6.1 to accompany excellence in business communication, 5e, thill and bovée © 2002 prentice-hall...
TRANSCRIPT
6.1
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Chapter 6Completing
Business Messages
6.2
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Chapter 6 Objectives
Explain why revision is so important. Discuss how to write concise
messages. List nine tips for making your writing
clear. Identify seven issues to keep in mind
when critiquing someone else’s writing.
6.3
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Chapter Objectives
Describe five design elements, explaining how they can change a document’s appearance.
Outline some ways that technology helps you produce and distribute messages.
Define the types of errors to look for when proofreading.
continued
6.4
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Moving Beyond Your First Draft
Since the first draft is rarely good enough, you should plan on going over a document at least three times: One pass for content and
organization One pass for style and readability One pass (after producing your
message) for mechanics and format
6.5
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Revising Your Message
Revision is an ongoing activity that occurs throughout the writing process.
If possible, let your draft age a day or two before revising it.
Make the first revision pass a quick read to determine overall effectiveness, focusing on Content Organization Flow
6.6
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Revising Your Message
Have you covered all your points in the most logical order?
Do the most important ideas receive the most space?
Are the most important ideas placed in the most prominent positions?
Have you provided enough support and double-checked the facts?
Would the message be more convincing if it were arranged in another sequence?
Do you need to add anything? Will your words affect your readers as
intended?
6.7
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Revising Your Message
During your second pass, focus on style and readability:
Have you achieved the right tone for your audience?
Have you missed any opportunities to make the material more interesting (with strong, lively words and phrases)?
Have you made your point concisely? Have you made your point clearly? Are you relying mainly on familiar terms and
simple, direct statements? Should you apply a readability formula to
determine the difficulty of your writing?
6.8
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Revising Your Message
In technical documents, target an audience reading at twelfth- to fourteenth-grade levels.
For general business messages, target an audience reading at the eighth- to eleventh-grade levels.
Use a readability index to determine the message’s reading level (i.e., Gunning’s Fox Index, page 137)
6.9
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Review for Styleand Readability
Use readability formulas to gauge reading difficulty.
Check to see if you have emphasized important points.
Make sure you have topic sentences.
Look for transition between paragraphs.
See if each word contributes to the sentence.
6.10
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Revise for Conciseness
Delete unnecessary words and phrases
Eliminate redundancies
Rewrite sentences that begin with “It is...” and “There are...”
Shorten long words and phrases
6.11
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Revise for Clarity
Break up overly-long sentences. Rewrite hedging sentences. Impose parallelism. Correct dangling modifiers. Reword long noun sequences. Replace camouflaged verbs. Clarify sentence structure. Clarify awkward references. Moderate your enthusiasm.
6.12
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Producing Your Message
Even after revising your message’s content and organization, style and readability, word choice, sentence style, and paragraph development, you need to produce it in some form that allows you to check it for appearance, accuracy, and mechanics.
When designing your message, balancing graphics and text is important.
6.13
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Producing Your Message
The first things readers will notice about your message is its appearance.
Although design elements provide readers visual clues to the importance and relationship of various ideas, too many design elements will only confuse an audience.
6.14
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
White Space
White space includes The open area surrounding headings The space in margins The vertical space between columns The space created by ragged line endings The space in paragraph indents (or extra
space between unindented paragraphs) The horizontal space between lines of type
6.15
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Lines of Type
Lines of type can be set Justified (flush on both the left and
right margins) Flush left with a ragged-right margin Flush right with a ragged-left margin Centered with ragged-left and ragged-
right margins
6.16
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Fully Justified Type
Darkens your message’s appearance Tends to make your message look more
like a form letter (and less like a customized letter)
Is often considered more difficult to read (because of uneven spaces between words)
May cause excessive hyphenation (to maintain the justified right margin)
Allows a higher word density
6.17
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Flush-left–ragged-right type
Lightens your message’s appearance Gives a document an informal,
contemporary feeling of openness Is easier to read (because the spacing
between words is the same) Reduces hyphenation (because only
long words are hyphenated at the end of lines)
6.18
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
More type styles
Centered type Lends a formal tone to your message Slows reading (because readers must
search for the beginning of each line) Is usually avoided for passages of text
Flush-right–ragged-left type Slows reading (because readers must
search for the beginning of each line) Is usually avoided for passages of text
6.19
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Headings and Subheadings
Are usually set larger than the type used for text
Are often set in different typeface Invite readers to become involved in your
message Should not be centered if they contain more
than two lines Clue readers into the organization of your
message’s content Can be linked to the text they introduce by
putting more space above than below them
6.20
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Captions
Tie photographs and illustrations into the rest of your message
Are usually placed below the exhibit (but may be placed beside or above the exhibit)
Should maintain a width that is pleasing in proportion to the width of the exhibit, the surrounding white space, and the text
6.21
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Typefaces
The term typeface refers to the physical design of letters, numbers, and other characters.
Each typeface influences the tone of your message, making it look Authoritative Friendly Expensive Classy Casual
6.22
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Typeface and Styles
Examples of different typefaces and typestyles:
Serif typeface Sans serif typeface
Italic typestyle Bold typestyle
Decorative typeface
6.23
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Effective Design
Consistency throughout
Consistency throughout
Balance text, artwork, and white space
Balance text, artwork, and white space
Use RestraintUse RestraintPay Attention to
DetailPay Attention to
Detail
6.24
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Using Technology
Technology helps you put text, graphics, sound, and hypertext into documents.
Word processors enter text easily. Keyboarding is still the most
common input, however voice recognition, scanning, and OCR are gaining popularity.
6.25
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Features ofWord Processors
Page numberingAutomatic datingNumbered listsBulleted listsSpell checkersStyle checkersGrammar checkers Boilerplates
Mail and file merges Cut and paste Search and replace Find files, words,
links AutoCorrect Tables and columns
6.26
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
More Technology
Presentation software helps you create impressive visuals such as overhead transparencies and computerized slide shows.
Graphic software ranges from products that can create simple diagrams and flowcharts to comprehensive tools geared to artists and graphic designers.
Sound bites can help you get your message across with embedded voice messages or other sound effects.
Hyperlinks allow readers to jump from one document to another with the click of a mouse.
6.27
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
More Technology
Technology helps you copy and distribute your business documents with
Computer printers Photocopiers Print shops Mail merge Broadcast faxing CD-ROMs (or computer disks) E-mail attachments
6.28
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
What to Look for When Proofreading
Grammar, usage, and punctuation Spelling errors and typos Missing material Design inconsistencies Typographical errors
6.29
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
What to Look for When Proofreading
Also review your document for overall format problems, such as Layout errors (in margin width,
number of columns, running heads, etc.)
Missing elements (such as table of contents, illustrations page, indexes, appendixes)
Inconsistencies (in page numbers, heading styles, exhibit titles, source notes, etc.)
6.30
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
What are the three main tasks involved in revising a business message?
How do readers benefit from white space and headings?
What computer tools can you use when revising messages?
What is the purpose of the Fog Index and similar formulas?
What is parallel construction, and why is it important?
Let’s Discuss
Test Your Knowledge
6.31
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
What are some of the issues to focus on when critiquing someone else’s document?
What are some ways you can make a document more concise?
Why is proofreading an important part of the writing process?
What happens when you use too many hedging sentences in one document?
Why is it a good idea to use verbs instead of noun phrases?
Let’s Discuss
Test Your Knowledge continued