Seminar onTECHNIQUES OF EMPHASIZING IN

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

By Sangeetha Jayakumar (Roll No. 19) Shiji Prem (Roll No. 21) Sunitha Varghese (Roll No. 27)

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Communication

Communication is defined as the exchange of message(s) like encoded information, thoughts, ideas, opinions, facts, emotions etc between or among two or more persons.

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WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

The word ‘write’ has been derived from old English word ‘writan’ which meant to scratch, draw or inscribe.

Written Communication refers to anything in writing meant for others to read and understand.

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Salient Features of Written Communication

A creative activity - an activity that requires conscious and creative effort

Time factor Fewer cycles than face-to-face oral

communication

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Advantages of Written Communication Leaves documentary evidences Usually better planned Clarity of expression and lesser chance to twist later Less distance related barriers Promote uniformity in policies and procedures in

working of an organization Proper assignation of duties and responsibilities Access to large audience through mass mailing/copies

etc

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Disadvantages of Written Communication

Lengthy Process Delayed feedback Tends to be more formal and rigid Need not always two way Possibilities for different interpretations due to

cultural reason More chances to go unnoticed

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When to use Written Communication?

When documentary evidences are required

When the communicator wants to extent himself in time & space, permitting communication across temporal and spacial boundaries

When reliability and validity of message are very important

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The need for effect in written communication

in business Written Communication within a business

requires clarity. Build goodwill effect through written

messages is a good business practice. Letters and email messages ensure the

success of written messages. Getting the desired effect is a matter of

writing skill and of understanding people.

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Techniques to get the effect for writing

Conversational style You-view point Accent on positive language Courtesy

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Conversational styleWrite in conversational language Conversational language mean language that

resembles conversation. Writing in conversational language is not easy,

for we tend to be stiff and formal.

Example: Enclosed herewith is the brochure about which

you make enquiry. ( Stiff and Dull) Enclosed is the brochure you asked about.

(Conversational)

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Conversational style contd. …Avoid rubber stamps while writing

conversational vocabulary Expressions from the old language of businesses are

rubber stamps.

Example: This is to advise that we deem it a great pleasure to

approve subject of your request as per letter of the 12th August (Dull and Stiff)

Yes, you certainly may use the equipment you asked about in your letter of August 12( Friendly and Conversational)

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You-Viewpoint Writing from the you-viewpoint (also called you-attitude)

is a technique for building goodwill in writing messages. It is a technique for persuasion and for influencing

people favorably. The you-viewpoint emphasizes the reader’s interests. It is

an attitude of mind involving more than the use of you and yours.

Even a bad news situation can benefit from you-viewpoint wording.

Examples: We have been quite tolerant of your past due account

and must now demand payment. (We-Viewpoint) If you are to continue to enjoy the benefits of credit

buying, you must clear your accounts now. (You-Viewpoint)

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Accent on positive language

Of the many ways of saying anything, each has a unique meaning.

Positive words are usually best for message goals because they create a goodwill atmosphere.

Negative words stir up resistance and hurt goodwill but that doesn’t mean that there is no place for them in business writing.

Examples: You failed to give us the fabric specifications of the chair

you ordered. (Negative) So that you may have the one chair you want, will you please

check your choice of fabric on the enclosed card? (Positive)

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Courtesy Courtesy is the major contributor to goodwill in business

documents. It produces friendly relations between people. Courtesy involves the preceding goodwill techniques and

other techniques like

Singling out and write directly to one reader means writing for one situation.

Refraining from preaching (lecturing) because preaching occurs when the writer is trying to convince the reader of something.

Doing a little more than you do for the reader which build goodwill.

Expressing anger in messages destroys goodwill and hence avoid anger.

Being sincere adds efforts to be courteous and avoid exaggeration that are obviously insincere.

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Meaning of Emphasize

Emphasize – “a stress laid on a word or words to

indicate special meaning or importance” (Oxford English Reference Dictionary, 1995)

To emphasize means: attaching importance or significance placing words and ideas in key positions

to give them special weight and prominence

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Need for Emphasizing

To project core idea To highlight the central idea To make communication effective To assimilate point of view of both

sender and decoder To establish purpose To ensure attention and retention

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A few tips for Emphasizing Things like italics, bold, underscores, caps,

different size type, alternate fonts, color etc., can act as emphasizing techniques.

