Business Communication

Skills for Managers

Module 2: Writing in Business
Writing the Right Message
Audience
General Communication System
Audience (cont.)
• Downward and Upward Communication
• upward: initiated by staff and directed at executives
• complaint or request
• Downward: executive levels to staff
• policy manuals, rules and regulations
• Horizontal Communication
• information from peers to one of similar rank
The Right Message
Narrow and organize communication to highlight purpose

Clear, efficient communication

Positive, negative, and persuasive

The Right Message (cont.)
• Positive Messages
• Routine or good news
• Sympathy messages
• Negative Messages
• Bad news- want to avoid quitting
• Refusal to provide refund, cancellation of event
• Persuasive Communications
• Need encouragement to act as sender desires
• When receiver is reluctant
Word Choice and Tone
Writing for the Reader
• Audience is receiver
• Focuses on how writer can best convey message
• You-view
• Put receiver needs before sender
• Start with what receiver needs to know
Language as an Obstacle
Avoid:
• Clichés - makes writing boring
• Jargon - “technical terminology or characteristic idiom
of a special activity or group”
• Slang - informal and less credible
• Euphemisms/Doublespeak - unpleasant topics in polite
way, disguises word meaning
Bias-Free Writing
Gender Bias: use both genders,
plural subjects

Race and Ethnicity Bias: don’t

mention race

Disability Bias: avoid labeled

nouns
Concise Writing
• Sentence Length: one subject, one verb phrase -
related to reader comprehension
• Expressing accurate ideas
• prepositions - avoid “with” or “of”
• use verbs - more engaging
• reduce extra words - detract from meaning
• avoid repetition
Concise Writing (cont.)
Avoid Passive Voice - makes writing flat
• Created using to be
• “She was falling” versus “she fell”
• How to identify passive voice
• Something is happening
• Subject is not doing that thing
Clarity
• Precision
• must be clear, specific, and precise
• Plain Words
• focus should be on reader understanding
• Lists
• draw attention, add white space, emphasis
Parallel Construction
• Messages easier to absorb
• Improves writing style
• positive example: “Yara loves running, swimming,
and hiking”
• negative example: “Yara loves running, to swim, and
biking”
Emphasis
Helps readers easily
access intended
message

What is appropriate
differs in age of texting
& social media

Not personal
communication
Three-Part Writing Process
Planning Business Messages
Great deal of analysis
Determine how receiver likely feels
about communication
Enables writer to document process
Pre-writing (outlines): guides to
particular goal
Planning Business Messages (cont.)
Messages contain:
• News: states point
• Reasons: supports
news
• Goodwill and action:
closing paragraph
• Buffer: in negative &
persuasive messages
Planning Business Messages (cont.
II)
Persuasive Messages
• Determine how likely receiver
is going to comply with sender
• AIDA (Awareness, Interest,
Desire, Action)
• Opens with positive or negative
message
• attention grabbing
• discuss details
Writing Business Messages
• Post planning: need to craft
words and phrasing
• Must have writing skills
• subject lines
• constructing buffers
• negative words and tone
• You-View
How to write persuasive, positive,
and negative messages
Revising Business Messages
Rearrangement and fine tuning of a
draft

Highly critical step

Two-step revision process

Proofreading - avoid fragments, run-ons

Word Processing Software
Formatting Business Writing
General format:
• Non-indented paragraphs
• 1.0 line spacing in paragraph
• 2.0 line spacing between paragraphs
• Left margin: straight line
• Right margin: ragged or straight
• Font size: 10 or 12
Formatting Business Writing (cont.)
Business letter format:
• Sender's address, date,
inside address,
salutation, body, closing,
attachments
Business Memo & Email
Format
• Pay close attention to
subject line
Formatting Business Writing (cont.
II)
Style:
• White space between words,
paragraphs
• Lists: easy-to-understand pattern
• Headings: guide/provide
messages
• Font: Serif vs. Sans Serif
• print Media vs. Digital Media
Microsoft Word
• Line and Paragraph Spacing
• Headers and Footers
• holds footnotes, page numbers,
titles, etc.
• information repeated every
page
Microsoft Word
• Spell & Grammar Check
• compares words against dictionary or database
• press F7 to open
• Sentence Length
• File > Options > Proofing
• “Show readability statistics”
Google Docs
• Line and Paragraph Spacing
• select lines
• Format > Line Spacing
• Adding headers, footers, & page numbers
• Insert > Header & page number
• choose Header or Footer
• enter text
Google Docs (cont.)
• Spell & Grammar Check
• Sentence Length
• Tools > word count
• Command+Shift+C
Quick Review
• Know your audience and how to communicate with
them
• Think about the purpose of a message and stay bias-
free
• When writing, always be clear, concise, and provide
emphasis
• Remember the planning, writing, and reviewing stages
• Using Microsoft Word and Google Docs to write
messages