Business Communication

By BHAWANI NANDAN PRASAD

What is Communication? It is the way people get their points across, get work done and get recognized for their

contribution.

Why Business Communication?

Work requires communication

People communicate to plan products and services

To hire, train and motivate workers

To inform

For better Management

Coordinate manufacturing and delivery

Persuade customers to buy

To build goodwill

Kinds of Communication

Verbal

All communication that uses

words

Face-to-face or over the phone

Meetings

E-mail or voice mail

Letters and Memos

Report

Non – Verbal Communication that does not use words

Using Pictures

Company logos

Gestures and body language

Channels of Communication

Formal

Official Communication that take place following the chain of command

Can be upwards (from subordinate to superior) or downwards (from superior to subordinate)

or horizontally (between two departments/divisions)

May be oral or written

Informal

Communication that take place without following the formal lines of communication

Spreads throughout the organization in all direction. Generally referred to as grapevine Eg.

Workers chit chat, rumors.

Generally oral

To whom we Communicate?

Internal audiences

Subordinates

Superiors

Peers

External audiences

Customers

Suppliers

Unions

Stakeholders Potential Employees

Government Agencies

Press

General Public

Process of communication

Sender/ Encoder

The person who sends the message

May be an individual or a group or an organization

Message

key idea that the sender wants to communicate

Medium Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The choice of medium varies

depending upon the features of communication.

Receiver/ Decoder :

Recipient or Decoder is a person for whom the message is intended or aimed or targeted

Feedback :

Feedback is the main component of communication process

it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message

It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder.

Feedback may be verbal (through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.).

It may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc.

What makes a message Good or Effective?

Clear

Complete

Correct

Saves time

Builds Goodwill

How should I Communicate?

Or

What guidelines should be followed to communicate a message?

Follow PAIBOC

What is the Purpose of your message?

Who is your Audience?

What information must your message include?

What reasons or readers Benefits can you use to support your position?

What Objections can I expect from my readers?

How will the Context affect the reader’s response?

Impact of technology on business communication

Technology has made the world a small place

E-mails, instant message, cell phones, skype have been a boon to business

communication

Electronic channels have expanded our ability to reach larger audience

Barriers of Effective Communication

Semantic or Linguistic

Problems and obstruction in the message due to words or impressions

Badly expressed message

Words with different meanings

Faulty translations

Technical jargon

Psychological or emotional

Barriers related to state of mind of both sender and receiver

Lack of attention / poor listening

Loss of transmission and poor retention

Distrust

Organizational

Barriers related to organization structure, authority relationship, rules and regulation

Organizational policy

Rules and regulation

Complex organizational structure

Organizational facilities

personal

Barriers related to personal factors of the sender and receiver

Lack of confidence of superior in subordinates

Unwillingness to communicate, fear of demotion

Lack of proper incentives

Fear of challenge to authority

Note: just as regular circulation of blood is essential for life, circulation of information and

ideas are essential for organized activities.

Business Writing Styles

The style for business communication is friendly and businesslike, not always formal.

Short words and a mix of sentence and paragraphs are best.

Good business writers have several styles.

Eg. A memo to your boss complaining about delay from supplier will be informal but a letter

to the supplier demanding better service will be formal

What is a good style?

Conversational, should sound like real people talking

Ok to use occasional contractions

Short sentences, simple words and paragraphs

Avoid slangs, use standard English

Personal may refer to reader by name

Pay attention to visual impact of the document

A Good business style allows for individual variation, depending on the audience and situation.

Some points to remember:

Use a friendly, informal style to someone you have talked with

Avoid contractions, slang and minor grammatical lapses in paper documents to people

you don’t know

Abbreviations are OK in E-mail messages, if they are a part of group’s culture

Pay attention to styles when you write uncomfortable messages: bad news messages

Edit your writing so that you are confident

Ways to improve writing style?

Get a clean page or screen.

Try WIRMI: What I Really Mean Is, then write the words.

Try reading your draft out loud to someone. Check that the words don’t sound stiff.

