Chap 01: Business communication in Information age

What is communication?
 Communication is the transmission/interchange of information and meaning from one
individual or group to another
What is communication skill?
 The ability for an individual to accurately convey a message to another person or group
of people
What are the most common forms of communication?
 Written words
 Spoken/Oral words
 Pictures and diagrams - Visual aids
 Facial expressions, behavior and posture - Non verbal
In business the most common form is spoken and written words
What skills of job applicants are most valued by employers today?
 Soft skills, people skills, or emotional intelligence are powerful social skills employers
expect.
 Interpersonal skills or professional skills can be defined as a combination of
communication, logical reasoning, critical-thinking, teamwork, management skills.
 Written and oral communication ranked first among the most desirable attributes in job
seekers, ahead of management, leadership…
 Brilliant communication skills give workers an edge in workplace.
- Excellent communicators stand out in fierce competition.
 Almost all tasks at the office are related to communication.
- Workers engage in a variety of communication activities at the workplace.
- Employers seek workers already equipped with essential skills such as oral and written
communication, teamwork, analytical thinking, problem solving and media savvy
- Excellent writing and speaking skills allow workers …
 Excellent communication skills increase employability.
 How to project your professionalism in communication
Categories Professional Unprofessional

Speech habits Recognizing that your credibility can Uptalk, a singsong speech pattern,
be seriously damaged by sounding making sentences sound like
uneducated… questions; like used as a filler, go for
said; slang; poor grammar and
profanity

Email Messages with subjects, verbs and Sloppy messages with incomplete
punctuation free from abbreviations sentences, misspelled words,
Messages that are concise and spelled exclamation points, IM slang and
correctly even when brief Email mindless charter
addresses that include a name or a
positive, businesslike expression

Internet Real name Twitter handles and user Suggestive Twitter handles and user
Social media names that don’t sound cute… names that point to an immature,
Posts in good taste, fit for public unhealthy lifestyle.
consumption Posts that reveal political, religious,
and other personal leanings

Voicemail An outgoing message that states your An outgoing message with strident
name or phone number and provides background music, weird sounds, or a
instructions for leaving a message joke message

Telephone Quiet background Soap operas, thunderous music…

presence

Texting Sending appropriate business text Not during meetings, not allowing
messages only when necessary texting to interrupt
The most common forms of technologies at work today
Communication technology
1) Clouding
Clouding computing offers access data on remote servers with a computer or mobile service
2) Telephone: VoIP
This technology allows callers to communicate using a broadband Internet connection, thus
eliminating long-distance and local telephone charges
3) Open office and home office
Small computers and flat-screen monitors enable workers to save space with boomerang-shaped
workstations and cockpit-style work surfaces
4) Multifunctional printers
Offices are transitioning from a “print and distribute” environment to a “distribute and print”
environment.
5) Handheld wireless devices
6) Company intranets
- To share insider information, many companies provide their own protected Web sites
called intranets.
- An intranet may handle company e-mail, announcements, an employee directory, a policy
handbook, frequently asked questions, personnel forms and data, employee discussion
forums, shared documents, and other employee information.
7) Voice/Speech recognition
Computers and mobile devices equipped with speech recognition software enable users to dictate
hands-free with accuracy
8) Electronics Presentation & Data visualization
- Business Presentations in PowerPoint, Prezi, or Keynote can be projected from a laptop
or tablet or posted online
- Sophisticated presentations may include animations, sound effects, digital photos, video
clips or hyperlinks
Collaboration technology
1) Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, and Tweets
- Blog is a Web site with journal entries usually written by one person and comments by
others → Businesses use blogs to keep customers and employees informed and to receive
feedback
- A wiki is a Web site that allows multiple users to collaboratively create and edit pages
- Podcasts are popular audio files played back from a website or downloaded from digital
audio players
2) Voice Conferencing = Audioconferencing = Teleconferencing = Conference calling
This enables people to collaborate by telephone
3) Web Conferencing
4) Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing allows participants to meet in special conference rooms equipped with
cameras and television screens.
5) Video phones
6) Presence Technology
Presence technology makes it possible to locate and identify a computing device as soon as users
connect to the network. This technology is an integral part of communication devices including
mobile phones, laptop computers, PDAs, smartphones, and GPS devices.
Impacts of modern technologies
1) Disruptive technologies and social media
- Smartphone apps, programs or software designed for mobile devices, have contributed to
the development of the sharing economy, an economic model in which individuals rent or
borrow assets owned by others (think Uber or Grab).
2) Remote work and 24/7/365 availability (“Anytime, anywhere” and nonterritorial offices)
- Constant connectedness has also blurred the line between work and leisure.
- Employees work long hours without extra compensation and receive the shortest paid
vacations among their international counterparts.
- Experts caution that “digital overload” is a major stressor, leading to burnout.
- Global studies in the wake of the pandemic have found that remote work may be bad for
employees’s mental health.
3) More collaboration and teamwork (Increased emphasis on self-directed work groups and
virtual teams)
- Many companies have created cross-functional teams to empower employees and boost
their involvement in decision making.
- Ad hoc teams are project-based teams that disband once they have accomplished their
objectives.
- Our future gig economy may rely on free agents who will be hired on a project basis
rather than traditional full-time, relatively steady jobs.
4) Flattened management layers/hierarchies
- High technologies enable managers to make decision, and communicate them to
customers, workers and executives directly.
5) Global competition and cultural diversity (Heightened global competition)
 - As companies go global, workforce becomes more diverse.
- Workers are expected to be develop intercultural skills, including sensitivity, flexibility,
patience, and tolerance.
6) Emphasis on ethics
- Tales of misconduct have eroded public trust and fed into perception that all business is
dishonest.
- Millennials prefer sustainable and ethical brands.
- In a hyperconnected always-on professional environment, communication skills are
constantly noticed.
- You will need to nurture your reputation and safeguard your brand online and off.
7) Innovative communication technologies
Communication process: Communication is two-way and “cyclical”

1) Idea formation:
The form of the idea may be influenced by the sender’s mood, frame of reference, background,
culture, and physical makeup, as well as the context of the situation.
2) Message encoding:
Encoding means converting the idea into words or gestures that will convey meaning.
A major problem in communicating any message verbally is that words have different meanings
for different people → Choose appropriate words with concrete meanings which both senders
and receivers understand.
3) Message transmission:
Channel: the medium over which the message is transmitted
Noise: Anything that interferes with the transmission of a message in the communication
process. Channel noise ranges from static that disrupts a telephone conversation to spelling errors
in an e-mail or blog post.
4) Message decoding
Decoding: translating the message from its symbol form into meaning
→ Successful communication takes place only when a receiver understands the meaning
intended by the sender.
5) Feedback
Feedback helps the sender know that the message was received and understood.