Used in excess, any emphasizing technique or combination of these techniques can lose their ability to emphasize and become busy and distracting.

Used in excess, any emphasizing technique or combination of these techniques can cause readers to be reluctant to read a text.

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A few tips for Emphasizing contd. … A carefully planned functional relationship must

exist between the text that is emphasized and the emphasizing technique that is used.

Emphasizing techniques must be used consistently to prevent readers from becoming confused.

To promote consistency, writer must use a style guide or style sheet, which records all the decisions about how to use emphasizing techniques.

To help readers understand the highlighting scheme, writer must include a brief section somewhere in the document (usually in the preface) explaining the usage of emphasizing techniques.

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Emphasizing Techniques

Emphasizing by

Position

Emphasizing by

Space

Emphasizing by

Sentence Structure

Emphasizing by

Mechanical Means

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Emphasizing by Position

The beginnings and endings of a unit of written communication carry more emphasis than the center parts

Place central idea in the beginning and ending

Above points are applicable to :o Sentence o Paragrapho Message

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Emphasizing by Position contd. …

Beginning and ending of the message

Beginning and ending of the paragraph

Beginning and ending of the sentence

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Emphasizing by Position contd. …“2-no-1” scheme

“My wife Joan finds me adorable,” Don said.

“My wife Joan,” Don said, “finds me adorable.”

Example:“The Bush administration tried to legitimize torture by defining it out of existence, according to a report released by the Justice Department Thursday.”

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Emphasizing by Space

Giving more space to central idea The more space one gives a topic, the

more emphasis the topic receives

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Emphasizing by Sentence Structure By placing important information in short ,

simple sentence(s) so that it will not have to compete with other information for the reader’s attention

- If a thought or an idea is to be given a stand or prominence, it can be conveniently placed in

the pattern of a short simple sentence By casting important material in independent

clauses and the less important information relegated to subordinate structures

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Emphasizing by Sentence Structure – An example

Consider two items of information :

1. Company lost money last year.

2. Company’s sales reached a record high volume.

These information can be presented in three different ways

a. The company lost the money last year. The loss occurred in spite of record sales.

(both facts are given equal emphasis)

b. Although the company enjoyed record sales last year, it lost money.

(emphasis on lost money)

c. The company enjoyed record sales last year, although it lost money.

(emphasis on sales increase)

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Emphasis by Mechanical Means Bolding, italics, letter type Quotation mark Changing the size Coloring and drawing Lines and arrows Laying out

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Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. … 1. Bolding, italics, letter type

With bolding technique, the emphasized text strongly stands out from the rest.

e.g., Do not turn off the computer before shutting it down.

Some common uses of bold are: - Headings - Commands - Table or figure titles - Column and row heading in tables

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In italics technique the text is written such that the vertical orientation of all letters is slanted to the right.

Example: Do not turn off the computer before shutting it down.

some of the standard uses for italics are: - Table titles - Row and Column headings - Headings - Figure titles and labels Different letter types can be used for

emphasizing.Example: Arial, Times New Roman etc

Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. …Bolding, italics, letter type

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Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. … 2. Quotation mark

Either single (‘’) or double quotes (“ ”) may be used.

Examples a. Bill said, ‘ I can hear a noise in the

basement’.

b. The policeman asked Bill, “ Did you say, ‘I heard a noise in the basement’ ? ”

c. Have you seen ‘ Stars wars’ ?29

Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. …

3. Changing the size The size of the letters can be changed for emphasizing. Example

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Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. … 4. Colouring and Drawing

It is easy to use colour in online information. It's common to see hypertext links using color.

- web pages typically use blue for new links and purple for links the user has already explored

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Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. … 5. Lines and Arrows Lines and arrows can be used for emphasizing in written

communication. Example

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Emphasis can be done by proper laying out of the written matter.

Example

Emphasis by Mechanical Means contd. … 6. Laying out

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THANK YOU

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