1. Business Writing By Bal Abdul

2. What are the different types of business writing? When should you write a memo, letter, or an email? When is it appropriate to write each of them? Give examples

3. The subject line The subject line What it is? Why is it so essential?

4. The bad news memo What is a bad news memo? How do you begin and end a bad news memo? What does “sandwiching the bad news” mean? How much information should you include in a memo?.

5. What writing style should you use for writing memos, letters, and email? How formal should your letter, memo, or email be? How should you begin and end the letter, or memo? Can you use contractions in business writing? Can you use slang or jargon in writing? Why is tone important in writing and what kind of tone should you use? How can you make your writing clear and concise?

6. What are the advantages of email Describe the advantages and disadvantages of email over other forms of communication like the telephone or a face to face meeting? When are each of these appropriate?

7. Let us get some practice memo-writing Who would like to put forth an idea for a bad news memo? Let us brainstorm for a topic for a bad news memo and practice writing one for the rest of this seminar.

8. Writing Clear and Concise Sentences

9. A concise sentence contains only the number of words necessary to achieve its meaning or effect.

10. Steps for Writing Concise and Clear Sentences 1. Omit needless words: A sentence should not contain unnecessary words. EX: In this paragraph is a demonstration of the use of good style in the writing a report.

11. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences Revised 1: This paragraph demonstrates good style in report. OR This paragraph demonstrates good style in report writing.

12. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences 2. Omit Redundancy a.Avoid saying the same thing twice. EX 1: Many uneducated citizens who have never attended school continue to vote for better schools. EX 2: I will meet you at 12:00 a.m. midnight.

13. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences 2. Needless Repetition: EX: My favorite picture is a picture of our house in Michigan.

14. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences 3. Reducing Clauses to phrases. EX: Citizens who knew what was going on voted him out of office. 4. Roundabout Phrases. In the reason why is that--------because In the event that-------if During the time that-----while All the time-----always At the present time------now At this point in time-------now On many occasions------often In this modern day and age…….today Because of the fact that-------because Due to the fact------because or since For the purpose----------make a reference to------refer.

15. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences 5. Link sentences through subordination and dependent clauses: 1.Main Clauses: A main Clause contains a complete idea and can stand alone as a sentence. EX: I read my speech at graduation. 2. Dependent Clause: A dependent clause does not contain a complete idea and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. A dependent clause often starts with a subordinating conjunction such as (after, before, since, because, when, while, even, etc.

16. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences When the independent clause comes at the end of the sentence, omit the comma: EX: When I read my speech at graduation, all my family were amazed. When the Independent clause comes at the beginning of the sentence, omit the comma. EX: All my friends and family were amazed when I read my speech at graduation.

17. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences 6. Combine Sentences with conjunctions (and, but, yet, so, or, for). EX: The great American author Mark Twain traveled a lot, but he still made time for his daughter.

18. Steps for Writing Clear and Concise Sentences 7. Use Active Voice: Active voice constructions clearly indicate who performs the action expressed by the verb. In addition, changing from passive to active voice often results in a more concise sentence. EX (Passive Voice---More Wordy): My car is borrowed every Saturday by Gina. EX (Active Voice----Clear and Direct): Gina borrows my car every Saturday.

19. Final Thought-----A Quote A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. “William Strunk”

20. Any remaining questions or concerns? Do you have any remaining questions or concerns as we go forward with this unit?