Listening skills
Overcoming barriers to effective listening
- Physical barriers (You cannot listen if you cannot hear what is being said): include
hearing disabilities, poor acoustics, and noisy surroundings. It is also difficult to listen if
you are ill, tired, or uncomfortable.
- Psychological barriers: If other ideas run counter to our preconceived thoughts, we tend
to “tune out” the speaker and thus fail to receive them.
- Language problems: unfamiliar words, emotion - ladden or charged words → If the
mention of words such as bankruptcy or real estate bubbles has an intense emotional
impact, a listener may be unable to think about the words that follow
- Nonverbal distractions: Unusual clothing or speech mannerisms, body twitches, or a
radical hairstyle - smt different from what we view as normal
- Thought speed: Because we can process thoughts at least three times faster than
speakers can say them, we can become bored and not focus on what is said.
- Faking attention: seriously threatens effective listening because it encourages the mind
to engage in flights of unchecked fancy
- Grandstanding: we sometimes fail to listen carefully because we are just waiting
politely for the next pause so that we can have our turn to speak
Building powerful listening skills
- Concentrate on listening
- Control your surroundings
 - Establish a receptive mindset
- Keep an open mind
- Listen for main points
- Capitalize on lag time
- Anticipate what’s coming next
- Listen between the lines
- Judge ideas, not appearances
- Hold your fire
- Take selective notes
- Provide feedback

Chap 02: Understanding culture and communication

What is culture?
Culture is defined as the complex system of values, traits, morals, customs shared by a society.
Key elements of culture:
Context, communication styles, individualism, power distance, time orientation
Context: stimuli, environment, or ambience surrounding an event
Hall arranged cultures on a continuum from low to high in relation to context
Low - context cultures: The US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Switz, the Netherlands - they
mean what they say
- Communicators depend little on the context and shared experience to convey their meaning
- Messages are explicit, and listeners rely solely on written and spoken words
- Messages should be objective, professional and efficient
- Words are taken literally
High - context cultures: Japan, Russia, India, Indo, Korea, Kenya - the meaning tend to be
delivered non - verbally
- Communicators assume that listeners do not need background in4
- Communicators emphasize interpersonal relationship, non - verbal expression, physical setting,
and social context
- Communication cues tend to be transmitted by posture, voice inflection, gestures and facial
expressions
Individualism:
- Low context cultures tend to value individualism
- They believe that initiative and sell - assertion result in persona achievement
- They uphold individual action and personal responsibility
- They expect much freedom in their personal lives
- Traits of individualistic cultures: Self - reliance, uniqueness, self sufficiency, autonomy
Collectivism:
- High context cultures are more collectivist
- They emphasize membership in an organizations, groups and teams
- They embrace group values, duties and decisions
- Resist independence since it fosters competition and confrontation
- Business decisions are made collectively
- Traits of collectivistic cultures:
+) Social rules focus on promoting selflessness
+) Working as a group
+) Doin what the best for the society
+) Families and communities have a central role
Culture convergance
Power distance (index):
- Measures how people in different societies cope with inequality (the way they relate to more
powerful individuals)
- In high power distance countries, subordinates expect formal hierarchies and embrace relatively
authoritarian, paternalistic power relationships → talk down
- In low power distance countries, subordinates consider themselves as equals of their superiors.
They voice opinions and participate in decision making → bottom up
Communication styles: A cultural dimension that refers to how people communicate and use
words
Low context:
+) Words are important (contracts, negotiation)
+) Straightforward, direct
High context:
+) Surrounding context is more important than words
+) Contracts: statements of intentions
When verbal and nonverbal messages clash, listeners tend to believe the nonverbal message.
Ensuring cultural effectiveness
Avoiding ethnocentrism and stereotyping
Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group → Cause people to judge
others by their own values
Sterotyping is an oversimplified, rigid perception of a behavioral pattern or characteristic applied
uncritically to groups → Hurtful & misunderstanding
Tolerance and open mindedness
Tolerance means learning about those who are not like us
Be receptive to new experience
→ Leads to understanding and acceptance
Be empathetic, trying to see the world through another’s eyes
Be less judgemental and eager to seek common ground
Time orientation
Some cultures (Low context) see time as a precious commodity
+) Time is correlated with productivity, efficiency and money
+) Keep people waiting is considered as a waste of time and rude
+) E.T.Hall calls this time orientation Monochromic time
Some cultures (high context) see time as unlimited/never-ending resources
+) Time is considered as flexible, abundant, open and nonlinear
+) Time is seen as an opportunity for develop interpersonal relationship
+) E.T.Hall calls this time orientation Polychromic time
Successful oral communication with intercultural audiences
+) Use simple English: Eliminate slang, colloquial expressions, jargon (special business terms)
and idiomatic expressions (under the weather…)
+) Speak slowly and enunciate clearly
+) Encourage accurate feedback
+) Check frequently for comprehension: make one point at a time, then pause to check for
comprehension
+) Observe eye messages
+) Accept blame
+) Listen without interrupting
+) Smile when appropriate
+) Follow up in writing
Successful written communication with intercultural audiences
+) Consider local styles and convention
+) Observe titles and rank
+) Hire a translator: Engage a professional translator if
- your document is important,
- your document will be distributed to many readers, or
- you must be persuasive.
+) Use short sentences/paragraphs
- Sentences fewer than 20 words
- Paragraphs fewer than 8 lines
+) Avoid ambiguity/ambiguous wording
- Include relative pronouns (that, which, who) for clarity in introducing clauses
- Use action-specific verbs (purchase a printer rather than get a printer)
- Stay away from contractions (Here’s the problem). Avoid idioms (once in a blue moon),
slang (my presentation really bombed), acronyms (ASAP for as soon as possible),
abbreviations (DBA for doing business as), and jargon (input, output, clickstream)
+) Cite numbers carefully
Communicating in a diverse workplace: How to improve communication and interaction
in a diverse workplace?
- Seek training: intercultural communication, team building, and conflict resolution are skills that
can be learned
- Understanding the value of differences: Diversity makes an organization innovative and
creative. Sameness fosters an absence of critical thinking called groupthink
- Learn about cultural self: Travelling makes u learn about other cultures and your own
- Make fewer assumptions: managers and their wives → Spouses or partners
- Build on similarities: Look for areas in which you and others not like you can agree or at least
share opinions

Chap 03: Planning business messages

The best business writing is purposeful, persuasive, economical, audience oriented
- Purposeful - You will be writing to solve problems and convey information. You will
have a definite purpose to fulfill in each message.
- Persuasive - You want your audience to believe and accept your message.
- Economical - You will try to present ideas clearly but concisely.
- Audience oriented - You will concentrate on looking at a problem from the perspective
of the audience instead of seeing it from your own.
The writing process
Prewriting/Planning (Analyzing, anticipating, adapting) (25%)
→ Writing/Drafting/Composing (Researching, organizing, Writing/Drafting/Composing) (25%)
→ Revising (Revising, proofreading, evaluating) (50%)
Analyzing: involves analyzing the purpose for communication, selecting the best channel to
deliver the message, anticipating how your audience will react, and adapting your message to
the audience.
Identify the purpose:
Purposes of business writing:
- Inform - persuade (primary)
- Show goodwill
Answer the questions below:
 - To whom are u writing?
- Why r u writing?
- What u hope to achieve?
- What channel is best for delivering your message? Email, text message, social media,
letter, report, telephone, voicemail, meeting, conversation….
How to select the best channel?
- How important is the message
- Amount of interactivity required
- Speed of feedback required
- Necessity of a permanent record
- Cost of channel
- Degree of formality desired
- Confidentiality & sensitivity of the message
Media richness describes the extent to which a channel or medium recreates or represents all the
information available in the original message
- Rich medium permits more interactivity and feedback. Richer media enable the sender to
provide more verbal and visual cues as well as to tailor/customize/personalize/adapt the
message to the audience (face to face conversation)
- Lean medium presents a flat, one-dimensional message (report, proposal…)

Channel Best use

Social networking sites When one person needs to present digital information easily so that it
is available to others

Email When you need feedback but not immediately. Lack of security
makes it problematic for personal, emotional, or private messages.

Face to face When you need a rich, interactive medium. Useful for persuasive,
conversation bad-news, and personal messages.

Face to face When group decisions and consensus are important. Inefficient for
group meeting merely distributing information.

Fax When your message must cross time zones or international

boundaries, when a written record is significant, or when speed is
important.
 Instant messaging When you need a quick response from someone who is also online.
Useful for fast answers in real time or for customer-service chats.

Letter When a written record or formality is required, especially with

customers, the government, suppliers, or others outside an
organization.

Memo When you want a written record to clearly explain policies, discuss
procedures, or collect information within an organization.

