Writing

Business Messages

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 1

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 Three-Step Writing Process

1 2 3
Planning Writing Completing

Analyze the Organize the Revise the

Situation Message Message

Investigate the Compose the Produce the

Topic Message Message

Adapt to the Proofread the

Audience Message

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 2

The specific actions you take to write business messages will vary with each
situation, audience, and purpose. However, following a three-step writing
process will help you write more effective messages.
Planning. Clarify your purpose and gather information to inform, persuade, or
motivate your audience. Select the channel and medium that suit both your
needs and those of your audience. Establish a good relationship with your
audience.
Writing. Organize your ideas and commit your thoughts to words, write
sentences and paragraphs, and select illustrations and details to support your
main idea.
Completing. Review the content and organization for overall style, structure,
and readability. Revise and rewrite until your message is clear; then edit for
details such as grammar, punctuation, and format. Next produce your message,
putting it into the form that your audience will receive. Finally, proof the final
draft for typos, spelling errors, and other mechanical problems.
As a general rule, try using roughly half of your time for planning. Use less
than a quarter of your time for writing your document. Then use more than a
quarter of your time for completing the project (so that you don’t shortchange
important final steps such as revising and proofing).

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 Organizing the Message

Writer Benefits Audience Benefits

Save Time Promote Understanding

Facilitate Feedback Boost Acceptance

Manage the Project Save Time

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 3

What does good organization do for you? First and foremost, it saves you time.
Your draft goes more quickly because you’re not putting ideas in the wrong
places or composing material you don’t need. In addition, you can use your
organizational plan to get some advance input from your audience, making
sure you’re on the right track before spending hours working on your draft.
And, if you’re project is large and complex, you can even use your
organization plan to divide the writing job among co-workers.
In addition to helping you, good organization helps your audience:
•Good organization helps your audience understand your message.
•Good organization helps your audience accept your message.
•Good organization saves your audience time.

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 Defining the Main Idea

General Specific Basic Main

Purpose Purpose Topic Idea

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 4

Business messages can be boiled down to one main idea that sums up
everything. The rest of the message supports, explains, or demonstrates this
point. The broad subject of your message is the topic, and your main idea
makes a statement about that topic.
Your main idea may be obvious when you’re preparing a brief message with
simple facts that have little emotional impact on your audience. In longer
documents and presentations, you’ll need to unify a mass of material, so you’ll
need to define a main idea that encompasses all the individual points you want
to make.

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 Limiting the Scope
Main Idea

Space Time

Length Detail

Major Points Evidence

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 5

The scope of your message (its length and detail) must match your main idea.
Once you have a tentative statement of your main idea, test it against the length
limitations that have been imposed for your message. If you lack the time and
space to develop your main idea fully, or if your main idea won’t fill up the
time and space allotted, redefine the main idea of your message.
Regardless of how long the message will be, stick with three to five major
points. Instead of introducing additional points, you can more fully develop
complex issues by supporting your points with a variety of evidence.
How much you can communicate in a given number of words depends on the
nature of your subject, your audience members’ familiarity with the topic, their
receptivity to your conclusions, and your credibility. You’ll need fewer words
to present routine information to a knowledgeable audience that already knows
and respects you. You’ll need more time to build consensus about a complex
and controversial subject, especially if the audience is composed of skeptical or
hostile strangers.
Moreover, the scope of your message determines the amount and depth of
investigation you can conduct. You may need only to glance at your calendar
to confirm a meeting, or you may need to spend weeks conducting formal
research for a complicated report.

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 Outlining Your Points
Main
MainIdea
Idea

Major
MajorPoint
PointAA Major
MajorPoint
PointBB Major
MajorPoint
PointCC

Evidence
Evidence Evidence
Evidence Evidence
Evidence Evidence
Evidence Evidence
Evidence Evidence
Evidence

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 6

Constructing an outline of your message is a great way to visualize how your

major points and supporting details will fit together. Whether you use the
outlining features provided with word-processing software or simply jot down
three or four points on the back of an envelope, making a plan and sticking to it
will help you cover the important details.
When outlining your message, begin with your main idea. To help you
establish the goals and general strategy of your message, the main idea
summarizes two things: (1) what you want audience members to do or think
and (2) why they should do so. Everything in your message must either support
the main idea or explain its implications.
Next, you state the major supporting points. Identify between three and five
major points that support and clarify your message in more concrete terms.
Finally, illustrate your major supporting points with evidence—the flesh and
blood that helps your audience understand and remember your message.
In a long, complex message, you may need to carry the outline down several
levels. Just remember that every level is a step along the chain from the
abstract to the concrete, from the general to the specific. The lowest level
contains the individual facts and figures that make up your evidence.

