Mais conteúdo relacionado Semelhante a Effective Business Writing (20) Mais de Marius FAILLOT DEVARRE (20) Effective Business Writing1. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Trinity College, Cambridge)
Effective Business Writing
2. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Trinity College, Cambridge)
Effective Business Writing
KeyPoints to develop in your own time!
Introductory concepts @ OxfordCambridge.Org all for free and free for all.
The information gathered here are under KeyPoints format and may be use:
- Either to give the reader an overview before deciding for a full scale study of the subject.
- Or to guide readers in expanding their knowledge on the given topic.
Some recommendations, perhaps:
- Identify all the KeyPoints on which you feel a need to expand your knowledge.
- Choose a good book or two and/or info from Internet.
- And then work towards gaining that knowledge.
Please enjoy!
3. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Trinity College, Cambridge)
To introduce readers to effective business
writing in order to enhance their business
administrative skills
Aim of publication
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After developing the KeyPoints outlined in this publication, you should
mainly be able to:
☺ describe how to plan a communication and set the right context
☺ explain how to identify the subject, the audience, and the purpose of a
document
☺ outline how to gather the relevant material
☺ identify the differences between descriptive and persuasive
documents
Learning Objectives
5. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Trinity College, Cambridge)
☺ explain the importance of structure, the use of headings, and the
value of an executive summary
☺ understand the value of accurate spelling and grammar
☺ explain the significance of writing style
☺ outline how to write conversationally
☺ point out the importance of avoiding excessive jargon, clichés, archaic
language, and negatives
☺ describe the effectiveness of using the active voice
Learning Objectives
6. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Trinity College, Cambridge)
☺ Planning the communication
☺ Devising an effective structure
☺ Developing an effective style
☺ Effective Writing
Effective Business Meetings - Sections list
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Planning the communication
To show how to plan a business document.
8. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Harcourt Hill, West Oxford)
Planning the communication: Learning Objectives
☺ After completing this section you should be
able to:
• describe how to plan a business
document
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Planning the communication: Summary
☺ When you are planning a business document,
you need to consider its subject, its
intended audience, and its purpose.
☺ You can gather information about a subject
by researching it or by using techniques
such as brainstorming to come up with
ideas.
☺ You should consider the people who will be
reading your document and decide which of
their characteristics are most important to
your subject matter.
☺ Most business documents fall into one of
two categories
• they can be descriptive and intended
to convey information
• or they can be persuasive and used to
convince the reader to take some
course of action.
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Planning the communication
☺ Good communication is essential in the business
environment because it ensures that you put your
point across in the workplace and in dealing with
other businesses.
☺ Writing memos, reports, and letters are all part of
working environment in businesses.
☺ Personal Computers (PCs) can make the process
friendlier and easier.
☺ Still it is important to know how to write in an
effective manner.
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Planning the communication
☺ Professional business writing is affected by
its context - for instance, when using a
different style for an e-mail sent to a small
group of colleagues than for a letter sent
to a bank manager.
☺ Therefore when planning our document,
there is a need to consider the following:
• the subject of the writing
• the audience for which it is intended
• the purpose we want it to fulfil
☺ On one hand the subject on which we are
writing may already have been set - we may
need to write a letter to a prospective
employer, for example.
☺ On the other hand, we may have to decide
the subject for ourselves.
☺ In either case we need to gather relevant
material.
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Planning the communication
☺ One way to collect material for a document
is by searching for relevant terms on the
Web.
☺ We can also excellent ideas by
brainstorming or free-writing - typing as
many ideas and words about our subject as
possible in a short period of time.
☺ If we use a word-processing program to do
this, you can even paste some of these
ideas and phrases into the initial draft of
your document.
☺ If the subject we are dealing with is quite
general, we can clarify it by asking
ourselves few questions about it.
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☺ Shall we say we are writing a memo about
how productivity can be increased in our
organisation.
☺ We may narrow this subject down to more
specific issues with questions such as what
follows:
• why is productivity that important?
• is our situation similar to that in other
organisation, and if that is the case,
how have they handled productivity?
• what part of the organisation is most
affected by a low productivity?
Planning the communication
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☺ For instance, if we are writing a work-
related memo to our colleagues, we don’t
usually need to consider their social
backgrounds or pastimes.
☺ As our audience is very important, when
possible, we should talk to the people who
are going to read and use our document.
☺ This will help us to get an idea of their
requirements, so that we include solely the
information that is important to them.
