Effective Business Writing: A Workshop for SOM 301 Students

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Effective Business Writing A Workshop for SOM
301 Students
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Part 1 Business Writing BasicsPart 2
Formatting Sentence Level ConcernsPart
3 Audience, Tone, Style Part 4 ContentPart
5Organization FlowPart 6Use of SourcesPart
7 Practice!
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Part 1Business Writing Basics

• Adapted from the following SOM 301 materials
• Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business Writing
  Basics, SOM 301.

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Three main rules

• Say it in the fewest words possible
• Dont offend your audience
• Guide your audience

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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1. Say it in the fewest words possible

• Change wordy phrases so they are more concise

CONCISE The office will be closed
Monday. now allow because/since
WORDY I am sending you this announcement to let
you all know that the office will be closed on
Monday. at this point in time afford an
opportunity due to the fact that
Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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Lets practice! Rephrase the following

• Feel free to
• In the near future
• In view of the fact that

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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2. Dont Offend Your Audience

• In most cases, keep focus on the audience so the
  tone is friendly rather than unnecessarily
  authoritative
• Unnecessarily authoritative I think you should
  adopt the policies listed in my proposal when
  implementing a retirement plan
• Friendly You may find the following information
  useful when implementing a retirement plan.
• Use positive language
• Negative We will withhold payment until you
  complete the job satisfactorily
• Positive When the job is completed
  satisfactorily, you will receive payment.

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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2. Dont Offend Your Audience

• Use inclusive and non-sexist language
• Exclusive/sexist Every attorney has ten minutes
  for his summation.
• Inclusive/non-sexist All attorneys have ten
  minutes for their summations. OR Every attorney
  has ten minutes for a summation.

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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3. Guide Your Audience

• Use plain English and avoid big words
• Confusing He hypothesized that the vehicle was
  not operational because of a malfunctioning
  gasket.
• Conversational He thought that the vehicle was
  not working because of a bad gasket.
• Avoid jargon, slang, and acronyms your audience
  may not know like
• Below the belt, make a bundle, keep your nose to
  the grindstone
• SOM instead of School of Management, MIS instead
  of Management Information Systems

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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3. Guide Your Audience

• Avoid redundant phrases like
• Past history
• first and foremost
• new innovation
• Avoid vague language
• Vague A change in our budget
• Vivid A 10 increase in our budget

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Business
Writing Basics, SOM 301.
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(No Transcript)
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Part 2Formatting Sentence Level Concerns
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Why does presentation matter?
Materials provided by SOM 301 Lab Coordinator
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How does our revision compare?
Materials provided by SOM 301 Lab Coordinator
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Part 3Audience, Tone, Style
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Consider the Rhetorical Situation
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Who is the audience?

• Potential audiences include

• Supervisors
• Coworkers

• Subordinates
• Client/customers

• Ask yourself
• What is the audiences level of understanding?
• What are their expectations and preferences?
• What will their reaction probably be?

Adapted from Bovée, C.L., Thill, J.V. (2010).
Business communication today (10th ed.). Boston,
MA Prentice Hall.
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Business Audiences Skimmers Skeptics

• In general, business readers are skimmers
  skeptics. In order to reach both of these
  audiences effectively
• State the main point clearly and up front.
• Place the most important information at the
  beginning and ending of paragraphs.
• Support your statements with sufficient details
  and evidence. Include specific examples, numbers,
  dates, names, and percentages.

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What is the purpose?
Some potential purposes

• To inform
• To persuade

• To clarify
• To instruct

• Remember business writing is action-oriented
  it aims to effect positive change through
  persuasive and informative strategies.
• So, ask yourself
• What is your purpose for writing this document?
  What action do you want the reader to take when
  he or she finishes reading?

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As the writer, you must choose the appropriate
tone

• Too formal
• Pursuant to our telephone conversation, I have
  communicated with said client and my findings
  will be submitted to you in written form.
• Too casual
• Hey boss, about that promotion, when r we gonna
  talk about it?
• Too subjective
• I must have the report on my desk by the close
  of business today!

Adapted from the following SOM 301
materials Scott, N. (2010, Spring). Adapting
Tone, SOM 301.
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A conversational tone is best in business writing
Too formal Dear Ms. King Enclosed please find
the information that was requested during our
telephone communication of June 22. As was
mentioned at that time, Dunder Mifflin can
provide you with paper products far superior to
any other supplier in the greater Scranton
area. Most sincerely yours, Dwight K. Schrute
Conversational Dear Ms. King Heres the
information you requested during our phone
conversation on Friday. As I mentioned, Dunder
Mifflin has the best paper and the best prices in
the area. Sincerely, Jim Halpert
Too informal Heres the 411 you requested. IMHO,
we have more and better doctors than any other
hospital in the state. L8R, Nard-dog
Adapted from Bovée, C.L., Thill, J.V. (2010).
Business communication today (10th ed.). Boston,
MA Prentice Hall.
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(No Transcript)
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• Lets
• identify
• the rhetorical situation
• in the research assignment
• Who is the audience?
• What is the purpose?
• What kind of tone should you choose?

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Part 4Content
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Strategies for Effective Research

• Where to look finding a database
• http//library.gmu.edu/
• How to look developing search terms
• Read the assignment carefully and pick out the
  most important concepts.

What industry do we find interesting? What
company within that industry intrigues us?
Adapted from the following materials by Michael
Killian, Liaison Librarian for SOM and the
Economics Department Killian, M. (2010, Spring).
Doing Research, SOM 301.
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Strategies for Effective Research
To select source types, go to the sidebar on the
left

• 4. Narrowing your search
• Change your source types to Market Research
  Reports and/or Trade Publications
• Add case study as a search term

Adapted from the following materials by Michael
Killian, Liaison Librarian for SOM and the
Economics Department Killian, M. (2010, Spring).
Doing Research, SOM 301.
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Strategies for Effective Research

• 5. Read the abstracts
• Does the article just mention your topic, or is
  it ABOUT your topic?
• An ideal article
• Comes from a reputable source
• Is about your topic
• Contains information pertinent to solving the
  problem in your assignment
• Contains articles, charts, and graphs that help
  illustrate the facts presented

Adapted from the following materials by Michael
Killian, Liaison Librarian for SOM and the
Economics Department Killian, M. (2010, Spring).
Doing Research, SOM 301.
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Part 5Organization Flow
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DELIVERY
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Why does organization matter?

• Remember, business readers are skimmers and
  skeptics. Logical presentation of your ideas
• Makes you seem professional and credible
• Helps the reader grasp your main point quickly

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Strategies for Evaluating Organization

• When youve drafted your assignment, ask
  yourself
• Is the information arranged in order of
  importance to your audience?
• Is similar information grouped together?
• Is each paragraph organized around only one main
  idea
• Do you have key sentences first in each paragraph?

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Part 6Use of Sources
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APA style for SOM 301

• All citations should come in the form of an APA
  citation sandwich
• Signal phrase citation
• For example
• According to Jane Robbins (2010), President of
  Travel Trends, Inc., a market research company
  specializing in the tourism industry, in some
  popular resort towns the hotel vacancy rate for
  the week of Christmas 2009 was 35 higher than in
  2008. Robbins claims that doing well in the
  recession often just means staying afloat in
  whatever way possible. (para. 3).

research (quote or paraphrase)
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Good Luck!