UNIT 2 THE WRITING PROCESS BUSINESS ENGLISH 383 PROF. ANA GELP LEBRN P.U.C.P.R.

MAYAGUEZ
Grammar in writing

Creating the business message

Goals of business writing

Audience oriented- receivers perspective Purposeful to persuade or inform

Why

am I sending this message? What do I hope to achieve?

Economical

present ideas clearly and concisely

The writing process

Prewriting - analyzing, anticipating, adapting

Analyze audience Purpose for writing Anticipate readers needs/questions

Writing researching, organizing, composing

Organize

material and compose

Revising revising, proofreading, evaluating

Correcting,

rewriting, coherence and unity

Selecting the channel

Factors to keep in mind (see pg 36 table)

Importance

of the message Amount and speed of feedback and interactivity required. Need of a permanent record Cost of the channel Degree of formality desired.

Profiling the audience

Profiling means knowing your audience. Helps to tailor your message to the audience.

Who is the primary reader? What position does this person hold in the organization? What are the persons education, beliefs, opinion, culture or attitude? How much does this person know about the subject? Is there a secondary audience? To be good, it ought to have a tendency to

Adapting the message

Create a message that suits your audience.

Tone

of message is conveyed through words.

Spotlight

benefits; focuses on receivers needs

Cultivate

the you attitude, sound conversational and positive. Positive conveys more information Its more uplifting and pleasant

Conversational tone

Avoid slang terms, or the use of phrases such as, like, totally awesome, you know, "or abbreviations BTW(by the way). A warm friendly tone, but not too casual. Dont try to impress by using big words that may confuse or sound too formal. Use words that include and not exclude, for example, gender-free language. Use positive language.

Conversational tone
vocabulary

vocabulary

Uses simple English

Ascertain

learn Compensate pay Conceptualize see Monitor check Operational working Terminate end

Remuneration pay Stipulate require Anxious nervous Perplexingtroubling

Professional and Conversational

Unprofessional

Professional

Hey, boss, Gr8 news! Firewall now installed!! BTW, check with me b4 announcing it. Look, dude, this report is totally bogus. And the figures dont look kosher. Show me some real stats. Got sources?

Mr. Smith, our new firewall software is now installed. Please check with me before announcing it. Because the figures in this report seem inaccurate, please submit the source statistics.

Formatting messages

Research collect information that will be needed in the message. Make an outline it will give a logical sequence and coherence to the message. It helps to organize your thoughts. Use the direct or indirect pattern in writing.
Direct

format good news Indirect format negative or persuasive news

THE CORRECT WRITING FORMAT :

Deductive Writing Used in good news or positive letters and neutral messages. Presents good news first. Followed by supporting details Has a good will closing and ends with a positive note

It is easier to read First sentence attracts attention. Puts reader in a pleasant frame of mind. Saves time, once they get the important idea, they skim over the details. Used in writing memos, inquiry letters, orders, adjustments, claims

Deductive method used for pleasant or routine messages

The body of this type of letter is as follows:

Paragraph 1( 1-3 sentences)
States

the main idea immediately

What you want or want done

Paragraph 2 (8-10 sentences)

Background

information, supporting details or explanations. goodwill, thank reader, remind reader of the main idea.

Paragraph 3 (1-3 sentences)

Create

Inductive writing format

Used for bad news letter or persuasive letters. Used for writing refusal, collection, and negative claims letters. It has a negative tone. Presents a negative idea in positive terms which is more likely to be accepted. Respects the feeling

You must use empathy and diplomacy. Avoid using words such as : complaint, overlooked, lied, mistake, neglect, ridiculous, error, irresponsible, upset, wrong, ignores or inexcusable. Use approval, accurate, generous, correct, assist, appreciate,

Inductive Format

Paragraph 1 (8-10 sentences)

Gives

explanation, background information or evidence is placed first. (psychologically prepares the reader; you anticipate the readers reaction) Paragraph 2 ( 1-3 sentences)
States

the main idea. What you want or want

done.
Paragraph
Closes

3 Closing ( 1-3 sentences)

on a positive note, and may offer help

Combination/ Direct Indirect Format

Presents good and bad news Presents the good news first Follows the indirect order by providing the reasons for the bad news, then states the bad news.

The body is developed as follows:

Paragraph 1
Good

news, give main message and supporting details news-main message

Paragraph 2
Bad

Good will closing

Close

note

on a positive

Courtesy

Avoid using phrases such as:

You

should You must tend to be pushy/aggressive You have to For example:

You must complete the report by Friday. Will you please complete the report by Friday. You should organize a car pool in this department. Organizing a car pool will reduce your transportation costs and help preserve the

Inclusive language

Avoids sexist language. Some words have the male gender and exclude females.
For

example: foreman, chairman, policeman, mailman, workman, fireman. Use: Supervisor, chairperson, police officer, mail carrier, worker, firefighter. The pronoun his was used to replace men and women. Today writers replace the common gender with an alternate construction.

Inclusive language

Example: Every attorney has ten minutes for his summation. (sexist) Examples of revision
All

attorneys have ten minutes for their summation. Attorneys have ten minutes for summations. Every attorney has ten minutes for a summation. Every attorney has ten minutes for his or her summation.

Plain English

Use familiar and meaningful words. Words that will be understood by the reader. Unfamiliar familiar ascertain learn compensate pay conceptualize see encompass include monitor check perpetuate continue

Effective sentences

A simple sentence: a group of words that express one complete thought. A compound sentence is made up of two simple, independent sentences separated by a comma and a conjunction or a semicolon. A complex sentence is the combination of an independent sentence and a dependent sentence. A dependent sentence is a group of words that can not stand alone. They usually

Compound sentence
The team project was challenging. Simple We were happy with the results. Sentence Compound sentence: The team project was challenging, and we were happy with the results. The team project was challenging; we were happy with the results. The team project was challenging;

Complex sentences

Contains an independent sentence and a dependent sentence or clause. Dependent clauses are usually introduced with subordinating words such as: although, if, because, since, after, until, when. Example:
When

the team project was completed yesterday. We presented the project to the Board. When the team project was completed, we