Business Communication Sheet-02
Preparing effective business message:
•
To be effective, one needs to plan, organize, draft, revise, edit and proofread a message.
•
Even with the most advanced office technology, one needs to prepare oral or written
messages carefully.
Five Planning Steps
Following steps must be considered before writing message:
•
Identify your purpose
•
Analyze your audience
•
Choose your ideas
•
Collect your data
•
Organize your messages
Identify Your Purpose
•
The first step to planning is to determine the purpose of communication. [Is the message
informational, such as announcing a new location of your firm? Or the message is persuasive
such as asking customers to buy your products?] the message and the creation of goodwill.
Analyze Your Audience
•
Audience analysis helps the sender see the message from the receiver’s point of view.
•
Once the sender is acquainted with the receiver, s/he can visualize individuals.
Choose Your Ideas
•
The ideas to be included in the message depend on the type of message, the situation and the
cultural context.
•
If the sender is replying to a letter, then the main point in the letter could be ideas for the
reply.
•
For a new letter, some brainstorming is needed.
Collect Data to Support
•
Once the ideas to be included are decided, the sender must determine the data needed, like
specific facts, figures, quotations or other evidence to support the points.
Organize Your Message
•
Outlining the message (mentally or on paper) is essential before making the first draft.
•
Organizing the sequence of the ideas to be presented in the message can prevent rambling
and unclear messages.
Basic Organizational Plans
The choice of organizational plan depends upon following:
1. Expectation about receivers’ response.
2. Knowledge of the receiver about the topic of the message.
3. Receivers’ cultural conventions.
4. For letters and memos, there are four basic organizational plans: direct requests, good news,
bad news or persuasive request plans.
5. First two of the above use Direct (Deductive) Approach, which begins with the main idea.
6. Last two plans use the Indirect (Inductive) Approach, which states the main idea later.
Direct (Deductive) Approach
01. When you think that the audience will have a favorable or neutral reaction to your message,
use direct approach.
02. Use this plan for making direct requests, announcing favorable or neutral news, and
exchanging information within or between companies.
Indirect (Inductive) Approach
01. When you expect resistance to your message, choose the indirect approach, such as in a badnews message or a persuasive request.
02. Begin with a buffer – a relevant pleasant, neutral, or receiver-benefit statement; then give
explanation and then introduce your idea.
Beginning and Endings
Two of the most important positions in any business message are the opening and closing
paragraphs. Remember the old sayings:
01. “First impression is lasting”
02. “We remember best what we read last”
Opening Paragraphs
01. Opening of a message determines whether the reader continues reading, puts the message
aside, or discards it.
02. Choose openings that are appropriate for the purpose of the message and the reader.
03. Make the opening considerate, courteous, concise and clear.
04. Keep the first paragraph relatively short.
05. Use conversational language in clear and concise sentences.
06. Ensure the completeness of the message beginning and endings
07. The closing is more likely to motivate the reader to act as requested if it is appropriately
strong, clear, and polite.
08. Make an action request clear and complete with 5 Ws and 1 H.
09. End on a positive and courteous thought. Keep the last paragraph concise and correct.
Composing The Message
Composing the message involves following:
01. Drafting Your Message
02. Revising Your Message
03. Editing and Proofreading Your Message Composing the message
Drafting Your Message
01. First draft is often the most difficult to write. The important thing is to get the most important
information in the message.
02. Regardless of the style, the important thing is to get the information to be included on paper.
Revising Your Message
01. It involves adding necessary and deleting unnecessary information, making sure all points are
supported, checking organizational approach, and reviewing the language in terms of 7 Cs.
Editing and Proofreading Your Message
01. Editing and proofreading are important to ensure that the message has no mistakes in
grammar, spelling, punctuation or word choice.
02. Minor mistakes, such as typographical errors, could reduce the effectiveness of the message.