Slide MGT310 Slide07

Completing
Business Messages

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 1

Three-Step Writing
Process
• Planning
• Writing
• Completing

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 2

Moving Beyond the First
Draft
• Evaluating content, organization,
style and tone
• Reviewing for readability
• Editing for clarity and conciseness

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 3

Evaluating Content
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Is the information accurate?
Is the information relevant?
Is there enough information?
Are generalities balanced with
specific information?

Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 4

Evaluating Organization
• Are all points covered logically?
• Do important ideas receive sufficient
space and are they placed properly?
• Could the message be arranged in a more
convincing sequence?
• Are any points repeated unnecessarily?
• Are details grouped together logically?

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 5

Evaluating Style and
Tone
• Does the writing meet the audience’s
expectations?
• Is the writing too formal or
academic?
• Is the writing too casual?
• Does the message focus on the
audience’s needs?
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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 6

Reviewing for
Readability
• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Score
• Flesch Reading Ease Score

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 7

Increasing “Skim” Value
• Sentence length
• Short paragraphs
• Lists and bullets
• Headings and subheadings

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 8

Editing for Clarity
• Break up overly long sentences
• Rewrite hedging sentences
• Impose parallelism
• Correct dangling modifiers

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 - 9

Editing for Clarity
• Reword long noun sequences
• Replace camouflaged verbs
• Clarify sentence structure

• Clarify awkward references
• Moderate your enthusiasm

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Editing for Conciseness
• Delete unnecessary words and phrases
• Shorten long words and phrases
• Eliminate redundancies
• Recast “It is/There are” starters

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Revising with Technology
• Revision tools
• Spell checker
• Grammar checker
• Thesaurus
• Style checker

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Producing the Message
• Multimedia elements
• Design elements

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Multimedia Elements
• Presentation software
• Graphics software
• Video clips and sound bites
• Hypertext markup language

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Designing for Readability
• Improve the effectiveness of your
message
• Influence the perceptions of your

audience

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Design Elements
• Consistency
• Balance
• Restraint
• Detail

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Design Techniques
• White space
• Margins
• Justification
• Typefaces
• Typestyles

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Using Technology
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Templates and style sheets
Page setup
Column formatting
Paragraph formatting
Numbered and bulleted lists
Tables and textboxes
Pictures and objects
Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Business Letter Format
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Letterhead stationery
Date
Inside address
Salutation
The message
Complimentary close
Signature block
Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Memo Format
• Memo title
• Headings
• The message

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Proofreading Your
Message
• Quality assurance
– Undetected mistakes from the writing,
design, and layout stages
– Mistakes that crept in during production

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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Proofreading Advice
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Make multiple passes
Use perceptual tricks
Double-check high-priority items
Get some distance
Stay focused and vigilant
Review complex electronic documents on
paper
• Take your time
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Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -

Distributing Your
Message
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Cost concerns
Convenience
Time constraints
Security and privacy

Business Communicat

Chapter 6 -