Phone call When you need to deliver or gather information quickly, when
nonverbal cues are unimportant, and when you cannot meet in
person.

Report or proposal When you are delivering considerable data internally or externally.

Text messaging When you need to connect with someone by smartphone but not
necessarily in real time. Useful for leaving brief messages discreetly
without having to call.

Voicemail message When you wish to leave important or routine information that the
receiver can respond to when convenient.

Video/Audio When group consensus and interaction are important, but members
conferencing are geographically dispersed.

Web 2.0 technologies When digital information must be made available to others. Useful
(i.e. Wiki) for collaboration because participants can easily add, remove, and
edit content.
Anticipating: How audience react to messages
- What is the reader or listener like?
- Will they be pleased, neutral, or displeased when they see the message?
Profiling the audience => Identify the appropriate tone, language and channel
Primary audience
- Who is my primary reader or listener?
- What are my personal and professional relationships with that person?
- What position does the person hold in the organization?
- How much does the person know about the subject?
- What do I know about that person’s education, beliefs, culture, and attitudes?
- Should I expect a neutral, positive, or negative response to my message?
Secondary audience
 - Who else may see or hear this message in addition to the primary audience?
- Are they different from the primary audience?
- Do I need to include more background information?
- How must I reshape the message for the secondary audience (others to whom it might be
forwarded)?
Adapting: Create a message that will suit your task and audience

Spotlight audience benefits

We are adopting a new health plan that we → You will enjoy total peace of mind with
believe has many outstanding benefits our affordable health plan that will meet all of
your needs

All employees are instructed herewith to fill → By filling out the enclosed questionnaires,
out the enclosed questionnaire completely and you can be one of the first employees to sign
immediately so that we can allocate our up for our training resource funds.
training resource funds to employees.

Our warranty becomes effective only when → Your warranty begins working for you as
we receive an owner’s registration. soon as we receive your owner’s registration.

We are proud to announce our new software → Now you can better protect your computers
virus checker that we think is the best on the with our newly released real-time virus
market! scanning software program.

Cultivate the “you” view

We are requiring all employees to respond to → Because your ideas count, give us your
the attached survey about health benefits. thoughts on the attached survey about health
benefits.

I need your account number before I can do → Would you mind giving me your account
anything. number so that I can locate your records and
help you solve this problem?

We have shipped your order by UPS, and we → Your order will be delivered by UPS in
are sure it will arrive in time for your sales time for your sales promotion December 1.
promotion December 1.

I have 15 different financial plans to offer my → You have 15 financial plans from which to
investors choose

We are now offering iPads at discounted → U can now purchase ipads at discounted
 prices prices

Conversational but professional

Btw, dude, we have had some slippage in the → Although we have fallen behind somewhat
schedule but don’t have to dump everything in the schedule, we don’t have to start at the
and start from ground zero beginning

Hey, boss, Gr8 news! Firewall now installed!! → Mr. Smith, our new firewall software is
BTW, check with me b4 popping the news. now installed. Please check with me before
announcing it.

All employees are herewith instructed to → Please return your contracts to me.
return the appropriately designated contracts
to the undersigned.

Pertaining to your order, we must verify the → We will send your order as soon as we
sizes that your organization requires prior to confirm the sizes you need.
consignment of your order to our shipper.

Positive language generally conveys more information than negative language does. Positive
wording tells what is and what can be done rather than what isn’t and what can’t be done.
Negative language can imply hidden messages
Fail to → careless
You claim that → But I don't believe you
You don’t understand → You are not smart
You are wrong → I am right

Express yourself positively: creates goodwill & give more options to receivers

Titan insurance company will not process any → We can process your claim when you send
claim not accompanied by documented proof us a letter from your doctor showing that he or
from a physician showing that the injuries she treated your injuries
were treated

You application cannot be processed because → As soon as you provide your telephone
you neglected to insert your telephone number number, we will be happy to process your
application.

Because you failed to include your credit card → We look forward to completing your order
number, we can’t mail your order. as soon as we receive your credit card
 number.

We cannot fill … until… → We can only fill… once…

I am sick and tired of being the only one who → Let’s make a schedule to clean out the
cleans out the refrigerator refrigerator

You have to/must/should → (Will you) please…

Expressing courteous language: avoid

- Sounding demanding, preachy or rude.
- Being sarcastic.
- Expressing irritation, frustration or anger.
- Issuing orders.
- Using first names without permission.
- Turning demands into rhetorical questions and giving reasons for your requests can
help you be a successful communicator.

We require that all employees read and sign… → To use the web professionally and…,
please read and sign…

Am I the only one who can read the operating → Let’s review the operating manual together
manual? so that you can get your documents to print
correctly next time.

This is the third time I have written! Can’t → Please credit my account for $40. My latest
you people get anything right? statement shows that the error noted in my
letter of May 15 has not yet been corrected.

I must have your expense report by Friday → Please submit your expense report…

Adopt bias free language

- Waiter/Waitress, Authoress, Stewardess → Server, author, flight attendant
- Mankind, man-hour, man-made → Human, working hours, artificial
- Managers and their wives → Managers and spouses/partners
- Foreman, flagman, workman → Lead worker, flagger, worker
- Businessman, salesman → Businessperson, sales representative
- Old people → Seniors
 - The poor → The underprivileged
- Every executive has his own office → All executives have (their own) offices, Every
executive has an office, Every executive has his or her own office

Using familiar words: short, simple and common words

It may be of some concern to you to learn that your online payment has been processed and your
account has been credited for 250 → We have credited your account for 250

Using plain language: Avoid federalese

Commensurate → Equal; Utilize → Use
Interrogate → Question; Materialize → Appear
Obfuscate → Confuse; Remuneration → Pay, Salary
U may encounter difficulty in terminating… → U may have difficulty in finishing…

Using precise, vigorous word

1. Management is predicting a drop in earnings after the first year
2. Experts predict that the economy will … by next year
3. We plan to applaud the work of outstanding employees
4. After studying the report, I realized the information was inaccurate

A change in profits → A 25 percent increase/plunge in profits

To say → To promise/confess/understand…

Chap 04.1: Composing business messages

This second phase includes 3 steps: Researching or gathering the information, organizing it into
outlines and writing the messages.
The writing process begins with background information.
Researching:
Collect information that answers these questions:
- What does the receiver need to know about this topic?
- What is the receiver to do?
 - How is the receiver to do it?
- When must the receiver do it?
- What will happen if the receiver doesn’t do it?
Formal research: Complex business problems, long reports
- Primary sources: Primary data come from firsthand experience - Surveys, observation,
experimentation, interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups.
- Secondary sources: Secondary data come from reading what others have experienced or
observed or written about - Books, journals, online resources… (more important)
Informal research: routine tasks - composing emails, memos, letters, and
informational reports
- Search company’s files
- Talk with the boss
- Interview the target audience
- Create an informal survey
- Brainstorm for ideas
Organizing Data to Show Relationships
Organizing involves 2 processes
- Grouping: Well-organized messages group similar ideas together
- Strategizing: You must decide where in the message to place the main idea
Unorganized messages proceed free-form, jumping from one thought to another
e.g. Main ideas come first followed by details and explanations.
→ Fail to emphasize important points
→ Poor organization is regarded as the greatest failing of business writers.
Organizing information into an outline
Direct and Indirect Strategies
Anticipate the audience’s reaction to your ideas and frame your message accordingly.

