Chapter 2 Planning Business Messages Essentials of Business

The Best Business Writing Is… © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved § Purposeful § Persuasive § Economical § Audience oriented Following a process can make you a better writer or speaker. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 2

The Writing Process © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Mary Ellen Guffey

Planning © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved (analyzing the audience, how much

© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy,

Phase 1: Analyzing Analyze your audience and your purpose for writing. © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved § To whom are you writing? § Why are you writing? § What do you hope to achieve? § What channel is best for delivering your message? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 6

Selecting the Best Channel © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved E-mail Telephone Text message Social media Instant message Letter/Memo Report Voice mail Meeting Conversation Web site Blog/Wiki Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 7

How to Select the Best Channel © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved § How important is the message? § How much feedback and interactivity are required? § How fast do you need feedback? § Is a permanent record essential? § What is the cost of the channel? § How much formality do you desire? § How confidential or sensitive is the message? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 8

Phase 1: Anticipating Anticipate how your audience will react to your message. © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved § What is your reader or listener like? § Will your audience be pleased, neutral, or displeased with your message? JON FEINGERSH / ICONICA / GETTY IMAGES Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 9

Profiling the Audience © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Primary Audience Secondary Audience § Who is the primary reader? § What are my personal and professional relationships with that person? § What does the person know about the subject? § What kind of response should I expect? § Who else might see or hear this message? § Are they different from the primary audience? § How must I reshape the message for the secondary audience? Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 10

Phase 1: Adapting Create a message that will suit your task and audience. © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved § Spotlight audience benefits. § Cultivate the “you” view. § Sound conversational but professional. § Express yourself positively. § Choose courteous language. § Adopt bias-free language. § Use plain language and familiar words. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 11

Spotlighting Audience Benefits Focus your statements on the audience, not the sender. © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Poor: Improved: We are adopting a new claim processing procedure that we believe has many outstanding benefits. You will enjoy the new claim processing procedure that will reduce paperwork and time. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 12

Cultivating the “You” View Emphasize second-person pronouns (you/your) instead of first-person pronouns (I/we, us, our) © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Poor: Improved: Before we can issue your refund, we must wait two weeks to complete our processing. You will receive your refund in two weeks. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 13

Sounding Conversational but Professional © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Poor: Improved: The undersigned takes pleasure in. . . I’m happy to. . . It may be of some concern to you to learn that your expense claim has been processed and approved. Your expense claim has been processed and approved. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 14

Expressing Yourself Positively Poor: Improved: © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Employees may not use Employees must use the break room on the third the break room on the floor during remodeling. second floor during remodeling. We cannot process your We will process your return until you send us return as soon as we receive the defective product. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 15

Choosing Courteous Language Avoid sounding demanding, preachy, or rude. © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Poor: Improved: You must submit your report by July 30. Will you please submit your report by July 31. Let’s all agree to replace I am sick and tired of being the only one who the paper in the copier replaces the paper in the whenever needed. copier! Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 16

Adopting Bias-Free Language © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Poor: Improved: Have you called a salesman? Have you called a salesperson? Every executive has his own office. § All executives have their own offices. § Every executive has an office. § All executives have offices. § Every executive has his or her own office. This alternative is wordy and calls attention to itself Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 17

Using Plain Language and Familiar Words Poor: Improved: © 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved Will you utilize workbooks Will you use workbooks during the obligatory during the required training period? We anticipate that a majority of the alternative will be sufficiently fundamental to meet our requirements. We expect that most of the choices will be sufficiently basic to meet our needs. Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9 th Edition Chapter 2, Slide 18