PLANNING AND FORMATTING BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

Communication Skills

Planning Messages

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

• Planning is a pre-requisite for getting things done.

• In business writing, careful planning and proper formatting are key to producing memos and letters that reflect positively on you and your company or organization.

• There are two things you need to do:-i. Determine your reader’s reactionii.Improve the message content and

presentation

DETERMINE YOUR READER’S REACTION

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

• The first step in planning a message is to determine what your reader’s reaction will be to your message.

• Almost all reader’s reactions will fall into any one of these four categories:-

i. Pleased Reactionii.Neutral Reactioniii.Displeased Reactioniv.Little Or No Interest Reaction

Pleased or Neutral Reaction

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

• If your reader will be pleased to get your message, or perhaps have a neutral reaction to it, you can go directly to the point i.e. the good news or information.

• In the direct approach:-i. You state the main point of the message

straight away as you open your sentence. ii.Follow the opening statement with

supporting information and then lastly;iii. Close with an upbeat ending.

Pleased or Neutral Reaction Summary

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

Direct ApproachGood News

Supporting Information

Upbeat Ending

Displeased Reaction

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

• If your reader will be displeased to get your message, or perhaps even hostile or unwilling, you can use indirect approach.

• In the indirect :-i. You use a buffer that presents background

information.ii.Never start a message with bad newsiii.Sandwich the bad news in the middle of the

message

Displeased Reaction Approach

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

InDirect ApproachBuffer

Reasons/Explanation

Bad News

Buffer

Little or No Interest Reaction

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

• If your recipient will receive little or no interest in your message, you must market the message you are selling the recipient.

• So you use the persuasive approach:i. Begin by getting the reader’s attention at

onceii.After hooking the reader, encourage the

readeriii.Then provide additional information and a

closing argument.

Little or No Interest Approach

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

Persuasive ApproachAttention getter

Interest

Desire

Action

Improving the Message Content and Presentation

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

• After determining your reader’s reaction, then you now need to plan how to leave a lasting impression on your reader.

• The approaches to achieve this purpose include:-

i. Use the six Cs of Communicationii.Use special Formatting and Mechanical

Techniques.

The six Cs of Communication

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

i. Be clear:- Give specific(unambiguous) information

ii. Be complete:- include all pertinent information without omitting anything important.

iii. Be concise:- Be brief and get to the point quickly.

iv. Be consistent:- Apply the same treatment for similar items.

v. Be correct:- Verify that the information is accurate.

vi. Be courteous:- Use the you-attitude i.e. consider the reader’s view point always.

Special Formatting and Mechanical Techniques

Amoud University Communication Skills Class Notes: Prepared by Edwin Omondi Okech

i. Use enumeration to list all important itemsii. Use bullets to emphasize several points

when the sequence of the items is not important

iii. Use bold, underline, italics, solid capitals or centring to emphasize important details.

iv. Use columns with headings to make reading and understanding easier

v. Use underlining or bold and heading to show natural breaks in a message.

vi. Use colour-coding to attract attention