Writing Business Messages

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Writing Business Messages
Guffey text Ch 5-6 and Thill Bovee Ch 4-5
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Business Writing -Discussion

• Communication Matters,Word Crunching
• What did you find most interesting, surprising,
  or unbelievable in this article?

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Business Writing Is . . .

• Purposeful. Solves problems and conveys
  information.
• Economical. Is concise.
• Reader-oriented. Focuses on receiver, not
  sender.

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Business Communication Formula for Success

• Know
• Yourself
• Audience
• Material

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The 3-x-3 Writing Process

• Phase 1 Prewriting
• Analyzing, anticipating, adapting
• Phase 2 Writing
• Researching, organizing, composing
• Phase 3 Revising
• Revising, proofreading, evaluating

4-3
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Phase I Prewriting
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Analyzing and Anticipating

• Define your purpose
• general
• specific
• Anticipate the audience
• Audience Analysis
• Adapt the task to the audience

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Discussion

• How is it possible to profile or visualize an
  audience if you dont know the people who will
  receive a letter or who will hear your
  presentation?

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Define Your Purpose

• General purpose
• Inform
• Persuade
• Collaborate
• Which gives the audience the most participation?
  
• Which gives the author the most control?

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Define Your Purpose

• Specific purpose
• Clear and straightforward
• Encompassing
• To define, ask what your audience should do or
  think after receiving your message

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Anticipate the Audience

• See Website

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Adapt the Task to the Audience

• Spotlight receiver benefits
• Use sensitive language avoiding bias
• Adapt your tone, use the You view

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Adapt the Task to the Audience

• Be precise
• fax me, not contact me.
• Use vigorous words
• to identify, diagnose, analyze, examine, not to
  think about
• Express thoughts positively
• you may park in Lot 1, not you cannot park in Lot
  2.

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Adapt the Task to the Audience

• Use familiar words
• salary, not remuneration.
• Avoid hidden negative messages
• You do not understand . . .You are not very
  bright.
• Your delay . . .You are at fault.
• You forgot to . . .You are not only inefficient
  but also stupid and careless.

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Document for Analysis

• TO All Employees Using HP 500 Computers
• It has recently come to my attention that a
  computer security problem exists within our
  organization. I understand that the problem is
  two-fold in nature
• You have been sharing computer passwords
• You are using automatic log-on procedures
• Henceforth, you are prohibited from sharing
  passwords for security reasons that should be
  axiomatic. We also must forbid you to use
  automatic log-on files because they empower
  anyone to have access to our entire computer
  system and all company data.
• Enclosed please find a form that you must sign
  and return to the aforementioned individual,
  indicating your acknowledgement of and
  acquiescence to the procedures described here.
  Any computer user whose signed form is not
  returned will have his personal password
  invalidated.

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Document for Analysis - Revision
TO All Employees Using HP 500 Computers Your
cooperation is urgently needed in solving a
serious computer security problem. To enable you
to keep your files and those of the entire
company secure, please follow these two
actions 1. Keep your password private. Please
do not share it with
anyone. 2. Log-on to the computer manually.
Avoid using automatic log-on
procedures. By refusing to share your password,
you prevent intrusion into your private files.
Automatic log-on procedures are also dangerous.
Although they seem to save time, they give anyone
access to the entire computer system -- even
those without prior knowledge of your
password. Please sign the attached form and
return it to me indicating that you are aware of
this urgent problem and are willing to follow the
two actions described above.
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End
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