Ask someone else to read your draft. There might be places where the reader stumbles

because words on the page aren’t what they expect to see. Here you can improve.

Read and Write a lot.

Use Eight techniques while revising and writing (the next slide)

Techniques while writing and revision

1. Use active verbs because they are clearer, shorter and more interesting

However, passive verbs are desirable in some situations:-

To emphasize the object receiving the action, not the agent. Eg.

Your order was shipped on November 15

Here the customer’s order, not the shipping details, is important

To avoid assigning blame. Eg.

The order was damaged during shipment

Here the active verb would require to specify who damaged the order. So, passive is more

tactful.

2. Use verbs to carry weight of your sentence. So use more forceful verbs. Eg.

Weak: We will perform an investigation of the problem.

Better: We will investigate the problem

3. Tighten your writing.

Writing is wordy if the same idea can be expressed in fewer words. Instead of wordy

writing, tighten your writing.

Follow these strategies for tightening your words:

Eliminate words that say nothing.

Eg. Wordy: Keep this information on file for future reference.

Tighter: Keep this information for reference.

Use gerunds and Infinitives to make sentences shorter and smoother.

Eg. Wordy: A plant suggestion has been made

where they would purchase a fax

machine for the purpose of

transmitting test reports between

plants.

Tighter: The plant suggests purchasing a fax

machine to transmit test reports

between plants.

Combine sentences to eliminate unnecessary words. It makes your writing more

sophisticated and sharpened.

Eg. Wordy: I conducted this survey on Sunday, April

21. I questioned two groups of juniors

and seniors – Male and Female, who

were living in New York.

Tighter: On Sunday, April 21, I questioned male

and females, Juniors and seniors living

in New York for a survey.

Put the meaning of your sentence into the subject.

Eg. Wordy: The reason we are recommending the

computerization of this process is….

Tighter: We are recommending the

computerization of this process because…

4. Vary sentence length and sentence structure.

Where the subject matter is complicated, use simple sentences.

To show how ideas are linked to each other and avoid repetition use long sentences.

5. Use parallel structure.

Words or ideas sharing same logical role should have same grammatical form.

6. Put your readers in your sentence.

Use second person pronouns (you) rather than third person (he, she..)

Use ‘you’ only when you refer to the reader.

7. Begin most paragraphs with topic sentences.

Bring out the main point in the first line of the paragraphs

8. Use transitions to link ideas.

Use words like And, also, in addition to, likewise, nevertheless, however, consequently…

Organization and style

Does organizational culture affect business writing style?

Yes……

Always remember:

Different cultures may prefer different styles.

Different organization or bosses may have different ideas about what constitutes good

writing.

Different organizations may have different definitions of a good writing style.

Adapting to different cultures

Be sensitive and flexible

Use Bias free language

Make language nonsexist

Make language nonracist and nonagist

Use people-first language Eg, instead of ‘the mentally challenged’ use ‘people with mental

retardation’

Choose Bias free photos and illustrations

Be aware of values, belief and practices in other cultures.

Memorandums

Workshop 2

• Business memos are not that much different from the letters, they are second type of

business correspondence after business letters.

• Business memos are a piece of interoffice correspondence sent between employees in a

company or between company subsidiaries to transmit ideas, decisions, requests or

announcements. They are more private and more formal than emails but less formal than

letters.

• Business memos are different from any other piece of business correspondence because of

their own specific format which excludes salutation, complimentary closing and formal

signature.

what does a business memo contain then?

• A header and a body

• You can further subdivide the body into some segments like opening, discussion segment

and closing/summary. keep the memo as simple and as brief as possible.

Memo Header

• a memo header looks like the following example in about 90% of the cases:

MEMO

To: John Carson, Judith Lindsay

From: Carol McLaren

Date: April 15, 2007

Subject: Competitiveness Workshop Presentation

In the other 10% the order of the fields in the header can be changed, 'Subject' can be

substituted by 'Re:', the 'CC' field can be added but you still easily recognize this type of

business correspondence.

