1. Writing Business Messages
The 3 step writing process
Understanding your audience
Selecting the right media
Organizing the message

2. LO1. Describe the 3 step writing process
PLAN
WRITE
COMPLETE
Analyze the situation
Adapt to your audience
Revise the message
Gather information
Establish you credibility
Produce the message
Select the right medium
Control your style
Proofread the message
Organize the information
Compose the message
Distribute the message
This chapter is about the planning part!

3. Planning the message Analyze the situation Gather information
- define your purpose & develop an audience profile
Gather information
- obtain the necessary information & provide the required information to satisfy audience needs
Select the right medium
- for delivering message; oral, written, visual, etc
Organize the information
- define your main idea, limit your scope, select a direct or indirect approach & outline content
So let’s look at defining your purpose

4. LO2. Explain why it is important to define your purpose carefully and list 4 questions that can help you test that purpose
It defines the
overall approach
the information needed
the appropriate medium
how to organize your message
Determines audience participation
all messages have a purpose; to inform, persuade or collaborate
How can the purposes vary?

5. INFORM
PERSUADE
COLLABORATE
less audience interaction
moderate audience interaction
maximum audience interaction
audience absorb info; either accept or reject
give audience chance to ask questions
audience adjust to new information, views, reactions, etc
audience don’t contribute to content
clear up any doubts audience may have
communicator in control
communicator in moderate control
communicator has less control
How can we test your purpose?

6. Testing the specific purpose of each message
Ask 4 questions
Would anything change as a result of your message? - if no, don’t send it
Is your purpose realistic? - if it is a drastic change, go slow….propose a first step…..message becomes the start of a learning process
Is it the right time? – is it worth the time & effort to prepare & send message? Don’t send at a busy or difficult time
Is your purpose acceptable to your organization? – how do you expect them to respond? when?
After defining your purpose, to analyze the situation, we need to develop audience profile

7. Develop the profile of your audience
Identify the primary audience
-some members are > important than others, don’t ignore the others’ needs but do address the primary members, i.e. decision makers
Determine audience size and geographic spread
-this affects the approach, e.g. meeting vs. face to face
Determine the audience composition
-look for similarities & differences in culture, language, education, rank, attitudes etc
Gauge their level of understanding
-do you have similar background to audience? same
education level?
5. Understand expectations
-details? summary? formal? informal?

8. LO.4 Discuss gathering information for simple messages and identify 3 attributes of quality information
Informal techniques to information gathering:
- assemble information to include in message
- if simple, all information is ready
- if complex, research & analysis required, we need to know what to include, how to express & present it

9. To Gather Information - Consider other viewpoints
put yourself in their shoes. How do you feel? What are you thinking? What is ahead for us?
Read reports and company documents
review financial statements, news releases, blogs, marketing reports, customer surveys, database & Knowledge Management Systems
Talk with supervisors, colleagues, & customers
sometimes people are vital sources of information, they may be reliable & trust worthy
Ask your audience for input
Don’t try to guess your audiences’ needs. If you not sure, ask
After information gathering, you have to ensure to satisfy your audiences’ needs for information

10. Providing the Requested Information
Test your message by using the journalistic approach, who, what, when, where, why, how
Check to ensure information is
Accurate
Ethical Information quality characteristics
Pertinent
What makes information accurate?

11. Accurate
prevent embarrassment, lost productivity, due to safety & legal issues
if sources are people, double-check?
ensure its current & reliable
check dates, review calculations
don’t make assumptions
provide supporting information, upon request
What makes information ethical?

12. Ethical You could make an honest mistake
if so, contact recipients asap and correct it
they will continue to have respect for you
Remember it is unethical to omit information
include enough information to not mislead
If you are not sure about information quality
do ensure that you offer enough to support your message
do provide more, if requested
What makes information pertinent?

13. Pertinent some points are more important than others
prioritize them
filter the masses
focus on audiences concerns
group varying interests, use common sense to identify interests
Look at their job, age, income, education to clue in (see Lecture 1)
Now we have quality information, how do we select the right media?

