Home to Amanda Anseeuw

Writing Business Messages:
Audiences greet incoming messages with, “What’s in this for me?” To improve the chances of a message being successful, follow the example set by the Creative Commons website which addresses an extremely diverse group of people/professionals, but fine tunes specific messages for each group.
*Adapt communication needs to the expectations of audience to improve success. Balance competing and conflicting needs when changing peoples minds or delivering bad news. Be sensitive to needs, build a strong relationship by establishing credibility and projecting company image, and control style by maintaining a conversational tone, using plain English, and an appropriate voice to maintain professional tone.
“You” Attitude:
Maintain good standards of etiquette and politeness, emphasize positive, use bias-free language. 
3-step Writing Process:
Plan. Write. Complete.
Audience-centered Communication: Write and speak in terms of audiences wishes, interests, hopes, and preferences. Use you and yours, not I, me, mine, we, us & ours.
“SO THAT YOUR ORDER CAN BE FILLED PROMPTLY, PLEASE SEND ANOTHER COPY OF THE REQUISITION.” “NOW YOU CAN TAKE A PLANE FROM ATLANTA TO NEW YORK ANY HOUR.” “SELECT YOUR MP3 PLAYER FROM THREE MODELS WITH 50, 75, 100 GIGABYTES OF STORAGE CAPACITY.” “THE CUSTOMER DIDN’T RECEIVE THE ORDER ON TIME … LET’S FIGURE OUT A SYSTEM THAT WILL ENSURE ON-TIME DELIVERIES.” THAT PAPER DOESN’T WORK VERY WELL IN THE COPY MACHINE.” “ALL FIVE COPIES MUST BE CORRECTED BY NEWS.”
Venturing emotions rarely improves a situation … avoid blunt terms. Control emotions and communicate calmly and politely. “LET’S REVIEW THE LAST WEBSITE UPDATE SO THAT WE CAN FIND OUT HOW TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS.” “OUR PRODUCTION SCHEDULES DEPEND ON TIMELY DELIVERY OF PARTS AND SUPPLIES, BUT WE HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED THE ORDER YOU PROMISED TO DELIVER TWO WEEKS AGO. PLEASE RESPOND TODAY WITH A FIRM DELIVERY COMMITMENT.” Communication outside organization requires added measures of courtesy. Since you may never know if your audience is offended from written communication, be as polite as possible.
Deliver negative news … Do not BE negative:
Alaska airlines presenting an opportunity to save and not added cost of travel by saying, “Pack Light & Save,” when a surcharge was implemented for heavy luggage in an attempt to reduce injuries to baggage handlers. “YOUR COMPUTER CAN BE READY BY TUESDAY.” THE  RENOVATIONS NOW UNDER WAY WILL SERVE YOU BETTER.” “OUR 300,000 ADVERTISING INVESTMENT DID NOT PAY OFF; LET’S ANALYZE THE EXPERIENCE AND APPLY THE INSIGHTS TO FUTURE CAMPAIGNS.”
Positive: focus on solving the problem … not attacking the customer.  Focus on what the person can do to improve. “THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS DEPARTMENT CAN BE IMPROVED BY TIGHTENING COST CONTROLS.” “PLEASE REVIEW THE ITEMS MARKED IN RED ON THE PREVIOUS SCREEN SO THAT WE CAN PROCESS YOUR ORDER AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.” “
If you are trying to persuade to buy, pay, or perform a service: emphasize what is in it for them. “PAYING YOUR OVERDUE BILL WITHIN 10 DAYS WILL PREVENT A NEGATIVE ENTRY ON YOUR CREDIT RECORD.” “PROOFREADING YOUR BLOG POSTINGS WILL HELP YOU AVOID EMBARRASSING MISTAKES THAT GENERATE MPRE CUSTOMER SERVICE COMPLAINTS.”
You can be honest without being harsh. Gentle language won’t change the facts … it will make them more acceptable. Too subtle, people will not know what you are talking about. Be honest and deliver with integrity. CHEAP MERCHANDISE = ECONOMY MERCHANDISE. FAILING = UNDERPERFORMING. FAKE = IMITATION, FAUX.
Language reflects the way we think and what we believe. Communication is all about perception: you must appear to be fair. IDENTIFYING BY MARITAL STATUS … REMOVE MR AND MRS AND USE FIRST NAMES: D and L Anseeuw.
Credibility:
Honesty. Objectivity: show distance from emotions and look at all sides of an issue. Awareness of audience needs: let audience know you know what is important to them. Credentials, knowledge, and expertise: audience needs to know that you have whatever it takes to back up your message. Endorsements: get assistance from someone they know and trust. Performance: people need to know they can count on you to get the job done. Confidence. Communication style: support points with evidence, not empty terms—amazing, incredible, extraordinary. Sincerity: point out specific qualities that warrant praise. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. STATE YOUR CASE, WITH AUTHORITY SO AUDIENCE HAS NO DOUBTS. Avoid using if, hope and trust. “WE’RE GLAD TO MAKE THIS RECOMMENDATION.” “TO ORDER, MAIL THE REPLY CARD.” “BY EXTENDING YOUR SERVICE CONTRACT, YOU CAN CONTINUE TO ENJOY TOP-NOTCH PERFORMANCE FROM YOUR EQUIPTMENT.” Credibility can take days, months, years to establish … can be wiped out in seconds … occasional mistake is forgiven & major lapses in honesty and integrity can destroy you. When you do establish credibility, communication becomes easier because time and energy spent on convincing people you are a trustworthy source of information and ideas is complete.
Interests and preferred communication style of your company must take precedence over own views and personal communication style. ASK FOR EDITORIAL HELP TO ENSURE PORTRAYING APPROPRAITE TONE.
Style & Tone:
Style is the way you use words to achieve a certain tone & overall impression. Right choice depends on relationship with reader and nature of message. Ask, “Would I say this if talking face-to-face?” Pompous language sounds self-important. Avoid bragging about accomplishments. Do not share personal details … do not adopt a casual, unprofessional tone … close team okay to be intimate with, especially if expected. Humor can easily backfire and divert attention from message … humor must connect with intended point. NEVER USE HUMOR IN CROSS-CULTURAL MESSAGES.
PLAIN ENGLISH.
SUPPORT THE “YOU” ATTITUDE AND SHOW RESPECT FOR YOUR AUDIENCE.
Packaging simple ideas in writing harms the message. Poor planning leads to messages that meander in search of conclusion. Complex writing results: ineffective communication that wastes time, money, and annoys everyone in contact with it.
PLAIN ENGLISH CAN HELP SIMPLIFY MESSAGES FOR AUDIENCE. CHOOSE WORDS THAT HAVE ONLY ONE INTERPRETATION.
CULTURE … the way each of us is programmed to live in the environment.
The world seems to become more tribal as opportunities for communication expand. Tribes are groups formed together by strong loyalty: strong group loyalty.

Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages. Messages are effective when they provide practical information, give facts, present information in a precise and efficient manner, clarify expectations and responsibities, and offer compelling and persuasive arguments and recommendations.

Successful communication skills include organizing ideas logically and completely, expressing ideas coherently and persuasively, listening effectively, communicating diverse experiences, practicing correct grammar and spelling habits, civilized and ethical commnication.

Effective business communication includes:

In an email ... informative subject line, friendly greeting (hi, hello, greetings), emphazing importance, fills in missing information, makes a specific request, offers chance to participate, invites questions, warm and personal closing (thanks, sincerely yours, best), additional contact information.

Information is the most important resource.

Effective use of technology requires time, energy, and improvement of skills. Open climates encourage honesty, help, and create atmosphere and personality.

Team Work.

Successful communication is about connecting with audience. Reach audience and produce intended effects.

1. Sender idea.

2. Encode idea into message ... text, image, video ...

3. Oral, written and visual messages ... medium to express and present idea.

4. Medium is the form a message takes and channel--face to face conversation, Internet--is the system used to deliver the message.

5. Audience receives message, and is it understood? Decoding of message.

6. Audience responds.

7. Audience provides feedback. Constructive feedback focuses on improvement ...

Constructive Criticism.

Think through suggested changes carefully

Discuss improvements

Focus on controllable behavior

Be specific

Focus on the message and not on the person who created it

Ask for confirmation to make sure receiver understood feedback and message

Give sufficient amount of time to complete request

Highlight message and feedback limitations

Focus on outcomes! Feedback is a valuable tool to learn and improve. Separate emotions from project tasks. Respect, common courtesy, and sense are helpful.

Enable and encourage feedback. Listen and learn. Interpret nonverbal signs.

1. Clarify purpose

2. Outline carefully

3. Choose medium

4. Meet audience expectations. Make messages easily found.

5. Understand audience beliefs and biases. Use compatible images and language ... good etiquette

6. Benefits of responding, make responding easily completed.

Communication is about people connecting with people.

Ethics ... right and wrong. Responsibility. Communication efforts are the public face.

Plagarism: selecting someone else's words, creative product, making own.

Misquoting: selecting words to better suit own and paint better picture.

Ethical lapse ... knowing something is wrong and doing it anyway.

1. Ethical leadership

2. Ethical individuals

3. Support to make ethical choices

Unethical behavior is emulated and therefore meaningless ... work in harmony. Honesty. Clear ethical guidelines.

Legal communication.

Many laws govern truth and accuracy. Fundamental contracts. Financial reporting. Defamation. Intellectual property (IP) proper credit must be offered ... patents, copyrighted material, trade secrets, bloggers ...