Kaplan University Writing CenterSunday, September 20, 2015 1 CM105 UNIT 2 SEMINAR Professor Josef...

Kaplan University Writing Center Friday, April 21, 2023

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CM105UNIT 2 SEMINAR

Professor Josef Vice


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Writing in Business Matters

“More than half of all responding companies report that they ‘frequently’ or ‘almost always’ produce technical reports (59 percent), formal reports (62 percent), and memos and correspondence (70 percent). Communication through e-mail and PowerPoint presentations is almost universal” (“A Ticket to Work,” 2004, p. 4).


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Writing in Business Matters

“More than 90 percent of midcareer professionals cited the ‘need to write effectively’ as a skill of ‘great importance’ in their day-to-day work” (“The Neglected ‘R’,” 2003, p. 11).


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How Can It Help You?• Businesses expect employees to have mastered

basic business communication format (letters, memos, reports)

• They “weed out” those who cannot demonstrate this skill during the hiring and promotion process

• You can “rise above” others and help yourself to advance in your career through demonstrated writing skills


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Keys to Effective Letters and Memos

• KNOW your audience• FOCUS on your purpose?• HAVE a clear message• BE CERTAIN your writing is clear

and correct • WRITE with an appropriate tone


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Audience• Generally, business audiences are internal and

external– Internal – readers generally work for the company and are

somewhat familiar with the company hierarchy, policies, procedures

• But don’t make too many assumptions because new employees and those who work remotely or in other geographic locations may not be as familiar as those employees who work on site.

– Implications for writing• Writing can be less formal in format and language than for

external audiences. Generally, a memo is used for internal communications.


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Audience– External – readers are customers, clients, or potential

customers or clients. Generally, they are not familiar with the way the company works, its policies or procedures.

– Implications for writing – All written communication represents the service and/or product of the company.

Writing = Reputation and Image• Any errors in writing will be seen as the company being careless or

not attentive to detail• Writing should be formal, written in Standard American English,

and personalized (no form letters). Generally, the business letter is used to build and maintain relationships with customers or clients external to the company.


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PurposeEvery document has to have a purpose

– A sales proposal is intended to sell a business idea– A memo is intended to inform – A business letter is intended to build relationships– A web page is intended to show customers what the

company can do for them; be interactive – help customers help themselves.


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• Identify the purpose by writing out a statement of purpose– The purpose of this report is to provide details on the

progress of the Comanche Project from July 1, 2008 to January 20, 2009.

– This memo provides all employees with the new expense reporting procedures that take effect July 1, 2008.

Purpose


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Message• What is the scope of your message

– “Scope refers to how much information you give readers” (Kolin, 2007, p. 14).

• “This report covers the financial aspects of the Comanche Project. The project schedule and scope of work are included in the project plan, not this report.”

• What are the details?– “Details are those key points you think readers need to

know to perform their jobs” (Kolin, 2007, p. 14), make a decision, or do what you want them to do.


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Tone• What tone does your writing convey?

– Tone expresses your attitude toward the audience you are writing to or the subject you are writing about.

– Tone is often determined by the language you choose• You are fired• You are being laid off• Sorry for the inconvenience.• We apologize for the accident that occurred while using our

GrilleMaster.• We don’t want to do business with a company like yours.• We are declining your offer due to conflicting interests.


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Tone– Formal vs. informal? Always err on the side of formality,

even in emails, IMs, blogs, presentations, phone calls, etc.• Do not use slang• Do not speak poorly of co-workers or bosses• Use formal language

– Those books sure cost me a chunk of change.– Those books are quite expensive.


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Forms of Business Communication

General forms of business communication– Proposals (Business, Sales)– Plans (Business, Sales)– Memos– Letters– Marketing materials– Training materials – Presentations– Web content


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Why Form Matters• Business people expect to see headings and

subheadings, easy to read and follow documents; they don’t have time to look for information or guess at what the writer is trying to say.

• To that end, appearance matters too. They expect to see professionally formatted documents on screen and in print.

• A poorly formatted document will not get read, even if it has the most brilliant content.

• Learn to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint as those are the two most widely used programs


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EFFECTIVE MEMOS AND LETTERS

• Follow appropriate format• Have specific purpose and audience• Are YOU CENTERED• Convey information clearly and concisely• Do not convey information that is pointless

or that should be communicated privately


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EFFECTIVE LETTERSFOLLOW EXPECTED FORMAT

– Heading– Inside address– Salutation (may also include subject line)– Body of letter– Complimentary Close– Signature Block– End notations


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When do you write business letters?

• To convey information to others OUTSIDE your own business

• To apply for jobs • To request information

from other businesses

July 12, 2008

Bill Jones3202 Brown RoadYokelville, IN 30293

Dear Mr. Jones:

We have received your letter acknowledging receipt of the items we mailed to you and noticing us to cancel shipment of your order for those items which are back ordered.

We will be issuing you a refund as soon as we have completed the necessary paperwork for your account.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for shopping through our online ordering catalogue. Our new fall, 2009 catalog should be arriving at your home shortly, and I believe you will be pleased by some of the choices our buyers have made this season.

Thank you for your patience and understanding and for providing us with the opportunity to be of service to you.

Sincerely

John ThomasVP of SalesEnc: 10 percent off coupon


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DOES YOUR LETTER• State the main business, purpose, or subject

matter right away?• identify what it is responding to by its subject

and date in the first paragraph or sentence?• keep the paragraphs concise and to the

point?• Convey information clearly and effectively?• Consider your audience and purpose?