Memo Body

• The body of a business memo is very similar to the body of a letter, most of the principles

of letter writing can be applied in writing this part of the memo, In most cases the first

paragraph in a memo is a purpose or a topic statement,

• in your memo provide the reader with any necessary background information including

dates, briefly describe the current situation and the related problems - this is sometimes

called the discussion segment of a business memo.

• Close your memo with a courteous ending that states your request or the action you want

your reader to take.

• The tone you use in the body of the memo depends on who the memo is addressed to. the

memos should not be too informal as they are usually considered to be internal documents

as well as pieces of business correspondence.

Attitude to Memo Writing

• Some companies may have very strict format for business memos that each employee is

supposed to follow, they even have it stated in their internal manuals. Others pay less

attention to the format as long as the memo resembles a memo.

• Some of those memos could have just one sentence in the body, the others were about 3

pages. Try and limit yourself to 2 pages at the utmost.

• Some business memos were initialed by the author near his or her name in the header,

others were signed as regular letters would be.

Example Memo From: Management

To: Northwest Area Sales Staff

RE: New Monthly Reporting System

We’d like to quickly go over some of the changes in the new monthly sales reporting system that

we discussed at Monday’s special meeting. First of all, we'd once again like to stress that

this new system will save you a lot of time when reporting future sales. We understand that

you have concerns about the amount of time that will be initially required for inputting

your client data. Despite this initial effort, we are confident that you will all soon enjoy the

benefits of this new system.

Here is a look at the procedure you will need to follow to complete your area's client list:

• Log on to the company web site at http://www.picklesandmore.com

• Enter your user ID and password. These will be issued next week.

• Once you have logged on, click on "New Client".

• Enter the appropriate client information.

• Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have entered all of your clients.

• Once this information has been entered, select "Place Order".

• Choose the client from the drop down list "Clients".

• Choose the products from the drop down list "Products".

• Choose the shipping specifications from the drop down list "Shipping".

• Click on the "Process Order" button.

• As you can see, once you have entered the appropriate client information, processing

orders will require NO paperwork on your part.

Thank you all for your help in putting this new system into place.

Best regards,

Management

Important Points to Remember

• Use the following structure to begin a memo: MEMO

• From: (person or group sending the memo)

• To: (person or group to whom the memo is addressed)

• RE: (the subject of the memo, this should be in bold)

• The term "memorandum" can be used instead of "memo".

• A memo is generally is not as formal as a written letter. However, it is certainly not as

informal as a personal letter.

• The tone of a memo is generally friendly as it is a communication between

colleagues.

• Keep the memo concise and to the point.

• If necessary, introduce the reason for the memo with a short paragraph.

• Use bullet points to explain the most important steps in a process.

• Use a short thank you to finish the memo. This need not be as formal as in a written

letter.

Letters

Kinds of Letters

• Business Letters;

• Resignation Letter

• Cover Letter

• Complaint Letter

• Apology Letter

• Friendly Letters;

• Thank You

• Apology Letter

• Condolence Letter

Purpose of a Business Letter

• is a formal way of communicating between two or more parties.

• many different uses and business letters.

• can be informational, persuasive, motivational, or promotional.

• should be typed and printed out on standard size white paper.

Elements of a Good Letter

• important element is your ability to identify and write to your audience.

• your letter to the department of human resources, avoid using highly technical terms that

only engineers would understand, even if your letter is addressed to an engineering

company, chances are that the personnel in human resources does not have an engineering

background.

• make sure your present your objective in a clear and concise manner.

• just get to the point without going into unnecessary details.

• important element is to remain professional. Even if you are writing a complaint

letter, remain polite and courteous, simply state the problem(s) along with any other

relevant information and be sure to avoid threats and slander.

Block Format: Business Letter

• Return Address Line 1 1

Return Address Line 2

• Date (Month Day, Year) 2

• Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr. Full name of recipient. 3

Title/Position of Recipient.

