COMPLETING Irsanti Hasyim | Angela Teressia

BUSINESS MESSAGES
UNDERSTANDING THE THREE-
STEP WRITING PROCESS

COMPLE COMPLE COMPLE

PLAN WRITE
TE TE TE
 REVISING YOUR MESSAGE:
EVALUATING THE FIRST DRAFT
EVALUATING YOUR CONTENT, EVALUATING, EDITING, AND REVISING THE WORK OF
ORGANIZATION, STYLE, AND TONE OTHERS

To evaluate the content of your message, answer these answer the following questions as you evaluate someone else’s
questions: writing:
1. What is the purpose of this document or message?
1. Is the information accurate?
2. Who is the target audience?
2. Is the information relevant to the audience? 3. What information does the audience need?
3. Is there enough information to satisfy the readers’ 4. Does the document provide this information in a well-
needs? organized way?
4.  Is there a good balance between general 5. Does the writing demonstrate the “you” attitude toward the
information (giving readers enough background audience?
6. Is the tone of the writing appropriate for the audience?
information to appreciate the message) and specific
7. Can the readability be improved?
information (giving readers the details they need to 8. Is the writing clear? If not, how can it be improved?
understand the message)? 9. Is the writing as concise as it could be?
EXAMPLE
REVISING TO IMPROVE
READABILITY
VARYING YOUR SENTENCE LENGTH

KEEPING YOUR PARAGRAPHS SHORT

USING LISTS TO CLARIFY AND EMPHASIZE

ADDING HEADINGS AND SUBHEADINGS

 EDITING FOR
CLARITY AND
CONCISENESS

EDITING FOR EDITING FOR

CLARITY CLARITY
CONCISENESS

USING
TECHNOLOGY
EDITING FOR
TO REVISE
CLARITY
YOUR
MESSAGE
 EDITING FOR
CLARITY AND
CONCISENESS

EDITING FOR EDITING FOR

CLARITY CONCISENESS

USING
TECHNOLOGY
EDITING FOR
TO REVISE
CLARITY
YOUR
MESSAGE
 EDITING FOR
CLARITY AND
CONCISENESS

EDITING FOR EDITING FOR

CLARITY CLARITY
CONCISENESS

USING
TECHNOLOGY
TO REVISE Microsoft Word, the most commonly used word processor in
YOUR business offices, offers handy tools for reviewing draft
MESSAGE documents. In this example, text to be added is shown in red,
and text to be deleted is shown in balloons in the right margin.
The writer can then choose to accept or reject each suggested
change.
PRODUCING To achieve an effective design, pay
YOUR careful attention to the following
MESSAGE design elements:
 Consistency. rough out each message, be
consistent in your use of margins, typeface, type
size, and space.
DESIGNING DESIGNING DESIGNING
 Balance. One document may have a formal, rigid
FOR MULTIMEDIA FOR
READABILITY design in which the various elements are placed in
DOCUMENTS READABILITY
a grid pattern, whereas another may have a less
USING formal design in which elements flow more freely
FORMATTING
TECHNOLOGY across the page—and both could be in balance.
FORMAL
TO PRODUCE  Restraint. Strive for simplicity in design
LETTERS AND
YOUR
MEMOS  Detail. Pay attention to details that affect your
MESSAGE
design and thus your message.
PRODUCING To design and create multimedia documents,
you need to consider the following factors:
YOUR  Creative and technical skills. Depending on what you need to
MESSAGE accomplish, creating and integrating multimedia elements can
require some creative and technical skills.
 Tools. the hardware and so ware tools needed to create and
integrate media elements are now widely available and
generally affordable.
DESIGNING DESIGNING
 Time and cost. the time and cost of creating multimedia
FOR MULTIMEDIA
documents has dropped dramatically in recent years.
READABILITY DOCUMENTS
 Content. To include various media elements in a document,
USING you obviously need to create them if you have the time, tools,
FORMATTING and skills or acquire them if you don’t.
TECHNOLOGY
FORMAL  Message structure. Multimedia documents often lack a rigid
TO PRODUCE
LETTERS AND linear structure from beginning to end, which means you need
YOUR
MEMOS to plan for readers to take multiple, individualized paths
MESSAGE
through the material.
 Compatibility. Some multimedia elements require specific so
ware to be installed on the recipient’s viewing device.
PRODUCING Depending on the types of messages you’re
creating, you’ll benefit from being proficient
YOUR with the following features:
MESSAGE  Templates, themes, and stylesheets. Many companies
provide these tools to their employees to ensure a
consistent look and feel for all print and on-line
documents.
DESIGNING DESIGNING  Page setup. Use page setup to control margins,
FOR MULTIMEDIA orientation, and the location of headers and footers.
READABILITY DOCUMENTS
 Paragraph formatting. Take advantage of paragraph
USING formatting controls to enhance the look of your
FORMATTING documents.
TECHNOLOGY
FORMAL
TO PRODUCE  Numbered and bulleted lists. Let your so ware do the
LETTERS AND
YOUR busywork of formatting numbered and bulleted lists.
MEMOS
MESSAGE
 Tables. Tables are great for displaying any information
that lends itself to rows and columns, including calendars,
numeric data, comparisons, and multicolumn lists.
 Pictures, text boxes, and objects. Print and online
PRODUCING
YOUR
MESSAGE

DESIGNING DESIGNING
FOR MULTIMEDIA
READABILITY DOCUMENTS

USING
FORMATTING
TECHNOLOGY
FORMAL
TO PRODUCE
LETTERS AND
YOUR
MEMOS
MESSAGE Business letters typically have the following elements:
• Preprinted letterhead • Date • Inside address • Salutation •
Complimentary close • Signature block
PROOFREADING YOUR
MESSAGE
Proofreading is the quality inspection stage for your documents, your last chance to
make sure that your document is ready to carry your message—and your reputation
—to the intended audience.
At this stages look for two types of problems:
1. undetected mistakes from the writing, design, and layout stages and
2. mistakes that crept in during production.
 DISTRIBUTING YOUR
MESSAGE
Cost Convenience Time Security and privacy
• Cost isn’t a major •How much work is • How soon does the • the convenience
concern for most involved for you and message need to reach offered by electronic
messages, but for your audience? For the audience? Don’t communication needs
lengthy reports or instance, if you use a waste money on to be weighed against
multimedia file compression overnight delivery if security and privacy
productions, it may utility to shrink the the recipient won’t concerns.
well be. Printing, size of email read the report for a
binding, and attachments, make week.
delivering reports can sure your recipients
be expensive, so have the means to
weigh the cost versus expand the les on
the benefits before you arrival.
decide.
Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

THANK YOU