Business Writing PDF

UNIT- II BUSINESS WRITING  BusinessWriting ▪Business writing includes a wide range of different formats and writing jobs. ▪ These jobs include both internal communication within the company and external communication interfacing with the public and organizations.  Whatis BusinessWriting?...

UNIT- II BUSINESS WRITING  BusinessWriting ▪Business writing includes a wide range of different formats and writing jobs. ▪ These jobs include both internal communication within the company and external communication interfacing with the public and organizations.  Whatis BusinessWriting? ▪ Business writing include the development of a newsletters, memos, letters, proposals, reports, power point presentations, press releases, marketing brochures, copywriting, technical writing, web copy, blogging, resumes, job applications, and more. Whatis BusinessLetter? Is a letter written for formal or professional purposes and should be short, courteous, and to the point. Effectiveletterlanguagewaves: Conciseness Informality Courtesy  Conciseness Conciseness can be achieved by avoiding wordy expressions and repetition. Using brief and to the point sentences, including relevant material makes the message concise. Achieving conciseness does not mean to loose completeness of message. Conciseness saves time.  Informality To achieve informality, use simple words and sentence structures; personal pronouns like I, me, and your are appropriate. At the same time, don’t go overboard and resort to slang or overly casual expression. Informality speaks personally.  Courtesy Courtesy can be achieved by using polite words and gestures, being appreciative, thoughtful, and showing respect to the receiver. Courtesy builds goodwill. Courtesy strengthen relations. Partsof aBusinessLetter ❑Heading ❑Inside Address ❑Salutation ❑Body ❑Complimentary Close ❑Signature ❑Enclosure Notation  ❑Heading The heading of a letter contains the street address, city, state, and the date.  ❑Inside Address The inside address consists of the name of the person or of the firm and the address. The address should comprise the street number, the city, and the state.  ❑Salutation The salutation (or greeting) in a business letter is always formal. It often begins with “Dear {Person’s name}.”Be sure to include the person’s title if you know it (such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr). And salutation always ends with a colon.  ❑Body The body is the meat of your letter. Be sure to leave a blank line between each paragraph, however, no matter the format. Be sure to also skip a line between the salutation and the body, as well as the body and the close. ❑Complimentary Close A short and polite remark that ends your letter. Capitalize the first word of your closing (Thank you) and leave four lines for a signature between the close and the sender’s name. A comma should follow the closing. The wording may vary according to the degree of cordiality or friendship.  ❑Signature Skip at least four lines after the close for your signature, and then type out the name to be signed. This often includes a middle initial, although it is not required. And signature should be in blue or black ink. ❑Enclosure Notation If you have any enclosed documents, such as a resume, you can indicate this by typing “Enclosures” one line below the listing. You also may include the name of each document. formats  Types of Letter ❑Letter of Inquiry ❑Order Letter ❑Claim Letter ❑Memorandum ❑Letter of Inquiry Written to request information about a given subject. ❑Order Letter Written to request for purchase of goods. ❑Claim Letter Points out a mistake or problem in the delivery goods and asks that it be corrected. ❑Memorandum Aims to make an announcement, call attention to a meeting, or pass office regulations. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE means the exchange of information in a written format for the process of business activities. can take place between organizations, within organizations or between the customers and the organization. the correspondence is generally of widely accepted formats that are followed universally. Major types of business correspondence: 1. Business Letters - Business letters are the most formal method of communication following specific formats. They are addressed to a particular person or organization. 2. Business Memo/Memorandum - Memorandum is a document used for internal communication within an organization. Memos may be drafted by management and addressed to other employees.  Major types of business correspondence 3. Business faxes - Business faxes have been around even longer than memos, but for a long time, very few people had access to fax machines. 4. Business Email - Business email is considered as the reigning queen of business correspondence. It is probably even more important that business letters nowadays though it does not substitute to them. Types of Business Letters 1.Sales Letters - Typical sales letters start off with a very strong statement to capture the interest of the reader. Since the purpose is to get the reader to do something, these letters include strong calls to action, detail the benefit to the reader of taking the action and include information to help the reader to act, such as including a telephone number or website link.  Types of Business Letters 2. Order Letters - Order letters are sent by consumers or businesses to a manufacturer, retailer or wholesaler to order goods or services. These letters must contain specific information such as model number, name of the product, the quantity desired and expected price. Payment is sometimes included with the letter.  Types of Business Letters 3. Complaint Letters - The words and tone you choose to use in a letter complaining to a business may be the deciding factor on whether your complaint is satisfied. Be direct but tactful and always use a professional tone if you want the company to listen to you.  Types of Business Letters 4. Adjustment Letters - An adjustment letter is normally sent in response to a claim or complaint. If the adjustment is in the customer’s favor, begin the letter with that news. If not, keep your tone factual and let the customer know that you understand the complaint.  Types of Business Letters 5. Inquiry Letters - Inquiry letters ask a question or elicit information from the recipient. When composing this type of letter, keep it clear and succinct and list exactly what information you need. Be sure to include your contact information so that it is easy for the reader to respond.  Types of Business Letters 6. Follow-Up Letter -Follow-up letters are usually sent after some type of initial communication. This could be a sales department thanking a customer for an order, a businessman reviewing the outcome of a meeting or a job seeker inquiring about the status of his application. 7. Letters of Recommendation -Prospective employers often ask job applicants for letters of recommendation before they hire them. This type of letter is usually from a previous employer or professor, and it describes the sender’s relationship with and opinion of the job seeker.  