Business communication is used for all
messages that we send and receive for official
purposes like running a business.
- marked by formality as against personal
and social communication.
Are Writers Made or Born - Jack Kerouac
Writing (communication) - is an essential skill
for all professionals
Three-Part Foundation needed on the job:
• Basic Skills
• Thinking Skills
• Personal Qualities
Business Writing:
• Technical Writing
• Workplace Writing
• Professional Writing
• Informational Writing
AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE:
• Almost always known
• Typically know who the audience is
• Typically know why you are writing the
document and what the required content is
• Technical writing is usually very visual
• With today’s computer assisted writing, in-line
pictures/figures are expected.
Achieving Audience Recognition:
- High Tech Peers
- Low Tech Peers
- Lay Readers
HOW IS TECHNICAL WRITING DIFFERENT:
• The information is organized, presented and
communicated in a specific format.
• The writing is concise, clear and accurate.
• The writing takes into account the audience’s
needs, biases and prior understanding.
• The writing presents information to help
readers solve a problem or gain a better
understanding of a situation.
• The writing conveys technical, complex, or
specialized information in a way that is easy for
a non-technical reader to understand.
TYPE OF WRITING:
- Creative
- Expressive
- Expository
- Journalism
- Technical
REPORTER’S QUESTIONS CHECKLIST:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
Use simple language and avoid “bizspeak.”
Bizspeak - business words and phrases that
we often see in form letters such as, “at your
earliest convenience.”
Humor in your writing is risky as it can be
difficult to know what is considered funny.
8 EXERCISES FOR STRENGTHENING YOUR
BUSINESS WRITING:
1. Embrace your inner tweet
2. Shelve your interior monologue
3. Make a checklist, check it twice
4. Burn your thesaurus
5. Read aloud
6. Treat your writing like a steak
7. Use that new-fangled technology
8. Learn and practice
Avoid sarcasm. Sarcasm tends to express • Observation Report
contempt and a sense of superiority which will • Performance Evaluations
not be welcomed by your reader. • Persuasive Proposal
• Position Paper
EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL WRITING: • Product Comparison
• Action Plans • Proposal
• Advertisement • Questionnaire
• Agenda • Research Report
• Audit Report • Résumé/Portfolio
• Book Review • Scientific Paper/Report
• Brochure • Survey
• Budget • Test
• Business Letter • Transcription
• Business Plan • Training Manual
• Catalog • Travel Guide
• Contract • Web Page
• Critique
• Data Book or Display FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNICATION
• Description MANAGEMENT
• Diagram, Chart, or Graph
• Editorial Communication refers to the process by which
• Email information is exchanged between two or more
• Feasibility Report people.
• Field Test Report
• Incident Report EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION - The right
• Informational Form people, using the right channel, getting the right
• Informational Poster information at the right time
• Informative Summary
• Instructions
• Interview Questions
• Itinerary

EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL WRITING:

• Job Application
• Job Description
• Lesson Plan
• Letter of Inquiry
• Letter of Recommendation
• Magazine/Newspaper BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE
Article COMMUNICATION:
• Marketing Plan • Provides clarity
• Memo • Builds relationships
• Meeting Minutes • Creates commitment
• Newsletter • Defines expectations

Formal communication systems are the
methods used to convey information necessary
for conducting the business of the organization.
Informal communication systems are outside
of the formal system.
TWO TYPES OF INFORMAL
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS:
• social networks
• grapevine
Social network is a system of personal
relationships that cross hierarchical,
departmental, and organizational boundaries.
Grapevine is how gossip is spread through an
organization.
TYPICAL COMMUNICATION FLOWS:
• Downward
• Upward
• Horizontally
• Diagonally
Downward communication - company leaders
and managers share information with
lower-level employees.
Information moving from lower-level employees
to high-level employees
Horizontal communication - exchange of
information across departments at the same
level in an organization.
Diagonal communication is cross-functional
communication between employees at different
levels of the organization.
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION:
Internal communication is the process of
exchanging information among the people of
different levels or internal participants within the
organization.
External communication - Communication
that takes place outside the organization.
According to Spitzer and Swider (2003),
effective internal communications should
have three basic objectives:
- understood and accepted by the
audience/members
- achieved among the majority of
employees/members
- sales, product quality, workforce
performance
Frank and Brownell: Internal communications
can be defined as transactions between
individuals and groups in organizations.
DIFFERENT WAYS/METHODS OF INTERNAL
COMMUNICATION:
• Memorandum
• Reports
• Letters
• Posters
• Face-to-face conversation
• News bulletin
• Company’s internal server/intranet
• Telephone messages/calls
• Fax
• Company Blog
• Handbooks and Manuals
• Social media
DIFFERENT WAYS/METHODS OF
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION:
• Telephone
• Telefax
• Mass media
• Social media
• Email
• Face-to-face meetings
• Company blogs
• Press releases
• Invitations
• Reports
• Memorandum
• Letters
• Press Conferences

MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF BOTH
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
COMMUNICATIONS
1.Information Sharing
2.Insufficient amount of information
3.Not valuing communication
4.Time
5.Hierarchy
6.Lack of feedback
7.Too much information/information overload