Chapter 6The Writing Process

Business Communication

Copyright 2010 South-Western Cengage Learning

SWBAT: Plan messages by identifying the objective,

main idea, and supporting details Adjust messages for the planned audience Organize messages in direct, indirect, or

direct indirect order. Essential Question – Why is it I important

to organize your message before sending it?

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Identify the objective- a goal or outcome you want to achieve To inform To request To record To persuade

Determine the main idea Choose supporting details Adjust for the receiver

Empathy- put yourself in the place of the receiver

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Advertisements and Internet sites give product information

Information is not always accurate or complete

Honest mistake or deception? Ethical or unethical behavior?

46.1 Planning and Organizing Messages

Direct order – presents the main idea first and follow it with supporting details Favorable, positive, and neutral messages

should be organized this way Indirect order – presents the supporting

details before the main idea. Unfavorable, negative, and persuasive

messages should be written this way Direct-indirect order – used when both

good/bad news for the receiver. Present the good news first using direct order Then present the bad news using indirect

order 5

Select a partner (SOMEONE YOU HAVEN’T WORKED WITH!)

Using Direct order, Indirect order, and Direct-Indirect order, create three different written paragraphs that give an example of each.

Example – Direct order:

Dear Ms. Jamjelly:We are pleased to inform you that your recipe

has been selected to be in our upcoming issue of Things that go great on toast. You will receive your complimentary apron in the mail soon!

6

SWBAT: Compose messages that are courteous,

correct, concise, clear, and complete Compose messages that use bias-free

language Essential Question – Why do we compose

messages using the five C’s?

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Build goodwill Achieve their objectives Have common traits

Courteous Correct Concise Clear Complete

86.2 Composing Messages

Courteous messages- are positive, considerate, and bias-free

Proper titles Bias-Free words

Bias- a belief or opinion that hinders fair and impartial actions or judgments

Gender bias Race and age bias Disability bias

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Correct messages- those that do not contain errors or omit needed information

The Main Idea Supporting Details Project bid- a documentthat describes work to be done, completion time, Charges and related details

106.2 Composing Messages

Effective messages do not omit details or confuse the reader.

Concise messages- brief and to the point Do not contain unrelated material that

can distract the reader from the important points of the message

Unnecessary elements Redundancy- needles repetition Empty phrases

Active voice

116.2 Composing Messages

Clear messages- are specific, precise, and complete They use concrete words and terms

rather than vague ones Contradictory- inconsistent or

opposing

126.2 Composing Messages

Complete messages- contain all the information needed to achieve the objectives of the sender.

The five Ws: Who, What, Where, When, Why

Complete paragraphs Message structure

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OWL: Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab Provides online resources for writers Questions1. Why does this resource suggest that you use

positive wording in business letters?2. What steps are suggested for softening the effects of

negative news?

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school.cengage.com/bcomm/buscomm

6.2 Composing Messages

SWBAT: Describe the stages of the writing process Edit and revise business messages Use effective proofreading methods and

proofreader’s marks Select appropriate ways to publish

business messages Essential Question – Why is it important to

proofread business messages?

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Planning Composing Editing Proofreading Publishing

166.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

© Photodisc / Getty Images

Planning is an important part of the writing process.

Editing- reviewing and revising (changing) a message to improve it

May require as much time as composing

Focus on the main ideas Review for the 5 Cs Review for effective transitions

Transition- a word or phrase that connects sentences in paragraphs and, in turn, connects paragraphs in a message

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Go to my Wikispace Go to Introduction to Business class Open “CompetitonAritcle” in Chapter 1

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Proofreading- is reviewing and correcting the final draft of a message

Focus on: General content errors Mechanical errors

Proofreading methods

196.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

Included in many word processing and other programs

Are useful but do notreplace proofreading

206.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

Proofreaders’ marks- words and symbols used to mark edits on hard copy documents

216.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

226.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

236.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

Reading goals: reasons for reading a message

Different reading speeds and methods Subvocalization Reading aloud to identify errors

246.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

Publish- is to send it to the receiver or make the message available to the receiver

Appropriate methods Intranet- a communications network within an

organization Appearance counts

Paper Format

256.3 Editing and Publishing Messages

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biasclear messagecomplete messageconcise messagecontradictorycorrect messagecourteous message editingempathy

intranetobjectiveproject bidproofreaders’ marksproofreadingpublishredundancytransition