Business Communication & Writing

Writing for high-context cultures:

- Like those in Asia, tend to value group membership, personal relationships, and the preservation of consensus. - Readers expect authors to imply much of their meaning, to defer to the group, and to foster consensus. - High-context writing tends to be oblique, deferential, and circuitous.

Writing for low-context cultures: (3)

- These cultures, like those in North America and Europe, tend to value individualism, logic, and action. - Readers want authors to state explicitly what they think, to prove it, and to contribute to getting things done. - Low-context writing tends to be direct, assertive, and concise.

4 qualities in business writing:

1. Concise - short and to the point 2. Clear - makes sense 3. Logical - thoughts presented in a logical way? 4. Direct - tell them your opinion

The 3 types of arguments are:

1. Decision - when you advocate for a decision - Criteria are pivotal when you argue a decision - if you aren't sure of the criteria, the reasoning for your recommendation will be unfocused and confused. - Evidence is also pivotal - when you apply the criteria, you have to show the audience strong evidence that clearly supports your recommended decision. 2. Evaluation - show both good and bad side of topic 3. Diagnosis - Seeks a diagnosis that best accounts for his or her observations and prescribes a course of action to improve the condition - To make an accurate diagnosis, use concepts and knowledge relevant to the problem, along with experience and common sense.

4 biases, with major potential impact on communication:

1. False generalization (the law of small numbers) 2. Anchoring bias 3. Availability bias 4. Representativeness bias

Ho to build credibility: (7)

1. Give realistic numbers and prepare for predictable questions about them so you are ready to respond. 2. Don't pretend to know something. 3. Know everything there is to know about your business and the market in which you want to compete. 4. Transparency of evidence - so readers know where your evidence comes from and can confirm or, in the case of calculations, duplicate it. 5. Use of trusted sources - your evidence comes from or is based on sources the audience trusts e.g. company documents or external sources such as well-known business databases. 6. Endorsement by a trusted individual or group - someone the audience respects supports your point of view or the usefulness of communicating it. 7. Objectivity - you don't betray a bias toward a particular point of view. You earn it with a convincing argument.

4 elements to an Action Plan

1. Goals - imagine the major features of the outcome or end state you want to achieve - goals should address all of the important issues in the argument. - A few broader goals are better than a large number of narrower ones. - Many small goals make an action plan harder to write and cause the plan to become unfocused. 2. Relevant content 3. Specific actions a/ What needs to be accomplished? By when? b/ Who will do it? Who is responsible for what task? c/ What are the necessary tasks? The work the individuals have to do to complete the step. 4. Chronological order - splitting the plan into short-term and long-term steps assists in coordinating the steps in time, prompting the writer to decide which steps should be completed soon and which should be completed later.

Potential barriers to communication: (8)

1. Hostility to the conclusion, the communicator, or both 2. Audience belief that the writer or speaker isn't trustworthy 3. Lack of background knowledge in the writer-speaker or the audience 4. Bias in the speaker-writer or in the audience 5. Ethical and legal issues related to the topic 6. Power and other organizational issues, such as a speaker addressing an audience over whom he has no power but wants them to do something 7. Cultural factors such as different attitudes toward conflict in the presenter and the audience 8. Language issues, such as the inability of an audience to follow someone speaking too fast in their second language

3 questions to think about when using Emotion in my message

1. How do audience members feel about my topic? 2. What audience feelings can help me achieve my purpose? 3. How can I elicit these feelings?

Two types of informative communication can be action plans

1. Information organized as a chronology 2. Information organized as a process - Order of steps leading to an outcome

Cialdini's 6 Levers of Emotional Influence:

1. Liking - liking someone who likes us e.g. You ask a friend to give a job interview to someone you know. 2. Reciprocity - repaying what we have received or giving what we hope to receive back e.g. Promise to relieve the audience of the work to implement a solution to the factory problem by doing it yourself. 3. Social proof - Influence of others perceived to be similar to ourselves - useful for written persuasion e.g. Your hotel tells guests that 80% of guests do not ask for new towels during their stay. 4. Consistency - Tendency to honor our commitments e.g. You cite the long-time company mission statement as support for your positive evaluation of a new line of business. 5. Authority - Deference (often excessive) we give to experts - useful for written persuasion e.g. You use government safety research to help sell an automobile 6. Scarcity - Value we give to something that is scarce e.g. You tell loyal customers that they have only one week to take advantage of special pricing.

