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Writing for Business
(M3.05)
Corporate Learning & Development
Rebecca Johnson
Aim
To enable you to write and present
reports appropriately
Objectives
By the end of session you will be able to:
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Recognise the value of the written word
Identify objectives & users of a report
Collect information for use in a report
Plan the structure, making appropriate use
of visual & basic statistical material
• Use effective and appropriate tone,
language and level of formality in a range of
cases
Planning your Writing - General
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Consider needs of recipient.
Make appropriate use of info.
Use of appropriate tone & level of language.
Appropriate format.
Give writing a clear & coherent structure.
Layout.
Including visual materials.
Effective Communication
To be effective, you should ask yourself:
• Who do I need to communicate with?
• What results do I want to achieve?
• What impression do I want to give?
Communication Purpose
Apart from self communication, all
communication is designed to:
• Reach some other person
• Achieve a result
Whether the ‘result’ is to ask/order/persuade
or to provide information, either way, it will
lead to action.
The Communication Process
Purpose
Sender
Information
messages
Feedback
Receiver
Action
Effective Written
Communication
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Reaches destination.
Receiver notices it.
Receiver understands & acts on it.
You should therefore choose material
appropriate to the receiver & present in a
structure/language they understand.
What is lacking in this
communication?
• ‘All my staff have worked very hard over
the last year, and output is greatly
increased. The team is successful all
round, and everyone has contributed to
this. I realise that this year things are tight,
but I would like to recommend that my
team should receive a performance bonus
of 1% of annual salary, on top of any
additional increases’.
Headings & Numbers
• Headings show points that go
together logically.
• Numbering headings & subheadings
can help reader if making notes.
Effective Communication
To be effective, you should ask yourself:
• Who do I need to communicate with?
• What results do I want to achieve?
• What impression do I want to give?
Objective Setting
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S pecific
M easurable
A chievable
R elevant
T ime-based
Visual Material
• Be simple without over-crowding of
data.
• Large enough.
• Refer to in body of text (even when
placed in an appendix).
• Complement, not replace the text
of the report.
• Clearly and accurately labelled.
Visual Material
Admin
Sun
Sat
Production
Fri
Sales &
Marketing
Thurs
IT & Computing
Tues
Wed
Mon
Sales support
30
20
0
20
40
100
East
West
50
North
10
0
0
0
5
Effective Communication
To be effective, you should ask yourself:
• Who do I need to communicate with?
• What results do I want to achieve?
• What impression do I want to give?
Other Considerations
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‘Jargon’
Quality
Writing styles
Spelling, punctuation & grammar
Formality
Summary
•
•
•
•
Recognise the value of the written word
Identify objectives & users of a report
Collect information for use in a report
Plan the structure, making appropriate
use of visual & basic statistical material
• Use effective and appropriate tone,
language and level of formality in a range
of cases