Chapter 5: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

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Chapter 5 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

• Creating and Delivering Messages that Matter

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COMMUNICATION SKILLSYOUR INVISIBLE ADVANTAGE
Effective Communication Happens when you
transmit meaning relevant meaning- to your
audience.
Communication Barriers - Obstacles to effective
communication.
Noise - Any interference that causes the
message you send to be different from the
message your audience understands.
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COMMUNICATION SKILLSYOUR INVISIBLE ADVANTAGE

• Examples of Noise
• Over the emergency exit in a small hotel This
  door is not to be used for entering or exiting
  the building
• In a university faculty lounge At the end of
  the day, please empty the coffee pot and stand
  upside down on the draining board
• At a conference in Las Vegas For anyone who has
  children and doesnt know it, there is a day care
  on the first floor
• In the window of a dry cleaner Anyone leaving
  garments here for more than 30 days will be
  disposed of
• On the ladies room in a New York office tower
  Restroom out of order. Please use floor below
• At the information desk of a museum in Paris
  Visitors are expected to complain at the office
  between the hours of 9am and 11am daily
• Over a church door This is the gate to heaven.
  Enter ye all by this door. This door is kept
  locked because of the draft. (Please use side
  door)

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COMMUNICATION BARRIERS THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT

• Physical barriers
• Language barriers
• Body language barriers
• Perceptual barriers
• Organizational barriers
• Cultural barriers

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

• As globalization gains speed, intercultural
  communication will become increasingly pivotal to
  long-term business success

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

• Nike has a television commercial for hiking shoes
  that was shot in Kenya using Samburu tribesmen.
  The camera closes in on the one tribesman who
  speaks, in native Maa. As he speaks, the Nike
  slogan "Just do it" appears on the screen. Lee
  Cronk, an anthropologist at the University of
  Cincinnati, says the Kenyan is really saying, "I
  don't want these. Give me big shoes." Says Nike's
  Elizabeth Dolan, "We thought nobody in America
  would know what he said. 

• Toyota makes the MR2, which in France is
  pronounced "merdé" or spelled 'merdeux', means
  "crappy".
• In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan
  "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your
  fingers off.
• In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan
  "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out
  as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the
  dead.

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

• Nike offended Muslims in June, 1997 when the
  "flaming air" logo for its Nike Air sneakers
  looked too similar to the Arabic form of God's
  name, "Allah". Nike pulled more than 38,000 pairs
  of sneakers from the market.
• The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem
  - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese
  market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so
  refreshed that your mind seems to be free and
  empty."

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NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION BEYOND THE WORDS

• Reinforce the meaning of your message.
• Eye contact
• Tone of voice
• Facial expressions
• Gestures and posture

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NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Eye contact is a strange thing and varies across
  cultures. On the whole in the USA, Americans
  usually state that "you can't trust people who
  won't look you in the eye." Yet when it comes to
  facts the average duration of eye contact among
  Americans is only about three seconds. Less than
  that usually equals shyness or embarrassment and
  more than that is an invasion of personal space.

• In many Asian and Arab cultures it is bad form
  to look into womens' eyes so many will not do so
  out of respect (usually misinterpreted by many
  western women).
• In Native American cultures, direct prolonged
  eye contact is seen as invasive. Its avoidance
  is practiced to "protect the personal autonomy of
  the interactors. Direct gaze to an elder or very
  respected person is seen as especially rude,
  unless one is in a formal listening/storytelling
  situation, in which case "listeners may look at
  (the speaker) more directly without violating
  his or her personal space by eye contact"

• Yet in other cultures the rules are different.
• In Japan, children learn to direct their gaze at
  the region of an adult's Adam's apple rather than
  eyes.
• Chinese, Indonesians, and rural Mexicans judge
  too much eye contact as a sign of bad manners.

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ACTIVE LISTENING THE GREAT DIVIDER


Hourly Employee 30
Manager 60
Executive 75
Top Salesman 75
of time spent listening
Lying is done with words and also with
silence - Adrienne Rich

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LISTENING

• 80 of our success in learning from other people
  is based upon how well we listen
• Think before you speak
• Listen with respect
• Ask yourself, Is It Worth It?

