Professional Communication: The Corporate Insider

1
Professional Communication The Corporate
Insiders Approach

• Chapter Twelve
• Business Letters Reasserting Our Innate
  Linguistic and Decision-Making Abilities

2
A Little History

• 12th CenturyDictamin
• 15th and 16th CenturiesFormularies and
  letter-writers
• 19th CenturyFocus on personal letters expands to
  include business letters
• 20th CenturyBusiness communication becomes a
  subject

3
Business English

• George Burton Hotchkiss and Business English
• Know people and the way their minds act
• Gain a facility with technique of language
• Appreciate basic patterns and models

4
The Problem with Models

• Lose the opportunity to put our personal stamp on
  our letters
• Treat demands and audiences as part of a
  predictable equation
• Models themselves have faults
• Cannot identify and categorize all purposes

5
Some Uses of Business Letters

• Inquiries
• Requests
• Favorable replies
• Orders
• Claims
• Applications
• Refused requests

• Refused adjustments
• Collection
• Credit reports
• Back and incomplete orders

6
Results of Politeness and Indirectness

• Indirectness
• Evasion
• Distortion
• Denial
• Deceit

7
Where the Model Goes Wrong

• Misunderstanding the business audience
• Mischaracterizing the business circumstance
• Misrepresenting the business purpose

8
How We ThinkDeweys Insights
Locate and define the problem
Analyze the problem
Establish goals or criteria for preferred solution
Select the best solution
Implement
9
The Motivated Sequence
Attention StepPrincipal topic
Need StepWhat is the problem and scope
Satisfaction StepWhat needs to be done
Visualization StepWhat happens if plan isnt used what benefits occur if plan is used
Action StepWhat the vendor has to do
10
Demonstrating Politeness

• Maintain an appropriate level of formality
• Limit the distribution to essential recipients
• Respond quickly to incoming correspondence
• Look for means to personalize your correspondence

11
Business LettersThe Lessons

• Primary UsesEstablish/maintain contractual
  relationship internal communication demanding
  formal documentation
• StyleStandard format formal and businesslike
• DistributionLimited to specific, essential
  recipients
• PermanenceRetained in corporate archives

12
Business LettersThe Lessons

• AccountabilityPerson who signed the letter
  letterhead obligates corporation
• Response ExpectedConsistent with type of letter
  and business process
• BreadthAddresses specific subject
• Review/ApprovalFormal review to ensure
  consistent position
• AuthorshipFunction of ones corporate role

13
Business LettersThe Lessons

• Associated Risks
• Making inappropriate commitments
• Appearing to manipulate the reader
• Appearing the evade the reader
• Failure to communicate a sense of interest in the
  reader