4 of the most common types of analytic logic

1. Order of importance - arrange by value, worth, and urgency e.g. a to-do list arranged from the most important task to the least important 2. Level of difficulty (basic to advanced) 3. Frequency (high frequency to low frequency). 4. Business concepts - arrange by order of concepts in a business model. e.g. the 4Ps (product, price, promotion, and place) framework is an instance of an organizer tailor-made for a particular type of information.

4 of the most common types of organic logic

1. Physical arrangement - arrangement of physical details e.g. Describe the organization of a production line and explain why it is organized that way. 2. Chronology - time sequence e.g. Describe the history of a product line and explain decisions that shaped its history. 3. Process - series of steps that lead to a specific outcome. e.g. Describe the steps for entering information into a computer database and explain the rationale for the order of the steps. 4. Hierarchy - structure of authority, power, responsibility, or similar characteristics of an organization. e.g. Describe an organization chart and explain the reporting relationships.

Business is more and more global, and business communication is more and more digital. Decide which of the following are most likely to be barriers to communication between members of different national cultures who are primarily using short-message media (text, Facebook) to communicate with each other: 1. Business relationship should be personal relationship 2. Punctuality 3. Gender 4. Age 5. Entertainment preferences 6. Desire for efficient communication

1. Potential Major Barrier - some cultures place a high value on developing personal relationships as well as business relationships; others don't. If not acknowledged, the difference can cause problems. 2. Potential Major Barrier - Cultures often have conflicting norms for punctuality. Even digital communication can be affected by the differences 3. Cultural Norm - Gender roles can be influential, regardless of the communication medium. But digital media may make it less of an issue 4. Cultural Norm - no large impact on social media 5. Cultural Norm - Likes and dislikes in entertainment can cement relationships in any medium, but they shouldn't be a major barrier in email and other digital media 6. Potential Major Barrier - This can be a high barrier if, for cultural reasons, one party expects concise messages and the other party writes longer messages with more context and some content not strictly related to business.

How to involve the audience more actively? (4)

1. Put hyperlinks in the document to web content—but make certain the content is relevant. 2. Insert audio files in the document. You can record a greeting to the reader or use audio to give more detail on certain points for those interested in it. 3. Ask if readers have questions and invite them to respond to you with an email (which can be embedded in the text) or by texting. 4. Create a "secret" Facebook group (one that is open to invited members only and does not show up in searches) and have readers post questions and responses there.

Persuasive Communication needs to be (2)

1. Rational - Because this persuasion consists of arguments - The ability to argue skillfully is valued in business (and in business school). 2. Emotions - They are realities; in fact, they are part of how we make our judgments and decisions, and we aren't conscious of some of them. - Practically, you are better off having the audience's emotions working for you. - Emotions energize persuasion and can have a multiplier effect on a message - Emotions can strongly influence how an audience reacts to a message

3 pieces of info needed in the conclusion of an informative message

1. Reinforcing an especially important piece of information 2. Pointing the reader to other sources of similar information 3. Telling the reader how to get questions answered

2 basic facts about communication

1. Senders need to know what the purpose or intention of their message is—and they need to know it with some precision 2. Because senders need the audience to accomplish the purpose, they must know whatever information about their audience that can help attain the purpose of the message.

2 parts to an Action Plan

1. The action itself - needs to be clearly tied to the business objectives or outcomes 2. The plan itself - - ALL SO THAT EVERYONE IS CLEAR ON WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO

The Writing for Action Style has 5 building blocks:

1. The sentence structure clearly links ideas. 2. Subjects perform actions. 3. Verbs express action. 4. Objects finish/receive the action. 5. Each sentence uses plain language. e.g. The nonprofit provides essential services to the community. subject = nonprofit verb = provides object = essential services

In business, long form communication meets 1 or more of 4 conditions:

1. The subject is complex. 2. The stakes are high. 3. The issue is controversial. 4. The audience expects a large amount of detail.

Managers frequently communicate for one of 2 reasons:

1. To transfer information (to inform) 2. To motivate the audience to change their opinion or to take an action (to persuade).

Tips for team writing:

1. Use a Writing Plan - Establish a common purpose, lay out the organization of the message, and divide tasks. - Once a team has a plan, members can agree on their roles. - Decide writing conventions to be used such as the point of view (first or third person), levels and styles of headings, and citation form 2. Write a First Draft. - better to all research and write cuz then everyone will know their content well enough to write about it - some individuals might not write well, but if they duck chances to write (or are allowed to by the team), they will not improve -> Writing in teams can be a good learning experience and raise the skill level of the weaker writers. 3. Revise the Draft - Authors should provide feedback on the other sections. - depth, clarity, organization, transitions, redundancies, and consistency among the sections - sentence style, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics check should be secondary at this point 4. Review the Second Draft. 5. Edit and Correct the Final Draft - one person should review the entire document for consistency in and transitions between sections as well as style, organization of paragraphs, correctness, headings, and source citations.

