Business
Communication
Chapter 6
The Writing Process
Copyright 2010 South-Western Cengage Learning
6.1 PLANNING AND ORGANIZING MESSAGES

SWBAT:
 Plan
messages by identifying the objective, main
idea, and supporting details
 Adjust messages for the planned audience
 Organize messages in direct, indirect, or direct
indirect order.
 Essential Question – Why is it I important to
organize your message before sending it?
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PLANNING MESSAGES

Identify the objective- a goal or
outcome you want to achieve




To inform
To request
To record
To persuade
Determine the main idea
 Choose supporting details
 Adjust for the receiver


Empathy- put yourself in the place of
the receiver
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PROVIDING COMPLETE
INFORMATION
Advertisements and Internet sites give
product information
 Information is not always accurate or
complete
 Honest mistake or deception?
 Ethical or unethical behavior?

6.1 Planning and Organizing Messages
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ORGANIZING MESSAGES

Direct order – presents the main idea first and
follow it with supporting details


Indirect order – presents the supporting details
before the main idea.


Favorable, positive, and neutral messages should be
organized this way
Unfavorable, negative, and persuasive messages
should be written this way
Direct-indirect order – used when both good/bad
news for the receiver.
Present the good news first using direct order
 Then present the bad news using indirect order

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PARTNER ACTIVITY
Select a partner (SOMEONE YOU HAVEN’T
WORKED WITH!)
 Using Direct order, Indirect order, and DirectIndirect order, create three different written
paragraphs that give an example of each.
 Example – Direct order:

Dear Ms. Jamjelly:
We are pleased to inform you that your recipe has
been selected to be in our upcoming issue of Things
that go great on toast. You will receive your
complimentary apron in the mail soon!
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6.2 COMPOSING MESSAGES

SWBAT:
 Compose
messages that are courteous, correct,
concise, clear, and complete
 Compose messages that use bias-free language
 Essential Question – Why do we compose
messages using the five C’s?
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EFFECTIVE MESSAGES
Build goodwill
 Achieve their objectives
 Have common traits

 Courteous
 Correct
 Concise
 Clear
 Complete
6.2 Composing Messages
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COURTEOUS MESSAGES (1ST C)
Courteous messages- are positive,
considerate, and bias-free
 Proper titles
 Bias-Free words

 Bias-
a belief or opinion that hinders fair and
impartial actions or judgments
 Gender bias
 Race and age bias
 Disability bias
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CORRECT MESSAGES (2ND C)
Correct messages- those that do not contain
errors or omit needed information
 The Main Idea
 Supporting Details
 Project bid- a document
that describes work to be
done, completion time,
Charges and related details

6.2 Composing Messages
Effective messages do not omit
details or confuse the reader.
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CONCISE MESSAGES (3RD C)

Concise messages- brief and to the point
 Do
not contain unrelated material that can
distract the reader from the important points of
the message

Unnecessary elements
 Redundancy-
needles repetition
 Empty phrases

Active voice
6.2 Composing Messages
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CLEAR MESSAGES (4TH C)

Clear messages- are specific, precise, and
complete
 They
use concrete words and terms rather than
vague ones

Contradictory- inconsistent or opposing
6.2 Composing Messages
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COMPLETE MESSAGES (5TH C)
Complete messages- contain all the
information needed to achieve the objectives
of the sender.
 The five Ws:


Who, What, Where, When, Why
Complete paragraphs
 Message structure

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OWL



OWL: Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab
Provides online resources for writers
Questions
1.
2.
Why does this resource suggest that you use positive
wording in business letters?
What steps are suggested for softening the effects of
negative news?
school.cengage.com/bcomm/buscomm
6.2 Composing Messages
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6.3 EDITING AND PUBLISHING MESSAGES

SWBAT:
 Describe
the stages of the writing process
 Edit and revise business messages
 Use effective proofreading methods and
proofreader’s marks
 Select appropriate ways to publish business
messages
 Essential Question – Why is it important to
proofread business messages?
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STAGES IN THE WRITING PROCESS
Planning
 Composing
 Editing
 Proofreading
 Publishing

© Photodisc / Getty Images
Planning is an important part of the
writing process.
6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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EDITING MESSAGES
Editing- reviewing and revising (changing)
a message to improve it
 May require as much time as composing
 Focus on the main ideas
 Review for the 5 Cs
 Review for effective transitions

 Transition-
a word or phrase that connects
sentences in paragraphs and, in turn,
connects paragraphs in a message
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TRACK CHANGES
Go to my Wikispace
 Go to Introduction to Business class
 Open “CompetitonAritcle” in Chapter 1

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PROOFREADING MESSAGES
Proofreading- is reviewing and correcting
the final draft of a message
 Focus on:

 General
content errors
 Mechanical errors

Proofreading methods
6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
CHECKERS
Included in many word processing and
other programs
 Are useful but do not
replace proofreading

6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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PROOFREADING MESSAGES

Proofreaders’ marks- words and symbols
used to mark edits on hard copy
documents
6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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READING GOALS
Reading goals: reasons for reading a
message
 Different reading speeds and methods
 Subvocalization
 Reading aloud to identify errors

6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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PUBLISHING MESSAGES
Publish- is to send it to the receiver or make
the message available to the receiver
 Appropriate methods

 Intranet-
a communications network within an
organization

Appearance counts
 Paper
 Format
6.3 Editing and Publishing Messages
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VOCABULARY
bias
clear message
complete message
concise message
contradictory
correct message
courteous message
editing
empathy
intranet
objective
project bid
proofreaders’ marks
proofreading
publish
redundancy
transition
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