Audience

• RECOGNITION
• KNOWLEDGE LEVEL
• ROLES
• ORGANIZATIONAL DISTANCE
• ATTITUDES
• INVOLVEMENT

Lecture Prepared By:

Ms. Hina Yousaf
Reference Book: Technical writing by Steve M. Gerson.

Pdf page 124-153

How to Compose:
Good News Message
Organizing Positive Messages
Whether written or oral, positive messages begin with a clear
statement of the main idea, clarify any necessary details and end
with a courteous close.
a. Clear Statement of the Main Idea
The main idea is the single most important idea, concisely stated.
b. Necessary Details

• Satisfy reader's information needs

• Reinforce positive tone
• Emphasize positive aspects of disappointing news

c. Courteous Close
Your message is most likely to succeed if your audience is left with the
feeling that you have their personal welfare in mind.

• Summarizes main point

• Indicates what should happen next
• Highlights reader’s benefit
Writing Positive Replies for
Acknowledging Orders
• Acknowledgements are appropriate for large orders, first orders, and
orders that cannot be filled right away.

• Acknowledgement letters are sent to a customer confirming the

receipt of an order, payment, or inquiry.

• It is frequently used in response to credit orders to encourage fast

payment or to offer an opportunity to increase the order.
Replies to Requests for Information and
Action
To reply requests for information and action, you need to consider that
person's opinion of your company, your products, your department, and you
yourself will be influenced by how promptly, graciously, and thoroughly the
request is handled.

There are two types of requests for information and action:

a) Requests from potential customers

b) Requests that do not involve a potential sale
a) When a Potential Sale is Involved
While answering requests that involved a potential sale, there are
three main goals:

• To respond to the inquiry and answer all questions

• To encourage the future sale
• To leave your reader with a good impression of you and your
firm

b) When No Potential Sale is Involved

• There are two essential goals when no sale is involved:
Responding to the request
• Leaving a favorable impression of your company or fostering a
good working relationship
Responding Favorably to Claims and
Adjustment Requests
Favorable responses to routine claims are known as adjustments. The
following sequence is recommended while giving a favorable response to
a claim:
• Reveal the good news in the first sentence of the letter
• Explain the various circumstances under which the action has been
taken
• Don’t blame an individual or a specific department
• Avoid lame excuses such as “Nobody’s perfect” or “Mistakes will
happen”
• End the letter on a pleasant note
Handling Routine Credit Requests
There are two types of positive responses to routine credit requests:
a) Approving Credit
b) Credit References

a) Approving Credit
Credit approvals mark the beginning of a business relationship with a
customer. To approve the credit request use the direct approach:
• Open with good news that credit has been approved.
• Explain credit arrangements using a positive tone.
• Close by emphasizing the benefits of doing business with the firm
(resale information and sales promotion).
b) Credit References

A credit reference is the information, the name of an individual, or

the name of an organization that can provide details about an
individual's past track record with credit.
Credit references are generally used to determine the credit
worthiness of a person or individual. For example, if an applicant's
credit history indicates proper, timely payments on all outstanding
obligations, a lender may judge it more likely that the applicant will
make timely payments on the requested loan.
 ACTIVITY

Write an appreciation letter to your project

Manager on Successful completion of a project
on time and within budget. Keep in mind your
audience, context, message structure etc.