Ebc10e ch04-instructor ppt-final

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©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. ©denphumi/ThinkStock

Instructor PowerPoint

1

Learning Objective

1

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Ch. 4 / Slide 2

Complete business messages by

revising for conciseness, which includes

eliminating flabby expressions, long

lead-ins, there is/are and it is/was fillers,

redundancies, and empty words, as well

as condensing for microblogging.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. © denis_pc/Fotolia, © iadam/Fotolia

Ch. 4 / Slide 3

Taking Time to Revise: Applying Phase 3 of the Writing Process

Prewriting Drafting Revising

Writing Process:

• Revising: improving content and sentence structure

• Proofreading: correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation,

format, mechanics

Revising takes the most time in the writing process.


Revising for Conciseness

Eliminate flabby expressions.

Flabby Concise

at this point in time now

due to the fact that because

in very few cases seldom

despite the fact that although

in the near future soon



Limit long lead-ins.

Wordy Concise

This is to let you know that

Monday is a holiday.

Monday is a holiday.

I am sending this e-mail to

announce that our internal

audit begins on January 5.

Our internal audit begins

on January 5.



Drop unnecessary there is/are

and it is/was fillers.

Wordy Concise

There are at least ten

candidates who applied for

that position.

At least ten applicants

applied for that position.

It was Becca Lopez who

was finally selected.

Becca Lopez was finally

selected.



Reject redundancies.

Redundant Concise

combined together combined

exact same exact or same

my personal opinion my opinion

refer back refer



Purge empty words.

Wordy Concise

In the case of General

Motors, the car company was

reorganized.

General Motors was

reorganized.

We are aware of the fact that

many managers need

assistance.

We know many managers

need assistance.

When it arrived, I deposited

your check immediately.

I deposited your check

immediately.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. © Andrey/Fotolia

Ch. 4 / Slide 9


Condense messages for social media microblogging.

Include only main ideas.

Choose descriptive but

short words.

Personalize whenever possible.

Be prepared to revise many times

for conciseness, clarity, and correctness.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. © Andrey/Fotolia

Ch. 4 / Slide 10

Tweet Reply to Unhappy Bank of America Customer

@BofA Help. Sorry you feel that way. If you change your mind

and want to see if we can help, please DM your

name/zip/phone.

Learning Objective

2


Improve clarity in business messages by

keeping the ideas simple, dumping trite

business phrases, dropping clichés,

avoiding slang and buzzwords, rescuing

buried verbs, controlling exuberance,

and choosing precise words.


Making Your Message Clear

Keep it short and simple.

Wordy Concise

It would not be inadvisable

for you to affix your signature

at this point in time.

You should sign now.

Here are implements that are

necessary for the job to be

completed in a satisfactory

manner.

Here are tools to do the job

satisfactorily.



Dump trite business phrases.

Trite Improved

pursuant to your request as you requested

please do not hesitate to please

with reference to about

enclosed please find enclosed is



Drop clichés (worn phrases), slang (informal words with extravagant meanings), and business buzzwords.

Cliché, Slang, Buzzword Improved

Last but not least, we must

cut costs.

Finally, we must cut costs.

Hey, prof, what u think of my

killer paper?

Professor, what did you

think of my paper?

Our point man will ping our

repurposed proposal to you.

Jake will call you with our

revised proposal.



Unbury verbs that are needlessly converted to wordy noun expressions.

Buried Verbs Improved

give consideration to consider

reach a conclusion conclude

create a reduction in reduce

make a decision about decide

take action act



Control exuberance by using sparingly such words as very, definitely, quite, totally, etc.

Excessive Exuberance Businesslike

We are actually very certain

that they totally agree with

our proposal.

We are certain that they

agree with our proposal.

Jake was really extremely

sorry that he completely

forgot the meeting.

Jake was sorry that he

forgot the meeting.



Express precise meaning.

Less Precise More Precise

He said that he thought they

should help out with the

report.

The team leader told Jason

and Chris that they should

write sections of the report.

They called with a change in

the meeting.Our client XYZ called to

reschedule the meeting

from May 13 to May 16.

