1. Determine Objectives of Letter, Memo or E-mail Chapter 18

2. Forms of Correspondence You write letters primarily to communicate with people outside your organization, or to handle confidential matters inside organizations (personnel, salary issues etc). You write memos to communicate with people within your organization. You use e-mail to correspond with people inside or outside your organization. E-mails are faster, more convenient, saves organization money and offers flexibility.

3. Determine Objective Determine the objective of your letter, memo or e-mail. – Do you want readers to take an action, give information, get information etc. What action do you want readers to take after reading the correspondence. – The writer assumes that readers will know what to do.

4. Find out about your Readers Effective letters, memos and e-mails are: Reader Oriented Helpful Tactful Who will read the correspondence? Will more than one people read it? What are the reader’s position and responsibilities? How might their positions and responsibilities affect how they perceive your message? If the readers are external, what is their relationship to you and your organization? How will this relationship affect how they perceive your message? What do the readers know about the subject of the correspondence?

5. The Indirect Approach In this approach you delay or buffer the main message until you have graciously opened the letter and explained the message. In the 1 st Paragraph: Begin with a buffer ( a positive or neutral statement) – This will help readers better receive the message if the message is negative. In the middle paragraph: Explain and then state the message. In the final paragraph: Close the correspondence. Page 570 and 571.

6. Use a Reader-Oriented Tone Create a tactful and positive tone for your readers. Don’t be blunt or rude. Ask yourself how readers will respond to your message. Readers will want to know how a message will affect them and not how it will affect the reader. See Example of Positive / Negative Tone on Page 568.

7. Determine the Most Effective Approach Direct Approach In the first paragraph: Present the main message In the middle paragraph: Explain the main message In the final paragraph: Close the correspondence with a positive tone. Figure 18.7 on page 569.

8. Use an Appropriate Format The three basic formats for letters are: BLOCK STYLE MODIFIED BLOCK STYLE AMS SIMPLIFIED STYLE Page 575-579