Types of Business Letters 8. Acknowledgment Letters -Acknowledgment letters act as simple receipts. Businesses send them to let others know that they have received a prior communication, but action may or may not have taken place. 9. Cover Letter -Cover letters usually accompany a package, report or other merchandise. They are used to describe what is enclosed, why it is being sent and what the recipient should do with it, if there is any action that needs to be taken. These types of letters are generally very short and succinct.  Types of Business Letters 10. Letters of Resignation - When an employee plans to leave his job, a letter of resignation is usually sent to his immediate manager giving him notice and  Parts of a Business Letter The Heading (The Return Address) or Letterhead -Companies usually use printed paper where heading or letterhead is specially designed at the top of the sheet. It bears all the necessary information about the organization’s identity. Date -Date of writing. The month should be fully spelled out and the year written with all four digits October 12, 2005 The Inside Address - In a business or formal letter you should give the address of the recipient after your own address. Include the recipient's name, company, address and postal code. Add job title if appropriate. Separate the recipient's name and title with a comma. Double check if you have the correct spelling of the recipient’s name. The Greeting - Also called the salutation. The type of salutation depends on your relationship with the recipient. It normally begins with the word "Dear" and always includes the person's last name. Use every resource possible to address your letter to an actual person. If you do not know the name or the sexes of your receiver address it to Dear Madam/Sir (or Dear Sales Manager or Dear Human Resources Director). The Body Paragraphs -The body is where you explain why you’re writing. It’s the main part of the business letter. Make sure the receiver knows who you are and why you are writing. The Complimentary Close -This short, polite closing ends always with a comma. It is either at the left margin or its left edge is in the center, depending on the Business Letter Style that you use. It begins at the same column the heading does.  Signature and Writer’s identification - The signature is the last part of the letter. You should sign your first and last names. The signature line may include a second line for a title, if appropriate. The signature should start directly above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the close and the signature line. Use blue or black ink.  Technical Writing Technical writing involves communicating complex information to those who need it to accomplish some task or goal. It often results in relevant, useful and accurate information geared to specifically targeted audiences in order to enable a set of actions on the part of the audience in pursuit of a defined goal.  Objectives The main purpose of technical writing is to provide complex information to readers in a way that they can understand and apply, even if they don’t have prior knowledge of the topic. Technical writing explains how a particular object works or how to complete a task or project. It is targeted to readers who are looking for information on a particular topic, such as how to operate a computer or to provide detailed specifications on a new drug. Technical writing must be clear, concise and easy for readers in the target audience to follow, understand and act upon. These are key components of effective technical writing.  Characteristics of Technical Writing Technical writing, just as any other form of writing, has certain characteristics which distinguish it from other types of writing. clear - Technical writing presents information clearly, leaving little to no room for misunderstanding. It requires the use of clear, concise sentences. straightforward - This type of writing is straightforward; it requires relaying information in a way that is direct and straight to the point, without the use of literary devices.  precise - The language used in technical writing should be very precise, describing objects and procedures in an exact manner. easily understood - Effective technical writers avoid words that people may not understand and will avoid an eloquent writing style. denotative meanings - This type of writing relies on the denotative meanings of words to ensure that misunderstandings don’t occur due to differing interpretations based on connotation.  Writing Tasks in Workplace – Proposals, Papers, Reports In the workplace, writing is a crucial means of communication. On a daily basis, professionals write emails, memos, reports and proposals either to persuade the reader to take an action or to convince the reader to accept a viewpoint. To write business documents, which are persuasive, professionals must possess effective writing skills.  Proposals The proposal outlines the plan of the implementing organization about the project, giving extensive information about the intention, for implementing it, the ways to manage it and the results to be delivered from it. A proposal is a very important document. There are generally two kinds of proposals: Solicited Proposals: Typically requested by clients, or submitted in response to an advertisement published by the customer/client. Unsolicited Proposals: Submitted or given out to potential customers or clients even though they are not requesting for one. Business Proposal Outline: What Goes in a Proposal? The following sections goes inside a proposal Goals and Objectives Recommended Solution Fee Summary Fee Schedule Estimated Project Schedule Next Steps Terms and Conditions  Workplace Reports Along with emails, memos and letters, reports are a routine type of written communication in many workplaces. Some reports are directed at problem solving. They usually analyze a situation and recommend certain actions or solutions. They are often informal and are written to help managers in the decision-making process. Other reports are written just to provide information. Examples of these are status reports or monthly sales reports. Some companies use printed forms for these types of reports because the details in them can be routine.  A short internal workplace report can look similar to a memo: it has Date, To, From and Subject headings. However, the body of the report is usually divided into sections and subsections, depending on its purpose. The three main sections are: Statement of purpose Briefly and clearly states why the report has been written. It can also include the methods that were used in gathering information for the report.  Discussion of findings The discussion of findings is the longest part of the report and may be divided into sub-sections with headings. The details can be organized in different ways. For example, they can be organized chronologically, geographically, by cause and effect, comparison, etc. Conclusions and/or recommendations The conclusions/recommendations result from the discussion of findings and should be listed in order of importance.