Chapter 8: Business Writing Design

Business Writing Design (Mind Map)

Business Writing Design (Summary )

The Author in the chapter 8 focus on the business writing.writing in business should be concise, precise, and clear. You should try to eliminate as much communication noise as possible; such as mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, vagueness, and unfamiliar language. There is a process one should follow when designing a business message. Start by asking yourself questions such as, what is it that I am trying to communicate? Who is my audience? What is the purpose of my message? These questions will help you generate ideas and develop a starting point for your writing. Freewriting writing is the process of writing all the thing that comes in our mind nonstop without lifting the pen or pausing he computer. Some of the other writing includes writing the things by gathering the information and considering the strategy. There is direct strategy which states the message goal first and next one is indirect strategy which means warm up the audience with information and goodwill before delivering the message goal. Once you have decided on a strategy you can go on to the outlining and drafting step. An outline is a structured list of the information to be included in the message. Your outline will help you organize your ideas and incorporate them with your gathered information. Now you can write the first draft of your message. Drafting is getting the text down on paper or a computer screen in its first version. Include your main points and details for message clarity. You will refine it later on. Once your first draft is complete, you then have to revise it. Make sure you included your message goal, its explanation and development, and included enough details to make it clear to your audience. If you are not satisfied with your draft you can re-outline it. Re-outlining involves writing a new outline based on the original document you wrote. Or you can use the slash and burn method, which is a total revision strategy in which you select certain points of a document and then rewrite it using only those points from the original work. When you have finally written a draft that you are satisfied with you can go on to edit and proofread it to create your final draft. When I proofread, I have to read out loud to hear myself. Examine the language and style you have chosen. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. Replace negative words when possible with positive expressions. There are several styles when it comes to writing business messages or documents. The “You” view style is focused on the interests of the readers. This is a good strategy to use when trying to create good public relations, if the information in your message is negative then this probably isn’t the strategy you want to use. Make sure your message emphasizes what you can do instead of the things you can’t do. Keep your reader interested by using active sentence constructions and vivid language. Make sure your message is free of grammatical errors. Errors make it difficult for your audience to grasp the meaning of your message, and it’s a big turn off. Memos and letters usually have the same components. Memos are internal, written channel of communication. Letters are external written channel of communication. While we design memos and letter at first it should write introduction and then body and finally closing.

Business writing is action-oriented, rhetorical, and user-centered. It aims to effect positive change, through both persuasive and informative strategies. Hence ,it is essential that you have a clear understanding of the purpose of your document.

Chapter 1 : The Basics

The Basics (Mind Map )

The Basics (Summary)

More and more, business today considers communication a valued tool. Technology has brought us email and the ability to communicate instantly with others from around the world. Good skills can help your business career.
Most importantly you want your message, no matter in what form it is delivered, to be concise and clear. Don’t flower your message with pretty words or long descriptions. Be exact. For instance, don’t use, “The Smith Company order needs to be shipped.” Instead, “The Smith Company order must be shipped by 8 a.m. on Monday.” The first example leaves the shipping time open to interpretation, the second is clear as to when the order should go out. Always make sure your meaning is clear. Ask for feedback from the receiver of the message to be sure that they understand. Miscommunication can cost your company thousands of dollars, or more! Do not use slang or profanity. Profanity is just bad business (and bad manners). Slang words may have different meanings to different people and can cause embarrassment and confusion.
Don’t use “fancy” language. Simple words are easier to comprehend. If you have a wide grasp on the English language, good for you! You don’t need to show it off. Use simply, easy to understand wording.
Stay away from jargon. That is to say, words that may mean something to those in a certain job field but mean nothing to the rest of us. Legal and medical terms are good examples. Not many outside those fields understand them. Again, use simple concise wording that anyone can understand.
When speaking of writing to someone, consider whether to use a formal or casual tone. In a meeting with a client, for example, it is probably best to use a formal tone. When working with a small group of coworkers, say on a committee, it may be fine to use a more casual style. In written communications, informal is usually okay with memos or emails whereas a report would require more formal wording.
When communicating in person, be aware of your body language. Often what you don’t verbally say is as important, if not more-so, than the spoken word. Body language gives off silent clues as to the speaker’s true feelings behind his or her words.
Good communication skills are vital to you, as an employee as well to your company. Practicing them can make your job, and the jobs of those who you communicate with, much easier.

Chapter 2 : How Business Communicates

How Business Communicates

How Business Communicates (Summary)

When someone mentions the word communication, one’s thoughts turn to a newspaper, the radio, television, or another more common means of mass-type communication. One does not usually make the connection between communication and other institutions such as business. Good business, however, goes hand in hand with good communication. Good managers and professionals realize that the ability to communicate is not a silly frill; it is a necessity that helps employees accomplishes their work. Therefore the question is often posed: Are these problems of poor communications that face managers and professionals becoming more and more critical? The evidence suggests the answer to be yes, these problems are serious and are growing more and more serious every day. This maxim emphasizes the need for better communication in organizations such as big business. What would happen if that organization did not fix its structure to better handle increasing communication needs. Values of good downward communication include the ability to help a manager’s authority to be accepted.

