The Writing Process

• The writing process may be viewed as a three-step process:– Planning

• Who is your audience, what is your purpose, what do you want to convey?

– Writing• Organize your ideas, choose the direct or indirect approach, and • compose your message by deciding on formality of writing level and

tone, word selection, writing mechanics

– Completing• Revision, readability, editing, rewriting• Message format, design, and delivery• Message mechanics (proofreading, spelling, correct data)

General purpose of Writing

• To inform

• To persuade

• To collaborate

Oral Communication Channel

• Face-to-face conversations

• Speeches

• Videotapes

• Voice mail

• Phone conversations

Written Channels

• Letters

• Reports

• E-mail

• Faxes

• Flyers

Advantages of oral and written communication

• Oral communication gives the opportunity for immediate feedback– Use oral communication when:

• You want the audience to ask questions, make comments• You are trying to reach a group decision• You are trying to relate and emotional message• You want to read the audience’s body language, hear the tone of their

response

• Written communication gives the ability to plan and control the message– Use written communication when:

• Your information is complex• You need a permanent record of the message• Your audience is large and geographically dispersed• You don’t need or want immediate interaction with your audience

The “You” Attitude

• To establish a good relationship with your audience, project the audience-centered approach by using the “you” attitude—speaking and writing in terms of your audiences wishes, interests, hopes, and preferences.

Adoption of the “You” Attitude

• Replace terms that refer to yourself and your company with terms that refer to the audience (use you, yours instead of I, me, we, us, ours)

• Avoid the word you when its use would be impolite or accusatory

• Sincerely and genuinely empathize with your audience

Style, anyone?

• Style is the way you use words to achieve a certain tone (the impression made by your words).

• To achieve a conversational tone– Avoid obsolete and pompous language

– Avoid intimacy

– Avoid humor

– Avoid preaching and bragging

– Strive for the right level of formality

– Use plain English whenever appropriate

Words, words, words• Denotative meaning• Connotative meaning• Abstract vs. concrete words• Cliches• Jargon• Euphemisms• Pet expressions• Biased expressions• Trite expressions• Sexist expressions• Redundant expressions

Active voice vs Passive voice

• To achieve straightforward simplicity, clarity, and efficiency, be sure to:– Select active or passive voice– Emphasize key thoughts– Vary sentence length– Use bullets and lists

• Even though active voice yields shorter, stronger sentences, passive voice is best when:– You need to be diplomatic– You want to avoid taking or attributing the credit or the blame– You want to avoid personal pronouns to create an objective

Readability

• Use of the Fog Index

• Elimination of ambiguous words

• Knowledge of writing level for targeted audience