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LISTENING

• Listening Exercise
• Listen
• Dont interrupt
• Dont finish the other persons sentences
• Dont say I knew that
• Dont even agree with the other person
• Dont use the words no, but, and however
• Dont be distracted dont let your eyes or
  attention wander
• Maintain your end of the dialogue by asking
  intelligent questions
• Eliminate striving to impress the other person

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CHOOSE THE RIGHT CHANNEL A RICH ARRAY OF OPTIONS
Consider the audience - its not about you!
Communication Channels Figuring out the right
way to send a message. The number of options
is growing
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COMMUNICATION CHANNELS LEVELS OF RICHNESS VARY
Memos/Reports Very Low. No information from tone or body language.
E-Mail Very Low. No information beyond words.
Instant Message Very Low. Very few words lead to basic communication.
Voice Mail Low. The audience gains tone but no body language.
Telephone Conversation Moderate. The audience benefits from changes in your tone.
Videoconferencing High. Conveys richness similar to in-person communication.
In-Person Presentation High. Audience experiences all elements of message.
Face-Face Meeting Very High. Audience experiences full message most directly.
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In emotional situations ...
REMEMBER

• The more emotional the message, the more personal
  the medium
• High emotion In-Person / Face-to-Face Meeting
  (assess adapt)
• Medium emotion Handwritten letter / Telephone
  Conversation (careful choice of words, paper,
  ink)
• Low emotion Memo / Report / E-Mail (careful
  choice of words, paper, formatting)
• STOP and THINK before communicating

• Avoid impersonal writing, such as e-mail and
  notes, for heavy messages.
• Deliver bombs in person, if possible
• THE ASSOCIATED PRESS published August 31, 2006
  that RadioShack has notified 400 workers by
  e-mail that they are being laid off. The e-mail
  stated, The work force reduction notification is
  currently in progress. Unfortunately your
  position is one that has been eliminated.

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Reports
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TRIVIA QUIZ

• What report gets better reaction
• 3-page or 10-page?

ANSWER It depends.
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TRIVIA QUIZ
Whats preferred in business writing?
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PICK THE RIGHT WORDS ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE

• Expectations
• What kind of language do most people use in the
  organization?
• Education
• What vocabulary should you use?
• How complex should you make the message?
• Profession
• Are there professional acronyms and jargon that
  can impact your message?

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BUSINESS WRITING TIPS

• Know audiences preferences
• Professors/boss preferences
• Be adaptable
• Time issues
• Stress issues
• Use reference materials

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BUSINESS WRITING STYLE

• Recommended for Neeley students
• Franklin Coveys
• Style Guide
• For Business and Technical Communication

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REMEMBER

• On the written page, being
• clear and concise
• is more important
• than being
• impressive, brilliant,
• literary, or academic.

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PICK THE RIGHT WORDS AVOID SLANG

• Do not alienate yourself by using slang, gender,
  age, ethnicity bias in
• written or verbal communication.

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WRITING SCHEDULE

• Establish absolute deadlines
• Meet deadlines on schedule
• Work backwards from project due-date to set
  working due-dates

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THINK IN REVERSE

• Finalized document due on ________
• Proofreading due on ________
• Final draft due on ________
• Editing 2 due on ________
• Revision due on ________
• Editing 1 due on ________
• Rewrite due on ________
• First draft due on ________

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WHY IS DRAFTING SO HARD?

• We dont write the way we speak
• FIRST DRAFT
• Center on subject and substance
• DONT worry about editing and proofingyet
• BUT, dont neglect editing and proofing or you
  get the OOPS factor

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OOPS! FACTOR
Fyrst, lern ta spel!
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OOPS! FACTOR
Suppose attendance will drop?
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OOPS! FACTOR
So much for the secret.
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OOPS! FACTOR
New product offering?
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OOPS! FACTOR
Talk about oxymorons!
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OOPS! FACTOR
Care to check in?
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PICTURE LESSONS
Writing should be this clear.
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PICTURE LESSONS

• Consider readers perspectives
• Plan ahead
• Edit carefully
• Proofread carefully
• Have someone else read it

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USE ACTIVE VOICE

• In sentences written in active voice, the subject
  performs the action expressed in the verb the
  subject acts.

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PASSIVE VOICE

• In sentences written in passive voice, the
  subject receives the action expressed in the
  verb the subject is acted upon. The agent
  performing the action may appear in a "by the . .
  ."

                                                        
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SAME MESSAGE, DIFFERENT APPROACH

• If your recipient will feel positive or neutral
• Begin with your
• bottom line

• If your recipient will feel negative about your
  message
• Start with the rationale and follow with your
  bottom line

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WRITE HIGH-IMPACT MESSAGES BREAKING THROUGH THE
CLUTTER

• Strike the right tone
• Dont make grammar goofs
• Use block paragraphs
• Use headings and bulleted lists

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WRITING STRIKE THE RIGHT TONE

• Use personal pronouns whenever appropriate
• I, you
• Use contractions as often as you would when
  speaking
• Ill, dont, heres
• It is OK to end a sentence with a preposition
  when doing so sounds natural
• Where is this book from? is much better than From
  where is this book?
• It is OK to begin sentences with And or But
• Most teens enjoy videogames with a moderate level
  of violence. But a small, vocal minority strongly
  advocates a more clean-cut approach
• Use common words in most situations
• use vs. utilize

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WRITING USE BLOCK PARAGRAPHS

• Standard Business Writing
• Use single spacing
• Double space between paragraphs
• Do not indent the first sentence of your
  paragraphs

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WRITING NUMBERS

• Use numerical figures for numbers expressing
  time, measurement or money
• 3 a.m. 15.00 45 ft.
• Write out numbers if they are below 10 if they
  are 10 or more, use figures
• Two technicians 15 systems
• Regardless of size, use figures for units of
  measure 5 pounds 2 yards
• In nontechnical writing, numbers are often
  written out if less than 100 thirty-five
  seventy-one
• Write out numbers that begin a sentence
• Thirty-three patients were.. Four years ago
  we..
• Use figures to express approximations
• Approximately 60 applicants over 3 million
  orders this quarter
• Write out approximations that are obvious
  exaggerations for effect
• That computer isnt worth two cents the boss
  told them a million times
• Use a combination of letters and figures for very
  large round numbers
• We have invested over 45 million

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WRITING USE HEADINGS AND BULLETED LISTS

• Headings
• Not a title, but subject label
• Effective even in short documents
• Bulleted List
• Engage your readers
• Direct their attention

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Essential for readers who dont have the time,
  interest or need to read the entire document
• Most important part of document
• Last piece of document created
• VERY short
• Introduction/body/conclusion
• Enough detail to reflect content
• Concise and complete enough (even if full
  document never is read)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Comprehensive restatement of
• Purpose
• Scope
• Conclusions
• Results
• Recommendations

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• No new information
• Use transitional words/phrases
• Follow organization of document
• Do not refer to documents
• Tables
• Figures
• Appendices
• References
• Other explanatory materials

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WHY IS EDITING SO HARD?

• We dont write the way we speak.
• Most business writing is too verbose.
• Focus on content and meaning
• Facts/analysis/recommendations
• Numbers and charts
• Structure and organization
• Sentence/phrase interpretation
• Consistency

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EDITING PRACTICE
Short-term planning is foremost in the
prioritization of the planning loop.
Writing Coachs suggested change Short-term
planning comes first.
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EDITING PRACTICE
It is recommended that a legal action against a
foreign company for the profit under contention
would not be a wise move.
Writing Coachs suggested change Suing a foreign
company for this amount of money is unwise.
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EDITING PRACTICE
It is Sabrinas proposal for the adoption of the
employee profile software by the personnel
department. This software provides assistance in
the selection of new employees.
Writing Coachs suggested change Sabrina
proposes that the personnel department adopt
employee profile software for new-employee
selection.
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PROOFREADING

• Focus on format and usage
• Appearance on page
• Spelling, grammar, typographical errors
• Electronic checks (be careful!)
• Physical check of printed copy
• Usage errors
• Language confusion
• Capitalization and punctuation

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PROOFREADING TIPS

• Check every capitalization, punctuation, word
  division, number, chart, etc.

Pay special attention to headings, topic
sentences of paragraphs, visuals, captions
Practice!
Read aloud to slow down and catch more
grammar/sense flaws
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WHY IS PROOFING SO HARD?

• Read in unison
• Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
  it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
  wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the
  frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The
  rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed
  it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn
  mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but
  the wrod as a wlohe.

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PROOFREADING PRACTICE
The nurse and herpatient discussed her plans for
the future.
Writing Coachs suggested change The nurse and
herpatient discussed the patients plans for the
future.
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PROOFREADING PRACTICE
Don enjoys chemistry and he has always wanted to
be a chemist.
Writing Coachs suggested change Don enjoys
chemistry and always wanted to be a chemist.
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PROOFREADING PRACTICE
In the land of Nod no one wears cloths.
Writing Coachs suggested change In the land of
Nod, no one wears clothes.
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PROOFREADING PRACTICE
Due to incriminating circumstances, the judge
decided to dismiss the charges.
Writing Coachs suggested change Due to
extenuating circumstances, the judge decided to
dismiss the charges.
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HOW EMBARRASSING!