The 21st century has brought different ways of business directions. There are also different maze of information management and they are Management information system (MIS), Management decision support system (MDSS), Information overload. There are various way of technology such as Internet, World Wide Web, and Wireless hand held devices. Structural message, relational message and change message are types of business message. Exchange of message between employees inside the organization is called internal communication whereas exchange of message between the organization and external environment is called external communication. Communication network is the pathway through which messages travel among employees in an organization

If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these elements. When you match consumer psychology with effective communication styles you get a powerful combination

Chapter 3 : Creating Effective Messages

Creating Effective Messages (Summary )

Effective messages are not the same as talking to someone face-to-face or even over the telephone. When we talk face-to-face, we pick up meaning from facial expressions, body language, specific gestures, and, of course, tone of voice. Even telephone conversations preserve the meanings conveyed by tone of voice. But messages lose these extra ways of conveying meaning as we exchange messages, and so writers need to take care when writing email messages, even though they seem impromptu or off-the-cuff. The best general advice: What you include in your email message depends on why you are writing and to whom. Effective messages are short and to the point. Receivers don't want to scroll through two or more screens of text to get your message. On the other hand, don't make your messages so short that the receiver doesn't understand you. Provide enough information so that the receiver understands both the context and the details of the message. As with any email message, make your message clear and direct. But especially as you write to specific individuals, anticipate what that particular reader will want or need to know about you and your request or your information.

There are eight steps of communication design and they are map out message goals, evaluate your audience, shape message content, select channel, acquire resources, generate social creditability, eliminate design flaws and send message. Outcome that we want to achieve and the reason we are communicating is a goal. There are two types of Goal and they are primary goal which means outcome that we want to achieve and secondary goal is one which helps us to achieve primary goal. While we map our message goal we have to know whether our goal is feasibility or not, what is my intention, what response do I want etc.We also have to evaluate the audience (individual or group who receive message).While we shape our message we have to take care about main idea, theme. There are different channel through which the message can be delivered through different medium such as sight, sound, smell, taste and touch....
I think one of the best things designers can do is teach, inspire; help others to realize the designing capabilities within themselves in places or times when those skills would go unfortunately undiscovered or uncultivated.’ Communication design is the purposeful use of words and images to transform information into understanding. My experience is that nobody communicating cannot determine another's understanding.

Chp 7 : Designing Oral Presentation

Summary : Designing Oral Presentation

The ability to speak effectively is as crucial as the ability to write effectively, according to studies about kinds of communications most often required of employees. During a routine week, employees will actually spend more time speaking than writing; using the phone; conversing informally with colleagues, subordinates, and superiors on routine office topics; conducting meetings; working in problem solving groups; conducting employee evaluation sessions; participating in teleconferences and sales presentations; and frequently becoming involved in formal speaking situations before groups inside and outside the organization. Communication research also reveals that the higher an employee moves in an organization, the more important speaking skills become.
Being an effective speaker and an effective writer requires you to:
1.Understand the context of your presentation
2. Analyze your audience
3. Understand and articulate your presentation's purpose
4. Choose and shape your presentation's content
5. Organize your presentation
6. Choose an appropriate speaking style
7. Practice an effective delivery style
8. Select and use visual aids effectively
Because listening is a different information-processing method than reading, you will need to know how to adapt guidelines for organization, style, and graphics to fit the speaking situation. However, you will see that writing and speaking, despite their differences, are similar communication activities. So, Before I start writing my speech I have to determine what I want to write about, such as my interests, or skills and abilities. Sometimes you won’t have choice and the topic will be selected for you. Now I have to decide what my speech goal will be. What do I want from my audience and what do I want to communicate to them? There are four speech goals: informative, persuasive, requesting, and entertaining. Informative speeches can build audience awareness, knowledge, and memory about a subject. A persuasive speech intends to influence a change in an audience’s attitude, behavior, or belief. A requesting speech is a type
of persuasive speech, but its aim is to gain funding or approval for a specific product, program, or proposal. Entertainment or special occasion speeches mark special occasions, and arouse emotions through celebration. My introduction has to gain the attention of my audience. I have to make a connection between my listeners, the occasion, and myself.
For example, delivering a presentation at a meeting of project directors is different from briefing other people in your team about what you've been doing. Making a presentation at a company picnic is different from delivering a presentation at the annual meeting of a professional society. Knowing the situation is as important as knowing your audience and your purpose. In many cases, situation will be inextricably bound up with questions of audience attitude and the way you shape your purpose. Audience attitude frequently results from situational problems or current issues within the organization, and what you can or should say in your presentation, your purpose and the content you choose to present may be dictated by the context surrounding your presentation and the perspective that your audience brings.
How you sound when you speak is crucial to the success of your presentation. You may have effective content, excellent ideas, and accurate supporting statistics. However, if the style you use in speaking is inappropriate to the occasion, to the audience (as individuals and as members of an organization), or to the purpose you are trying to achieve, your content will more than likely be ineffective.
In general, you want to sound respectful, confident, courteous, and sincere. However, the precise tone and degree of formality will be dictated by your organizational role and your relationship to your audience.