Direct method = Frontloading Indirect method

Definition Main idea first, followed by details, Main idea later, after details, an
an explanation, or evidence explanation, or evidence

Audience Receptive audience: pleased, mildly Unreceptive audience: unwilling or

interested, neutral uninterested, hostile, displeased or
disappointed

Advantages - Save the reader’s time - Respect the feelings of audience

- Set a proper frame of mind - Facilitate a fair hearing
- Reduce frustration - Minimize a negative reaction

Applies to - Routine requests & responses - Emails, letters, memos refusing

- Orders & acknowledgements requests, denying claims, disapprove
- Non-sensitive memos, e-mails, credit
informational reports, and - Persuasive requests
informational oral presentations - Sales letters, sensitive messages,
bad news
Writing a first draft with powerful sentences
Business writers must be able to:
- Develop effective sentences
- Improve writing techniques
- Draft powerful paragraphs
- Compose a first draft
Adding interest and variety with 4 sentence types
Simple sentence: contains 1 complete thought (independent clause) with a subject and predicate
verbs
Ex: Our company lacked a social media presence
Compound sentence: contains 2 complete but related thoughts may be joined by a conjunction
(and, but, or…) or a semicolon; or a conjunctive adv (however, consequently, therefore…)
Ex: Our company lacked a social media presence, and it hired a specialist
Complex sentence: Contains an independent clause (a complete thought) and a dependent clause
(a thought cannot stand by itself) (although, since, because, when, if). When dependent clauses
proceed independent clauses, they are always followed by a comma (Because…, it…)
Compound complex sentence: Contains at least 2 independent clauses and one dependent clause
Ex: Because our company lacked a social media presence, it hired a specialist; however, our
brand required time to build.
Avoiding Three Common Sentence Errors
Fragments: a broken-off part of a complex sentence.
Ex: Because most transactions require a permanent record. Good writing skills are critical
→ Because most transactions require a permanent record, good writing skills are critical.
Run-on/Fused sentences: When two independent clauses are run together without punctuation or
a conjunction, a run-on (fused) sentence results.
Ex: Most job seekers present a printed résumé some are also using Web sites as electronic
portfolios → Most job seekers present a printed résumé. Some are also using Web sites as
electronic portfolios.
One candidate sent an email résumé another sent a traditional résumé → One candidate sent an
email résumé; another sent a traditional résumé.
Comma Splice sentences: results when a writer joins (splices together) two independent clauses
with a comma
Ex: Some employees responded by email, others picked up the telephone
→ Some employees responded by email, and others picked up the telephone (conjunction)
→ Some employees responded by email; however, others picked up the telephone (conjuct adv)
→ Some employees responded by email; others picked up the telephone (semicolon)
Choose short sentences

Sentence length Comprehension rate

8 words 100%

15 words 90%

19 words 80%

28 words 50%
Improving 4 writing techniques
Developing emphasis
In oral communication → Say loudly, Repeat slowly, Pound the table, Raising eyebrows,
Shaking head or whisper in a low voice
In written communication → Mechanically or stylistically
Mechanically: using underlining, italics, boldface, font changes, all caps, dashes, and tabulation.
Or arrangement of space, color, lines, boxes, columns, titles, headings, and subheadings…
Stylistically:
- Use specific statements (vivid words)
One business uses personal selling techniques → Avon uses face-to-face selling techniques.
Someone will contact you as soon as possible → Ms. Wong will telephone you before 5 p.m.
tomorrow, May 3.
- Label the main idea
Consider looking for a job online, but also focus on networking → Consider looking for a job
online; but, most important, focus on networking.
We shop here because of the customer service and low prices → We like the customer service,
but the primary reason for shopping here is low prices.
- Place the important idea first or last in the sentence
Profit-sharing plans are more effective in increasing productivity when they are linked to
individual performance rather than to group performance → Productivity is more likely to be
increased when profit-sharing plans are linked to individual performance rather than to group
performance.
- Place the important idea in a simple sentence or in an independent clause
Although you are the first management trainee we have hired for this program, we had many
candidates and expect to expand the program in the future → You are the first management
trainee we have hired for this program.
De-emphasizing when necessary
- Use general words
Our records indicate that you were recently fired → Our records indicate that your employment
status has recently changed.
- Place the bad news in a dependent clause connected to an independent clause with something
positive (compound sentence → complex sentence)
We cannot issue you credit at this time, but we have a special plan that will allow you to fill your
immediate needs on a cash basis → Although credit cannot be issued at this time, you can fill
your immediate needs on a cash basis with our special plan.
Using active - passive voice
Active voice: more direct, clear, and concise - the subject is the doer of the action
Passive voice:
- To emphasize an action or the recipient of the action: An investigation was launched
- To de-emphasize negative news: Cash refunds cannot be made.
- To conceal the doer of an action: An error was made in our sales figures.
Achieving parallelism: writing technique where the same form is used for a series of items.
Main idea = controlling idea
1. To improve your listening skills, stop talking, your surroundings should be controlled, be
listening for main points, and an open mind must be kept
→ …, control your surroundings, listen for main points, and keep an open mind
2. Alma Cervantes, director of the San Mateo branch, will now supervise all Western Division
operations; the Mountain Division will be supervised by our Utah branch director, Diane
Macdonald
→ …; Diane Macdonald, our Utah branch director, will supervise the Mountain Division
3. Our newly hired employee has started using the computers and to learn her coworkers’ names
→ … and learning…
4. Training seminars must be stimulating and a challenge
→ … and challenging
5. Paperless meetings enable directors to filter vast amounts of data, to search digitally, and
cross-references can be linked
→ …, search digitally and link cross references
6. We need more trained staff members, office space is limited, and the budget for overtime is
much too small
→ …, expanded office space, and a larger overtime budget
7. The application for a grant asks for this information: funds required for employee salaries,
how much we expect to spend on equipment, and what is the length of the project
→ …: employee salaries, equipment funding, and project length
8. Sending an email establishes a more permanent record than to make a telephone call
→ … making…
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
1. To win the lottery, a ticket must be purchased → To win the lottery, you must purchase a
ticket
2. Firefighters rescued a dog from a burning car that had a broken leg → Firefighters rescued a
dog with a broken leg from a burning car.
Building well-organized paragraph
A paragraph is a group of sentences about one idea. The following types of sentences may be
organized to express ideas in a well-organized paragraph:
- Topic sentence: Express the primary idea of the paragraph; often, but not always, comes
first in a paragraph
- Supporting sentences: Illustrate, explain, or strengthen the primary idea
Sustaining the key idea
Repeat a key expression or use a similar one throughout a paragraph
Dovetailing sentences
Sentences are dovetailed when an idea at the end of one connects with an idea at the beginning of
the next

Chap 04.2: Revising business messages (ko thi)