Company Name

Address Line 1

Address Line 2

• Dear Ms./Mrs./Mr. Last Name: 4

• Subject: Title of Subject 5

• Body Paragraph 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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• Body Paragraph 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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• Body Paragraph 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Closing (Sincerely...), 7

• Signature 8

• Your Name (Printed) 9

• Your Title

Enclosures (2) 10

Typist Initials. 11

Sample Business Letter

3519 Front Street

Mount Celebres, CA 65286

October 5, 2004

Ms. Betty Johnson

Accounts Payable

The Cooking Store

765 Berliner Plaza

Industrial Point, CA 68534

Dear Ms Johnson:

It has come to my attention that your company, The Cooking Store has been late with

paying their invoices for the past three months.

In order to encourage our customers to pay for their invoices before the due date, we

have implemented a discount model where we'll give you 2% off your invoice if you

pay us within 10 days of receiving the invoice.

I hope that everything is going well for you and your company. You are one of our

biggest customers, and we appreciate your business. If you have any questions, you

can feel free to contact me at (555) 555-5555.

Sincerely,

Signature

Bob Powers

Accounts Receivable

Purpose of a Friendly Letter

• is a way of communicating between two people (sometimes more) who are usually well

acquainted.

• many uses and reasons for writing a friendly letter, but usually friendly letters will consist

of topics on a personal level.

• Friendly letters can either be printed or hand-written.

Friendly Letter Writing

• is less formal than that of a business letter.

• the first paragraph of the body will consist of an introduction which will give the recipient

an idea about you're writing to them with a short summary of the main topic of your letter.

If you don't know the person you are writing to, you may want to introduce yourself in this

introductory paragraph as well.

• The next few paragraphs will usually consist of the message you want to get across along

with any details you may want to convey.

• The last paragraph will usually be the conclusion where you wrap everything up. You can

sum up your main idea in this paragraph, thank the recipient for their time, wish the

recipient well, and/or ask any questions.

• Since friendly letters are less formal, you can feel free to write it however you like, but the

above format is fairly common.

Friendly Letter Format

• Return Address Line 1 1

Return Address Line 2

Date (Month Day, Year) 2

• Dear Name of Recipient, 3

• Body Paragraph 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Body Paragraph 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Body Paragraph 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Closing (Sincerely...), 5

Signature 6

Sample Friendly Letter

• 506 Country Lane

North Baysville, CA 53286

July 16, 2007

Dear Susan,

• It feels like such a long time since the last time I saw you. I know it's only been several

weeks since I saw you. So far my summer has been great!

• I spend my all my weekends at the beach. I am getting a nice tan and you can no longer

say I am paler than you. I have been playing lots of volleyball, surfing and building a nice

collection of sea shells. Just this past weekend I took second place in a sandcastle building

contest!

• On the weekdays I work. I drive an ice cream truck around and sell ice cream to the kids.

It is so cool. It is a combination of the two things I love most, ice cream and kids. The pay

isn't too great but I love the job so much.

• I hope the summer's been going well for you too. There's only a month and a half left in

summer vacation and after that it's back to school. Would you like to meet up some time to

before school starts?

Your friend,

Signature

•

P.S. John Austin says hi.

Addressing an Envelope

• in the upper-left hand corner should be your name, and underneath that should be your

return address.

• In the upper-right hand corner should be the postage stamp (with the correct postage

amount).

• In the middle-center should be the recipient's name and recipient's address.

Envelope Format

• Stamp

• Your Name

Return Address Line 1

Return Address Line 2

Recipient Name

Recipient Address Line 1

Recipient Address Line 2

Proposals

Tips to Write a Perfect Business Proposal

A business proposal is a challenging task for a marketer to create for promoting the business. It is

an offer letter in which a marketer proposes the customer his products or services. The main aim

is to address the queries or requirements of the prospective customer.

