Business Communication

Module 2:

Business Writing

1

Affirmations

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• I am capable of being a great student
• It is okay to have questions
• I am proud of who I am and where I come from

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Strategic Messaging in Business Communication

• Understand why it's important to know your audience
• Understand why business writing needs to be clear and focused
• Recognize what makes positive, negative, and persuasive messages work effectively

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Know Your Audience

• Primary audience
• Secondary audience

Three types of communication are:

1. Downward Communication
2. Upward Communication
3. Horizontal Communication

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Clear and Efficient

The purpose of all business communications is to transfer information clearly and efficiently.

• Efficient communication allows the message to be communicated quickly.
• Clear communication ensures the recipient understands the message.

To avoid back and forth, two key considerations are:

• The sender’s idea is clearly received by the audience
• The communication provides just what the receiver needs to know: not too much and not too little

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Positive, Negative, and Persuasive Messages

Positive

• The receiver likes or expects this news
• The receiver needs little information to understand the news
• The receiver considers the message routine, even if not completely positive

Negative

• The receiver may be displeased
• The receiver needs a little persuasion
• The receiver may be somewhat uncomfortable

Persuasive

• The receiver may be reluctant
• The receiver is being asked a favor
• The receiver may be invited to something somewhat outside regular duties

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Audience Analysis

What are some key considerations to keep in mind when delivering difficult news to a large group?

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Discuss Audience Analysis

1 Who are the stakeholders who make up the audience?

2 What are the key concerns and needs of each audience segment?

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Crafting Effective Messages

• Explore strategies for writing with the audience's needs in mind
• Understand how to use language that is inclusive and avoids bias
• Discover techniques for writing messages that are clear and concise
• Understand what parallel structure is and how it can improve your writing
• Understand how to highlight important points in your writing

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Writing for the Reader

You-view: framing messages from the perspective of the audience’s interests and needs, emphasizing benefits and considerations relevant to them, rather than focusing on the sender’s perspective.

Pro Tip:

• Put the receiver’s needs before the sender’s needs
• Start with what the receiver needs to know

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Language as an Obstacle

• Clichés
• Jargon
• Slang
• Euphemisms
• Doublespeak

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Avoiding Bias in Writing

• Gendered Nouns
• Gendered Pronouns
• Race Bias
• Ethnicity Bias
• Disability Bias

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Concise Writing (Sentence Types)

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1 Simple sentences

2 Compound sentences

3 Complex sentences

4 Compound-complex sentences

Balance clarity of the message with the overall length.

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Active and Passive Voice

Active Voice

• A does B
• Tamara lost the potential sale in North Dakota.
• Usually favored in business writing
• Can sound unsensitive

Passive Voice

• B is done by A
• The potential sale in North Dakota was lost.
• Can be used when more tact is necessary

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Parallel Construction and Emphasis

Parallelism

• Improves writing style
• Improves Readability
• Makes sentences easier to process

Passive Voice

• Can help readers find the intended message
• Can be difficult to find appropriate emphasis

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Delivering Bad News

What emotions might different groups (employees, customers, investors) feel when hearing about layoffs?

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Discuss Delivering Bad News

1 How did the audience's potential reaction influence your message crafting?

2 What challenges did you encounter while tailoring the message?

3 How did your audience influence your tone and word choice?

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The Writing Process

• Recognize the role of thorough planning in effective writing
• Understand how to write a business message by using an outline
• Understand how to revise a business message to improve its tone, clarity, and accuracy

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Steps in the Writing Process

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Planning

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1 You-view

2 Organizational structure

• News
• Reasons
• Goodwill and action
• Buffer

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Planning is where analysis and organization of your writing is completed.

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Writing

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1 Subject Line

2 Constructing Buffers

3 Beware of negative words and tone

4 You-view

Flesh out your outline.

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Revise

1. Ensure the final message accomplishes the goal identified in the planning step.
2. Ensure the grammar and proofreading step has corrected any errors.

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Formatting Business Letters, Memos, Emails

• Paragraphs are not indented
• Line spacing is 1.0 (or 1.15) in the paragraph
• Line spacing is 2 between paragraphs
• Left margin is justified/aligned, which means it looks like a straight line
• Right margin is ragged (left aligned paragraph) or straight line (block paragraph)
• Font size is 10 or 12 depending on font type
• Always check your organization’s style guide!

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Integrating Different Perspectives

How can peer feedback enhance the quality of your writing?

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Discuss Integrating Different Perspectives

1 Identify common needs.

2 Identify key points from each message that need to be included in the final draft to ensure it addresses the needs of all audiences.

3 What compromises or adjustments are necessary to balance different requirements?

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Closing Slide

1

Questions…..

2

Next steps…..

3

Reminders about student hours, upcoming deadlines, campus activities ….

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Storyset Illustration Library

Find the illustrations at StorySet.com.

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Authored by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution

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