© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8eChapter 4 - 1 Planning Business Messages.

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 1

Planning Planning Business MessagesBusiness Messages

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 2

The Three-Step ProcessThe Three-Step Process

• Planning

• Writing

• Completing

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 3

Optimize Your TimeOptimize Your Time

• Planning 50%

• Writing 25%

• Completing 25%

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 4

Analyze the SituationAnalyze the Situation

• Define your purpose

• Profile your audience

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 5

Define Your PurposeDefine Your Purpose

• General

– Inform

– Persuade

– Collaborate

• Specific

– Outcomes

– Timing and realism

– Acceptability

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 6

Profile Your AudienceProfile Your Audience

• Identify primary audience

• Determine size and location

• Determine composition

• Gauge level of understanding

• Project expectations and preferences

• Forecast probable reaction

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 7

Gather InformationGather Information

• Informal methods

– Viewpoints of others

– Reports and company documents

– Supervisors, colleagues, customers

– Audience input

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 8

Provide InformationProvide Information

• Audience needs

– Accurate information

– Ethical information

– Pertinent information

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 9

Selecting the MediumSelecting the Medium

• Oral media

• Written media

• Visual media

• Electronic media

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 10

Oral CommunicationOral Communication

• Face-to-face conversations

• Interviews

• Speeches

• Presentations

• Meetings

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 11

Analysis of Oral MediaAnalysis of Oral Media

• Advantages– Immediate feedback– Ease of interaction– Rich nonverbal cues– Emotional content

• Disadvantages– Minimal participation– Nonpermanent– Reduced control– No editing or

revision

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 12

Written CommunicationWritten Communication

• Memos

• Letters

• Reports

• Proposals

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 13

Analysis of Written Analysis of Written MediaMedia

• Advantages– Message control– Audience reach– Permanent record– Minimize distortion

• Disadvantages– Delayed feedback– Lacks nonverbal

cues– Creation and

distribution– Preparation and

production

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 14

Visual CommunicationVisual Communication

• Charts

• Graphs

• Diagrams

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 15

Analysis of Visual MediaAnalysis of Visual Media

• Advantages– Expedite

communication– Less intimidating– Assist audience

• Disadvantages– Learning curve– Preparation time– Transmittal and

storage

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 16

Electronic Electronic CommunicationCommunication

• Oral communication– Telephone calls, teleconferencing,

voicemail, audio CDs, podcasts

• Written communication– Email, instant messaging, websites, wikis

• Visual communication– Electronic presentations, computer

animation, video

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 17

Analysis of Electronic Analysis of Electronic

MediaMedia• Advantages

– Delivery speed

– Audience reach

– Multimedia

– Accessibility

• Disadvantages

– Overuse

– Privacy issues

– Security risks

– Productivity

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 18

Choosing the Right Choosing the Right MediaMedia

• Media richness

• Message formality

• Media limitations

• Sender intentions

• Urgency and cost

• Audience preferences

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 19

Organizing InformationOrganizing Information

• Get to the point

• Omit irrelevant details

• Organize your ideas

• Indicate necessary information

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 20

Importance of Importance of OrganizationOrganization

• Improves productivity

• Boosts understanding

• Increases acceptance

• Saves audience time

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 21

Define the Main IdeaDefine the Main Idea

• General purpose

• Specific purpose

• Basic topic

• Main idea

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 22

Define Topic and Main Define Topic and Main IdeaIdea

General Purpose

Specific Purpose Topic Main Idea

Teach customer service department how to file

insurance claims.To Inform

To Persuade

To Collaborate

Insurance Claims

R&D Funding

Incentive Pay

Proper filing of claims saves time and money.

Competitors outspend us on research and development.

Linking wages to profitsmotivates workers.

Convince managers to increase spending on

research and development.

Solicit ideas for incentiveplan that ties wages to profits.

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 23

Generating IdeasGenerating Ideas

• Brainstorming

• Mapping

• Storyteller’s tour

• Journalistic approach

• Question-answer chain

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 24

Limiting the ScopeLimiting the Scope

• Time and space

• Number of main ideas

• Audience attitude

• Depth of research

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 25

Sequencing MessagesSequencing Messages

• Direct approach

– Deductive

• Indirect approach

– Inductive

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 26

Choosing the ApproachChoosing the Approach

AudienceReaction

MessageOpening

MessageBody

MessageClosing

Eager/Interested/Pleased/Neutral Displeased Uninterested/Unwilling

Main idea, good news, or request

Necessary details

Cordial comment orstatement about

specific action

Neutral buffer statement

Reasons/justification,bad news, positive

suggestion

Cordial close

Attention-gettingstatement/question

Arousing interest,building desire

Request for action

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 27

Outlining ContentOutlining Content

I. First Major Part

A. First subpoint

B. Second subpoint

1. Evidence

2. Evidence

C. Third subpoint

II. Second Major Point

A. First subpoint

B. Second subpoint

1.0 First Major Part

1.1 First subpoint

1.2 Second subpoint

1.2.1Evidence

1.2.2Evidence

1.2.3 Third subpoint

2.0 Second Major Point

2.1 First subpoint

2.2 Second subpoint

AlphanumericAlphanumeric DecimalDecimal

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 28

Organization Chart OutlinesOrganization Chart Outlines

The Main Idea

I. Major Point II. Major Point III. Major Point

A. Evidence

B. Evidence

C. Evidence

A. Evidence

B. Evidence

C. Evidence

A. Evidence

B. Evidence

C. Evidence

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Excellence in Business Communication, 8e Chapter 4 - 29

Organizing MessagesOrganizing Messages

• State the main idea

• State major points

• Provide evidence