Questions that are useful for constructing an argument (3)

1. What arguments can I make to achieve my purpose? 2. What evidence do I have or need to support the arguments? 3. What assumptions am I making with the evidence? Are they acceptable to the audience? 4. What arguments will they use to support their points? How do I answer/counter them?

Questions that can assist you in selecting a channel of communication with the person: (5)

1. What channel is best for my purpose? 2. What channel is best for my audience? 3. What channel is best for conveying information or making an argument? 4. What channel is best for an emotional impact on the audience? 5. What channel is best for me?

3 pieces of info needed in the opening of an informative message

1. What information will be delivered 2. Why audience members need the information 3. (If possible) Connect the new information with information the reader already knows - this improves reader comprehension and retention

3 questions for presenting your character to an audience:

1. What is the audience's attitude toward my character? 2. What do I want the audience members' attitude to be? 3. How can I move the audience to the desired attitude?

To explore your audience, these questions are helpful: (5)

1. Who is my audience? e.g. Leadership style if talking to a boss? 2. What do audience members know about the topic? 3. What is their attitude toward the topic? Do they have any biases related to the topic? 4. What is their attitude toward me? e.g. I need to have concrete evidence that I am knowledgeable and trustworthy on the topic I'm discussing 5. What is my attitude toward the audience?

Guidelines to writing successful emails (7)

1. Write a short subject line stating the main point of the message. Think of the subject line as a headline. 2. State your purpose or conclusion immediately. 3. Write concisely. 4. Use short sentences and paragraphs. 5. Create emphasis through content, not visual devices. 6. Check the tone of the message. 7. If your message is going to be long, you are better off putting it in a document and sending it as an attachment, using the email to describe the attachment and encourage the recipient to open it.

Openings that intrigue and draw in readers:

1. You can express the topic as a puzzle that needs a solution and introduce the major pieces. 2. You can use a contrary opening: State a conclusion opposed to yours and then say that you are going to show why it is wrong. 3. Executive summary - provides more information than the topic, purpose, and organization; it summarizes the major points of the whole document. - Readers appreciate this when they aren't sure of their interest in the topic, want a detailed preview, or don't have time to read the document in full. - Be careful when you write a summary, don't write anything longer than one good paragraph

What is an Action Plan?

A coordinated set of actions designed to achieve a desired end state. An argument for a decision, an evaluation, or a diagnosis usually requires some kind of follow-up action.

How to end a persuasive message on a memorable note:

A vivid restatement of the conclusion can come in the form of a quotation, a positive comment about the future, an analogy or metaphor

Should I use passive or active voice when writing?

ACTIVE!!

Action Plan goal for Evaluation Argument

Capitalize on positives; eliminate or reduce negatives. e.g. Improve an individual's capabilities based on a performance evaluation.

What is "Character"

Character is the audience's perception of a speaker or writer

Action Plan goal for Diagnosis Argument

Correct a problem e.g. Fix chronic outages in the company computer network.

DO'S AND DON'TS IN USING EMOTION TO PERSUADE

DO: 1. You can indirectly tell the audience how they should feel e.g. "I am hoping that you will care about the child laborers in the factory as if they were your own children." DON'T: 1. Don't directly tell the audience how they should feel - most adults resent it e.g. "Every parent in the company has to feel a special responsibility to end the use of child labor in our vendor's factory."

What is direct writing?

Direct writing means writing that tells the audience what the writer thinks.

How much information to give to the audience

Everything the audience needs to know, but no more than that.

Dealing with Representativeness Bias

Expand the number of factors the audience is using to classify something.

Action Plan goal for Decision Argument

Implement decision e.g. Detail how a company will install the new machinery it has decided to buy

How can cognitive bias be harmful to communication?

It can distort people's views of a situation?

What is the function of an assumption?

It provides a logical connection between evidence and conclusion?

Max levels of headings in a business document:

Maximum 3

Can I use bold or italic in business writing (content, not headers)?