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 Common Outline Form
Alphanumeric Decimal
• First Major Part 1.0 First Major Part
1.1 First subpoint
– First subpoint
1.2 Second subpoint
– Second subpoint
1.2.1
• Evidence Evidence
• Evidence 1.2.2
Evidence
– Third subpoint
1.2.3 Third
• Second Major Point subpoint
– First subpoint 2.0 Second Major Point
2.1 First subpoint
– Second subpoint
2.2 Second subpoint
© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 7

You’re no doubt familiar with the basic outline formats:

•Outlines use numbers (or letters and numbers) to identify each point.
•Outlines indent points to show which ideas are of equal status.
•Outlines divide a topic into at least two parts.
•Outlines restrict each subdivision to one category.
•Outlines ensure that each group of ideas is separate and distinct.

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 Sequencing the Message

Direct Approach Indirect Approach

(Deductive) (Inductive)

Audience Reaction

Message Length

Message Type

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 8

Once you’ve defined your ideas and outlined or diagrammed the structure of
your message, you’re ready to decide on the sequence you will use to present
your points.
The Direct approach (deductive). The main idea (such as a recommendation,
conclusion, or request) comes first, followed by the evidence. Use this
approach when your audience will be neutral about your message or pleased to
hear from you.
The Indirect approach (inductive). The evidence comes first, and the main
idea comes later. Use this approach when your audience may be displeased
about or may resist what you have to say.
Your choice of a direct or an indirect approach depends on the following
factors:
Audience reaction: Positive, neutral, or negative
Message length: Short memos and letters (discussed in Unit 3) or long reports,
proposals, and presentations (discussed in Unit 4)
Message type: (1) routine, good-news, and goodwill messages; (2) bad-news
messages; or (3) persuasive messages (all of which are discussed in Unit 3)

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 Composing
Business Messages
The Right Style and Tone

Effective Sentences

Coherent Paragraphs
© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 9

Once you’ve completed the planning process and organized your message,
you’re ready to begin composing your first draft. As you compose your first
draft, try to let your creativity flow. Don’t try to draft and edit at the same time
or worry about getting everything perfect. Just put down your ideas as quickly
as you can. You’ll have time to revise and refine the material later.
Once you have all your thoughts and ideas jotted down, begin shaping your
message. Start by paying attention to your style and tone. Try to select words
that match the tone you want to achieve. Next, create effective sentences and
develop coherent paragraphs. The following slides present each of these
elements.

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 Avoid Obsolete
Language
Control Style
and Tone
Avoid Intimacy

Avoid Humor

Avoid Preaching
or Bragging

Use a Conversational
Use Plain English
Businesslike Tone
© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 10

Most business messages aim for a conversational tone, using plain language
that sounds businesslike without being stuffy, stiff, wordy, or full of jargon. To
achieve a conversational tone in your messages, try to avoid obsolete and
pompous language, intimacy, humor, and preaching or bragging.
Plain English is a way of writing and arranging technical materials so that
your audience can understand your meaning. Because it’s close to the way
people normally speak, plain English is easily understood by people with an
eighth- or ninth-grade education. If you’ve ever tried to make sense of an
overwritten or murky passage in a legal document or credit agreement, you can
understand why governments and corporations today are endorsing the plain-
English movement.

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 Balance Your Writing Style

Abstract
Abstract Words
Words Concrete
Concrete Words
Words

Intellectual Direct
Academic Material
Philosophical Exact
Conceptual Tangible

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 11

To compose effective messages, you must choose your words carefully. First,
pay close attention to correctness. Although debating the finer points of usage
may seem like nitpicking, using words correctly is important. If you make
grammatical or usage errors, you lose credibility with your audience.
An abstract word expresses a concept, quality, or characteristic. Abstractions
are broad, encompassing a category of ideas. They are often intellectual,
academic, or philosophical. A concrete word stands for something you can
touch or see. Concrete terms are anchored in the tangible, material world.

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 Choose Words
That Communicate

Use Strong Use Familiar

Words Words

Avoid Minimize
Clichés Jargon

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 12

Anyone who earns a living by crafting words is a wordsmith—including

journalists, public relations specialists, editors, and letter and report writers.
Unlike poets, novelists, or dramatists, wordsmiths don’t strive for dramatic
effects. Instead, they are concerned with using language to be clear, concise,
and accurate. To reach their goal, they employ the following techniques:
Choose strong words. Choose words that express your thoughts most clearly,
specifically, and dynamically. Nouns and verbs are the most concrete, so use
them as much as you can. Adjectives and adverbs have obvious roles, but they
often evoke subjective judgments. Verbs are especially powerful because they
tell what’s happening in the sentence, so make them dynamic and specific.
Choose familiar words. You’ll communicate best with words that are familiar
to your readers. However, keep in mind that words familiar to one reader might
be unfamiliar to another.
Avoid clichés. Although familiar words are generally the best choice, beware
of terms and phrases so common that they have become virtually meaningless.
Use jargon carefully. Handle technical or professional terms with care. When
deciding whether to use technical jargon, let your audience’s knowledge guide
you. For example, when addressing a group

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 Writing Effective
Sentences