A business proposal requires brevity, clarity and logic supported by the facts. Such kind of

writing of an offer letter can leave a deep impact on a reader’s mind. You can support your views

or perspectives with facts or certification and credentials of the company. This makes an

authentic and reliable piece of writing. It provides ground to a reader on the basis of which he

can depend on what you are writing. If you also highlight the problems or requirements of a

reader, the customer tends to get associated with you. A customer gets an opportunity to realize

that you know the customer better and that your company can solve the problems often faced by

him. Proposals vary in length and this depends on the topic. Some offer letters extend to the

pages ranging from ten to thousands. A writer can summarize the crux of the letter in the form of

an Executive Summary. Every potential customer’s time must be respected and considered. They

may not find time to go through each and every page of the proposal. The best idea is to present

the main idea of writing an offer letter in the form of a summary in the beginning. Some

marketers prefer writing an offer letter by using graphics for making their text as well as the

point more explicit. The graphics, design and layout makes a proposal appear attractive, mind-

gripping and attractive. Some marketers lay stress on the graphics, design and page layout for

attractive presentation. Others concentrate on the text or the presentation of the content. You

should cover the budget that the offer might cost. It is necessary to be clear on legal terms and

conditions with the customer.

An intelligent presentation of a business proposal can convince your target customer about the

company as well as its offer.

7 Proposal Formatting Tips

1. Two Headings are Better Than One. Instead of just a normal heading, use a short, descriptive

heading plus a theme statement. The theme statement should be the conclusion that you want the

customer to reach after reading the section. For example, the heading might say "Management

Plan" in 16pt Arial Bold. Right underneath it (no line skip) it might say "XYZ company has the

resources, procedures, and staffing in place to start this project immediately without delay or

risk" in 12pt Times Italic. Then skip a line and start the narrative.

2. Make It Easy to Evaluate Compliance. Where ever you can, put the text of the RFP you are

responding to into your proposal. An easy way to do this is to drop in a single-cell table and give

it a gray background. Put the RFP text in it at a smaller point size (I use 9pt) than the narrative

text. Put a small heading in the box that says something like "This section responds to the

following RFP requirements:" Under a single numbered section heading in your proposal, you

can have a series of RFP tables and responses. Or you can group multiple RFP requirements in a

single table and respond to them collectively. How you allocate and respond to the RFP

requirements depends on the particular RFP. Do what makes the most sense and will be the

easiest for the customer to evaluate.

3. Keep It Short. In sales letters and advertising, there is an age old debate between the merits of

long copy versus short copy. That debate does not apply to proposals. Nobody wants to read

more in a proposal than they have to. Keep your writing style short to the point of being terse.

Don't pad it out to make it "sound better." Say what you need to say and then end it. If you can

deliver a proposal that is only one page long, don't add another page to make it "look more

substantial." If you are worried that your proposal is too short, put your fears at rest. The issue is

not whether your proposal is long enough, it's whether you have answered all of the questions

that the customer is going to have. You need to do that, but you don't need it to be one page

longer than is necessary to do it.

4. Put It In An Appendix. If you must provide supporting documentation, put it in an appendix.

Especially if they didn't ask for it. If you want to include resumes and they didn't' ask for it, put it

in an appendix. If you want to provide commendation letters, put them in an appendix. If you

want to provide data sheets, put them in an appendix. If you want to provide proof of insurance,

financing, samples, or documents, put them in an appendix. Take everything that is not part of

your story and put it in an appendix. That way those who want to read (or do due diligence) will

have all the content they desire, and those who don't want to read will be more likely to get

through your story before they start skipping pages.

5. Don't Forget Your Website. Anything that could go into an appendix, could go on your

website instead. Just give them the links. Any proposal that includes a software component,

should include a link to a demo on your website. Even if it is just a collection of prototype screen

shots, you should invite them to come see it. If the proposal is important to you, make it

interactive. Make them login so you can look up in a log file that they came (and better yet, what

they looked at). If you are early in the process (pre-RFP), you can invite them to a slide show,

and on each page ask them if a feature is "Very Important, Moderately Important, or Not

Important" to go to the next page. A website gives you the opportunity to exchange information

in ways that can't be done with a paper brochure or PowerPoint presentation. Take advantage of

it.

6. Don't Bind It Like a School Report. How you bind your proposal isn't that important. Just

don't make it look like a school report. A three-ring binder or GBC binding is fine. But a report

cover that looks like a school report sends the wrong impression. A staple is better.

