Writing Business Messages
•The 3 step writing process
•Understanding your audience
•Selecting the right media
•Organizing the message
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!
Planning the message
– Analyze the situation
- 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
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
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–
–
–
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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?
INFORM
less audience
interaction
PERSUADE
COLLABORATE
moderate audience maximum audience interaction
interaction
audience absorb
give audience
info; either accept chance to ask
or reject
questions
audience don’t
contribute to
content
clear up any doubts
audience may have
communicator in
control
communicator in
moderate control
audience adjust to new
information, views, reactions,
etc
communicator has less control
How can we test your purpose?
Testing the specific purpose of each
message
Ask 4 questions
1. Would anything change as a result of your
message? - if no, don’t send it
2. Is your purpose realistic? - if it is a drastic change,
go slow….propose a first step…..message becomes the
start of a learning process
3. Is it the right time? – is it worth the time & effort to
prepare & send message? Don’t send at a busy or
difficult time
4. 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
Develop the profile of your audience
1. 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
2. Determine audience size and geographic spread
-this affects the approach, e.g. meeting vs. face to face
3. Determine the audience composition
-look for similarities & differences in culture, language,
education, rank, attitudes etc
4. Gauge their level of understanding
-do you have similar background to audience? same
education level?
5. Understand expectations
-details? summary? formal? informal?
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
To Gather Information
- Consider other viewpoints
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Read reports and company documents
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review financial statements, news releases, blogs,
marketing reports, customer surveys, database &
Knowledge Management Systems
Talk with supervisors, colleagues, & customers
-
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put yourself in their shoes. How do you feel? What are you
thinking? What is ahead for us?
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
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
– Pertinent
Information quality characteristics
What makes information accurate?
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?
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?
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?
Select the right media
• 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
face 2
face
meetings
speeches
ORAL
interviews
in person
presentations
memos
letters
WRITTEN
reports
proposals
diagrams
charts
VISUALS
graphs
symbols
emails
PowerPoint
presentations
blogs
ELECTRONIC
txt
msgs
telephone
calls
voice
msgs
Wikis
Media Advantages & Disadvantages
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
•
•
•
•
• Easy to overuse
• Privacy & security concerns
• Can contribute to unproductivity
Delivers messages quickly
Reach dispersed audience
> accessibility & openness
> excitement & appeal
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
Media Richness
Leaner,
fewer cues,
no interactivity
Standard
reports
Static web
pages
Mass media
Posters &
symbols
Richer,
> cues,
no interactivity
Custom reports
Telephone calls
Letters &
memos
Teleconferencing
Email & IM
Video
Blogs
Video IM
Face 2 face
Multimedia
Virtual Reality
wikis
A medium’s ability to:
1.) convey a message through > 1 informational cue (visual, verbal, vocal, etc.
2.) facilitate feedback
3.) establish personal focus
• Message Formality:
– 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!!!???
LO6. Explain why good organization is
important to both you and your
audience-1
• Makes the difference between success & failure
• Why organize?
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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
LO6. Explain why good organization is
important to both you and your
audience-2
• It helps the audience in 3 ways:
1. Helps the audience organize everything



Highlighting main points at the start
Information is logically presented
Satisfies the audiences’ need for information
2. Helps the audience accept message
Be diplomatic- acknowledge, sympathize, offer solution, be
accountable & provide opportunities for further
communication
3. 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?
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
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
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
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
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
Techniques to encompass points-4
Story teller’s tour
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–
–
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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
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
General
purpose
Specific Purpose
Topic
Main idea
To inform
To inform
employees about
the improvements
at the café.
Improvements Improvements
at the café
in food and
facilities have
been made to
the café.
After defining the main idea, how do we know what to cover?
Limiting your scope
What is scope?
– range of presented information
– overall length
– level of detail
must correspond
with main idea
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
Length of message
• limit your major points to about 6 or so, better
if less
• Group supporting points
New hot beverages
– new cappuccino machine
– herbal teas available
New ambience
- new furniture
- change in music
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?
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
Message
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.
Message
Close
Close, with a cordial comment, a
reference to the good news or a
statement about the specific action
desired
Close cordially
Request action.
Indirect Approach
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?
Different types of messages
• Routine
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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
– use direct approach
• Negative
– deliver bad news, e.g. job loss
– will disappoint audience
– use indirect approach
• Persuasive
– Asking audience to give, do or change
– use indirect approach
So we know how to approach the message but how do we present it?
Outlining the content
Why do we use outlines?
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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?
Alphanumeric Outline
The following are improvements made in
food and facilities at the café:
A.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
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
Organizational Charts
Change in
café hours
New
ambience
New
furniture
New lunch
menu
Change in
music
New hot
beverages
New
cappuccino
machine
New herbal
beverages
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
Questions
1. 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]
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]
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]
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]