1 The Purpose of Written Communication “Think now; write later”. ● Before one can begin to plan the “How”, he or she has to understand the “Why” of business writing. The writer cannot decide what is the most appropriate form of presentation unless he has establish what purposes a written communication is to serve for both the writer and the reader. Frustration may be caused, if the writer fails to think carefully about the purpose of business writing. A good example of the failure to think about purposes is in p,14.

2 Demonstrating your ability. ● It is the most important for young and inexperienced writer. ● Writing conveys more than your ability to write well. It demonstrates your ability to think, to analyze, and to make sound of judgement. ● “bad writing results from bad thinking”. ● Some questions one might ask and think about as he or she tries to identify the purposes of any written communication:

3 ● Who is going to read your message- one person? more? a clerk? a manger? ● What I want the reader to do or decide? ● What kind of feeling must I produce in the reader in order to persuade him to do as I wish? ● What has the reader asked me to tell him? ● What does he intend to do with what I tell him?

4 Techniques of Business Letters What the business letter is: a message that attempts to influence its reader to take some action or attitude desired by the writer. The central purpose of business letters is to get the reader’s agreement. ● In general the purposes of business letters fall into three categories:  To get action ( paying a bill)  To build good will ( granting or refusing a request)  To supply information or reasoning ( giving facts about your products or about a situation; or providing the reasoning when you have to say “no.

5 ● Sometimes the purpose is less tangible. This occurs when your purpose is to get the reader to accept a refusal as fair, to maintain an attitude of good will, to decide that your company is efficient, responsible, sympathetic.etc. ● The best test of how well you achieve your purposes is to ask yourself how successfully they gain agreement from readers. For instance, the successful sales letter should get agreement from the reader that a product or service is worth buying; the collection letter should convince the debtor that payment of his bill is the wisest policy.

6 The Writer’s Responsibility: It is to think before you write. ● You must think about the answers to two questions:  What am I trying to accomplish in this letter?  How can I best accomplish this purpose with my reader? In page 93-4, Two letters are the best example to show evidence of careful thought from the writer about what he or she wants their letter to accomplish.

7 Basic Qualities of Business Letters The “you” attitude. A tone adapted to the reader Beginning and ending letter

8 The “you” attitude We delude ourselves by thinking that everyone is interested in our problems, wishes, products. ● In writing a letter, it is a good principle to forget yourself and go back to one of the fundamentals of all communication- remember your reader. If I want to persuade you to do something, the best way is for me to show you how and why you benefit from doing it.

9 A tone adapted to the reader It is important to talk the reader’s language, and to write to the reader as if he or she were a human being instead of a depersonalized name. ● The use of such highly specialized language or of supposedly “impressive” terminology is one of the worst faults of business correspondence. ● The writer will do well not to “dumb down” or “dress up” their language but instead to keep it clear, simple, and sincere.

10 ● You have certain clues from the correspondence itself; you should then try to form a mental image of your reader, such clues as  The type of business he is in, if any.  His position.  His reason for writing.  What he wants to know.  The kind of language he uses.  Information in the letter itself.

11 Beginning and ending letter The first paragraph: It should perform the following functions:  It should get favourable attention.  It should indicate what the letter is about.  It should set a friendly and courteous tone for the whole letter.  It should link up with previous correspondence by a reference to date or subject. ● To be effective, the first paragraph should maintain two principles:  It must be short.  It must say something

12 The last paragraph: ● one principle governs your conduct in writing final paragraph. ● Stop when your message is complete. ● The function of last paragraph of business letter is to make it as easy as possible for the reader to take an action or to accept a point of view that the writer wants him to take. If the “you” attitude is properly employed, the final paragraph will show the reader how easily he or she may do this thing that will benefit them (the readers). For instance, we hope that you will return the appliance for credit as soon as possible. This example does not show the reader benefit or incentive. However, it should be read. Just as soon as you return the appliance, we shall gladly credit your account with 270 SR.