Communicating in Writing

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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