Completing Business Messages Prentice Hall 2008 Business Communication
Completing Business Messages © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 1
Three-Step Writing Process • Planning • Writing • Completing © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 2
Moving Beyond the First Draft • Evaluating content, organization, style and tone • Reviewing for readability • Editing for clarity and conciseness © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 3
Evaluating Content • • Is the information accurate? Is the information relevant? Is there enough information? Are generalities balanced with specific information? © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 4
Evaluating Organization • Are all points covered logically? • Do important ideas receive sufficient space and are they placed properly? • Could the message be arranged in a more convincing sequence? • Are any points repeated unnecessarily? • Are details grouped together logically? © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 5
Evaluating Style and Tone • Does the writing meet the audience’s expectations? • Is the writing too formal or academic? • Is the writing too casual? • Does the message focus on the audience’s needs? © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 6
Reviewing for Readability • Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Score • Flesch Reading Ease Score © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 7
Increasing “Skim” Value • Sentence length • Short paragraphs • Lists and bullets • Headings and subheadings © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 8
Editing for Clarity • Break up overly long sentences • Rewrite hedging sentences • Impose parallelism • Correct dangling modifiers © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 9
Editing for Clarity • Reword long noun sequences • Replace camouflaged verbs • Clarify sentence structure • Clarify awkward references • Moderate your enthusiasm © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 10
Editing for Conciseness • Delete unnecessary words and phrases • Shorten long words and phrases • Eliminate redundancies • Recast “It is/There are” starters © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 11
Revising with Technology • Revision tools • Spell checker • Grammar checker • Thesaurus • Style checker © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 12
Producing the Message • Multimedia elements • Design elements © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 13
Multimedia Elements • Presentation software • Graphics software • Video clips and sound bites • Hypertext markup language © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 14
Designing for Readability • Improve the effectiveness of your message • Influence the perceptions of your audience © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 15
Design Elements • Consistency • Balance • Restraint • Detail © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 16
Design Techniques • White space • Margins • Justification • Typefaces • Typestyles © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 17
Using Technology • • Templates and style sheets Page setup Column formatting Paragraph formatting Numbered and bulleted lists Tables and textboxes Pictures and objects © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 18
Business Letter Format • • Letterhead stationery Date Inside address Salutation The message Complimentary close Signature block © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 19
Memo Format • Memo title • Headings • The message © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 20
Proofreading Your Message • Quality assurance – Undetected mistakes from the writing, design, and layout stages – Mistakes that crept in during production © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 21
Proofreading Advice • • • Make multiple passes Use perceptual tricks Double-check high-priority items Get some distance Stay focused and vigilant Review complex electronic documents on paper • Take your time © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 22
Distributing Your Message • • Cost concerns Convenience Time constraints Security and privacy © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 23
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