Learning Objective

3


Enhance readability by understanding

document design including the use of

white space, margins, typefaces,

fonts, numbered and bulleted lists,

and headings.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. © denis_pc/Fotolia

Ch. 4 / Slide 19

Enhancing Readability Through Document Design

Employ white space by

• Adding headings

• Including bulleted or

numbered lists

• Using short sentences

• Writing short paragraphs

• Setting effective margins

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Microsoft ® Word; Used with permission from Microsoft.

Ch. 4 / Slide 20


Setting margins

How to set margins

• Use 1 to 1 ½ inch margins

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Microsoft ® Word; Used with permission from Microsoft.

Ch. 4 / Slide 21


Setting for Ragged-Right Margins

Result

Aligns text at left margin and creates a ragged-right margin

Ragged-right margins provide more white space and improve readability.



Choose appropriate typefaces.

Consider sans serif (such as Arial) for headings, signs, and material that does not require continuous reading.

Consider serif (such as Times New Roman) for body font. Notice that serif typefaces have small features at the end of strokes.



Use 10- to 12-pt. font for most body text.

For special effects consider:

CAPITALIZATION

SMALL CAPS

Boldface

Italics

Underline



Use vertical lists or numbered items to improve comprehension.

• Numbered lists (1, 2, 3) for items that show a sequence

• Bulleted lists for items that do not show a chronology

Follow these steps in starting a business:1. Write a business plan.2. Locate venture capital.3. Prepare a feasibility study.

Consider the following:• Environmental

regulations• Employee benefit plans• Licensing requirements

Numbered List Bulleted List

Not Parallel Parallel



Use parallel (balanced) construction when listing similar ideas.

Keeping an old customer is

much cheaper than to find a new

one.

Keeping an old customer is

much cheaper than finding a new

one.

To protect your pet from dognappers:• Be a constant companion.• Don’t boast about the breed.• You should keep photos

handy.

To protect your pet from dognappers:• Be a constant companion.• Don’t boast about the breed.• Keep photos handy.



Add headings to enhance comprehension.



Category headings: The company needs to focus attention in three key areas:

Attracting applicants. We must analyze where and how we advertise for applicants, specifically, online job boards. . . .

Interviewing applicants. We should consider adding a simulated customer encounter to the process. Simulated. . . .

Checking references. We'll find a better candidate if we contact all references, not just former employers. Currently, the. . . .

Learning Objective

4


Recognize proofreading

problem areas, and apply

effective techniques to catch

mistakes in both routine and

complex documents.


Proofreading to Catch Mistakes

What to Watch for in Proofreading

Spelling

Grammar

Punctuation

Names and numbers

Format

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. © Marina Zlochin/Fotolia

Ch. 4 / Slide 30

How to Proofread Routine Documents

Reading messages on screen: Use the down arrow to reveal one line at a time. Read from a printed copy, to be safer.

Look for typos, misspellings, and easily confused words.

Study the document for inconsistencies and ambiguous expressions.

Look for factual errors.


How to Proofread Complex Documents

Print a copy, preferably double spaced.

1

Allow adequate time for careful proofing.

3Read the message at least twice– once for meaning and once for grammar and mechanics.

5

Set it aside and take a breather.2Expect errors and congratulate yourself when you find them.

4Reduce your reading speed and focus on individual words.

6


To Revise Manually, Use Basic Proofreading Marks

Delete

Capitalize

Lowercase (don’t capitalize)

Transpose

Close up



Insert

Insert space

Insert punctuation

Insert period

Start paragraph



Revised Copy

Beginning September 1 the doors leading to the west side of

the building will have alarms. Because these doors also

function as fire exits, they cannot be locked; consequently, we

are installing alarms. Please use the east side exits to avoid

setting off the ear-splitting alarms.


To Revise Digitally, Strikethrough and Color

This is a short note to let you know that as As you

requested, I made an investigation of investigated

several of our competitors’ websites. Attached hereto is

a summary of the findings. of my investigation. I was

really most interested in making a comparison of the

employment of comparing marketing strategies as well

as the use of navigational graphics used to guide

visitors through the sites.

Learning Objective

5


Evaluate a message to

judge its effectiveness.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. © Marina Zlochin/Fotolia

Ch. 4 / Slide 38

Evaluate Your Writing

Does it attract the reader’s attention?

Is it polished and clear?

How successful will this

message be?

Does it say what you

want it to?Evaluate

Your

Writing

Will it achieve its purpose?

How will you know if it succeeds?

Ebc10e ch04-instructor ppt-final

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