☺ We can make our writing easier to
understand for readers by creating links
between our subject and facts these
readers already know.
☺ Also we can use statistics and examples to
illustrate our points.
Planning the communication
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☺ Determining who our document should
be written for is an important part of
the planning.
☺ That means we should consider who our
readers are and what information we
can expect them to know before
reading our document.
☺ For example a group of specialists
requires more complex and technical
information than a non-technical group.
☺ We should decide which characteristics
of our target audience are relevant to
our subject matter.
Planning the communication
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☺ The purpose of a document, like the
audience to which it is directed, should
affect the way we write it.
☺ It can be said that business documents fall
into two general categories, each with its
own purpose:
• descriptive documents: they inform
readers or make suggestions
• persuasive documents: which try to
convince readers to take some course
of action
☺ After having decided which category the
document we are creating belongs to, we
can determine how to achieve its purpose.
Planning the communication
17. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Harcourt Hill, West Oxford)
☺ As an example, we have decided to create a short
memo to tell our work colleagues about new
developments in computer technology.
☺ This type of descriptive memo should be straight
forward while including the relevant facts and
maybe our opinions and comments.
☺ If we want our document to persuade the audience
to carry out a task, we need to explain why they
should go on with that task.
☺ We should include convincing arguments that
support our position.
☺ Also we should accentuate how the course of
action will benefit that audience instead of
underlining possible disadvantages.
Planning the communication
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☺ It is essential we find the accurate tone to
use when trying to persuade readers.
☺ Appealing to our readers’ emotions is valid if
we want them to make a charitable donation,
but it would seem patronising or even
offensive in most business situations.
Planning the communication
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Devising an effective structure
To show how to devise an effective structure for your document.
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Devising an effective structure: Objectives
☺ After completing this section you should be
able to:
• discuss ways of structuring and
drafting business documents
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Devising an effective structure: Summary
☺ Word-processing programs are particularly
useful when you are structuring a document,
because they let you change it easily and
save several versions of that document.
☺ There are a number of ways in which you
can organise your document.
☺ If it is relatively short, a simple list of your
main points can work well.
☺ A chronological structure may be useful for
a descriptive document, while a deductive
structure may be better for a persuasive
one.
☺ Whichever structure you decide to use, you
should always place the most important
facts at the start of your document.
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Devising an effective structure: Summary
☺ You can improve the quality of your writing
by using a number of drafts to refine your
documents.
☺ After creating a draft, you should set it
aside for a while before you review it or you
should have someone else review that draft
for you.
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Developing an effective style
To show how to use an effective writing style.
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Developing an effective style: Objectives
☺ After completing this section you should be
able to:
• discuss how to develop an effective
writing style
25. Contact Email Design Copyright 1994-2013 © OxfordCambridge.OrgCommunication - Effective Business Writing (This picture: Harcourt Hill, West Oxford)
Developing an effective style: Summary
☺ If possible, you should try to make your
writing style conversational.
☺ To do this, you should where possible use
smaller, more familiar words instead of
obscure, complex ones.
☺ You should also try to avoid using very long
sentences, jargon, clichés, or outdated
language.
☺ Because people respond better to positive
facts, you should emphasize positive rather
than negative facts in your writing.
☺ It is also important to avoid using language
that demeans anyone’s race, religion, or
gender.
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Developing an effective style: Summary
☺ Language structure and grammar are
important elements of style.
☺ For example, you can make your writing
easier to understand by breaking it into
coherent paragraphs and varying the length
of the sentences you use.
☺ Because it emphasizes the do-er of an
action, using the active voice also makes
your writing more accessible.
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Writing effectively
To show how to write effective memos and letters.
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Writing effectively: Objectives
☺ After completing this section you should be
able to
• discuss how to create effective memos
and letters
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Writing effectively: Summary
☺ There are specific rules and formats that
you should apply to documents such as
business memos and letters.
☺ Memos consist of a number of sections -
the header, the body, a conclusion, and any
relevant attachments.
☺ In the header section you should include
your own name, the full names of the people
to whom you’re sending the memo, the date,
and a description of the memo’s subject.
☺ In the body of your memo you first
establish why you’re writing, then make your
points, and finally state your conclusion.
☺ Because they are usually sent to people
outside your own company, business letters
are more formal than memos.
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Writing effectively: Summary
☺ You should include your own address as well
as that of the person to whom you’re
sending the letter.
☺ Your letter should begin with a formal
greeting and end with a closing statement.
You should type your name at the bottom of
the letter and also include your signature.
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