This third phase includes 3 steps: Revising, proofreading, evaluating
Revising for Conciseness
Eliminating flabby expressions
Flabby phrases can often be reduced to a single word.
Ex: Due to the fact that sales are booming, profits are strong
→ Because sales are booming, profits are strong
Limiting Long Lead-Ins
1. We are sending this announcement to let everyone know
that new parking permits will be available January 1
→ New parking permits will be available January 1.
2. This is to inform you that you may find lower airfares at our Web site
→ You may find lower airfares at our Web site.
Dropping Unnecessary Fillers (There is/are - It is/was)
1. There are only two administrative assistants to serve five managers → Only two
administrative assistants serve five managers
2. There is a huge amount of work waiting for the temporary employee → A huge amount of
work is waiting for the temporary employee.
3. It was our auditor who discovered the theft → Our auditor discovered the theft.
Rejecting Redundancies
Redundancies convey a meaning more than once (repeat meaning, include unnecessary words)
Ex: unexpected surprise → surprise; exactly identical → identical; basic fundamentals →
fundamentals or basics; combined together → combined; repeat again → repeat; true facts →
facts; new beginning → beginning
Revising for Clarity
Eliminating Trite Business Phrases
Avoiding Jargon and Slang
Jargon is special terminology that is
peculiar/unique to particular activities or
professions
Slang is composed of informal words with
arbitrary and extravagantly changed meanings.
Eliminating Clichés
Clichés are expressions that do not have clear meaning and that have been overused
Ex: below the belt; last but not least; better than newmake a bundle; beyond a shadow of a doubt;
pass with flying colors; easier said than done; quick as a flash; exception to the rule; shoot from
the hip; fill the bill; stand your ground; first and foremost; think outside the box; good to go; true
to form
Revising for Vigor and Directness
Unburying verbs - convert nouns to verbs
Buried verbs are those that are needlessly converted to wordy noun expressions
Ex: conduct a discussion of → discuss; create a reduction in → reduce; take action on → act;
perform an analysis of → analyze; make an assumption of → assume
Controlling exuberance
Avoid excessive use of adverb intensifiers (very, quite,…)
1. We totally agree that we actually did not really give his proposal a very fair trial
→ We agree that we did not give his proposal a fair trial.
2. The manufacturer was extremely upset to learn that its printers were definitely being
counterfeited.
→ The manufacturer was upset to learn that its printers were being counterfeited.
Choosing clear, precise words
Specific verbs, concrete nouns, and vivid adjectives
1. She requested that everyone help out → Our manager encouraged each team member to
volunteer.
2. They will consider the problem soon → Our steering committee will consider the recruitment
problem on May 15.
3. We received many responses → The Sales Division received 28 job applications.
Designing Documents for Readability
Employing white space
White space: Empty space on a page
- Use headings, bulleted or numbered lists, short paragraphs, and effective margins
- Short sentences (<20 words) or paragraphs (<8 printed lines)
Understanding Margins and Text Alignment
Business documents are most readable with left-aligned text and ragged-right margins.
Choosing Appropriate Typefaces
- Typeface with serifs (Times New Romans…)
➢ Have small features at the ends of strokes
➢ Tradition, maturity, and formality
➢ Frequently used for body text in business messages and longer documents
- Typeface without serifs (sans serif) (Arial)
➢ Don’t have small features at the ends of strokes
 ➢ Widely used for headings, signs, and material that does not require continuous reading
Capitalizing on Type Fonts and Sizes
Fonts include caps, boldface, italic, underline, outline, and shadow → Mechanical means to add
emphasis to words.
Numbering and Bulleting Lists for Quick Comprehension
- Numbered lists: Use for items that represent a sequence or reflect a numbering system.
- Bulleted lists: Use to highlight items that don’t necessarily show a chronology.
- Capitalization: Capitalize the initial word of each line.
- Punctuation: Add end punctuation only if the listed items are complete sentences.
- Parallelism: Make all the lines consistent; for example, start each with a verb.
Adding Headings for Visual Impacts
Proofreading
- Only proofread when your message is in its final form → Proofread before a document is
completed is a waste of time: Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Names & numbers,
format
- Routine messages, including e-mails, require careful but only a light proofreading
- Long, complex, or important documents demand careful and thorough proofreading

Chap 05: Short Workplace messages and Digital media

Written messages at work

Paper-based/Written messages Electronic messages

Types - Business letters - Emails

- Interoffice memos - Instant messaging
- Reports - Text messages
- Proposals - Podcasts
- Manuals - Blogs, wikis
- Brochures - Social media

Advantages - Carry more weight - Delivered instantaneously

- Taken more seriously in certain - Promote faster feedback
situations - Considered a standard form of
- Can be more attractively formatted communication within organizations

Useful for - Creating a permanent record - Sending short informal messages

- Projecting formality - Reaching multiple receivers
 - Displaying confidentiality and - Saving and archiving messages
sensitivity
Communicating in the digital age with emails and memos
Statistics about emails
- First email was sent 50 years ago
- Email traffic grows by 4% annually worldwide
- Office workers receive 120 messages a day
- Emails has replaced paper memos inside organizations and some letters to external
audiences
Common complaints about emails
Email overload
- Workers report they spend about 5 hours reading and writing emails
- Emails increase stress level
- Emails eliminate the distinction between work and life
Scary permanence of digital messages
- Email files still leave trails on servers within and outside organizations after deletion
- Staff’s personal email accounts might be legally monitored on the company’s network
- If employees set up their company’s email on their smartphones, they have given their
employer the right to remotely delete all personal data on the mobile device
- You should know your organization's email policy before sending personal messages or
forwarding work-related information to your personal email account
When and how to use email efficiently and safely
- Email is appropriate for longer, more involved, and well organized messages that may
provide request information and respond to inquiries
- Email is effective for messages to multiple receivers and those that must be archived
- Email is appropriate as a cover document when sending longer attachments
In which situation is email not appropriate?
- When you want to convey enthusiasm or warmth, explain a complex situation, present a
persuasive argument, or smooth over disagreements → Face-to-face conversations or
telephone calls
 - When it requires “a human moment” that is those that are emotional, require negotiation
and relate to personnel
Components of email messages and memos
A professional email has:
- A compelling subject line: Summarize the main idea or topic in phrase form
- Appropriate greeting: Reveal the main idea immediately but in a complete sentence form.
- Well organized bodies: Explain and justify the main idea using headings, bulleted lists,
and other high-skim techniques when appropriate
- Complete closing information: Include
➢ Action information, dates, or deadlines;
➢ A summary of the message; or
➢ A closing thought.
Drafting a compelling but concise Subject line
- Summarize the main idea (purpose)
- Avoid meaningless one word subject lines such as Help or Urgent
Urgent! → Expense Form Due by Friday at 5pm
We will meet this week → Task Force Meeting Thursday, May 28
- Make the receiver want to open the message
- Try to include a Verb
- Type in uppercase and lowercase letters - never in all upper or lowercase
- NEVER leave the subject line blank

Budget Report Need You to Prepare a Budget Report

Division Meeting Middle Atlantic Division Meeting

Rescheduled for April 22

Important! Please Schedule Your DSHA Safety Training

Parking Permits New Employee Parking Permits Available

From HR

2. An email announcing a new day-care program

a) Employees interested in enrolling their children in our new low-cost day-care program are
invited to an HR orientation on September 15 → Direct opening
b) For several years we have studied the possibility of offering a day-care option for those
employees who are parents. Until recently, our management team was unable to agree on the
exact parameters of these benefits, but now some of you will be able to take advantage of this
option.
→ Subject line: Sign(ing) up for a low cost day care program on…
3. An email message announcing an employee satisfaction survey
a) We have noticed recently an increased turnover among our sales staff. We are concerned
about this troubling development and would like to study its causes. We have hired an outside
consulting firm to gauge the attitudes of our salespeople in confidential qualitative interviews.
b) The consulting firm will soon conduct in-depth qualitative interviews to explore the
satisfaction among our sales staff and recommend strategies to stem the tide of recent
departures
→ Subject line: Announcing satisfaction survey to study turnover among sale staff
4. A memo announcing a new procedure
a) It has come to our attention that some staff members write blogs, sometimes publicly
addressing sensitive company information. We respect the desire of employees to express
themselves and would like to continue allowing the practice, but we decided to provide binding
rules to ensure the company’s and the bloggers’ safety
b) The following new policy for blog authors will help staff members to create posts that will
maintain the integrity of the company’s sensitive information and keep the writers safe
→ Subject line: Announcing/Introducing new policy to ensure safe blogging
Include a Greeting/Salutation
A greeting provides a visual cue marking the beginning of the message.
- Greeting sets the tone for the message and reflects your audience analysis
- For friends & colleagues, try friendly greetings: Hi/Good morning, Lara
- For outsiders, use more formal messages: Dear Ms Ingram; Dear Robin Gray (if gender is
not known)
Organize the body for Readability and Tones
- Start directly
- Group similar topics together
- Present some information in bullets or numbered lists
 - Add headings if the message contains more than a few paragraphs
- Condense phrases and sentences if possible
- Get rid of wordiness BUT DO NOT sacrifice CLARITY
- Keep a longer sentence if it is necessary for comprehension

