cultivating the “You” View Emphasize second-person pronouns (you/your) instead of first-person pronouns (I/we, us, our) Before we can issue your refund, we must wait two weeks to complete our processing. Poor: You will receive your refund in two weeks. Improved: Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 13

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Sounding Conversational but Professional Poor: The undersigned takes pleasure in... It may be of some concern to you to learn that your expense claim has been processed and approved. I’m happy to... Improved: Your expense claim has been processed and approved. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 14

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Expressing Yourself Positively Poor: Employees may not use the break room on the second floor during remodeling. We cannot process your return until you send us the defective product. Employees must use the break room on the third floor during remodeling. Improved: We will process your return as soon as we receive the defective product. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 15

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Choosing Courteous Language Avoid sounding demanding, preachy, or rude. Poor: You must submit your report by July 30. I am sick and tired of being the only one who replaces the paper in the copier! Improved: Will you please submit your report by July 31. Let’s all agree to replace the paper in the copier whenever needed. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 16

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Adopting Bias-Free Language Poor: Have you called a salesman? Every executive has his own office. Have you called a salesperson? Improved:  All executives have their own offices.  Every executive has an office.  All executives have offices.  Every executive has his or her own office. This alternative is wordy and calls attention to itself Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th EditionChapter 2, Slide 17

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Using Plain Language and Familiar Words Will you utilize workbooks during the obligatory training period? We anticipate that a majority of the alternative will be sufficiently fundamental to meet our requirements. Will you use workbooks during the required training period? We expect that most of the choices will be sufficiently basic to meet our needs. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 18 Poor:Improved:

Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy Essentials of Business Communication 9e © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved END