COMPLETING THE MESSAGE CHAPTER FOUR COMPLETING THE MESSAGE

COMPLETING THE MESSAGE CHAPTER FOUR

COMPLETING THE MESSAGE • • • REVISE EDIT PRODUCE PROOFREAD DISTRIBUTE out b A f o ¼ tim e l lab i a av is h t n eo

REVISING THE MESSAGE • CHECK ACCURACY, RELEVANCE & COMPLETENESS • ARE ALL YOUR POINTS COVERED IN THE MOST LOGICAL ORDER? • DO THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEAS OCCUPY THE MOST SPACE AND GREATEST EMPHASIS? • ARE ANY POINTS REPEATED UNNECESSARILY? • ARE DETAILS GROUPED TOGETHER LOGICALLY RATHER THAN SCATTERED THROUGH THE DOCUMENT?

EDITING • CHECK SENTENCE & PARAGRAPH CONSTRUCTION • USE OF HEADINGS & SUB-HEADINGS • STYLE – LISTS, BULLET POINTS ETC • GRAMMAR • BE CONCISE!

PRODUCING THE MESSAGE • PAGE DESIGN / LAYOUT • TYPOGRAPHY/ TYPOGRAPHY • GRAPHICAL ELEMENTS ETC • WHAT WILL BEST SUIT THE MESSAGE / AUDIENCE

PROOFREADING • MAKE MULTIPLE PASSES OVER THE DOCUMENT FOCUSING ON SOMETHING DIFFERENT EACH TIME • USE PERCEPTUAL TRICKS SUCH AS READING BACKWARDS TO CATCH THINGS YOU MIGHT MISS • FOCUS ON HIGH-PRIORITY ITEMS SUCH AS THE SPELLING OF NAMES, ACCURACY OF DATES, AND ANY NUMBER THAT COULD CAUSE GRIEF IF INCORRECT. • TAKE A BREAK AND THEN REVIEW THE DOCUMENT AGAIN • STAY FOCUSED AND VIGILANT BY BLOCKING OUT DISTRACTIONS WHILE YOU ARE PROOFREADING • TAKE YOUR TIME WHEN PROOFREADING

DISTRIBUTING THE MESSAGE • CONSIDERATIONS • COST OF REPRODUCING THE DOCUMENT • ACCESSIBILITY TO THE READER • TIME TO REACH THE AUDIENCE • CONFIDENTIALITY & PRIVACY ISSUES

WRITING ROUTINE & POSITIVE MESSAGES CHAPTER FIVE

USE THREE STEP PROCESS • PLAN • WRITE • COMPLETE

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROUTINE MESSAGES • REQUESTS • RECOMMENDATIONS • REPLIES & POSITIVE MESSAGES ETC

REPLIES & POSITIVE MESSAGE STRATEGY • FOLLOW THE DIRECT ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN FOR ROUTINE REPLIES AND POSITIVE MESSAGES • START WITH THE MAIN IDEA • PROVIDE NECESSARY DETAILS AND EXPLANATION IN MIDDLE SECTION • END WITH A COURTEOUS CLOSE