Our office could implement better Our office could use energy efficiency and
environmental practices such as improving reduce our carbon footprint in 3 simple ways.
energy efficiency and reducing our carbon
footprint. Here are three simple things we can
do to make our daily work practices greener.
For one thing, we can power down. At night Power down: Turn off monitors rather than
we should turn off monitors, not just log off just logging off our computers.
our computers.
In addition, we could “Light Right”. This Light Right: install energy-efficient lighting
means installing energy: efficient lighting throughout the office.
throughout the office.
A final suggestion has to do with recycling. Recycle instantly: Place small recycling bins
We could be recycling instantly if we placed at all workstations and common use areas
small recycling bins at all workstations and
common use areas
Close effectively
- Include an action statement with due dates and request
- You might include a friendly closing such as “Many thanks” or “Warm regards” though
complimentary closes are unnecessary
- Do include your name because messages without names become confusing when
forwarded or when they are part of a long thread of responses
- Include full contact information in a signature block, which your email application can
insert automatically
Writing office memos
When should memos be sent?
Memos are necessary for important internal messages that are:
- Too long for email
- Requiring a permanent record - without a long thread of confusing replies or without
changing the organization date when a file is accessed like in an email
- Demanding formality
 - Informing employees who may not have work email such as those in manufacturing or
construction
Memos and Emails
Similarity
- Components: Both have subject line, dateline, identification of sender and receiver, using
headings, bulleted lists, and enumerated items whenever possible to enhance readability
- Content: Both carry non-sensitive information and generally close with:
➢ Action information, dates, or deadlines
➢ A summary of the message
➢ A closing thought
Examples of closing:
- An action is requested: Please create a slideshow featuring our new product line by
August 20 so that we are prepared for the trade show in May
- A simple concluding thought: I’m glad to answer your questions. This sounds like a
worthwhile project
Differences
- In emails to customers and clients, you need to close messages with goodwill statements
- In memos sent to coworkers, you need NOT close messages; however, some closing
thought is often necessary to avoid sounding abrupt
Examples of closing thoughts:
I sincerely appreciate your help
What are your ideas on this proposal?
How would you like to proceed?
Overused expression → Mechanical and insincere
Please let me know if I may be of your further assistance
I look forward to hearing from you
Don’t hesitate to ….

Ch09: Informal reports

Report functions
- Informational report → Present data without analysis or recommendations => Inform
 - Analytical report → Present data or findings, analyses, conclusions, and
recommendations => Persuade to act or change beliefs
Organizational strategies
Direct strategy if readers are:
- Informed
- Supportive
- Eager to have results first

Informational report Analytical report

1. Introduction/Background 1. Introduction/Problem

2. Facts/Findings 2. Conclusions/Recommendations

3. Summary 3. Facts/Findings

4. Discussion/Analysis

Indirect strategy if readers:

- Need to be educated
- Need to be persuaded
- May be disappointed or hostile

Analytical report

1. Introduction/Problem 3. Discussion/Analysis
2. Facts/Findings 4. Conclusions/Recommendations

Typical report formats

How you format a report depends on its length, topic, audience, and purpose.

Letter For informal reports sent to outsiders

Memo/Email For informal reports within organizations

Manuscript For longer, formal reports

Preprinted forms For routine activities, such as expense reports

 Digital Useful for collaboration and for posting online
Developing informal reports
1. Determine problem and purpose
2. Gather data
3. Organize data
4. Write first draft
5. Edit and revise
Determine problem and purpose
- Statement of purpose defines the focus of the report
- Use action verbs to tell what you intend to do: analyze, choose, investigate, justify,
evaluate, explain, establish, determine
Example: To recommend a plan that provides sales reps with cars to be used in their calls. The
report will compare costs for three plans: outright ownership, leasing, and compensation for
employee-owned cars. Data will include the sales reps’ reactions for each plan
Collect data for reports
- Primary data come from first hand experience and observations
- Secondary data come from reading what others have experienced, observed and recorded
Where to collect data?
- Company records
- Printed materials (books, newspapers…)
- Electronic resources (Web, electronic databases, online resources)
- Observation
- Surveys, questionnaires
- Interviews (focus groups…)
Typical informal reports
- Informational reports
- Progress reports
- Justification/Recommendation reports
- Feasibility reports
- Minutes of meetings
 - Summaries
Informational reports
- Collect and organize information
- Provide findings without analysis or persuasion
Process:
1. Explain why you are writing
2. Describe credibility of data methods and sources
3. Provide background
4. Organize facts in a logical sequence
5. Group similar topics together
6. Summarize findings or highlight main points
Progress reports
- Explain the progress of continuing projects
- May be internal or external
Process:
1. Describe the purpose and nature of the project
2. Provide background information if necessary
3. Summarize work already completed
4. Explain work currently in progress, including personnel, activities, methods, and
locations
5. Anticipate problems and possible remedies
6. Discuss future activities and provide the expected completion date
Justification/Recommendation reports
Justify or recommend something (buying equipment, changing a procedure, hiring an
employee…)

Reader response determines structure

If readers are likely to agree with If readers oppose recommendations →

recommendations → Direct pattern Indirect pattern

1. Problem 1. Problems
2. Recommendations 2. Facts
3. Facts 3. Discussion
 4. Discussion 4. Recommendations

Feasibility reports
- Examine the practicality and advisability of a course of action → Persuade the feasibility
of a course of action
- Ask: Will this plan or proposal work?
Process:
1. Announcing decision immediately
2. Describe the background and problem necessitating the proposal
3. Discuss the benefits of the proposal
4. Describe any problems that may result
5. Calculate the costs associated with the proposal, if appropriate
6. Show the time frame necessary for implementation of the proposal
Minutes of meeting
- Summarize the proceedings of meetings
- Provide record of action items and exact wording of motions
Process:
1. Include name of group, date, time, place, name of the meeting
2. List names of attendees and absentees
3. State whether the previous minutes were approved or revised
4. Record old business, new business, announcements, and reports
5. Include the precise wording of motions
6. Record the vote and action taken
7. Conclude with the name and signature of the individual recording the minutes
Summaries
- Compress/Condense the main points from books, articles, websites, meetings and
conventions
- Save time because they can reduce reports or articles by 85% - 90%
Process:
1. Present the goal or purpose of the document being summarized
 2. Highlight the research methods (if appropriate), findings, conclusions, and
recommendations
3. Omit illustrations, examples and references
4. Organize for readability by including headings and bulleted or enumerated lists
5. Include reactions or an overall evaluation of the document if asked to do so
Report writing style
Informal writing style Formal writing style

Uses - Short, routine reports aimed at - Theses

familiar audiences - Research studies
- Noncontroversial reports - Controversial and complex reports,
- Most reports to company insiders especially to outsiders

Effect Feeling of warmth, personal - Impression of objectivity, accuracy,

involvement, closeness professionalism, fairness
- Distance created between writer and
reader

Characteristics - Use of first person pronouns (I, we, - Absence of first person pronouns;
us) use of third person (The researcher,
- Use of contractions (Can’t, I’ll) the writer)
- Emphasis on active voice verbs (I - Absence of contractions (do not,
conducted the study) cannot)
- Shorter sentences, familiar words - Use of passive voice verbs (the
- Occasional use of humor, metaphors study was conducted)
- Acceptance of author’s opinions, - Complex sentences, long words
ideas - Absence of humor, colorful
objectives, adverbs
- Elimination of author’s
“editorializing”

