Reading Assignment 3- Harty pg. 115-167

Part 3- Business and Technical Correspondence
- the letter, the memo, the email
- correspondence should be appropriate to writing situation
disadvantage of email- mistakes or misstatements can quickly reach many people across the globe
Making Your Correspondence Get Results
- persuade readers by showing them it will be with their while to hold your point of view
- letters should appeal to emotions
- make letters as personal as possible
Mastering Tone- ex: rejection- "let the reader down gently" and leave the door open for future business
- many examples of negative and positive statements
- to make letters more conversational, rid the letter of worn-out business phrases
Ex: "At a later date" vs. "later"
"I Have Some Bad News for You"
1) remind you that the successful manager is people-sensitive, able to empathize with others
2) remember that bad news is best delivered face to face
- Indirect (reasons first) and Direct (reasons after) methods of conveying bad news
How to Write Better Memos
Functions:
- informing people of a problem pr situation
- nailing down responsibility for action, and a deadline for it
- establishing a file record of decisions, agreements, and policies
Organization
- What are the facts?
- What do they mean?
- What do we do now?
Important Literary Qualities: Clarity, human approach, reflect diplomacy (political savvy)
Format details- pg 134
How To Use Bottom-Line Writing in Corporate Communications
Bad Advice: "Be brief!"
- comprehension is key.
- use direct organizational pattern
- Social upbringing, educational programming, indoctrination into anxiety have lead to the backward approach that is commonly used in writing
What can be done differently?
- People recognize and refect their social and educational programming for being circuitous in all non-sensitive writing situations.
- People learn to write efficiently.
- People must develop the self-confidence necessaryt o send bottom-line message upward in nonsensitive (or slightly sensitive) messages.
E-Mail: Presenting a Professional Image
How to:
- Use active, concise, specific language and plain English that communicate clearly and accurately
- examples of passive and active, pg 147
- use plain English.
- use only one word for an idea and avoid unnecessary repetition
- Write grammatically correct sentences that convey complete thoughts and flow smoothly
- Use short, simple, focused sentences and good grammar
Problems with email messages:
- misused modifiers
- incomplete sentences
- awkward and overly long sentences
- incorrect subject-verb agreement
- incorrect and unclear use of pronouns
ex: that, which, who
- Use gender-neutral language when possible
ex: use he and she
- Avoid common errors of punctuation
ex: use commas, semicolons, etc.
- Use exclamation marks sparingly
ex: its vs. it's
- Don't overuse parentheses.