7. Black-and-White or Color? Unless your pictures are important to the delivery of your

message, it does not matter whether you print in black-and-white or color. Some people have

color laser printers, some people don't. These days nobody is sufficiently impressed to select one

vendor over another because of it. You can look professional with a black-and-white proposal

when your competitor has color. You just have to work harder at it.

Sample Business Lead Proposal - IT Projects

Sl. No

Process Step Related Sales Process Stage

1 Registration of Opportunity Opportunity Creation / Discovery

2 Conduct Direction Setting Meeting Opportunity Qualification

Opportunity Prioritization

3 Architect the solution and package proposal

Opportunity Fitment

Architecting the Solution

Packaging the proposal

Review of the proposal

4 Present the proposal to customer Presenting the Offer

5 Improve effectiveness of the Proposal Process

Conduct of the RFP Board

All Sales Process Stages

Presentations

The first "P" is Purpose:

• Before giving a presentation, going on a sales call, hosting a customer event, or having a staff

meeting, ask yourself:

o What is my desired outcome?

o What is the impact I want to create?

o How do I want the customers or my team to feel during and after this encounter? (Use adjectives

such as: moved, passionate, excited, shaken, sold.)

• How does your purpose for this event/presentation/project relate to your vision?

o You need to be able to articulate your purpose and then share that with your audience in order to

create a shared purpose.

o This is the part where everyone gets on the same page.

The second "P" is Preparation:

• Get as much information about your audience or customer as you can-do the research to know who

you're dealing with.

• Know your material cold. If you're not sure what you're going to say, not sure of the facts about

your subject, you won't be able to answer questions from the audience. You will be unprepared and it

will show.

Whether giving a presentation, welcoming attendees at a client event, or leading a meeting,

preparation is critical to your success. The more you prepare, the better you can successfully

improvise. A one-hour presentation that needs to be shortened to 20 minutes at the last minute will

not throw you if you're familiar with the material. Time spent at the beginning is a worthwhile

investment.

The third "P" is Planning:

• Planning is designing how you are going to achieve your desired outcomes and impact. The more

you plan, the clearer your thoughts, the clearer your purpose and the more freedom you have to be

spontaneous and flexible.

• When working with a customer or team member, know the key message you want to convey and

what you want to accomplish. Plan what you are going to use to illustrate or reinforce the idea or

concept to leave your client with a "picture."

• The key idea must be relevant to your listeners or your customers and emphasize what's in it for

them, and why they will be better off by knowing this information.

• Plan ahead and know your key metrics for success. For example, is it closing the deal by the end of

the call, is it buy-in from your team. How will you measure your success?

We find planning is most successful when we work collaboratively, in a partnership with our clients.

We never plan in a vacuum. When we design a day to work with a team, we create options and clearly

understand the outcomes that the customer wants to achieve.

The fourth "P" is Practice:

Whether you are an athlete, a dancer, or a presenter, the art of practice is critical. Professional

performers know that how they perform in practice will be similar to their performance when the

game is on the line. And in business, the game is always on the line.

It is in practice that we learn the value of our teammates' individual skills and how to synchronize

our collective efforts; we learn what it takes to win. When the game is real whether in sports or

business-the effort you've invested in practice truly pays off. It is then that you build the confidence

that is so key to a winning performance.

In the business environment, we'll often hear someone say, "We don't have the time to practice." But

just as any successful athlete will practice the plays he or she will use in the game, so you should

practice the strategy and tactics you plan to use with your next audience. Practice is the chance for

your team members to get on the same page, to build on each other's strengths, and to begin firing

on all cylinders. Here's where you learn what it takes to win. Here are two ways to practice your

performance:

• Many a champion athlete recognizes the value of visualization. Here's why: it's another chance to

practice your best performance. Go through the entire presentation in your mind. See the audience

respond to your humor, to the points you are making, nodding in agreement, and applauding when

you have finished. This will give you an experience of success that will allow you to engage the

audience with self- assurance.

• Practice your presentation in front of another person and ask for specific feedback so that you can

learn which areas were most effective, which moved too slowly, and which points you need to clarify.

It is here you can actively design what will work, freeing you up to deliver the performance you were

meant to give.

The fifth and final "P" is Performance:

The moment of truth. This is where it all comes together. Performance is the culmination of all your

efforts. If you started out with a clearly defined objective, did your homework, planned for questions,

and visualized your success, then this is where you shine. It's also the step in which your audience is

directly involved. Take a moment to measure your objective. If your goal was to provide information,

is your audience engaged? If your goal was to identify a solution, are the members of your audience

reaching consensus?

If you haven't met your objective, chances are it's not your audience's fault. So here's a learning

opportunity: after the performance, evaluate each step to determine where you could improve next

time.

A few tips for successful performance:

• Whether your audience is large or small, don't start speaking until you have everyone's attention.

Once you do, take a few deep breaths and begin. This simple action creates a powerful moment,

focusing attention on your message.

• Keep a soft focus on your audience. Make brief eye contact with each person in the room if possible.

This gets their attention and keeps them connected to you.

• Project your voice to the person farthest from you. The volume and tone of your voice keeps your

audience alert.

• Be aware of your body language and make sure it enhances, rather than hinders, your message (this

is why practice is so important).

• Above all, be yourself! Your audience can sense your honesty and will be more attuned to you when

you are comfortable with yourself and your message.

Generally, people retain

• 10% of what they READ

• 20% of what they HEAR

• 30% of what they SEE

• 50% of what they SEE and HEAR

• 70% of what they SAY

• 90% of what they SAY and DO

Business Communication Goals

• Receiver Understanding

• Receiver Response

• Favorable Relationship

• Organizational Goodwill

Parts of a presentation

• Introduction

• Body

• Conclusion

• Questions

Guidelines for Effective Introductions

• Always prepare your opening

• Tell people what the presentation is about

• Keep the opening short and simple

• Only use anecdotes that are relevant

• Use caution with personal experiences

• Stay away from inappropriate humor

Guidelines for Effective Closings

• Always prepare a closing

• Always restate the main point, and, perhaps, the key supporting points

• Say clearly what happens next

• If appropriate, make a call to action

• Thank the audience

Communication Barriers/Noise

• Word choice

too difficult, too technical, etc.

overused words such as, “good”, “excellent value”, etc.

• Connotations VS Denotations

Communication Barriers/Noise

• Inferences

• Pace of the delivery

Speaking too fast or too slow

• Poor grammar, spelling, etc.

• Appearance and performance of the presenter

• Use of gender bias terms or stereotypical terms

Positive VS Negative terms

• We have a full year warranty. VS Warranty is only for the first year.

Handouts

• When to use and distribute handouts

@ beginning if audience needs them during presentation

during presentation, have someone else hand them out

at end if possible

• Running handouts two, three or six to a page

10 common presentation mistakes

• #1 Accepting an inappropriate invitation

personally decline, retain opportunity for company

• #2 Neglecting to research the audience

take the time to find out who you are talking to

o What you should know about your audience

o How large is the audience?

o What are the audience members’ relevant characteristics?

o Why are people attending?

o What are the audience’s specific needs, interests, and concerns?

o How much do people already know?

o How are people likely to respond to your message?

• #3 Procrastinating, then punting.

Do not try to organize your talk and create your slides simultaneously.

• #4 Getting a late start.

Always plan to arrive early for your presentation.

• #5 Assuming all projectors are the same.

Be sure you know the equipment or bring your own.

• #6 Failing to heed Murphy’s Law

Always assume the equipment will NOT work.

• #7 Backing up to the wrong media

Check your back-up media before leaving for your presentation.

• #8 Telling tasteless or offensive jokes

A greater awareness of your audience can determine if they will find your

sense of humor funny or offensive.

• #9 Relying on the World Wide Web live Web connection

Create a copy on your hard drive.

• #10 Having too little to say

Be prepared!

Tips on PowerPoint Presentations

• Always use a title slide. Put it up about five minutes before your presentation begins.

• The presentation should set the tone of the message.

• If you are sharing good news, your presentation can use a lot of fun art, audio

and video. If you have bad news, stick to the points.

