1. Effective & Appropriate Business Communication

2. What is Communication?
The exchange of information between sender and receiver. Without a sender and a receiver there is no communication.
Sender
Receiver

3. Communication Skills
Basic skills are tools for getting information and sharing ideas. These skills are:
Speaking
Listening
Reading and
Writing

4. Speaking
Speaking is important; when you speak, you want your listeners to get your point.
You need to have a clear idea of your:
Purpose – goal/reason for speaking
Audience – the person or group to whom you are speaking.
Subject – Your main topic or key idea when you speak.

5. Tips For Good Speaking Habits
Connect With Your Audience –
Make eye contact with your listeners.
Address people by name if possible
Match Your Body Language to Your Message –
Check your Posture and facial expressions
Use appropriate gestures

6. Tips For Good Speaking Habits
Avoid Non-words such as “uh” and “um”
Stress Key Ideas With Inflection
i.e. The pitch or loudness of your voice.
Use Correct Pronunciation
Practice Enunciation
Be Enthusiastic and Positive

7. Listening Listening is the other side of speaking.
We have to practice listening to become effective at it. There are two types of listening:
Active Listening
Passive or Taking Notes

8. Active Listening Signs of Active Listening include:
Responding with full attention.
Focus on main ideas being communicated.
Use body language and facial expressions to respond – sit up straight, lean forward, smile, or nod

9. Listening In The Workplace
Listening is one of the main activities in the workplace. Here are some listening skills you can practice in the classroom that will benefit you on the job.

10. Workplace Listening Skills
Jot down summaries in your own words
Focus on key words and main ideas (do not try to write down everything)
Note actions you need to take
Use bullets (), asterisks (*), and arrows () to show ideas that are related or connected.

11. Workplace Listening Skills
Review your notes fairly soon after you take them to be sure you understand the information.
If you can’t take written notes, make mental notes of important points.

12. Reading and Writing
Is there a day that goes by in school without reading and writing?
Reading and writing are very important basic skills needed in school and in the workplace.

13. Reading Techniques
Preview – read only the parts of a written work that outline or summarize its content. The table of contents is a good example of an outline.
Skimming – When you read through a book or document quickly, pick out main ideas and key points.
Context Clues – are hints about the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases provided by the words surrounding them.

14. Writing Techniques
Organize your writing – write an outline of what you have to say.
Watch your tone – Keep your audience in mind.
Proofread – Use Spell Checker to check for spelling and grammar errors. Have someone check your work with you for any errors.
Edit your work – make changes to your work until your message is clear.
Much of the advice for speaking well also applies to writing well (review slides #21-23).

15. Common Forms Of Business Writing
Memorandums (Memos) – used to communicate with others in the same office (Interoffice Memos) or with people outside the office who work closely with them. Memos are usually:
brief
focus on a limited topic
informal in tone

16. Memorandums In the office today, printed memos are seldom used.
Memos today are primarily either:
Keyed in the body of an message
Sent as an attachment to an message

17. Sample Memorandum (Memo)6X
 TO: All Students
FROM: Your Teacher
 DATE: December 1, 200-
 SUBJECT: MEMORANDUMS
Memorandums, commonly called “Memos” for short are used in many businesspeople to communicate with others in the same office. This form of communication is called Interoffice Memos. Businesspeople also send memos to people outside the office who work closely with them.
Memos are usually brief and focus on a limited topic. They are often fairly informal in tone.
Words such as TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: in a memo are called Headings or Guide Words. A colon follows each heading and they are usually keyed in Double Spaced Lines (DS). Be sure set your margins as follows: Top margin – two (2) inches and all other margins – one (1) inch.
Thank you.
yt (Reference Initials of the FROM person. Key in lower case) B o d y
Headings or Guide Words
Key in ALL CAPS, a COLON after each one then tab once or twice. DS between Headings.
TM: 2 inches
BM, LM, RM – 1 inch
SS within paragraphs
DS between paragraphs.

18. Electronic Mail – Email
The most common form of business communications is to .
is also the fastest way to communicate with other people.

19. Business Letters
A formal method used to communicate with people outside the office such as:
Customers – people who buy products from and/or use the services the business provides.
Suppliers – people and other businesses that supply the goods for another business.
Business letters are usually printed on company letterhead or stationery

20. Sample Business Letter
T& M Office Supplies
23 Main Street*Anytown* NC
Tele: **Fax: **
December 1, 200-
Mary Jones
Manager, Paper R Us
40 Paper R Us Drive,
Paper Town, NC
Dear Mary Jones,
Thank you for sending us samples of your newest style of Post It. We like what we see and are interested placing an order however, we want to clarify the following information: 1). How many Post It is in box? 2). How many different colors can customers get in one box? As soon as we receive a reply from you will will place an order.
Should you have any questions please feel free to contact me via any of the communications methods listed above. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Again, thank you for the new Post It sample.
Sincerely,
Mary Jones, Manager
Enclosure notation
Inside or Letter address
Key current date then QS
Business letterhead (Return address)
TM 1.5”-2” depending on length of the letter
LM, RM, & BM = 1”
Complimentary Close. QS after keying
Writer’s keyed name follows space for writer’s handwritten signature. DS then key Enclosure B o d y

21. Reports Purpose – Address a topic at length.
A possible new project or
An ongoing project.
Reports also describe the results of research.
Key the title centered, in all caps two (2) inches from the top, QS after the title
Key th body in DS