634602 wk4 formal communication
TRANSCRIPT
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Week 5: Formal Communication
MIT634602 Communication
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Objectives
Preparing to write a business communication
•
how to plan a communication• overcoming communication problems
• getting a result
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Business communication tasks
Common business communication tasks:
o research reports
o business letters – customers, business partners
o technical documentation
o user manuals
o contracts
o tenders
o how things work/ how things should work
o what is wrong and needs improvement
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Business communication
approach to tasks
Scientific method:
o facts
o analysis
o research – data sourceso interviews
o surveys
o observation
o existing documentso reading
o bad sources – bad science
o opinion – only when asked
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Business communication
typical purposes
o to informresearch reports
o to record
system and employee performance reports
project and status reportso to guide
documentation
o to describe job descriptions
o to specifycontracts
requests for tender
tenders
o see appendix – business communications described
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formal communication
Formal Informal
Written Spoken
Structured Unstructured
Standardised Non-standardOne-way Interactive
Group Individual
Impersonal Personal
Facts Emotions
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why use formal
communication
• Permanent record/point of reference
• Coverage of detail
•
Multiple audiences (mass communication!)• Legal requirement
• Precision of expression (exactness)
• Remove scope formisinterpretation/misunderstanding (?)
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Preparation
• Research: data gathering, knowing what you
are talking about
• Note taking: remembering what you have
read or learnt
• Ordering information: putting the
message together, with everything in the
appropriate place
• Outlining: structuring what you are writing, so
that the receiver gets the proper message
• Writing: the hard part
• Bibliography: helping the receiver find out
more
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Purpose
Common business communication purposes:
o inform
o persuade
o advise
o teach
o describe
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the audience
Knowing the audience:
• who are they?
• what do I want from them?
• what am I giving them?
What information do they need:
• how much do they know already?
•
how much can they understand?• what must they be told?
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structuring your writing 1
The Document:o Introduction – introduce yourself, the topic
and the purpose of the communication
“say what you are going to say”
o Body – express your message
“say it”
o Conclusion – close off the communication
process
“say what you said”
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structuring your writing 2
Body: Section/Chapter:
Self-contained topics – all the information
about the subject topic can be containedwithin the section. The reader does not have
to read the rest of the document to
understand the message within the section or
chapter.
The word “chapter” indicates a slice of the
whole story.
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structuring your writing 3
The paragraph:A communication depends on the structure of the message as much as
upon choice of words
• Introductory paragraphs
• state the subject (perhaps define it)
• background information about the subject (for someone who might not know it)
• the problem (why you are addressing the subject)
• statement or thesis about the subject
• Paragraphs in the body
• main idea – topic sentence – identify to reader the central issue of the paragraph
• comment, explanation, analysis of main idea
• Concluding paragraphs
• recommendation, summary, course of action to be taken
• restatement of the introduction and purpose of the communication
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structuring your writing 4
The sentence:• Grouping sentences with paragraphs
• linking words (e.g. ‘therefore’, ‘however’)
• coherence – sentences should provide a logical progression of what is being said
• flow – readers should be easily able to follow the order of your ideas from sentence
to sentence
• Simple, compound, complex sentences
• one idea – one subject, one verb (“James carried the baby”)
• two ideas - complimentary, contrasting subjects or verbs in one sentence (“James
carried the baby and Mary pushed the stroller”)• one main idea plus supporting ideas – “James carries the baby who was crying”
• sentence sprawl – too many ideas for reader to comprehend
• sentence length – short and easy to comprehend
• punctuation – emphasis and pause as in spoken communication
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referencing
Bibliography: telling the audience where they can
read more about the subject• Author
•
who wrote the article/book so that the reader can search herself• family name and initials of other given names
• Title
• name of book, or journal collection which includes the article
• name of the periodical or website in which the article is published
• name of the article
• Publisher
• where and when the article/book was published
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Activity: Developing a written
document
• In pairs, develop some possible ideas for
writing a description of something familiar
to MIT students.
