business communication toolkit - business writing - day 01
DESCRIPTION
This is the presentation of my program Business Communication Toolkit - Day 2.TRANSCRIPT
Hassan Bin Rizwan
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TOOLKIT
Important Stuff Setting Standards
What setting you want today? Formal or Informal?
What learning environment would you prefer? Lecture-based or interactive?
Would you like others to talk on the phone during the program?
Would you like to receive rewards for good performance?
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Important Stuff
Setting Standards Not a training program This is an EXPERIENCE
– Learning Experience for ALL of us
Be ready to give and receive constructive criticism
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Learning Contract
A contract between YOU and YOURSELF
Write ONLY what you want to remember later
Not more than 10 points
“The Only Barrier to Learning the Truth is to Assume You Already Know It” Confucius
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Business Communication Toolkit
Cost of Miscommunication
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Miscommunication
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Miscommunication
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Miscommunication
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Miscommunication
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Miscommunication
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Business Communication Toolkit
Communications in the 21st Century
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5 Things That’ve Changed in the 21st Century
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Grabbing Start If you don’t excite my interest in the first 5 seconds, I will ‘tag’ it
for later Writing is More ‘Active’
Replace ‘is’ and ‘are’ with action words “We are planning to” to “We plan to”
Less the use of passive sentences “This project has been spearheaded by Atif” to “Atif lead this project
Less Formal than Before Ok to start a sentence with ‘And’, ‘But’, ‘Because’ etc Write to make it easy to read
5 Things That’ve Changed in the 21st Century
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Quick, Short, To-the-point You have less time to ‘do’ more – so does your reader Write so it can be speed-read
Highlighting the important words, ideas, numbers etc
Last Sentence is More than a Goodbye It often asks a question Suggests an action Demands a response
Understanding the Expectation Game
Communicating through E-mail
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Basics of Format Using bullets and lists Font
Professional and ‘serious’ Not funky Or difficult to read
Responding time? E-mail size? Attachments – describe
them Read receipt? Priority Flag?
For example, Place the paper in
drawer A. Click the green “start”
button. Another example,
Improve customer satisfaction.
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Choosing the Subject Attention grabber Better specific than
generic Remember some will
receive the e-mail on their phones
Delete “Fwd:” even if you ‘forward’
Which is a better subject? Road Rage Can’t Drive 55 Road Rage: Curing Our
Highway Epidemic
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Signature Block
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Give several ways to connect with you Example : my signature block
Use different for ‘first message’ and different for ‘replies’ Favorite quote? Only if it isn’t offensive
Wishing you well,
_________________Hassan B. Rizwan | Tel: +9221-7659067 | Mobile: +923003043094 | Web: www.hassanrizwan.com | Skype: hbrizwan | YouTube: hbrizwan | Twitter: hassanrizwan
"Dream like you'll live forever .. work like you don't need the money .. love like you've never been hurt and dance like no one's watchin" - Satchel Paige
Writing Long E-mails
Avoid them But if you must, then
Provide the ‘ELEVATOR PITCH’ in the first para
Your ‘action close’ must be at the TOP
Example “Our profit margin for the
last quarter went down 5%. As a result I am proposing budget adjustment for the following areas…”
“This email contains Budget projections for the
last quarter Actual performance for the
last quarter Adjustment proposal Projected profitability”
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E-mails on Smart Phones
Everything SHORTER and MORE PRECISE
No or less attachments
Additional space between paras
One topic per e-mail
Documenting SMS replies Fwd them to your e-
mails
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Setting Objective & Analyzing Situation
Getting Ready to Write
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The Columbus Disease
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start with the end in mind!
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Situation No 1You have to write a quarterly progress report and send it to
your boss
Situation No 2You are writing a
financing/investment proposal to a BIG client
Situation No 4Complaining to a regular vendor about the recent bad service you
received
Situation No 3Responding to a query from a customer about product info
Setting Objective
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The FOCUS Principle
FOCUS Addressing the issue,
the whole issue and nothing but the issue
Avoid opening a “pandora’s box”
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The FOCUS Principle
ORGANIZED Present your ideas
systematically Use logical arguments
to add weight to your case
Use headings, paras and lists to organize
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The FOCUS Principle
CLARITY Proper language
(grammar, spelling and sentence structure)
Use ‘Active’ voice Create simple and short
sentences
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The FOCUS Principle
UNDERSTANDING Understand the
situation and the audience
Adapt to the situation “It is not the strongest
of specie who survives, it is the one that is the most adaptive to the change”
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The FOCUS Principle
SUPPORTED Supported by logic and
sound reason Supported by stats if
any Supported by relevant
examples if any
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Positive Emphasis & YOU Attitude
Setting the Tone
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YOU Attitude Positive Emphasis
1. In positive messages, use YOU more than I
2. In negative messages, avoid YOU
1. Focus on what can be done – not otherwise
2. Link negative info with audience benefit
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Examples
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We provide after-sales service to all our customers.
We have approved your credit extension request.
You don’t qualify for the Exclusive Membership unless you have been a member for 5 years.
Examples
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You made no allowances for inflation in your proposal.
We can’t sell computer disks in lots of less than 10.
Your research on article lacks credible evidence.
Convincing Your Readers
Writing Persuasive Messages
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Persuasion Pyramid
Start with a grabber Elevator Pitch Supporting content
Stats Relevant examples Stories
Action close
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Principles of Persuasion Reciprocation
Give ‘n Take Consistency
Reference to moral, ethical, religious or spiritual belief consistency
Authority Reference to expertise
and knowledge
Social Acceptance Reference to
acceptance by aspired people
Liking Reference to personal
preferences Scarcity
Reference to shortage time and resources
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Getting the Most Out of Bad News
Writing Negative Messages
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Negative Message
Start with the Buffer Deliver bad news Give logical reasons Provide alternatives Goodwill ending
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Examples “We at ABC Services truly wish to retain our reputation as being
the most competitive and affordable in the industry. To offer you the best rates, we must cut down on after-sales service.”
I am sure your directory services are of great interest to all businesses in the industry. However, we simply don’t have the budget …
I agree with you that we all should do our best to support a cause that is worthy of our time and money. Our firm, however, ….
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Turning the Negative into Positive
Writing Bouncing-Back Messages
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Bouncing-back Messages
Acknowledge Empathize Resolve Thanks
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