PREPARING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS

MESSAGES
 PREPARING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS
MESSAGES
• Organizational patterns and planning steps for
composing a message
– Identifying purpose
– Analyzing audience
– Choosing ideas
– Collecting data to support ideas
– Organizing the message
 IDENTIFYING YOUR PURPOSE
• Identifying the purpose of your message. A
message may have many purposes, such as
– To provide information
– To persuade
– To negotiate
– To refuse a request
• It is important to transmit a message
– Clearly
– Simultaneously creating goodwill
 ANALYSING YOUR AUDIENCE
• To get desired response from receiver of the message the message
must be adapted to receiver’s
– Views
– Attitudes
– Needs
– Culture

• The following aspect of the receiver of a message must be analysed

when sending a message
– Professional background
– Position in the company
– Sex
– Age
– Educational level
– Knowledge, attitude, cultural values

• When writing to a business, organisation or country it is essential to

know the
– Communication principles of the organisation, business or country
 CHOOSING YOUR IDEAS
• Begin by listing ideas as they come to you
• Choose ideas that are likely to get desired
response from the receiver
• Ideas included in the message depend on
– Type of message
– Background of receiver
– Location of receiver
 COLLECT YOUR DATA
• To support your message determine requirement for
specific
– Facts
– Figures
– Quotations
– Any evidence
• Necessary to check and verify data regarding
– Names of individuals
– Dates
– Addresses
– Statistics
Important to know company policies, procedures and
product if they are to be included in the message
 ORGANISE THE MESSAGE
• Oragnisation: Ordering of ideas in the
message
• Organisation of message is as important as the
ideas themselves
• First step in organising: Outline the message in
paper before writing the draft
• Disorganised messages look
– Careless
– Unimportant
– Confusing
 ORGANISATIONAL PLANS FOR
COMPOSING A MESSAGE

• Fundamentally two types of organisational

plans or approaches are used when
composing a business message
– Direct or deductive
– Indirect or inductive
DIRECT OR DEDUCTIVE APPROACH
• When you think the receiver will have a
favorable or neutral reaction to your message
use this approach
• Begin with main ideas or best news
• After opening, include all necessary
explanatory details in one or several
paragraphs
• End with appropriate friendly closing
DIRECT OR DEDUCTIVE APPROACH
• Two situations when direct approach is used:
• Direct request
– Used when the main purpose of the message is to
make a request
– The request by its very nature should require little
persuasion
• Good news
– Used to grant requests
– Announce favorable or neutral information
– Exchange routine information between companies
 INDIRECT OR INDUCTIVE APPROACH
• Two situations when indirect approach is used:
• Persuasive request
– Used when the main purpose of the message is to
make a request
– The request by its very nature would require extensive
persuasion and convincing
– Use attention getting statements to induce the
receiver to read further
– Should be made clear as regards the what, why, how,
where and when of the request
• Bad news
– Used to deny requests
– Announce unfavorable or negative information
– Difficult to prepare as the reader may react negatively
 BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS
• Placement: Main favorable ideas generally placed
at beginning and ending of message
• The beginning should get the reader immediately
into the opening thought
• Emphasize reader and focus on the positive
aspects of your message
• Ending or closing of the message should focus on
desired action and leave a sense of goodwill with
the reader
• Ending should reinforce the central purpose of
the message
• Show appreciation and offer to help further
 COMPOSING THE MESSAGE
• Drafting the message
– After completing the planning steps, get the whole
message on paper: the first draft
• Revising the message: Evaluate content,
organisation and style of the draft. Follow these
steps when revising
– Does message accomplish purpose?
– Is the organisational plan effective?
– Are points supported by adequate material
– Is language complete, concise, considerate, concrete,
clear, courteous?
– Is their variety in sentence structure?
– Delete unnecessary material and include additional
material if needed
 COMPOSING THE MESSAGE
• Editing the message. Check all paragraphs for
– good topic sentences
– sound sentence structure
– Correct grammar
– Spelling
– Punctuation
– Effectiveness of the message

• Proofreading the message

– Ensure there are no errors in the message
– Even minor errors can
• reduce the effectiveness of the message and
• undermine credibility