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Effective letters also…• "Compartmentalize" content• Provide topic indicators at the beginning of

paragraphs• List or itemize whenever possible in a

business letter• Place important information strategically• Focus on the recipient's needs, purposes, or

interests instead of your own


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Convey negative news positively• Problem: If you do not complete and return this

advertisement contract by July 1, 19XX, you will not receive your advertising space in this year's Capitol Lines. If we have not heard from you by this deadline, we will sell you your advertisement space to some other client.

• Revision: Please complete the enclosed contract and return it to us by July 1, 19XX. After this deadline, we will begin selling any unrenewed advertisement space in this year's Capitol Lines, so I hope we hear from you before then.


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LET’S PRACTICE• Imagine that you own a restaurant supply company

entitled PotsNpans (11 Hummingbird Lane, Memphis, Tennessee, 29929.

• One of your buyers, a long time customer and owner of Whistle Stop Restaurant lines, Tom Jones, has not paid his bill for the last 6 months. He owes you 7500 bucks. His address is 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 30922.

• What do you do?


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WRITING A MEMO• Requires the same consideration as

writing a letter (audience, purpose, content, tone)

• BUT, the audience is INTERNAL• AND the audience often has specific

knowledge of the subject matter, but not always

• Also required strict adherence to FORMAT


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What are the PARTS of a memo?

• Memos are divided into sections to organize the information and make it reader-friendly and easy to ready.

• Main Header (MEMORANDUM), usually centered at the top of the page


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Followed by… • TO: (recipients’ names and titles)• FROM: (writer and title)• SUBJECT: (Specific subject of the memo)• DATE: (date written/sent)


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the message• should be concise and have a clear beginning,

middle and end• Opening segments should clearly indicate the

purpose of the memo, context or problem, specific assignment or task

• Body paragraphs should clearly convey important, necessary details and information

• Closure should clearly and courteously close the message, perhaps indicating the action you want the audience to take.


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OWL Recommendations• Header: 1/8 of the memo • Opening, Context and

Task: 1/4 of the memo • Summary, Discussion

Segment: 1/2 of the memo

• Closing Segment, Necessary Attachments: 1/8 of the memo

MEMORANDUMTO: Kelly Anderson, Marketing ExecutiveFROM: Jonathon Fitzgerald, Market Research

AssistantDATE: June 14, 2007SUBJECT: Fall Clothes Line Promotion Through market research and analysis, it has been

discovered that the proposed advertising media for the new fall lines need to be reprioritized and changed.

Findings from focus groups and surveys have made it apparent that we need to update our advertising efforts to align them with the styles and trends of young adults today. No longer are young adults interested in sitcoms as they watch reality televisions shows. Also, it is has become increasingly important to use the internet as a tool to communicate with our target audience to show our dominance in the clothing industry.

Internet AdvertisingXYZ Company needs to focus advertising on internet sites that appeal to young people. According to surveys, 72% of our target market uses the internet for five hours or more per week. The following list shows in order of popularity the most frequented sites:

•Google •Facebook •Myspace •EBay •iTunesShifting our efforts from our other media sources such as radio and magazine to these popular internet sites will more effectively promote our product sales. Young adults are spending more and more time on the internet downloading music, communicating and researching for homework and less and less time reading paper magazines and listening to the radio. As the trend for cultural icons to go digital, so must our marketing plans.

Television AdvertisingIt used to be common to advertise for our products on shows like Friends and Seinfeld for adults are tuning into reality television shows for their entertainment. Results from the focus group show that our target audience is most interested in shows like American Idol,The Apprentice, and America's Next Top Model. The only non-reality television show to be ranked in the top ten most commonly watched shows by males and females our target audience, but even the face of television is changing. Young 18-25 is Desperate Housewives. At Blue Incorporated, we need to focus our advertising budget on reality television shows and reduce the amount of advertising spent on other programs.

By refocusing our advertising efforts of our new line of clothing we will be able to maximize the exposure of our product to our target market and therefore increase our sales. Tapping into the trends of young adults will help us gain market share and sales through effective advertising.

Please contact me at x6464 to set up a meeting to review these recommendations

Attachments: Focus Group Results, January- May 2007; Survey Findings, January - April 2007


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TO: everyone who works here at this companyFROM: meSubject: Coping machineIt has recently ben broght to my attention that some of you who work here have been abusing the copying machine. Namely using it for personal reasons. This is costing me a lot of money and I don’t like it. As of right now, I don’t know who is doing it for sure, but I will find out. If you have been or plan on abusing the copying machine, cease and desist immediately. Or dire consequences will result.Let me know if you have any questions.


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BAD NEWS MEMO• Buffers bad news by beginning

and ending with a positive or at least neutral message

• Conveys the bad news by itself in the middle paragraph(s)

• Conveys the bad news as positively as possible

• Is particularly you-centered


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LET’S PRACTICE• Imagine that your 200 employee company

that manufactures computer motherboards, has suffered financial losses and has to decrease the amount it sponsors towards the employees’ health insurance from 75% to 50%.

• How would you, Mary Kelly, President, convey this information to your employees?


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Business Writing Resources• International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

Provides products, services, activities, and networking opportunities. www.iabc.com

• International Women’s Writing Guild. Provides support for women in writing professions. www.iwwg.com

• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Provides professional development, job opportunities, and resources for public relations professionals. www.prsa.org

• Society for American Business Editors and Writers. Non-profit organization for journalists in business. www.sabew.com/news/home.htm

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