Basic Business Communications Nick Mercuro, Austin Moore, John Skinner

 Know the Purpose and Scope of Your Document  Respond in a Professional and Timely Manner  Identify/Write to Your Audience  Understand the Needs of Your Reader  Organize and Structure Your Document  Identify the Benefits to the Reader  Be Concise  Substantiate your Claims/Clarify Inquiries  Proofread  Be Professional /Use Proper Grammar and Spelling What are the Basic Elements of Professional Writing?

 Before you begin writing, know the purpose for which you are writing and what you want your document to accomplish.  Keep your primary objective in mind (you could even type it at the top of your document and refer to it throughout the writing process and then delete it.  Never ramble or get off point. Know the Purpose and Scope of Your Document

 You are a professional and it is expected that you are up-to-date on all tasks and respond to an issue as soon as possible.  It would make no sense waiting to address and issue or make a statement fifty days after the incident. Respond in a Professional and Timely Manner

 It is important to know who you are writing to so you can establish the correct writing tone.  If you are writing with the intent of selling a product or service to someone or promoting a cause, you may want to ask yourself... -What age are my intended readers? -What’s their background? -Where do they live? -What stage of life are they in? -What are their INTERESTS? -What is important to them? Identify/Write to Your Audience

 Understand what the reader needs or wants from you so you can anticipate and answer questions through your .  Address potential arguments! Understand the Need of Your Reader

 Follow the correct writing format and certain styles of writing whether it be a memo, letter, , resume, report, advertisement, project summary, or other form communication. Organize and Structure Your Document

 Make sure when writing that you explain to the reader how they are benefiting from your information.  It wouldn’t make sense if you wrote a letter and it served no purpose to the reader. Identify the Benefits to the Reader

 Make sure that your writing is tight and on point.  Do not get off topic or ramble.  State your thesis and prove your point in as few words as possible to sure you get your point across. Be Concise

 Make sure what your are saying s accurate and that there are no discrepancies.  You lose all credibility if your facts are false.  Make sure that your facts and information so that there are no confusions. Substantiate your Claims/Clarify Inquiries

 Check your work and make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.  You lose credibility if you are incorrect.  Have some else proofread your work if you are worried you didn’t catch all your mistakes. Proofread

 Letter  Memorandum   Report What are the main types of business Communications?

 A business letter is usually a letter from one company to another, or between such organizations and their customers, clients, and other external parties.  Letters are used for external communication Letter

Format of letter

 Business reports are a type of assignment in which you analyze a situation (either a real situation or a case study) and apply business theories to produce a range of suggestions for improvement.  Business reports are typically assigned to enable you to:  Examine available and potential solutions to a problem, situation, or issue.  Apply business and management theory to a practical situation.  Demonstrate your analytical, reasoning, and evaluation skills in identifying and weighing-up possible solutions and outcomes.  Reach conclusions about a problem or issue.  Provide recommendations for future action.  Show concise and clear communication skills. Report

 Also called memo  It is a note or document that helps with memory by recording events or observations  Used for internal communication Memorandum

 Heading: containing the info from where the memo is coming from and who it is going to.  Subject: brief description on what the memo is about.  Body: contains the valuable information on what you need to remember General Format

 Memo of understanding: describes a bilateral or multilateral agreement between two or more parties  Memo of agreement: a document between parties to cooperate on an agreed on an agreed upon project.  Memo of association: governs the relationship between the company and the outside Various types