Simple Compound

Compound-
Complex
Complex

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 13

Sentences come in four basic varieties: simple, compound, complex, and

compound-complex. A simple sentence has one main clause (a single subject
and a single predicate), although it may be expanded by nouns and pronouns
serving as objects of the action and by modifying phrases: Profits have
increased in the past year.
A compound sentence has two main clauses that express two or more
independent but related thoughts of equal importance, usually joined by and,
but, or or. In effect, a compound sentence is a merger of two or more simple
sentences (independent clauses) that are related: Wage rates have declined by 5
percent, and employee turnover has been high.
A complex sentence expresses one main thought (the independent clause) and
one or more subordinate thoughts (dependent clauses) related to it, often
separated by a comma. The subordinate thought, which comes first in the
following sentence, could not stand alone: Although you may question
Gerald’s conclusions, you must admit that his research is thorough.
A compound-complex sentence has two main clauses, at least one of which
contains a subordinate clause: Profits have increased in the past year, and
although you may question Gerald’s conclusions, you must admit that his
research is thorough.

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 Effective
Sentence Style

Stress Key Emphasize

Relationships Important Ideas

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 14

Make your sentences grammatically correct, efficient, readable, interesting, and

appropriate for your audience. For most business audiences, clarity and
efficiency take precedence over literary style, so strive for straightforward
simplicity. In every message, some ideas are more important than others. You
can emphasize these important ideas through your sentence style.
One obvious technique for emphasizing key ideas is to choose the type of
sentence to match the relationship of the ideas you want to express. If you have
two ideas of equal importance, express them as two simple sentences or as one
compound sentence. However, if one of the ideas is less important than the
other, place it in a dependent clause to form a complex sentence. By making
the first thought subordinate to the second, you establish a cause-and-effect
relationship, as shown in the following sentence:
Because the chemical products division is the strongest in the company, its
management techniques should be adopted by the other divisions.

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 The Active Voice
Avoid Passive Voice in General

•There are problems with this contract.

•It is necessary that the report be finished by next week.

Use Active Voice in General

•This contract has problems.

•The report must be finished by next week.

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 15

 The Passive Voice
Sometimes Avoid Active Voice

•You lost the shipment.

•We have established criteria to evaluate capital expenditures.

Sometimes Use Passive Voice

•The shipment was lost.

•Criteria have been established to evaluate capital expenditures.

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 16

 Coherent Paragraphs

Length and Form

Development

Unity and Coherence

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 17

A paragraph is a cluster of sentences all related to the same general topic.

Paragraphs vary widely in length and form. You can communicate effectively
in one short paragraph or in pages of lengthy paragraphs, depending on your
purpose, your audience, and your message. The typical paragraph contains
three basic elements: a topic sentence, related sentences that develop the topic,
and transitional words and phrases.
Five of the most common paragraph development techniques are illustration,
comparison or contrast, cause and effect, classification, and problem and
solution. Your choice of technique depends on your subject, your intended
audience, and your purpose.
Every properly constructed paragraph is unified—it deals with a single topic.
The sentence that introduces this topic is called the topic sentence. In business,
the topic sentence is generally explicit, rather than implied, and is often the
first sentence in the paragraph. The topic sentence gives readers a summary of
the general idea that will be covered in the rest of the paragraph.
The sentences that explain the topic sentence round out the paragraph. These
related sentences must all have a bearing on the general subject and must
provide enough specific details to make the topic clear. In addition to being
unified and well developed, effective paragraphs are coherent; that is, they are
arranged in a logical order so that the audience can understand the train of
thought.

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 Paragraph-Development
Techniques
Technique Description

•Illustration •Use examples to demonstrate an idea

•Comparison or Contrast •Use similarities and differences

•Cause and Effect •Focus on the reasons for something

•Classification •Categorize a general idea

•Problem and Solution •Pose a problem, offer a solution

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 18

Paragraphs can be developed in many ways. In practice, you’ll often combine

two or more methods of development in a single paragraph. To add interest,
you might begin by using illustration, shift to comparison or contrast, and then
shift to problem and solution. However, before settling for the first approach
that comes to mind, consider the alternatives. Think through various methods
before committing yourself. If you fall into the easy habit of repeating the same
old paragraph pattern time after time, your writing will be boring.

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 Frequently Used Transitions
Additional Detail •Moreover, furthermore, in addition

Causal Relationship •Therefore, because, since, thus

Comparison •Similarly, likewise, still, in comparison

Contrast •Whereas, conversely, yet, however

Illustration •For example, in particular, in this case

Time Sequence •Formerly, after, meanwhile, sometimes

Summary •In brief, in short, to sum up

© Prentice Hall, 2004 Business Communication Essentials Chapter 4 - 19

Some transitional elements serve as mood changers; that is, they alert the
reader to a change in mood from the previous paragraph. Some announce a
total contrast with what’s gone on before, some announce a causal relationship,
and some signal a change in time. They prepare your reader for the change.
The slide above features a list of transitions frequently used to move readers
smoothly between sentences and paragraphs.

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