Transcript 1.03 Notesx

1.00 Understand communication
skills and customer relations
NC CTE 1.03: Write internal and external business correspondence to
convey and obtain information effectively.
Explain the nature of effective written
communications
Two main classifications of written communication are in business
- Internal written business communication involves employers and
employees at all levels of the company.
- External written communication involves clients, independent
contractors, industry colleagues and other individuals not working
directly for the company.
- Modern examples may extend to text messaging, social networking
posts and multimedia business presentations.
The three main types of written communication in
business include business letters, memoranda and
reports.
• Business letters can help promote the business image by
communicating with the outside world.
• Memoranda (memo) are mainly used by employers and employees to
communicate information about current projects, changes in business
procedures or other internal topics.
• Business letters and memoranda can be used to confirm in writing what has
been agreed upon verbally.
• Reports help communicate new information, analysis of data or
research or recommendations for future decisions.
Modern examples may extend to text messaging,
social networking posts and multimedia business
presentations.
• Email has become a common form of written communication in
business because of its rapid delivery, ease of use and ability to reach
large audiences.
• The storage of business email has become increasingly important as
email has become “equally admissible” in court as formal paper
documents.
• As email communication continues to grow as a form of written
business communication, companies are increasingly looking to
outside sources for assistance in email management.
Characteristics of effective written communication.
Knowing the 5 Cs of business writing can help you write effectively. Your
correspondence should be:
• Clear: Make sure your purpose and intent is clear to the reader.
Understand your audience.
• Concise: Make sure are not too wordy. Keep all communication concise and
to the point
• Courteous: Address the reader politely. Use expressions such as: “please
and thank you”.
• Complete: Include all the information the reader needs to have.
• Correct: Edit and proofread so that it has no grammar, spelling and
punctuation error.
Criteria used to determine the appropriate
format for professional writing
Typically, for Essays & Reports, You …
• Similarities
Typically, for Letters, Emails, Memos,
You …
• Similarities
• Differences
• Differences
• Use an easy-to-read font, such as Times
New Roman or Arial.
• Use an easy-to-read type size—10 or 12
point is standard.
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Double-space.
Indent the first line of each paragraph 5
spaces.
Don’t insert blank lines between
paragraphs.
• Use conventional paragraphs.
• Use an easy-to-read font, such as Times
New Roman or Arial.
• Use an easy-to-read type size—10 or 12
point is standard.
• Single-space.
• Start each line at the left margin. This is
called block style.
• Use blank lines to separate paragraphs.
• Use conventional paragraphs AND
bulleted lists, headings/subheadings,
tables, charts, etc. to make information
easy to find and to read.
Describe the components of an effective business
letter.
Components (in order):
• Letterhead (optional) – preprinted information in the header and sometimes in the footer that usually contains the company name, address, email
address, logo, and other contact information
• Dateline – the date the letter is written, spelled out, such as April 30, 2010, not 4-30-2010
• Attention line (optional) – keyed on the first line of the inside address and used to address a specific person or job (Sales Manager) within an organization
• Inside address – the name of the addressee, name of the business, street address, city, state abbreviation, and zip
• Salutation – the greeting, such as Dear Mr. Cox
• Subject line (optional)
• Keyed below the salutation because it is considered part of the message
• Key the word Subject in all caps, followed by a colon and the topic, also in all caps
• Used to give the reader a quick overview of the topic
• Message – the letter content. Key paragraphs in single space format with a double space between
• Complimentary closing – the goodbye, such as Sincerely
• Company signature (optional) – the keyed name of the company in all caps, placed a double space below the complimentary close
• Writer’s signature block – the author’s name and title, which may be keyed on one or two lines, depending on length
• Reference initials – the initials of the typist of the letter and sometimes the author as well (keyed first)
• Example: bc/mw or BC/MW
• No punctuation is used with the initials
• Enclosure notation (optional) – indicates that another document is included with the letter. Sometimes the enclosures are identified. Example:
Enclosure: Résumé
• Copy notation (optional) – indicates the names of other parties who have received copies of the letter. Example: cc Mrs. Dian Moon
Edit and revise written work consistent with
professional standards
• Aspects of the revision process
• Rereading for meaning
• Adding
• Rearranging
• Removing
• Replacing
• Adapt, change, and rewrite: writing is rewriting.
• Revising is rewriting and reworking the document to reflect your own assessment
and helpful feedback from others. Revising could mean changing a few sentences,
or writing headings; it could mean deleting whole paragraphs, or moving whole
sections.