Being objective in writing reports

 - Present both sides of an issue
- Separate facts from opinion
- Be sensitive and moderate in language
- Cite sources carefully
Report headings
Benefits
- Serve as an outline of the report
- Highlight major ideas and categories
- Act as guides for locating information
- Provide resting points for the mind and the eye
- Organize data into meaningful blocks
Types
- Functional headings describe functions or general topics → inform
Example: Background, findings, benefits, costs
- Talking headings describe content and provide more information → draw attention and
interest
Example: Benefits of offering a wellness program

Functional heading Talking heading Combination heading

- Background - Lack of Space and and Cost - Introduction: Lack of

- Findings Compound Parking Program Parking Crisis Proportions
- Personnel - Survey Shows Support for - Parking Recommendations
- Production costs Parking Fines Shuttle and New Structures

Effective report headings

- Use appropriate heading levels
- Strive for parallel construction within levels
- Use first and second level headings for short reports
- Capitalize and underline carefully
- Keep headings short but clear
- Include at least one heading per report page
 Ch11: Formal reports
Understanding business report
Business report
- Product of thorough investigation and analysis
- Present vital information to decision makers in business, industry, government, and
education
Report writing process
Prepare to write → Research secondary data → Generate primary data → Document data →
Organize, outline, and discuss data → Illustrate data → Present final report
Preparing to write
- Define the purpose of the project
- Limit the scope of the report
➢ What constraints influence the range of the project?
➢ How will you achieve the purpose?
➢ How much time and space do you have?
➢ How accessible is your data?
➢ How thorough should your research be?
- Write a statement of purpose to describe the following: Goal, Significance, Limitations
- Use action verbs
Research secondary data
Secondary data come from reading what others have experienced or observed or written about -
Books, journals, online resources…
Generate primary data
1. Surveying

Advantages Disadvantages

- Economical and efficient way to - Response rate is generally low

gather data - Responders may not represent general
- Ability to reach large audience population
- Data collected tends to be accurate - Some responses are not truthful
 2. Interviewing

- Locate an expert - Ask objective, friendly questions

- Prepare for the interview - Watch the time
- Maintain a professional attitude - End graciously

3. Experimenting
- Develop rigorous research design
- Pay attention to matching experimental and control groups
4. Observing
- Plan ahead
- Get necessary permissions
- Be objective
- Quantify observations
5. Focus group discussing
- Is commonly used in the early stage of launching a new product
- Involve a small group of respondents (8 to 12) who provide their opinions on a topic (eg:
opinions towards a new product or service)
- Is conducted by a trained moderator or facilitator

Examples: How to collect information (Would your research be primary, secondary or

combination of both - What resources would be most useful <books, articles, Web,
interviews, surveys>)
1. Investigating employee commuting habits for the purpose of creating a carpool program
⇒ Primary data: Surveying (electronic), interviewing
2. Comparing mine safety in the three largest mining countries: South Africa, the US, and
Australia
⇒ Secondary data: Experimentation (journals…)
3. Establishing the effectiveness of diversity training programs in US business
⇒ Secondary data
4. Measuring the number of cars passing through an intersection to establish the need for a
traffic light
 ⇒ Primary data: Observing
5. Investigating how a recycling program might be introduced in a business organization to
ensure effectiveness and compliance
⇒ Combination of primary & secondary data
- Compliance → Interview (Primary)
- Effectiveness → Research (Secondary)
6. Learning how wireless customers are responding to the launch of a radically new
smartphone
⇒ Secondary data: interviews, research…
Documenting data
What to document
- Another person’s ideas, opinions, examples, or theory
- Any facts, statistics, and graphics that are not common knowledge
- Quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words
- Paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words
How to paraphrase
➢ Read original material until you comprehend its full meaning
➢ Write your own version without looking at the original
➢ Avoid using grammatical structure of the original
➢ Reread to make sure you have covered all main points
6 Steps of Preparing the Reports
Identifying purpose (Why) → Identifying audience (Who) → Identifying context (Where/When)
→ Identifying content (What) → Selecting medium (How) → Choosing report structure (What
relationship)
Identifying purpose
Defined in terms of what you want your reader to do or think after reading it
Examples:
- This study was designed to analyze the direct and indirect economic impact of XYZ Park
on the City of Boston
 - The study examines the impact of the English language competence and intercultural
communication competence on the Chinese expatriates’ adjustment to their overseas
assignments
Identifying audience
Primary & Secondary audience
Identifying context
Includes the physical and psychological environment of the communication exchange
Examples:
Send the report to the meeting attendees a few days after the meeting or a few days before the
next meeting. The timing would allow the receivers to dispose of tasks related to the previous
meeting and give full attention to the report. It may also suggest the receivers on items to be
discussed at the next meeting.
Identifying content
- Include all information the receiver requires to fulfill your purpose
- Include details that motivate the receiver to act
- Exclude unnecessary details that may obstruct understanding
Selecting medium
- Lengel and Daft classify media as “rich” or “lean” on the basis of 3 criteria
➢ Ability to transmit multiple cues
➢ Ability to facilitate rapid feedback, and
➢ Ability to provide a personal focus
- The richest medium: face to face communication, it can accommodate the full range of
vocal and visual cues
- The leanest medium: impersonal items such as flyers or bullet - board announcements.
They can accommodate few cues, allow for delayed feedback only, and have no personal
focus
Choosing report structure (Outlining report data)
The main points used to outline a report often become the main headings of the written report
- Major headings: centered and typed in bold font or in capital
- Second level headings: start at the left margin and capitalize the first letter of each word
except prepositions and to - infinitive
 - Third level heading
Using citation formats
- MLA: Modern language association
- APA: American psychological association
Illustrating data
- Table: exact values and figures
- Line chart: demonstrate changes in quantitative data over time
- Pie chart: visualize a whole unit and the proportions of its components
- Flow chart: display a process or procedure
- Organizational chart: define hierarchy of elements or a set of relationships
- Photograph, map, illustration: achieve authenticity, spotlight location and to show an item
in use
Incorporating graphics in reports
- Evaluate the audience
- Use restraint
- Be honest and ethical
- Introduce a meaningful graphic
- Choose an appropriate caption or title style
Presenting final formal reports
Body
- Introduction: background, problem or purpose, significance and scope, sources and
methods, organization
- Discussion of findings
- Ending
Supplementary
- Footnotes, endnotes
- Work cited, references, bibliography
- Appendix

