Online Unit 7. Completing Business Msg.pptx

Unit 7 Completing Business Messages Bovee & Thill

1. Diploma in Management Studies Business Communication BUS107 Session 7 - Completing Business Messages Revising to improve readability Editing for clarity and conciseness Proofreading your message Distributing your message Reference Text: Module Book Session 7 1

2. Learning Outcomes After this lecture, students should be able to: Describe steps to revise and evaluate first drafts and work done by others.   Describe techniques to improve the readability of messages. Write clearly and concisely. Describe principles of effective design of documents. Explain the importance of and steps in proofreading. Explain how to distribute messages. 2

3. Completing Business Messages 3 Improve Readability Revising to make it easier to read

4. Completing Business Messages 4 Improve Readability Four Powerful techniques: Vary sentence length Keep paragraph short Use lists and bullets to clarify & emphasize Add headings and subheadings

5. Completing Business Messages 5 Improve Readability Use Lists and Bullets Idea Sequence Visual Impact Complex Topics Main Points Skimming Audience

6. Completing Business Messages 6 Improve Readability Use Lists and Bullets Owning your own business has 3 main advantages. One is the opportunity to build your financial assets. Another is the satisfaction of working for yourself. As a sole proprietor, you also have the privacy of not having to reveal your financial information to anyone.

7. Completing Business Messages 7 Improve Readability Use List and Bullets Owning your own business has 3 advantages: The opportunity to build your financial assets The satisfaction of working for yourself The privacy of not having to reveal your financial information

8. Completing Business Messages 8 Improve Readability Use Headings & Subheadings Descriptive Informative Basic Organization Important Points Links and Transitions

9. Completing Business Messages 9 Improve Readability Use Headings & Subheadings Headings and subheadings are helpful in three important ways: Show audience at a glance how the material is organized, Call attention to important points, and Highlight connections and transitions between ideas.

10. Completing Business Messages 10 Improve Readability Use Headings & Subheadings There are two ways of writing headings and subheadings. Descriptive headings , such as “Cost Consideration”, simply identify a topic without suggesting anything more. Informative headings, such as “Redesigning Material Flow to Cut Production Cost” offer the audience the context of the message and may indicate conclusion or recommendations of that particular section.

11. Completing Business Messages 11 Improve Readability Use Headings & Subheadings Well-written headings are informative and self-contained , which means audience can skim through and understand without going into the details of the document. In generally, Informative headings are more helpful than descriptive headings. But whatever types of headings is selected, it is necessary to keep it brief and grammatically parallel.

12. Completing Business Messages 12 Improve Readability Use Headings & Subheadings It should be self-contained i.e. readers could skim through Keep them brief Grammatically parallel

13. Completing Business Messages 13 Edit for Clarity & Conciseness Clarity R eader understands the meaning of your message without reading more than once. Conciseness To reduce the length / unnecessary words so that reading is faster

14. Completing Business Messages 14 Edit for Clarity Break up overly long sentences Rewrite hedging sentences Impose parallelism Clarify awkward references Reword long noun sequence Correct dangling modifiers Replace camouflaged verbs Clarify sentence structure

15. Completing Business Messages 15 Edit for Clarity - Example Reword long noun sequences Having too many nouns together as modifiers makes it difficult to read. [Edit] The aluminum window sash installation company will contact us. The company that installs aluminum window sashes will contact us.

16. Completing Business Messages 16 Edit for Clarity - Example Replace camouflaged verbs Watch for word endings like –ion, - ing , - ment , -ant, - ence They ‘hide’ verbs by changing them into nouns or adjectives Causing you to use another unnecessary verb [ Edit] Checking of the sales orders occurs daily. Sales orders are checked daily.

17. Completing Business Messages 17 Edit for Clarity - Example Replace camouflaged verbs Watch for word endings like –ion, - ing , - ment , -ant, - ence They ‘hide’ verbs by changing them into nouns or adjectives Causing you to use another unnecessary verb [Edit] Checking of the sales orders occurs daily. Sales orders are checked daily.

18. Completing Business Messages 18 Edit for Clarity - Example Clarify sentence structure Keep the subject and predicate close Keep the modifiers (and the words they are suppose to modify) close [Edit] A 10% decline in market share caused by an aggressive sales campaign by Nike, the market leader, was the major problem. A 10% decline in market share was the major problem. It was caused by an aggressive sales campaign by Nike, the market leader.

19. Completing Business Messages 19 Edit for Clarity - Example Clarify sentence structure Keep the subject and predicate close Keep the modifiers (and the words they are suppose to modify) close [Edit] These chairs are suitable for those who spend long hours in front of their computers with their adjustable features. With their adjustable features, these chairs are suitable for those who …

20. Completing Business Messages 20 Edit for Conciseness Unneeded Words and Sentences Long Words or Phrases Redundant Combinations “It is/There are Starters”

21. Completing Business Messages 21 Edit for Conciseness Wordy Phrase Concise Phrases adequate number of enough as a matter of fact in fact at the present time now by means of by due to the fact that because for the purpose of for in a timely manner on time in spite of the fact that despite over the duration of during take into consideration consider until such time as until

22. Completing Business Messages 22 Edit for Conciseness Unneeded Words and Sentences Concise Phrase For If On Before Soon About or Regarding Wordy Phrase For the sum of In the event that On the occasion of Prior to the start of In the near future With reference to

23. Completing Business Messages 23 Edit for Conciseness Unneeded Words and Sentences Careful use of relative pronouns (who, that, which) Items that are sold after January 2013 will have no warranty. The manager told the directors last week THAT the details were changed.

24. Completing Business Messages 24 Edit for Conciseness Unneeded Words and Sentences If you want to be successful in your career, you must work hard. To be successful in your career, you must work hard. The employer increased wages so that she could improve morale. The employer increased wages to improve morale.

25. Completing Business Messages 25 Edit for Conciseness Redundant Combination Absolutely complete Basic fundamentals Follows after Reduce down Refer back Collect together Complete Fundamentals or Basic Follows Reduce Refer Collect

26. Completing Business Messages 26 Edit for Conciseness Redundant Combination Repeat Again Actual Truth Future Plans Return Back Surrounded on all sides Repeat Truth Plans Return Surrounded

27. Completing Business Messages 27 Edit for C onciseness “It is / There are” Starters It would be appreciated if you sign the lease today. Please sign the lease today. There are 5 employees who were late for work today. 5 employees were late for work today.

28. Completing Business Messages 28 Produce the Message Design for Readability Consistency Balance Restraint Detail

29. Completing Business Messages 29 Produce the Message Design for Readability Margins, typeface, spacing, color Too formal, just right too casual Go for simplicity Wide columns are more difficult to read

30. Completing Business Messages 30 Produce the Message Document Design White Space Margins Justification Type faces Type St yl es

31. Completing Business Messages 31 Produce the Message Document Justification

32. Completing Business Messages 32 Proofread Documents “Fresh Eyes” Your review Look for: Inconsistencies, errors and missing parts Check your visuals as well Why get someone else to check it?

33. Completing Business Messages 33 Distribute Documents Cost Concerns Convenience Time Constraints Security Privacy

34. Completing Business Messages 34 Distribute Documents Physical Web-Based Electronic

35. Tutorial Questions This section covers the 28 review questions in the SIM Module Book Business Communication (BUS 107) Session 7, page 112-116. Comprises: 10 Multiple Choice Questions and; 14 Short sentence writing practice; 4 short structured questions 35