NO distracts the readers by drawing their attention to the bolded/italicized word implies the reader won't realize the importance of the word without emphasizing it

Select the scenario in which a diagnostic argument could be most helpful: 1. A product manager is revising an outdated marketing plan. 2. An accounting manager must report on why Selling, General, and Administrative expenses have jumped recently. 3. An accounting manager needs to write a report about the updated costs of three information technology systems. 4. None of the above

NOT 1

Select the evidence statement that does not help prove the conclusion: A. The balance sheet and cash flow metrics remain positive. B. The company has over $400 million in cash. C. The company has little debt and thus its interest payments are minimal. D. The share price has outperformed analysts' predictions. E. Operating cash flow has been growing in line with revenues, which should bring net cash per share to $2.25. F. The average number of days to collect cash after a sale is the best in the industry: below 30 days

NOT F

2 broad categories of organizers that can help put your argument across clearly:

Organic organizers Analytic organizers

Information organizers: Organic

Organic organizers are those that derive from the nature of the topic. As a communicator, you reproduce the organization for the audience.

What plays a large role in Informative Communication? Why (2)?

Reason 1. To select the information of greatest value to the audience. 2. To build a logical organization that helps the audience understand the content and remember it.

In business what is the most important tool for creating a persuasive message?

Reasoning

Dealing with False Generalization

Take into account a larger set of data. To address false generalization in audience members, you can show them an expanded data set and what you regard as a more accurate conclusion.

When a situation or outcome needs a causal explanation, a diagnostic argument is needed: TRUE OR FALSE?

True

The best way communicators can use character in a message is by:

Understanding how to move the audience to the desired perception of the speaker or writer

What is persuasive communication?

Using language to motivate an audience to think, feel, or act in the way the communicator intends

Direct writing tells the audience the answers to these 2 questions:

What is this about? Why should I read it?

Three Questions for Analyzing a Situation

Why? What I want to accomplish by communicating. Who are the people I will be communicating with? How am I communicating the content to the audience?

Dealing with Availability Bias

You can avoid availability bias by building your arguments on base rates (i.e. the probability of something being determined by rational means, such as statistics) - can those fears be confirmed by statistics?

What to include in conclusion of a Diagnosis argument:

a definition of the problem and summary of the major causes

What to include in conclusion of a Evaluation argument:

a statement of the overall evaluation

What to include in conclusion of a Decision argument:

a statement of the recommended decision

Representativeness Bias

allows people to judge whether something belongs in a specific category according to characteristics they believe represent members of the category involves making a judgment based on a few qualities or characteristic e.g. stereotyping

False Generalization

also called the "law of small numbers," means drawing a conclusion from a small set of data; the resulting conclusion is often wrong. the tendency arises from our need to believe that the world is orderly and consistent—more so than it actually is.

What is the most important element of an evaluation argument?

criteria?????? Q16

Informative communication

describes or explains some aspect of reality Explanation complements description by stating how or why something happens, is created, is performed, is valued, and so forth. In the business world, informative writing often combines description and explanation. e.g. a manager might want to describe the statistical methods the company uses for quality control, that is, name them and tell the audience what they can do. e.g. he might also explain how to use them, taking the audience step-by-step through each method and showing them what data are necessary, how to make calculations, and what the resulting values mean.

Anchoring Bias

excessive reliance on one or a few values, particularly when judging, deciding, or acting one or a few values have unjustified influence over judgment, decision making, or action e.g. in the stock market, when a stock price falls precipitously and investors buy at the new lower price, believing that the stock is now undervalued. However, the stock price may fall because the company is actually worth less due to poor decision-making or failure of some kind.

What is the organizer most appropriate for the following informative message: An intern is preparing a report about the types of customer complaints received over the previous five years, for example, product malfunctions. The intern asks her manager for guidance on the organization of the information that would be most useful for the marketing department. What would the manager say?

hierarchy or process????

Digital disinhibition

saying things in an email that the writer would never say if the recipient were physically present. People are wired to monitor one another's reactions and to adjust facial expression, body, gestures, and speech. People receive none of that information when composing an email message. As a result it's easy for writers to say things they later regret.

Induction

the process of concluding that something is probably true based on relevant observations

Deduction

the process of concluding that something is probably true by reference to a principle that is generally accepted as true

Availability Bias

the tendency to base a judgment or decision on the ease with which a relevant fact or event can be recalled - it's easier to recall an event that just happened than one that happened at an earlier time

the sunk cost fallacy

thinking that money already spent justifies more spending

Dealing with Anchoring Bias

you have to be alert to your own reference points. When you try to convince an audience with an argument, examine its content for reference points or benchmarks that you assume are accurate. Are they truly accurate? Likewise, assess the anchors that your audience may have. Arguing a conclusion rooted in an assumption that contradicts an audience anchor can run into trouble if you aren't aware of the anchor. You should first deal with a false anchor by proving why it's fallacious.

Information organizers: Analytic

you organize information using concepts appropriate to the content and audience.