14. Select the right media Media Options Oral Written Visual Electronic
Medium- form of which you which you choose to communicate your message
Proper selection make the difference; i.e. effective or ineffective communication
Media Options
Oral
Written
Visual
Electronic

15. in person presentations
ORAL
face 2 face
speeches
in person presentations
interviews
meetings

16. WRITTEN
memos
proposals
reports
letters

17. VISUALS
diagrams
symbols
graphs
charts

18. PowerPoint presentations
ELECTRONIC s
blogs
txt msgs
Wikis
voice msgs
telephone calls
PowerPoint presentations

19. Media Advantages & Disadvantages
Oral
Opportunity for feedback
Allows interaction
Emotions can be expressed
Restricted participation
No permanent record
No opportunity to revise or edit
Written
Can plan & control
Dispersed audience
Permanent, viable record
No distortion
Avoid interactions
Do not emphasize inappropriate emotions
No speedy feedback
Lack of non-verbal clues
Time & resources to distribute
Requires skill in preparation & production
Visual
Can convey complex ideas
Less intimidating than large blocks of text
Quickly convey message
To easily see relationships
Technical skills to create
Artistic skills to design
Can be difficult to transmit
Takes more time to prepare than text
Electronic
Delivers messages quickly
Reach dispersed audience
> accessibility & openness
> excitement & appeal
Easy to overuse
Privacy & security concerns
Can contribute to unproductivity

20. LO5. List factors to consider when choosing the appropriate media for your message
Media Richness
Message Formality
Media Limitations
Sender Intentions
Urgency & Cost
Audience Preferences
Let’s look at media richness

21. Media Richness Leaner, fewer cues, Richer, no interactivity > cues,
Standard reports
Static web pages
Mass media
Posters & symbols
Custom reports
Letters & memos
& IM
Blogs
wikis
Telephone calls
Teleconferencing
Video
Video IM
Face 2 face
Multimedia
Virtual Reality
Richer,
> cues,
no interactivity
A medium’s ability to:
1.) convey a message through > 1 informational cue (visual, verbal, vocal, etc.
2.) facilitate feedback
3.) establish personal focus

22. Message Formality: Media Limitations: Sender Intentions:
your media choice rules the style & tone of your message, e.g. change in café hours is better communicated on a blog vs. memo
Media Limitations:
every medium have limitations, e.g. same time, same place with face 2 face communication
Sender Intentions:
media choice influences your audience perception of your intentions, e.g. a letter shows formality vs. phone call
Urgency & Cost
You have to gauge the two factors, face 2 face (urgent) but preparing a meeting may be costly
Audience Preferences
which option the audience prefers, delivering a diploma via fax!!!???

23. LO6. Explain why good organization is important to both you and your audience-1
Makes the difference between success & failure
Why organize?
to not create any unnecessary work for readers
keep them interested
maintain your reputation as a good communicator
you will take less time to do drafts
saves time & consumes less creativity
you compose what you actually need
to get advance input from audience
If working on a large project, its easier to divide tasks among co-workers

24. LO6. Explain why good organization is important to both you and your audience-2
It helps the audience in 3 ways:
Helps the audience organize everything
Highlighting main points at the start
Information is logically presented
Satisfies the audiences’ need for information
Helps the audience accept message
Be diplomatic- acknowledge, sympathize, offer solution, be accountable & provide opportunities for further communication
Saves your audience time
Only have relevant ideas
Ideas are briefly outlined
Ideas are in a logical place
Ideas are accessible
So how do we organize them?

25. LO7. Summarize the process for organizing business messages effectively
Define your main idea
Limit the scope
Choose the direct or indirect approach
Group your points- create an outline
Let’s look at defining the main idea

26. Define your main idea
condense your information into 1 idea to get the broad subject or topic
the entire message supports, will explain or demonstrate that main idea
The main idea is a specific statement about the topic of your message
The main idea is obvious for simple messages & have little emotional impact on the audience
If responding to a request, you start with the concept, “here is what you wanted!....”
If persuading or delivering bad news, establish a relationship with the audience, highlight their interests in your main idea & emphasize a point you can both agree upon
If message is lengthy, e.g. a report, your main idea has to encompass all included points
Let’s look at handling included points

27. Techniques to encompass points-1
Brainstorming
generating ideas or questions without reflecting on relevance, accuracy or seeking approval
can be done alone, but best with others
after his, look for connections, trends, etc. to help define the main idea & supporting points
See a step by step guide to brainstorming

28. Techniques to encompass points-2
Journalistic Approach
outlines the who, what, when, where, how & why
filters through the initial content
See A journalistic approach to good writing: the craft of clarity By Robert M. Knight

29. Techniques to encompass points-3
Q & A chain
start with a question that appeals to the audience
work back towards your message
each answer generate new questions
until you get all the information that needs to be in your message

30. Techniques to encompass points-4
Story teller’s tour
some communicators feel it is better to talk through
then express it in words
play it back, to find vague areas, lack of details, etc.
go back, edit….until complete & concise

31. Techniques to encompass points-5
Mind Mapping
start with main idea
branch out
connect with any other idea that comes to mind
see Mind Maps
Let us look at an example of defining the main idea

32. To inform employees about the improvements at the café.
General purpose
Specific Purpose
Topic
Main idea
To inform
To inform employees about the improvements at the café.
Improvements at the café
Improvements in food and facilities have been made to the café.
After defining the main idea, how do we know what to cover?

