LECTURE 5

GOOD BUSINESS WRITING

WORKPLACE WRITING

• All written and spoken messages at

the workplace must be considered
carefully to ensure they are
communicated appropriately.

• Awareness of purpose, audience and

tone will help to ensure successful
communication is achieved.

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PURPOSE

All workplace communication is

done for three purposes :
i) to create a record
ii) to request
iii) to persuade

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 PURPOSE
• Before composing any messages,
identify the purpose.

• Use these questions to help you :

who, why, when, where, what

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 AUDIENCE
An email or letter must be tailored to its
intended audience.
6 Questions to ask yourself :
1. Am I writing to one person or more?
2. What are their job titles?
3. What do they already know about a specific
situation?
4. Why do they need this information?
5. What do I want them to do about this?
6. What are the factors that can influence their
responses ?
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4 Broad Categories of
Communication
Workplace communication falls into
these four broad categories :
• Upward communication – intended for
those above you in the hierarchy
• Lateral communication – intended for
those at the same level as you in the
hierarchy
• Downward communication - intended
for those below you in the hierarchy
• Outward communication – intended for
those outside your workplace

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 STAGES IN DRAFTING
MESSAGES

Drafting a message involves three

stages :

i) Pre writing
ii) Drafting
iii) Rewriting

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 PRE-WRITING

What are some of the things to look

out for when pre-writing?
1. Identify your purpose and
audience
2. Decide what needs to be said
3. Choose the most appropriate
format (email, letter or report)

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 DRAFTING
What are we to be mindful of when
drafting?
• Create a first draft
• Concentrate on contents rather
than grammar, tone and format

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 REWRITING
What are the important considerations
when rewriting?
• Consider the organisation of
contents
• Check for accuracy and ethical
validity
• Adjust tone to suit audience
• Edit for spelling, grammar and
punctuation

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 COMMON GOAL
• A workforce is a team of people
cooperating to achieve a common goal.
• It is every member’s duty to create a
professional working environment.
• So do not sound tough or demanding
when writing.
• Appeal to reader’s emotions.
• Emphasise the reader’s viewpoint by
using reader-centered perspective.

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Writer-centered vs Reader-centered
• Writer-centered
If I can answer any questions, I’ll be
happy to do so.
• Reader-centered
If you have any questions, please ask.

• Writer-centered
We shipped the order this morning.
• Reader-centered
Your order was shipped this morning.
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 Reminders!
• In most settings, use a more casual
tone when writing to your peers or
those below you.
• However avoid an excessive
conversational style.
• Even in troublesome situations, use
a polite tone and maintain formality.
• Never allow personal matters to
appear in the workplace
correspondence.
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 EDITING
Check that the following are accurate:
 Sentence structure
 Subject-verb agreement
 Punctuation
 Word usage
 Spelling – including spelling of names
 Numbers

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REFERENCES
Bovee, C & Thill, J 2010, Business
Communication Essentials, 4th edn,
Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Locker, KO 2006, Business and

Administrative Communication, 5th edn,
McGraw Hill-Irwin, USA.

Searles, G.J. 2015. Workplace

Communication: The Basics. Sixth
Edition.Pearson, England.

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WRITING BUSINESS MESSAGES
17
 What is GOODWILL?

• Assumed value of the attractive force that generates

sales revenue in a business, and adds value to its assets.
• Goodwill is an intangible but saleable asset.
• Goodwill includes the worth of corporate identity, and is
enhanced by corporate image and a proper location.
• Its value is not recognised in account books but is
realised when the business is sold, and is reflected in the
firm’s selling price by the amount in excess over the
firm’s net worth.

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 GOODWILL
• It is built painstakingly over the years generally with:
(1) heavy and continuous expenditure in promotion,
(2) creation and maintenance of durable customer and
supplier relationships,
(3) the high quality of goods and services, and
(4) the quality and conduct of management and employees.

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The importance of GOODWILL
i. Goodwill smoothens the challenges of business
and administration.
ii. More sales and higher profits.

Important in internal and external documents.

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 GOODWILL
YOU- BIAS-FREE
ATTITUDE LANGUAGE

POSITIVE
EMPHASIS
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Method 1: YOU-ATTITUDE

Respects
Looks at Emphasizes
the reader’s
things from what the
intelligence
the reader’s reader
and
point of wants to
protects the
view know
reader’s ego

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6 WAYS TO CREATE YOU-ATTITUDE

Focus NOT on what YOU do, but on what the

READER receives or can do.
Stress what the reader wants to know.

