Transcript Effective Written Communications

Effective Written
Communications
GBUS 600
Spring 2004
To start…
• What is your goal?
– Information
– Persuasion
• Who is your audience?
– Professor
– Manager
• What is the content?
Start writing…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Outline!!!!!
Write
Review / Edit : organization, big things
Revise
Review / Edit: facts, style, phrasing
Revise
Review / Edit: formatting
Proofreading
• Grades will suffer for spelling and
grammatical errors
– Typo’s vs. Braino’s
– Don’t rely only on the spell checker
• Take advantage of peer review
– Communication encoding/decoding
– Perceptual bias
Formatting
• Looks matter
• Meet the basics:
– 12 point font
• Serif
• Sans serif
–
–
–
–
–
1 inch margins
Page numbers
Include relevant identifying information
Stapled unless professor requests binding
Email files: only with permission!
Improving Business Writing
Richard Lanham
Revising Business Prose
“Paramedic Method”
Eliminating Bureaucratic Style
• Find the prepositions
• Locate all “is” verb forms
• Determine the action. Who’s doing what
to whom?
– Avoid passive voice. Use active verbs.
Example
• From an industry strategic report…
“The purpose of an environmental scan is to obtain
a general understanding of the external business
environment we are currently in and expect to be
in over the near-term. This may include any
number of factors, but they are factors that may
significantly impact the firm’s business, either
positively or negatively depending on how the
firm manages its way through them.”
Example
“The purpose of an environmental scan is to obtain
a general understanding of the external business
environment we are currently in and expect to be
in over the near-term. This may include any
number of factors, but they are factors that may
significantly impact the firm’s business, either
positively or negatively depending on how the
firm manages its way through them.”
Example Revised
• An environmental scan surveys the current
and foreseeable business environment.
• Original: 29 words
• Revised: 10 words
• “Lard factor” = 65%
More Paramedic Treatment
• Start fast, get to the action
• Look at rhythm of your prose.
– Mark off sentences’ units with /
• Avoid run on sentences
– Mark off each sentence’s end with X
• Read aloud what you have written