communicating in writing
TRANSCRIPT
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Communicating in Writing
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Write Effective Business Documents
Topic Objective
Write a structured business document so that it contains
the essential elements of style and presents the intended
message to the receiver
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Basic Elements of Written Communication
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Basics of Written Communication
• Define your purpose
– Tell the reader exactly what he or she needs to know
• Identify your audience
– Match your communication style to your audience
– Minimize the use of jargon
• Structure your content
– Create an outline to help organize your content
– Develop your content so that it flows logically and the reader can
follow your writing
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Content Development Techniques
• Advantages and disadvantages
– Compare and contrast differences and similarities
• Date or event
– Chronological order of dates or events (a trip report, a project history
report, and so on)
• Familiarity
– Inverted pyramid for audiences unfamiliar with content
– Pyramid for audiences familiar with content
• Sequence
– Events that occur in order (process, procedure, instructions, and so on)
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Content Development Techniques
• Advantages and disadvantages
– Compare and contrast differences and similarities
• Date or event
– Chronological order of dates or events (a trip report, a project history
report, and so on)
• Familiarity
– Inverted pyramid for audiences unfamiliar with content
– Pyramid for audiences familiar with content
• Sequence
– Events that occur in order (process, procedure, instructions, and so on)
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Gender in Business Writing
Best Practices to Avoid Gender References
• Use gender-neutral or gender-equal words and phrases
• Combine or eliminate pronouns
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Gender-neutral or Gender-equal Phrases
Avoid words like “he” or “she” and “Sir” or “Madam”
Use inclusive words if you do not know the receiver’s
gender
Sample Openings for a Letter to an Unknown Person
• Dear Owner
• Dear Customer
• Dear Parent
• Dear Member
• To Whom It May Concern
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Combining or Eliminating Pronouns
• Use plurals
– Managers will check employee timecards before the end of the day
• Do not use pronouns
– The employee who refrains from communicating important
information can hurt the company
• Use the term “you”
– You can change your health insurance provider during the open
enrollment period
Use both pronouns
– Any employee can purchase stock after his or her first anniversary of
employment
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Writing Your Document
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Essential Writing Elements
• Best Practices for Effective Business Writing
• Write in active voice
• Be clear and concise
• Be positive and specific
• Use proper grammar and spelling
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Write in Active Voice What is Active Voice?
• A style of writing in which the subject of the sentence
does the action the verb expresses
• The subject is the “doer”
• Jennifer recommended a salary increase for Bob
What is Passive Voice?
• A style of writing in which the subject of the sentence
receives the action the verb expresses
• The subject is “acted upon”
• The salary increase for Bob was recommended by Jennifer
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Positive and Specific Writing
• Positive Writing
• Original sentence The book is not available
• Revised sentence The book will be available on Friday
• When you proofread your writing, rework sentences
that contain the word “not”
• Specific Writing
• Original sentence I know lots of languages
• Revised sentence I am fluent in Spanish and English
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Write Effective Business Letters
Topic Objective
Write an effective business letter so that it contains the
essential elements of style and communicates its intended
purpose to the recipient
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Letter Elements
All Business Letters Include
• Company address or letterhead
• Name and address of recipient
• Date
• Salutation (Dear Member, Dear Alice, and so on)
• Introduction
• Body
• Summary
• Closing (Sincerely, Respectfully Yours, and so on)
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Letter Elements (Cont)
Some Business Letters Include
• Reference initials
• Enclosure line
• Courtesy copy notation
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Letter Format
Modified Block Style Letter Block Style Letter
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Letter Format (Cont)
• Introduction
– Introduce yourself and your purpose in the first
paragraph
– If you know the recipient, focus on the letter’s purpose
– If you don’t know the recipient, give the reader an
overview of the letter’s content
• Body
– Write the main content using the ABCs of effective
communication—be courteous, clear, and concise
• Summary
– Restate the main points in a brief, closing paragraph
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Write Effective Memos
Topic Objective
Write an effective memo so that it matches the
communication purpose
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Guidelines for Writing Effective Memos
• Be brief
– State the purpose of the memo immediately
– A memo should take less than one minute to read
• Be careful what you write
– Do not include sensitive or confidential information in
memos
• Get to the right person
– Send the memo only to those who need to read it
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Memo Format
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Write Effective Reports
Topic Objective
Write a report so that it contains the essential elements of an
effective report in response to a specific business need
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Phases of a Report
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Elements of a Report
• Introduction
– State the purpose or the reason for the report in a few
sentences
• Body
– Break the content up into groups or sub-groups
• Conclusion
– Summarize your report Include findings and
recommendations if appropriate
• Executive Summary
– Summarize your report and its findings Include before
the introduction
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Similar Words, Different Meanings
Advanced Communication Skills 25
These words are phonetically identical,
but have different meaning:
accept, except
advice, advise
affect, effect
all ready, already
all together, altogether
a lot, alot
allusion, illusion
alter, altar
among, between
our, hour
award, reward
bad, badly
beside, besides
brake, break
breathe, breath, breadth
by, bye, buy
can, may
canvas, canvass
capitol, capital
cite, site, sight
clothes, cloths
coarse, course
compare, contrast
complement, compliment
consul, council, counsel
decent, descent, dissent
delusion, illusion, allusion
desert, dessert
device, devise
faint, feint
farther, further
fewer, less
formerly, formally
forth, fourth
good, well
great, grate
hear, here
hole, whole
imply, infer
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Similar Words, Different Meanings
Advanced Communication Skills 26
incidence, incidents
incite, insight
instance, instants
its, it's
knew, new
know, no
later, latter
lay, lie
lead, led
leave, let
loose, lose
notable, noticeable
object, subject
passed, past
peace, piece
peace, piece
plain, plane
pore, pour
precede, proceed
precedence, precedent
presence, presents
principle, principal
quiet, quit, quite
rain, reign, rein
raise, rise
see, sea
sit, set
stationary, stationery
statue, stature, statute
then, than
their, there, they're
that, which
threw, through
to, too, two
vain, vane, vein
vociferous, voracious
waist, waste
weak, week
wearm were, where
weather, whether
whose, who's
who, whom
your, you're
These words are phonetically identical,
but have different meanings:
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i.e. Or e.g. What’s the difference?
Advanced Communication Skills 27
“i.e." stands simply for "that is"
Written out fully in Latin is id est
“i.e." is used in place of "in other words," or "it/that is"
It specifies or makes more clear
Example: I'm going to the place where I work best, i.e., the coffee shop.
“e.g." means "for example
Comes from the Latin expression exempli gratia
"E.g." is used in expressions similar to "including“
Example: At the places where I work well, e.g., Starbucks, I have none of the
distractions I have at home.
i.e.
e.g.
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Lesson Summary
• Business writing essentials
• Write effective business letters
• Write effective business memos
• Write effective business reports