• Although technology has increased the amount and complexity of writing,
software programs like Microsoft® Word have simplified the revision part of the
process.
Edit and revise written work consistent with
professional standards
• Criteria used when revising written work
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• Logical sequencing
• Appropriate word choice
• Effective transitions
Use forceful verbs—replace long verb phrases with a more specific verb. For example, replace
“She argues for the importance of the idea” with “She defends the idea.”
Look for places where you’ve used the same word or phrase twice or more in consecutive
sentences and look for alternative ways to say the same thing OR for ways to combine the two
sentences.
Cut as many prepositional phrases as you can without losing your meaning. For instance, the
following sentence, “There are several examples of the issue of integrity in Huck Finn,” would be
much better this way, “Huck Finn repeatedly addresses the issue of integrity.”
Check your sentence variety. If more than two sentences in a row start the same way (with a
subject followed by a verb, for example), then try using a different sentence pattern.
Aim for precision in word choice. Don’t settle for the best word you can think of at the moment—
use a thesaurus (along with a dictionary) to search for the word that says exactly what you want
to say.
Look for sentences that start with “It is” or “There are” and see if you can revise them to be more
active and engaging.
Edit and revise written work consistent with
professional standards
• Criteria used when editing written work
• Proper sentence structure
• Appropriate punctuation
• Correct spelling
• Focus on the surface of the writing, ensuring appropriate word choice
and correct format, spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation.
• Check the final copy to ensure it’s free from typographical errors.
Write professional e-mails
Characteristics of professional e-mails
• Specific
• Be brief and polite. If your message runs longer than two or three short paragraphs,
consider (a) reducing the message, or (b) providing an attachment.
• Concise
• Remember that your reader likely has dozens of how to write a business email other
messages to read and other tasks competing for his attention. Don't go on and on. If your
reader groans at the length of your message when he opens it, he's more likely to delete
it unread.
• Clear
• Just because you are writing an electronic message rather than a typewritten letter
doesn't mean that your communication shouldn't be just as professional. Resist the urge
to be overly casual. If you don't know your correspondent, address them as Mr. or Ms.
(or Dr.). Use the same language that you would use in a standard business letter. Use a
proper business email format. It can be similar to those used in business letters. Avoid
slang or casually constructed sentences.
Write professional e-mails
Information that should be included in a professional e-mail signature.
• The signature block in a business email does the work of the heading or
letterhead found in the format of a business letter. In other words, it supplies the
contact information belonging to the sender.
• A signature block should contain all the contact information a recipient might
require in order to respond to an email. It should begin with the Senders Name,
Title, and Business Organization. A Physical Location, Phone Numbers, Email
Address, and Web site should follow. Here is an example:
********************
Peter Connor
Owner/Managing Editor
The Write Company
Bellvue, CO 80512
Voice: 970.493.84XX
Fax: 970.493.84XX
Email: [email protected]
Web site: http://write-company.com
Write professional e-mails
Different commands used to send outgoing messages
• Reply all
• There are a few basic ground rules for when to use reply all. In general, if your response will cause other people to do something different then yes,
reply all. If your response will have absolutely no effect on other people and is “thanks” or “ok” then no, don’t reply all. At work, reply all should be
used when you have something valuable to add to the conversation or when you disagree with whatever is being proposed. In general, agreement
with a work email is assumed, so an email saying you agree doesn’t really need to be a reply at all.
• Carbon copy [CC]
• It informs the reader that copies have been distributed to the individuals named in the space following the CC notation.
• Unlike memos and letters, the CC field of an email template is meant for email addresses, rather than proper names.
• The CC field in a business email may contain one or more addresses. The blank field will expand as the addresses are inserted
• Blind carbon copy [BCC]
• It indicates that copies have been distributed to the individuals named in the space following the BCC notation, however, their identities are being
withheld from the reader.
• Essentially, the principal recipient is kept in the dark. Unlike the addresses placed in the CC field, those placed in the BCC field are simply not
forwarded.
• Using the BCC field is also useful in protecting the privacy of your copied email recipients. It hides their addresses from potential spamming
operations.
• Subject line
• The subject field is very important and needs to be precise and brief. It should say something compelling about what your business email contains and
your reader should be able to grasp its importance at a glance.
• Capitalize all the key words. Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should be capitalized only when they occur at the beginning or end of your
subject line.
• Leaving this field empty is not an option. Not only does the content of your subject line provide a clue to your reader about the email that follows, it
also provides spam-detecting clues to the server (email provider) that handles its transmission from one cyber point to another.