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CHAPTER 4
The Three-Step
Writing Process
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.1
4.2
Chapter 4 Objectives
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Describe the three-step writing process.
Clarify why explaining your purpose
carefully is important.
Justify the importance of audience analysis.
Outline the ways to collect relevant
information informally.
Define media richness and list factors to
consider when choosing proper channel
and medium.
Discuss how to establish good
audience relationships.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.3
Business Writing
 For interesting messages, avoid
dramatic creative-writing techniques,
and make your messages:
 Purposeful
 Audience-centered
 Concise
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
The Three-Step Writing
Process
The three steps
of the writing process:
1. Plan
2. Write
3. Complete
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.4
4.5
The Writing Process
 Step 1. Planning
 Analyze your purpose, audience, and
message to ensure they are all
aligned.
 Investigate supporting material by
using formal or informal methods of
gathering information.
 Adapt your message to suit your
needs and meet your audience’s
expectations.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.6
The Writing Process
 Step 2. Writing
 Organize your ideas by defining your
main idea, limiting your scope,
grouping major points, and choosing
the direct or indirect approach.
 Compose your first draft by adapting
your style (through your level of
formality and your conversational
tone), by choosing your words
carefully, and by creating effective
sentences and paragraphs.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.7
The Writing Process
 Step 3. Completing
 Revise your message by evaluating
content, reviewing readability, and
editing and rewriting for conciseness
and clarity.
 Produce your message using
effective design elements and
suitable delivery methods.
 Proofread your message for typos
and errors in layout, alignment,
spelling, and mechanics.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.8
The Writing Process
 When writing business messages, try
scheduling your time as follows:
 Planning: At least one-half of your
time
 Writing: Less than one-quarter of
your time
 Completing: More than one-quarter
of your time
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Analyzing Your Purpose and
Audience
4.9
 The general purpose determines the amount
of audience participation you need and the
amount of control you have over your
message:
 To inform, you need little interaction, so
you control the message.
 To persuade, you need a moderate
amount of participation, and you retain a
moderate amount of message control.
 To collaborate, you need maximum
participation, and you retain minimal
message control.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Analyzing Your Purpose and
Audience
 To decide whether to proceed with
your message, ask yourself four
questions:
 Is your purpose realistic?
 Is this the right time for your
message?
 Is the right person delivering your
message?
 Is your purpose acceptable to your
organization?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.10
4.11
Develop an Audience Profile
Identify your primary audience
Determine audience size
Determine audience composition
Gauge your audience’s
level of understanding
Estimate your audience’s
probable reaction
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Investigating Necessary
Information
 Many kinds of business messages
require less-formal informationgathering techniques, such as
 Considering others’ viewpoints
 Browsing through company files
 Chatting with supervisors or
colleagues
 Asking your audience for input
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.12
Investigating Necessary
Information
4.13
 The key to effective communication is
 Determining your audience’s information needs
 Responding to all your audience’s information
needs and questions
 To find out what your audience members want to
know
 Listen to their requests
 Clarify by restating their requests in more
specific terms
 Try to think of any information needs that
members of your audience may not even be
aware they have
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
What Does Your
Audience Need?
 Have you provided all the required
information? (Ask who, what, when,
where, why, and how.)
 Is the information accurate?
 Is the information ethical?
 Is the information pertinent?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.14
4.15
Adapting Your Message
 To adapt your message so that it
serves both your audience and your
purpose you need to:
 Select a channel and a medium that
fit your purpose and that satisfy your
audience’s expectations
 Make plans for establishing a good
relationship with your audience
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.16
Oral Communication Channels
 Oral communication includes
face-to-face conversations,
phone calls, speeches,
videotapes, presentations,
and meetings.
 Your choice of medium would
depend on audience, location,
message importance, and the
need for nonverbal feedback.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Written Communication
Channels
 Written communication
includes letters, emails,
memos, flyers, and
reports.
 A form letter, memo, or
boilerplate message is
often used for routine
communication.
 Reports and proposals are
factual documents
distributed to insiders and
outsiders.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.17
4.18
Media Richness
 Media richness is the value of a
medium in a given communication
situation.
 Richness is determined by a medium’s
ability to
 Convey a message by means of
more than one informational cue
(visual, verbal, vocal)
 Facilitate feedback
 Establish personal focus
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.19
Media Richness
 From richer to leaner, media fall along a
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continuum:
The richest media include face-to-face
conversations, meetings, presentations, and
videoconferences.
Less-rich media include phone calls, e-mail,
voice mail, and teleconferencing.
Lean media include addressed documents
such as notes, memos, and letters.
The leanest media include unaddressed
documents such as fliers, bulletins, and
standard form reports.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.20
Media Richness
 Use the richest media for nonroutine,
complex messages.
 Use leaner media to communicate
simple, routine messages.
 The chief advantage of oral
communication is the opportunity for
immediate feedback.
 The chief advantage of written
communication is the ability to plan
and control your message.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.21
Oral Communication
 Use oral communication when
 You want your audience to ask
questions and make comments
 You’re trying to reach a group
decision
 You’re trying to relate an emotional
message
 You want to read your audience’s
body language or hear the tone of
their response
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.22
Written Communication
 Use written communication when
 Your information is complex
 You need a permanent record of the
message
 Your audience is large and
geographically dispersed
 You don’t need or don’t want
immediate interaction with your
audience
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Electronic Forms of
Communication
 Use electronic forms of
communication when:
 You need speed
 You’re physically separated from
your audience
 Time zones differ
 You must reach a dispersed
audience personally
 You’re unconcerned about
confidentiality
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.23
Electronic Forms of
Communication
 Voice mail—good for short, unambiguous
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4.24
messages
Teleconferencing—good for informational meetings
that involve no negotiations
Videotape—good for sending a motivational
message to a large number of people
Computer conferencing—good for geographically
dispersed collaboration on electronic documents in
real time
Faxing—good for overcoming time-zone barriers
when a hard copy is required
E-mail—good for speedy, low-cost convenience and
increased access to other employees
Web site—good for readers who want to absorb
information nonsequentially
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Electronic Forms of
Communication
 The chief disadvantages of electronic
communication include
 Too much candor (saying things you
shouldn’t)
 Information overload (overuse
overloading networks and recipients)
 Lack of privacy (sending by accident or
others forwarding your messages)
 Interrupted productivity (through e-mail
interruptions and misuse of the Internet)
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.25
Audience: Establishing a
Good Relationship
 Think about who you are and who
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your audience is. (Be yourself.)
Use the “you” attitude in all your
messages.
Always emphasize the positive.
Establish your credibility.
Be polite.
Use bias-free language.
Project the company’s image.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
4.26
4.27
Let’s
Discuss
Biases in Language
Give specific examples of how you
can eliminate these biases:
Gender
Disability
Racial and
ethnic
Age
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Let’s
Discuss
Test Your
Knowledge
4.28
 What are the three steps in the writing
process?
 What two types of purposes do all
business messages have?
 What do you need to know in order to
develop an audience profile?
 How can you test the thoroughness of
the information you include in a
message?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Let’s
Discuss
Test Your
Knowledge
4.29
continued
 What is media richness and how is it
determined?
 What is the “you” attitude and how
does it differ from an “I” attitude?
 Why is it important to establish your
credibility when communicating with
an audience of strangers?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Let’s
Discuss
Test Your
Knowledge
4.30
continued
 How does using bias-free language
help communicators to establish a
good relationship with their
audiences?
 What are the main advantages of oral
communication? Of written media?
 What is boilerplate, and how is it
used?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall