 Lecture 13, As-Salaam-Alaikum. Welcome to the Virtual University's course on Business and Technical Communication. In today's lecture, we will look at how to compose business messages. Previously, we have looked at the planning of business messages and today we will identify the characteristics of a well-organized message, explain why organization is important to both the audience and the communicator and also break a main idea into subdivisions, grouped under logical categories. We will also learn to arrange ideas in direct or indirect order depending on the audience's possible reaction. We will learn to compose a message using a style and tone that is appropriate to your subject, purpose, audience and format. You will also learn to use the U article to interest the audience in your message. Then we talk about organizing the message. Basically, what you need to keep in mind is that people simply do not remember disassociated facts and figures. Successful communicators, however, rely on organization to make their message meaningful because obviously if they are facts and figures which are not associated, which are not, which do not have any connections between them, they will be difficult to remember. So, good communicators, good writers, writing business messages rely on good and effective organization to make their messages meaningful. What exactly do we mean by good organization? I just said that good communicators rely on good organization. So, what is good organization? Most disorganized communication suffers from the problems with content, grouping and sequence. If you want organization to be good, then you have to keep in mind that content, grouping and sequence of ideas should be effective and it should be such that the communication becomes easy to read and comprehend. Also, main problems that writers normally face with organization are those of including irrelevant material. You need to keep in mind that you should not introduce information that does not have any purpose. All information that is included in a business message should have some purpose for being there. Also, a lot of the times people get their ideas mixed up. The ideas whatever it is that you are stating should be in its right place. It should be within a context and it should come in a logical sequence. Sequence should be followed in which ideas built upon previous ideas. Ideas should not be introduced when they have not been talked about early or where they should not be introduced in a way that the audience is expected to know about them when they have not been introduced properly. So, they should be built upon previous ideas. Another main problem is that of leaving out necessary information. Many business communications, business messages suffer from this organizational problem where necessary information, essential information is left out. The prime focus should include the information that is required by the reader. We keep talking about the audience and reader centered approach and that is, this is one of the main considerations that the information that is required by the reader should be present in the communication. Leaving out the reader's desired information would be highly undesirable. Obviously, if a reader is reading a communication because they are expecting something out of it and you as a writer fail to provide that necessary information, then that communication loses its purpose. What does good organization mean? It basically means that the subject and purpose are clear. All information that is within that communication is related to that subject and purpose. Your subject and purpose is clear. All information that is included in that message is related to that subject and purpose. Also, it is good organization means that the ideas are grouped together and presented in a logical sequence, in a logical manner. The ideas are related to each other. The sequence of ideas that is presented first, the next idea, or the information that comes after it, is also a logical sequence of why this idea is connected to this information. And also, all necessary information should be included. Good organization is important because it helps in making the message more effective. Now, why is good information important? Why is it necessary that you have to put information in a certain way? Why can't you just put information in any way you like and leave it up to the reader to find what they need? Basically, it is important to arrange ideas in a logical and diplomatic way so that you can satisfy the audience's needs, the reader's needs so that they can find what they are looking for more effectively, more efficiently and be satisfied. This way, your message will be understood better and it will be more effective. If the purpose of your message is for the reader to act upon it, it will be more likely that they will act upon it immediately. You need to help your audience understand your message. It is your responsibility as a writer to make sure that your audience understands the message. It is not the reader's responsibility. So, the main reason for being organized is to improve your chances that people will understand clearly what you mean. Good organization also helps you to get your ideas across without upsetting the audience. They don't feel frustrated because the message is unclear, because the message is embedded somewhere. If your message is organized well, then your ideas get across better. Good organization also helps motivate the audience to accept your message. As I said earlier, whatever message you have written, if it is a good organization, it is the way that the reader can easily understand everything. So, the chances increase that whatever you have requested or whatever message you have received, they can accept it. You need to also save your audience's time. You need to write your messages in a way that you can understand the message in less time. This is how you have to write your message. Well organized messages are efficient. They only contain relevant information. So, the audience does not waste time in superfluous or extra information. Well organized messages do not have unnecessary information. Whatever information is in a good message, it is to the point and it is to the point that the reader needs it so that the reader does not waste time. You also need to simplify your communication tasks. So, basically this means that being well organized helps you compose your message more quickly and efficiently so that your communication task becomes simpler. It is not easy for you to write, it is not easy for the reader to read. Organizing what you are going to say before you start to write makes this job much, much easier. You have already organized what you are going to write and then you will start writing. Then your message will be more efficient and to the point. Your audience will also save time. Your communication task will become simpler. Now, how is good organization achieved? We have just talked about how the fact that your messages should be organized well. How is that organization achieved? In the end, how will you write that your message is organized? To organize a message, first group the ideas together. Which are the same ideas or the same things and keep them together. And then put them in sequence. Then put them in order of importance. Or if you want to do this sequence whatever sequence you will establish then write them in that sequence. But the related ideas should be together. In business, deciding what to say is more important than deciding how to say it. If you have a very nice format, you have decided how your message is going to go out but if the content what is going to go in the message is unclear then your business message becomes completely ineffective. Let's talk about defining and grouping ideas. I just said that one main way of organizing your message is to define and group ideas. What does that mean? Basically, an outline or a schematic diagram will help you visualize the relationship amongst the parts of a message. First, start with the main idea. State the major points. Illustrate your idea with some evidence. Whatever you want to talk about, what is the main idea? First, write the major points of that idea. And then if you want to give some evidence then write that. The main idea is the starting point for constructing an outline. What do you want your audience to do or think? And why should they do it? So basically, when you start off with writing you need to keep in mind what is the main idea that you are trying to get across. What is the purpose of writing this communication? What is the main idea? What do you want your audience to do or think? And why should they do it? If you want them to think this way or after reading your message, then why should they do it? So you have to get that clear in your mind before you can actually start making an outline for your communication. You need to state the main idea which should be supported by 3 to 5 major points. Whatever your main idea is you have to use some major points in support of it and they should not be more than 3 to 5. The breakdown of the main idea into major points and consequently major points into evidences is best represented by an organizational chart that we will see. As you can see here, there is always one main idea for a business message which is then broken down into 3 to 5 major points and then each major point has 1 or 2 evidences which will support that. It's important to illustrate with evidence because every major point that you have should have enough evidence so that the reader is convinced of whatever it is that you are saying as a writer but there shouldn't be too much evidence. There shouldn't be too much information related to the major point that it becomes boring. The other thing we talked about earlier we talked about grouping and we talked about sequence. Sequence is when you have when you decide what comes where what comes first, what comes afterwards. You have 2 options after you have defined and grouped your ideas. You can take the direct and then you can take the direct and then you can take the direct and then you can take the defined and grouped your ideas. You can take the direct approach or the indirect approach. The direct approach we call that the deductive approach as well. In the direct approach, you put main ideas first and then it's followed by evidence. In the deductive approach, you write the main idea and then the evidence comes afterwards. In contrast to this, in the indirect approach, you first put the evidence and then you put the main idea. This is called the inductive approach. The audience then needs to think a bit and then they find the main idea later on in the communication. To establish the sequence within a business message, you should use the direct order, the direct approach if the audience's reaction is likely to be positive and use the indirect order if it is likely to be negative. If you think that whatever news you are giving or whatever communication you are giving in your reaction, your favorite reaction will be positive and then you can take the direct approach. First you should tell your main idea but if you think that the reader will have a negative reaction from this communication then you take the inductive or indirect approach. First give your evidence and then write the main idea. Short messages follow one of four organizational patterns depending on the audience's probable reaction. They can be written as direct requests which means that direct requests are those which get straight to the point because the audience usually wants to respond. If the reader or writer feels that the audience will respond positively then the writer uses a direct request. They can be routine, good news and goodwill messages where the direct approach is effective for messages which will please the audience or which will cause no particular negative reaction. If you have a routine goodwill message then direct approach is used because the reader will like the message so you can write directly to the point. Let's have a look at a direct request format. The direct request letter will begin with the main idea. The midsection will make a request and provide essential details. In the closing the letter refers to the main point and states the desired action. As you have seen in a direct request the main idea or request that you want the reader to do or the main idea you write what the communication is about. In the second section you will request what you want and if there are any essential details you will give. If there is more than one action requested then you will tell. In the closing you will refer to the main idea and the desired action that you want to read you will tell. If you have ordered or requested then you will reiterate that we want this and you will also tell how long you should reach or what action you want. The routine good news and goodwill messages also follow a particular format. The good news will be very clear because the readers will be very happy. All necessary details are provided in the middle part. Anything that describes whatever the good news is goes in the second section. The third part is giving additional specifics if there are any and in the closing the letter refers to the main point and states the desired action again. If there has been a good news for example you have received an application from somebody and you have accepted that application you will start off by congratulating them saying that their application has been accepted they have been accepted for that current position, you will give the necessary details of that job, you will give any additional information that is needed maybe how to get to the company when they come to work and in the closing you will again state the main point and whatever desired action you require maybe remind the person the particular date and time on which they need to report to work. We will establish as we said sequence with organizational patterns and we have looked at two of them. Let's have a look at how you will phrase bad news messages. Till now we have seen when we will direct request if there is a message of bad news that the audience will not be happy with we will directly request it or not. If you have bad news basically you will try to put it in this message cushioned by other more positive ideas you will start off with something positive you will end on a positive note and you will put the bad news somewhere in the middle this is so that the audience, the reader does not have a very negative reaction to your message also because it is bad news you will try to make it soft and that is why you will cushion it as we say you will put it between positive language and positive content of your message. Let's have a look at a bad news a message format. This letter will begin with a neutral statement that provides a transmission to the refusal. There will be a neutral statement which will show the way towards refusal but there will be no immediate refusal. If someone has requested you then you will not refuse in the first line of your letter. You may write something like this. Thank you for your letter dated etc etc and then you will reach on the bad news that you are refusing their request. The mid section then explains the reasons for refusal and then states the bad news. So even before stating the bad news you will first give the reasons. You will maybe say due to unprecedented demand for this particular item we cannot supply you with the material that you requested. So you will say what the reason is and then give the bad news. You will not say we cannot supply you with the material you requested because there has been unprecedented demand for this because this means that you are giving the bad news first and then the reason. So you will write the reason and then you will tell the bad news. After this the writer should take care to introduce a positive thought. Maybe you can say something like however we have put your request in our waiting list or in our file and we will deal with it as soon as we get a new stock of the item that you have requested. So you are giving a positive note to the reader and then the letter will close on a cordial note. Maybe something like we look forward to doing business with you in the future or we look forward to hearing from you soon or we hope that we can satisfy your demand soon. Something which is cordial, something which is positive leaves the reader feeling comfortable and pleasant rather than leaving the reader feeling that my request has been rejected. The fourth type of message is the persuasive message. In this message using the indirect approach gives you an opportunity to get your message across to a skeptical or hostile audience. If the message is to persuade somebody then it is with the understanding that the reader is not already on your side. It is with the understanding that you are having to persuade the reader to change to your point of view or to accept what you are saying. So therefore it is better to use an indirect approach because that gives you time to convince the reader and that by the time you come to your point it is likely that the reader will start seeing things your way. If you say directly then first of all because the reader is not happy with your point of view and he is hostile towards you he will immediately reject your idea. If we talk directly then maybe the negative factor of the reader will decrease and until you write your main idea accept it. Let us have a look at a persuasive message format. This letter begins with questions to catch the reader's attention. It leads up to the main point by arousing the reader's interest and the third section gives the reader's motive for complying with the request. It basically talks about why it is that the reader should comply with the request. Reader will be able to accept this request and then it closes with an appeal. It also shows the closing then shows why it is important to the writer that the request is met. So where is the advice section? It will show that the reader's attention will be attracted. In the next section whatever is the main point, whatever you want to say, you will write it. Then you will write why you want the reader to take action and what is the benefit of reading it. Then you will appeal. Maybe it could just be something like looking forward from you. It shows an appeal, it shows that you are eager that the reader takes positive action to your request. For longer messages, the organization should reflect both the purpose of the message and the audience's probable reaction. When your purpose is to inform, the major points are based on a neutral order implied by the subject's characteristics. You don't have to think that I should write indirectly or directly because a natural order will come if you are just giving information. Maybe you will write the important points based on the important points that are less important later. Because you are not persuading or you are not giving good news or bad news, so you don't have to worry about the indirect format. Your audience may react in two ways to your material. If you expect your audience to agree with you, use a structure that focuses attention on conclusion. If you expect your audience to be skeptical about your conclusions, that focuses on the rationale that supports your point of view. If you feel that your audience will agree with you, then use a structure that focuses on the main conclusion of your message. If you feel that your audience is a little hesitant, because they are not agreeing or they are skeptical, then use a structure that focuses on the rationale that what is the benefit of your audience if you accept it. Why do you want this to be done so that until you reach the conclusion your audience will be persuaded. All that we talked about right now was the organization of your message. What you will do when you are thinking of how to put the points down. What will you do now when you are actually formulating your message, when you are actually putting things down on paper? You need to keep in mind in formulating your message, your first draft, your idea and then you will polish it up. So first you will write your idea and then in the next step you will polish it and improve it. When you are composing your message, you need to keep in mind your style and tone. The message varies in style to create a tone that suits the occasion. Depending on when you are giving out a message, why you are giving out a message and what the context is, you will change the style and the tone to suit that context. You need to think about the relationship you want to establish when you are formulating the message. This relationship is between you and your reader. You should not be too familiar because it is a business message. You do not want to be too friendly or show that it is a very informal message and you need to keep a business-like tone. That is why you will not be too familiar with it. If you are going to use humour, use it with great care, do not joke too much. If you want to add some fun elements in your communication, use it carefully. Do not flatter the other person. Do not praise him too much Do not preach. Basically this means that you should not give a lecture in your communication on what is right. Do not come across as a preacher. Do not brag. Do not show off. Do not talk too much. Finally, be yourself. Be natural even though you are being slightly formal, but be natural. Say what you want to say, but say it with tact and diplomacy. Another important element is the you attitude. This is important to get your message across favourably. The you attitude is best implemented by expressing your message in terms of the audience's interests and needs. The you attitude is to keep your audience's interest and needs in mind. Do not think of the future. However, you should avoid using you and yours too excessively. Also avoid using it when you are assigning blame. If you are writing a letter or pointing out a mistake, then do not use you or yours because it becomes too direct. Also if your organisation prefers a more formal style of writing, then also you will avoid using too much you and yours. For example, instead of saying to help us process this order, use something like so that your order can be filled promptly, please send another copy of the requisition. Now if you see in this example, the focus was on us, whereas in the second example, the focus is on you. Use the you attitude where you feel that it is positive where the reader is going to get a positive impact and a positive impression without feeling that they have too much responsibility or without feeling under pressure by that you article. And in another example, instead of saying we prefer typewriter ribbons in three odd colours, black, blue and green, in this sentence the stress is on we, what we prefer. Use something like take your pick of typewriter ribbons in three colours, black, blue and green. In this sentence, the emphasis is on the client, the customer, the reader, whoever it is that the communication is addressed to and it starts off with take your pick which gives emphasis on the reader. Remember however that the word you does not always indicate a you attitude and the you attitude can also be displayed without using the word you. It is not necessary that when you are using you you take care of the audience. For example, when you are blaming someone if you are using you, then you are not taking care of the feeling of the audience. Along with this, it is often that you can display but it is not necessary that you use the words you. For example, instead of saying you should never use that kind of paper in the machine, you can say that kind of paper doesn't work very well in the machine. In this, your attitude is that you are taking care of the reader instead of telling them in this tone that you are reprimanding or scolding them. You say that this is not good in the machine but obviously the concern is that the reader should not use it in the machine. Another example could be if you say something like you need to make sure the staff follows instructions. You can say it might be better to say the staff may need guidance in the following instructions. Here again, it seems less like an order and more like a proposal. You also need to emphasize the positive. Explain what you have done, what you can do and what you will do. Don't emphasize what you haven't done, what you can't do or what you won't do. What you can do or what you have done and what you can emphasize when you are offering criticism or advice, focus on what the person can do to improve. Don't focus on the negative aspects of that person but focus on what improvements can be made and how. Talk about solutions, not problems. For example, instead of saying the problem with this department is a failure to control costs, use something like the performance of this department can be improved by tightening up cost controls. Don't talk about problems but talk about solutions. You also need to establish credibility. Don't make false promises. Don't make promises in your business that you can't fulfill. Don't make claims that are not true. I feel I am more likely to react positively to your message when they have confidence in you. When they have an idea that what you are talking about is true or you are not making false promises and what you are saying is true then they will respond favorably to your message. For example, if they feel that this person always says that they will work till this deadline then they always promise that your request will be fulfilled but it will never happen. If they have a perception of that then their reaction on your message will not be favorable. For example, instead of saying we hope this recommendation will be helpful say we are glad to make this recommendation. It sounds more focused, it sounds more positive. But by saying we hope this recommendation will be useful you are implying that you do not have any control over the usefulness of the recommendation. All you can do is hope. But by saying we are glad to make this recommendation you are actually endorsing that recommendation. Another consideration in writing business messages is politeness. You need to be polite. You need to try to express facts in a kind and thoughtful manner. Use extra tact when writing and when communicating with higher ups. You will be thoughtful and tactful in communication with everyone but when you are writing to seniors or someone who is in a higher position then you will use more tact. And also be prompt in replying to communication because promptness is a form of courtesy. If you reply to someone's letter or communication then they will be aware that you are keeping an eye on what they are saying and that you care about their message. If you get a letter or business message or an email and you reply to it for a very long time then the reader gets the impression that you did not have any concern or you have no idea of their importance or basically that you don't care. So try to be prompt because that is also a form of courtesy. Also when you are composing a business message you have to remember that you are projecting your company image in your business message. When you are writing a message then you are representing your company. So the way you write it will make your company image. So you need to maybe sometimes change your style to adapt to the style of your company. If you are used to writing a business message then you will have to change your style because if you write it abruptly then your company's negative impact or negative image will go to the audience. Similarly if you always use a very casual style to communicate but your company is very conservative and it communicates in a very formal style then you will have to change your style. So let's now revise what we have done in this lesson today. First we learnt to identify the characteristics of a well-organized message. We also talked about why organization is important. Let's briefly look at what we have done in this lesson. First we learnt to identify the characteristics of a well-organized message. We also looked at the importance of organization. We also looked at the importance of organization to both the audience and the communicator. We looked at how to organize a message so that it is better for the reader and better for the reader. In this we looked at different types of messages. We looked at direct order and indirect order. We also talked about how different types of messages should follow particular orders. If there is a goodwill message, then there will be a direct order. If there is a persuasive message, then there will be an indirect order. If there is a bad news message, then there will be an indirect order. We also looked at the main idea which we have to break in subdivisions. We have to group those subdivisions in logical categories. Whatever ideas we have to keep together and why we have to keep together. Why is it important to keep the ideas together and then talk about them in a sequence. The important ideas and the less important ones should be discussed later. As I said, indirect and direct order of ideas is also used depending on the possible audience reaction. If you feel that your audience will be happy with your message, then you will use direct order. If you feel that your audience will be unhappy by reading a message or they will be sad or hurt or they will be damaged, then you will use indirect format to reduce the negative news. We also looked at composing a message using different styles and tones. We looked at some examples. This style and tone is determined according to the subject, the purpose, audience and format. Whatever style or tone you will use depends on the subject, purpose, audience or format you are using. If it is appropriate, then you will have to take care of this when you are writing your business message. Lastly, we looked at using the U article to interest the audience in your message. We talked about the U attitude. When you use the U article, what will be the reaction from it to the audience? We have seen a lot of examples in which the U article was not used. What was the difference between them and how the U article was more effective. We also saw that many times you can show the U attitude without using the U article. We also saw examples of that. I hope this lesson has been sufficient to show you how to compose your business messages and the different elements that are involved in composing a well written effective business message, whether that is of good news or bad news or direct request or persuasion. Until next time, Allah Hafiz.