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Chapter 2
Planning Business Messages
Essentials of
Business
Communication 9e
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
The Best Business Writing Is…
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
 Purposeful
 Persuasive
 Economical
 Audience oriented
Following a process can make you a
better writer or speaker.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 2
The Writing Process
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Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 3
Planning
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(analyzing the audience, how
much does the audience
know….)
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Phase 1
of the
Writing
Process
Chapter 2, Slide 5
Phase 1: Analyzing
Analyze your audience and your
purpose for writing.
 To whom are you writing?
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 Why are you writing?
 What do you hope
to achieve?
 What channel is best for
delivering your message?
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 6
Selecting the Best Channel
E-mail
Text message
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Social media
Instant message
Letter/Memo
Report
Telephone
Voice mail
Meeting
Conversation
Web site
Blog/Wiki
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 7
How to Select the Best Channel
 How important is the message?
 How much feedback and interactivity are
required?
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 How fast do you need feedback?
 Is a permanent record essential?
 What is the cost of the channel?
 How much formality do you desire?
 How confidential or sensitive is the
message?
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 8
Phase 1: Anticipating
Anticipate how your audience will react
to your message.
 What is your reader or listener like?
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 Will your audience be pleased, neutral, or
displeased with
your message?
JON FEINGERSH / ICONICA / GETTY IMAGES
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 9
Profiling the Audience
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Primary Audience
Secondary Audience
 Who is the primary reader?
 What are my personal and
professional relationships
with that person?
 Who else might see
or hear this message?
 Are they different from
the primary audience?
 How must I reshape
the message for the
secondary audience?
 What does the person know
about the subject?
 What kind of response
should I expect?
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 10
Phase 1: Adapting
Create a message that will suit your
task and audience.
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
 Spotlight audience benefits.
 Cultivate the “you” view.
 Sound conversational but
professional.
 Express yourself positively.
 Choose courteous language.
 Adopt bias-free language.
 Use plain language and
familiar words.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 11
Spotlighting Audience Benefits
Focus your statements on the audience,
not the sender.
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Poor:
Improved:
We are adopting a new
claim processing
procedure that we
believe has many
outstanding benefits.
You will enjoy the new
claim processing
procedure that will reduce
paperwork and time.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 12
Cultivating the “You” View
Emphasize second-person pronouns
(you/your) instead of first-person pronouns
(I/we, us, our)
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Poor:
Improved:
Before we can issue your
refund, we must wait two
weeks to complete our
processing.
You will receive your
refund in two weeks.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 13
Sounding Conversational but
Professional
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Poor:
Improved:
The undersigned takes
pleasure in . . .
I’m happy to . . .
It may be of some concern
to you to learn that your
expense claim has been
processed and approved.
Your expense claim
has been processed
and approved.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 14
Expressing Yourself Positively
Poor:
Improved:
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Employees may not use Employees must use the
break room on the third
the break room on the
floor during remodeling.
second floor during
remodeling.
We cannot process your We will process your
return until you send us return as soon as we
receive the defective
the defective product.
product.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 15
Choosing Courteous Language
Avoid sounding demanding, preachy, or rude.
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Poor:
Improved:
You must submit your
report by July 30.
Will you please submit
your report by July 31.
I am sick and tired of
being the only one who
replaces the paper in
the copier!
Let’s all agree to replace
the paper in the copier
whenever needed.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 16
Adopting Bias-Free Language
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Poor:
Improved:
Have you called a
salesman?
Have you called a
salesperson?
Every executive
has his own office.
 All executives have their own
offices.
 Every executive has an office.
 All executives have offices.
 Every executive has his or
her own office.
This alternative is
wordy and calls
attention to itself
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 17
Using Plain Language and
Familiar Words
Poor:
Improved:
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved
Will you utilize workbooks Will you use workbooks
during the obligatory
during the required
training period?
training period?
We anticipate that a
majority of the alternative
will be sufficiently
fundamental to meet our
requirements.
We expect that most of
the choices will be
sufficiently basic to
meet our needs.
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Essentials of Business Communication, 9th Edition
Chapter 2, Slide 18
END
Essentials of
Business
Communication 9e
Mary Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy
© 2013 Cengage Learning ● All Rights Reserved