33. Limiting your scope What is scope? range of presented information
overall length
level of detail
must correspond
with main idea

34. Range of presented information
Main idea
Improvements in food and facilities have been made to the café.
Major points
new lunch menu
new hot beverages
new ambience
Supporting information
full balanced meals; not just sandwiches, pies, etc.
new cappuccino machine & herbal teas available
new furniture & change in music

35. Length of message
limit your major points to about 6 or so, better if less
Group supporting points
New hot beverages New ambience
new cappuccino machine - new furniture
herbal teas available - change in music

36. Level of detail
if message is brief, use 1 paragraph each for the main idea, major points & supporting points
if longer, the major points must be developed by supporting points
Length depends on the following:
nature of message
familiarity with topic
if audience will be receptive to your conclusion
your credibility
We know what to include & its detail, but how do we present it?

37. Choosing between Direct & Indirect Approaches
Eager Interested Pleased Neutral Displeased Uninterested Unwilling
Direct Approach
Indirect Approach
Audience Reaction
Eager/interested/pleased/
neutral
Displeased
Uninterested/
Unwilling
Message
Opening
Start with the main idea, the request or good news
Start with a neutral statement that acts as a transition to the reasons for bad news
Start with a statement or question that captures attention
Body
Provide necessary details
Give reasons to justify a negative answer. State or imply the bad news, and make a positive suggestion
Arouse the audience’s interest in the subject. Build the audience’s desire to comply.
Close
Close, with a cordial comment, a reference to the good news or a statement about the specific action desired
Close cordially
Request action.

38. How to choose between the two options
analyze your audiences’ likely reaction to your purpose & message
consider the unique circumstance of each message
the audiences’ situation should be taken into consideration
What are the different types of messages?

39. Different types of messages
Routine
involve daily matters of operating a business, e.g. change in office hours
audience are neutral
easy to prepare
use direct approach
Positive
convey good news, e.g. announcements
audience are pleased to hear from you
Negative
deliver bad news, e.g. job loss
will disappoint audience
use indirect approach
Persuasive
Asking audience to give, do or change
So we know how to approach the message but how do we present it?

40. Outlining the content Why do we use outlines? Save time
Get better results
Easy navigation
Easy to see relationships between components
Stay on track
Communicate in a systematic way
Message becomes coherent and flow into each other
How to outline data?

41. Alphanumeric Outline
The following are improvements made in food and facilities at the café:
New
i. full balanced meals
B. New hot beverages
i. new cappuccino machine
ii. new herbal teas
C. New ambience
i. new furniture
ii. change in music

42. Decimal Outline
The following are improvements made in food and facilities at the café. 1. New menu 1.1 full balanced meals 2. New hot beverages 2.1 new cappuccino machine 2.2 new herbal teas 3. New ambience 3.1 new furniture 3.2 change in music

43. Organizational Charts
Change in café hours
New ambience
New furniture
Change in music
New lunch menu
New hot beverages
New cappuccino machine
New herbal beverages

44. Summary Clarify the purpose of your message on the onset
Provide the required information
Select the right media
Develop an outline of the planned content

45. Questions Traditionally, communication is either oral or written.
i.) Give 3 examples of oral communication used in business. [3]
ii.) Briefly outline 3 advantages of oral communication. [3]
iii.) Briefly outline 3 disadvantages of oral communication. [3]

46. 2. The 3 step writing process can help you produce all kinds of business messages. a) You are going to write a routine request message. The first step is to plan a message. Describe, in a logical order, the 4 tasks involved in planning a message. [9]

47. 3. Organizing a presentation. i
3. Organizing a presentation. i.) Describe how you would define the main idea of your presentation. [3] ii.) Give 2 reasons why it is particularly important to limit your scope for oral presentations. [4]

48. 4. You have to write many negative business message in your career.
i.) Give 5 circumstances in which you would use the direct approach in a letter which contains bad news for its recipients. [5]
ii.) When would you use an indirect approach in a negative message? [1]
iii.) What are the sequence of elements in a message using the indirect approach? [4]