1. Select an appropriate topic
2. Plan an outline – introduction, body
and conclusion3. Identify the main points of your topic
4. and any minor points you wish to
include
5. Plan the order of how you are going to
present your topic to the audience.
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The process of writing
• Identify purpose
• Identify audience
• Identify information requirements - research
• Plan structure - what is the topic
• Sub-structures - what are the main points about the topic
• Sort information - what pieces of information are linked
• Arrange information in affective sequence – what
pieces of information go where to get the message across
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ordering information
• the scientific approach:
– Introduction the purpose of the communication and what it is
about
• Background history of the topic
• Method how I investigated/found out about the subject
– Body
• Findings - what I discovered about the topic
• Discussion – comment and analysis of what I discovered
– Conclusion
• Recommendations - what I suggest should be done about the topic
• Review – any problems I could not overcome in my research
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ordering information 2
• the thesis:
– Introduction the proposal that I am making
• Background history of the topic
• Method how I investigated/found out about the subject
– Body
• Evidence- supporting evidence for my proposal
• Argument – in favor (and against) what I propose
– Conclusion
• Summary – summarisation of the evidence/argument
• Action – future action which is appropriate in the light of the evidence
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Strategies for writing
• traditional written outline
note-form
list of main points/ideas and supporting evidence
make headings and sub headings in logical orderwrite
• tree diagram/ mind map
begin from the major subject (trunk or main idea)branch out to subsidiary topics (associated ideas)
then to leaves (notes) of important points
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Strategies for writing 2
• planning tools
templates (samples of similar documents/writing)
obligations – start with a list of necessary elements
word processor – outline view
• “writers block”
break off in the middle/ come back to a part finished
section
write fast, edit well
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Strategies for writing 3
• good resources
respected experts in the field – search for them
respected journals and publishers
beware unnamed sources
• know your subject
define your topic
key words – describe the main themes of your topic• time management
plan and schedule your research & writing tasks
don’t waste time & effort – take notes constantly
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Sources
Judith Dwyer(2009): The Business
Communication Handbook. NSW:Pearson
Education
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Activity: Developing a written
document 2
• In pairs, develop some possible ideas for
persuading someone to experiencesomething you like.
1. Select and appropriate topic
2. Plan an outline – thesis, argument 1,
argument 2 etc., conclusion
3. Write it up as 6 Powerpoint slides for a
presentation.
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appendix
Specification/Description
• A detailed description of a system, property, event or thing
• Intended to ensure that all groups involved have an agreed
understanding of how things are (or how they should be)
• Often includes technical content - formaltechniques/models/diagrams etc
• Needs to address a wide variety of audiences
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appendix
Job Description/Request for Tender/Equipment specification
• A formal statement of requirements asking for people to do
a job or provide a service or product
• Intended to attract responses from people who can do the
work, and to define what they will be expected to do
• May be legally based, particularly where issues of fairness
and equity become involved - competitive tendering
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appendix
Tender/Proposal/Job Application
• A response to a request for tender or job description offering
to do the specified work or provide the specified service
• Intended to demonstrate capability for performing the work
described in the specification
• Contains a mixture of factual/descriptive information and
persuasive (“Choose me”) content
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appendix
Project Plan/Progress Report/Status Report
• An outline of the tasks/timing/resourcing/etc required to
carry out a project
• Intended to help schedule work and resources, and monitor
progress
• May use a range of formal project management
techniques/methods/etc
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appendix
Contract
• A formal statement of agreement for certain work to be
done for certain payments
• Intended to define the nature and intent of a working
relationship
• Legally based and legally enforceable; penalties for breaking
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appendix
User Manual
• A set of instructions, guides, reference and teaching materialto support users of a product or system
• Intended to serve a range of purposes - eg general reference,trouble shooting, teaching, set-up and installation, etc
• Problems in range of levels of detail required; often sub-divided into several documents at different levels
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appendix
Research Report
• Report of an investigation
• Intended to provide knowledge about a problem/topic in an
even-handed manner• True (?)
• Science, not hearsay or pure opinion
• Founded in facts