Ch10: Proposals
Definition
Proposal is a persuasive document designed to motivate the reader to spend, make or save money
Types:
- Internal - take the form of justification/recommendation report
External - solicited (responding for RFP) or unsolicited (prosecuting for business)
- Formal - long, many parts
Informal - shorter with six main parts
Solicited proposals (KH tiềm năng yêu cầu)
1. Are prepared at request of clients
2. Used when firms know exactly what they want
3. Meet specifications spelled out in request for proposal (RFP)
4. Involve in direct competition with other vendors
Use a standard organization:
- Purpose of proposal
- Scope of work
- Background of problem
- Limitations
- Methods
- Schedule
- Facilities & equipment
- Personnel
- Budget
Unsolicited proposals (Tiếp cận KH tiềm năng)
1. Are initiated by seller without invitation from client
2. Face no direct competition from the other sellers
3. Succeed only if client is convinced of need for action
4. One important type of unsolicited proposal, the business plan, is used to get funding from
outside investors or lenders
Example: Clean up Technology, an American Waste Disposal firm, submitted proposals to
government agencies explaining the need for cleaning coastal.
Essentials of business plans
Executive Summary
1. Serves the proposal’s highlights, but is written for manager - should be less technically
oriented
2. The most important section of the business plan
3. Often the ONLY read section by executives
4. Summary of the overall business plans or proposals
5. Limit to a concise summary; no more than 1/10 of the business plans or not more than a
couple of pages for lengthy business plans
Business or Company Description
1. A brief history of the company
2. How and when you plan to start?
3. Provide enough detail about the uniqueness of your business product, service, or project,
but not to overwhelm the readers
4. Include the following major parts:
- Introduction
- Vision statement
- Business model
- Goals
Market Analysis and Competition
1. Who is your targeted market?
2. Profile of your potential customers and their consumption behaviors
3. Any substitute or complementary product or service available?
4. How large is the market? Is the market saturated or in rapid growth?
Market(ing) Plan
1. Shows how to present your product in a chosen market; that is, how to price it, and what
sales channels to use
2. 4P strategies are used to formulate a market plan:
- Price
- Product
- Place
- Promotion
Resource requirements
1. Essential for a startup business to demonstrate that the company has sufficient asset to
start and develop its business activities
2. Lists the necessary investments required in starting the business
Management Team
1. Providing information of the management team is a crucial area for prospective investors
or banks
2. Sum up background of the key managers, especially senior management
3. Draw an organizational chart to show the relationship of different departments or
business units
4. Develop a human resources plan outlining its cost, training activities, recruitment
activities, and the employment plan
Implementation or Operational plan
1. Provides projected plan of business
2. Lays out a timeline of significant activities to be accomplished for the business so as to
succeed and grow
3. Explains how the practical side of your business operations will work
- What is the nature of production process?
- How the product will be manufactured, delivered, and serviced?
- What the costs will be?
Financial plan
1. Translate future activities into a quantitative format
2. Addresses issues (revenues and cost projections, capital and cash flow) needed to sustain
present operations and promote future growth, and budgets for operational units
3. Provides sales projection that forecasts business revenue, and return of investment (ROI)
4. Financial projection or forecast is a summary of the cash flow and business forecast
Environment & Social Impacts
1. Establish the business as a socially responsible and ethical firm by including a section
assessing the environmental or social impact of the business
2. Enhance the reputation and likely the competitive position of the firm
 Ch12: Presentations
The benefits of speaking well
Correlate with success and upward mobility depending on how much you enjoy public speaking
and how effective you are at it
Understand the presentation style
Some presentations are informative, whereas others are persuasive
Some are face - to - face; others, virtual
Some are performed before big audiences, whereas others are given to smaller groups
Some presentations are elaborate; others are simple

- Overview or summary of an issue, proposal, or problem

Briefing
- Delivery of information, discussion of questions, collection of feedback

- Oral equivalent of business reports and proposals

Report
- Informational or persuasive oral account, simple or elaborate

- Online, prerecorded audio clip delivered over the Web

Podcast - Opportunity to launch products, introduce and train employees, and sell
products and services

Virtual - Collaboration facilitated by technology (telephone or Web)

Presentation - Real-time meeting online with remote colleagues

- Web-based presentation, lecture, workshop, or seminar

Webinar - Digital transmission with(out) video to train employees, interact with
customers, and promote products
Preparation for an oral presentation
Know your purpose
- What do you want your audience to believe, remember, or do when you finish?
- Aim all parts of your talk toward your purpose
Know your audience
- Friendly, neutral, uninterested, hostile?
- How to gain credibility?
- How to relate this information to their needs?
 - Which of the following would be most effective in making my point? Facts? Statistics?
Personal experiences? Expert online? Humor? Cartoons? Cases? Graphic illustration?
Demonstrations? Analogies?
- How to make them remember your main points?
Organizing the presentation
Good organization contributes to audience comprehension and retention. The following
presentation plan is recommended:
- Step 1: Tell them what you are going to tell them
- Step 2: Tell them
- Step 3: Tell them what you have told them
In other words, repeat your main points in the introduction, body, and conclusion of your
presentation.
Introduction
Introduction should aim to accomplish three goals
- Capture listeners’ attention and get them involved
★ A promise “By the end of my talk, you will…”
★ Drama - tell a moving story; describe a problem
★ Eye contact - command attention by making eye contact with as many people as
possible
★ Movement - leave the lectern area. Move toward the audience
★ Questions - ask for a show of hands. Use a rhetorical question
★ Demonstrations - include a member of the audience
★ Samples, gimmicks - award prizes to volunteer participants; pass out samples
★ Visuals - use graphics and other visual aids
★ Attire - professional dress helps you look more competent and qualified
★ Appeal to audience’s self interest - audience members want to know, “What’s in it
for me?”
★ Current events/statistics - Mention a current event or statistic (the more startling,
the better) that is relevant to your topic and to which the audience can relate
★ A quote - Use quotations made by well known individuals. The quotation should
be pertinent to your topic, short, and interesting
 ★ Self interest - Review your entire presentation to ensure that it meets the critical
What’s in it for me audience test. People are most interested in things that benefit
them.
- Identify yourself and establish your credibility
★ Education
★ Work experience
★ Background
★ Years with the company or in industry
★ Name of person who asked you to speak
★ Self confidence
★ Eye contact
★ Clothing
- Preview your main points
Body
- Focus on a few central ideas
- Develop 2 - 4 main points. Streamline your topic and summarize its principal parts
- Support your main points
- Arrange the points logically by a pattern
- Prepare transitions to guide the audience
Supporting your main points

Type Use Command

Example Illustrate Introduce in groups of two or three

Clarify Consider preceding or following with relevant story
Add interest

Story Prove point Adapt to audience

Illustrate Must support thesis
Control length

Quotation Prove point Cite source

Add credibility Paraphrase or read verbatim
Add interest Follow up with restatement/explanation

Comparison Improve understanding Link similar with unfamiliar

Add figurative interest Be sure comparison or analogy is valid
Statistics Prove point Link to audience needs
Add credibility Use sparingly; round off
Support with visuals, handouts

Patterns for Organizing the Body of your presentation

Pattern Examples

Describe the history of a problem, organized

Chronology
from the first sign of trouble to the present

Arrange a discussion of the changing

Geography/Space demographics of the workforce by regions,
such as East Coast, West Coast, and so forth

Organize a report discussing mishandled

Topic/function/conventional grouping
airline baggage by the names of airlines

Discuss a problem followed by possible

Problem/Solution
solutions

Organize a report explaining genetic

modification of plants by discussing simple
Simple/Complex
seed production progressing to complex gene
introduction

Analyze whether 2 companies should merge

by presenting the best cases result (improved
Best case/Worst case market share, profitability, employee morale)
opposed to the worst cases result (devalued
stock, lost market share, employee malaise)

Organizing the Body of your presentation

- Prepare transitions as “bridge” statements between major points
- Include verbal signposts
➢ Now, let’s move on to point number 3, where we will be discussing…
➢ Moving on to the next point
➢ Now that we have discussed…, I would like to talk about…
- Keep your audience interested and involved throughout the presentation

Previewing Now let’s look at 3 reasons for…

 My next major point focuses on…

As you can see, we have 2 primary reasons explaining…

Summarizing
Let me review the 2 major factors I’ve just covered…

Up to this point, I’ve concentrated on… Now, let’s look at another

Switching directions significant factor…
I’ve just discussed 3 reasons for X. Now I want to move on to Y

Conclusion
- A conclusion is like a punch line and must stand out
- Summarize your main themes
- Leave the audience with a specific and memorable take - out
- You should use an anecdote, an inspiring quotation, or a statement that ties in the
opener and offers a new insight
- Include a statement that allows you to depart the podium gracefully and leaves a
lasting impression
Handling audience questions
- Tell the audience in the beginning of your presentation that you’ll be taking questions at
the end
- Pause at the end of your conclusion before asking for questions
- Keep control
- Call on audience members
- Repeat each question before answering
- Direct answers to the entire audience, not just the person who asked the question
- If you don’t know an answer, admit it and offer to find the answer later. Follow up!