1. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Business Writing for Supervisors and Managers

2. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Identify the characteristics of good business writing Use words for maximum impact Develop efficient sentences and paragraphs Write more effective letters, memos, e-mails, job procedures, guidelines, and reports Session Objectives

3. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 What You Need to Know The right words Well-structured sentences and paragraphs A variety of business communications proficiently © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

4. Why Good Writing Skills Are Important Many job functions involve writing People judge you

5. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Characteristics of Good Business Writing Clear Concise Correct Complete Coherent © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

6. How to Use Words for Maximum Impact Choose concrete over vague Avoid jargon and puffed-up language Avoid slang

7. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 How to Use Words for Maximum Impact (cont.) Link concepts to examples Use positive language Use active verbs © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

8. Vague Versus Concrete “This year’s sales were disappointing.” “Sales this year fell by 10 percent overall, with sales of fixtures and switches hitting a 4-year low of 500,000 and 300,000 units, respectively.” © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

9. Jargon and Puffed-up Language “Pursuant to our safety policy, I investigated a possible 3(a)(iii) violation, endeavoring to ascertain whether the injured party had taken precautionary measures, including PPE, commensurate with the explosive propensity of the material as required by the MSDS.” © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

10. Jargon and Puffed-up Language (cont.) “Following our safety policy, I investigated a possible violation of Section 3(a)(iii) of the regulations, trying to find out whether the accident victim had taken adequate precautions, including personal protective equipment, against the risk of explosion, as required by the material safety data sheet.” © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

11. Slang “The customer claims that our prices are a rip-off.” “The customer claims that our prices are too high.”

12. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Concept and Examples “The first step in the procedure is to access the data.” “The first step in the procedure is to access the data by pressing the F7 key.”

13. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Positive Versus Negative “You’ll be glad you chose our company.” “You won’t be sorry you chose our company.”

14. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Active Verbs “It is planned that the project will be completed by the end of the month.” “I plan that we will complete the project by the end of the month.” © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

15. Make Your Words Count— Questions? Do you understand how your writing affects your effectiveness and success? Do you understand the importance of choosing words for maximum positive impact?

16. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Sentence Structure Keep sentences simple Make them efficient Mix short and longer sentences

17. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Paragraph Structure Topic sentence Content Length © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

18. Paragraph Structure (cont.) Use transitions to form a bridge between paragraphs

19. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Structure Your Writing Correctly Do you understand what we’ve discussed about sentence and paragraph structure? © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

20. Five Steps to Writing Better Business Communications Define your reason for writing Prepare your material Make an outline

21. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Write a first draft Revise before you send Better Business Communications (cont.)

22. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Opening Body Closing Three-Point Format © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

23. Business Letters Block style

24. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Business Letters (cont.) Simplified format © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408

25. Memos Purpose Format Length Content Tone

26. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 E-mail Organization Structure Length

27. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Job Procedures and Guidelines Focus on actions Use command words Be consistent with terminology Use a step-by- step approach

28. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Reports Informational reports

29. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 Reports (cont.) Situational reports What Where When Why Who How

30. © BLR ® —Business & Legal Resources 1408 How you write is a reflection of your professional image Effective business writing is clear, concise, correct, complete, and coherent Your choice of words has a major impact on the way your written communications are received by readers Proper sentence and paragraph structure helps readers interpret your meaning Key Points to Remember