Lacks you-attitude: We are shipping your order.

With you-attitude : The dinner sets you ordered will be

shipped this afternoon.

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CREATING YOU-ATTITUDE

Refer to the reader’s request/order specifically.

Lacks you-attitude: Your order will be delivered tomorrow.

With you-attitude: The printer you ordered will be

delivered tomorrow.

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CREATING YOU-ATTITUDE

Don’t talk about your own feelings unless that’s

what the reader wants to know.

Lacks you-attitude: We are happy to extend your credit

line of $5000.

With you-attitude: You can now charge up to $5000 on

your card.

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CREATING YOU-ATTITUDE

Don’t tell readers how they feel or will react.

Lacks you-attitude: You’ll be happy to hear that your

insurance has been renewed.

With you-attitude: Your insurance has been renewed.

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CREATING YOU-ATTITUDE

Use “you” more than “I” in positive situations.

Lacks you-attitude: We provide insurance to all employees.

With you-attitude: You receive insurance as a full-time

employee.

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CREATING YOU-ATTITUDE

In negative situations, avoid “you”. Use passive

verbs and impersonal expressions.

Lacks you-attitude: You made no allowance for inflation

in your estimate.

With you-attitude: No allowance for inflation has been

made in this estimate.

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 Method 2: POSITIVE EMPHASIS
Annette N. Shelby & N. Lamar Reinsch Jr. found that
business people:
responded more positively to positive than negative
language
are more likely to act on a positively worded request

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 POSITIVE EMPHASIS

Martin Seligman’s research for Met Life found:

Optimistic salespeople sold 37% more insurance than
pessimistic colleagues.
The optimists outsold pessimists 21% in their first year
and 57% in the next.

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POSITIVE EMPHASIS
Five techniques:

1. Avoid negative words and words with negative

connotations.

If you can’t understand this

explanation, call me.

If you have further questions,

please call me.

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POSITIVE EMPHASIS
2. State information positively. Focus on what the reader
can do instead of what the reader can’t do.

We will not allow you to charge

more than $1500 on your card.

You can charge up to $1500 on

your card.

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POSITIVE EMPHASIS

3. Justify negative information by giving a reason.

We cannot sell less than 10.

To keep costs low, we sell in lots of 10.

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POSITIVE EMPHASIS

4. If the negative is truly unimportant, omit it.

If you are not satisfied, you do not have

to renew your insurance with us.

[Omit the sentence.]

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POSITIVE EMPHASIS

5. Bury the negative information and present it

compactly.

 Put the negatives in the middle of a paragraph.

 Give it as little space as possible.

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Method 3: BIAS-FREE LANGUAGE

• Language that does not discriminate against people on

the basis of gender, race, physical condition, age or
other categories.

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Five reasons:
1. Shows that the organisation treats people fairly
2. Removes a potential barrier to the images people
create of themselves
3. Accords to the law
4. Wins loyalty and business = Higher profits
5. Indicates fairer and friendlier organisation

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MAKING LANGUAGE NONSEXIST

Words & phrases

Biased: You and your husband are invited.

Better: You and your guest are invited.

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JOB TITLES
Biased: Chairman, Salesman
Better: Chairperson, Salesperson

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COURTESY TITLES

Biased: Dear Sir

Better: Dear Sir/Madam

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao Sherene Azli, CEO

Malaysia Healthcare
Travel Council
(MHTC) 40
PRONOUNS

Biased: Each supervisor must check his staff.

Better: Supervisors must check their staff.

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REFERENCE

Chapter 2: Building Goodwill

Locker, KO 2006, Business and administrative
communication, 5th edn, McGraw Hill-Irwin, USA.

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 Post-Lecture ACTIVITY

Submit your answers in the FORUM created for each tutorial

section. Submission will be considered as ATTENDANCE.

Questions :
1. Why is all workplace communication done? For?
2. Name the 4 Broad Categories of communication.
3. How many stages are there in drafting messages? State and
define the stages.
4. Explain Goodwill and why is it important?
5. How many ways are there to build Goodwill? Explain the
ways.
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