• Sample Slide

• Sales are down!

• We are going to have to down size.

Tips on PowerPoint Presentations

• Keep the presentation look simple. You don’t want to distract from the content of the

slide/presentation.

• Keep a consistent look from slide to slide.

• Create high contrast between the background and the text.

• Consider creating a company specific background for sales presentations.

• Clip art should match your audience.

• Art should match a key word or phase in the slide.

• When using art, keep the images balanced on the page. Use the rule of thirds.

• Use art judiciously.

• All of the rules apply to sound (even more so!).

• One of the significant advantages of using presentation software packages is that you

have access to color. Use it wisely and judiciously.

• Keep it simple and consistent.

• Use no more than five colors for charts or graphs.

• Choose no more than two colors for text.

• Be careful with the use of red because the eye will naturally go there first.

• One of the significant advantages of using presentation software packages is that you

have access to color. Use it wisely and judiciously.(cont)

• Use complimentary colors together.

• Never use red and green together unless you want your audience to think of

Christmas!

Same slide

• One of the significant advantages of using presentation software packages is that

you have access to color. Use it wisely and judiciously.

• Keep it simple and consistent.

• Use no more than five colors for charts or graphs.

• Choose no more than two colors for text.

• Be careful with the use of red because the eye will naturally go there first.

• Limit your bullet points to three or four items.

• Try to have no more than 24 words on any one slide.

• Be careful when using abbreviations, acronyms, and special phases on your slides.

Explain them quickly or you lose your audience.

• Fonts are like colors, just because you have a lot of them to choose from you

don’t have to use them all! No more than two or three per slide.

• Be consistent from slide to slide.

• Don’t overdo the use of italics, bolding and shadows and like e-mail, do NOT use

all caps.

• Fonts are like colors, just because you have a lot of them to choose from you

don’t have to use them all! No more than two or three per slide.

• Be consistent from slide to slide.

• Don’t overdo the use of italics, bolding and sshhaaddoowwss and like email, DO NOT

USE ALL CAPS.

• It is important to explain how to read your chart or graph as soon as you put it on

the screen.

• Do not say anything important within ten seconds of putting up a chart. People

won’t be listening, they’re too busy figuring out the chart.

Have a final slide that lets the audience know that the presentation is over.

Thank You !!!

Thanks for your attention!

Newsletters

A newsletter is a commonly used communication tool that gives readers helpful information

about a company, an organization, or a department. A newsletter is defined as a small

publication—leaflet or newspaper—containing news of interest chiefly to a certain group. This

paper includes research on how to write effective newsletters as well as the procedures involved

in teaching a group of business communication students to interview faculty members and write

a newsletter with the communications teacher as the editor. The process involved teaching the

students not only how to interview and write the articles, but also the process of editing, writing

proofreading, and posting the newsletter online.

To implement emphasis in writing, use the following guides:

1. Control your readers’ eyes by the position and appearance of your ideas.

2. Open with important ideas.

3. Subordinate minor ideas.

4. Repeat important ideas.

5. Use space and page design to highlight important ideas.

6. Use headings and lists to highlight important ideas.

7. Use graphics to emphasize important ideas.

8. Use single-sentence paragraphs to emphasize important ideas.

9. Use typographical features and color to emphasize words and ideas.

How we break down our company newsletter:

Intro – This is my way of answering any questions that are being asked over and over

again by the team members. I do it as a Q&A. I also highlight some things about how our

customers are viewing us by talking about any surveys we send. I try to be very personal

and I try to have some fun with it.

Marketing, Sales, Customer Service & Business Development – These teams write about

their goals and how they did against them in the previous month. We also talk about

company press and any awards our company won.

Product & Engineering – This section talks about any new products that we have to offer,

any new milestones we've hit with our technology, or any problems we fixed for our

customers.

Finance & HR – Here we talk about the overall company goals and how we're doing so

far in the year, any new hires, new benefits we are offering, and additional company

news.

For each section we highlight individuals that went above and beyond the call of duty because

it's important to recognize stellar individuals for all of their hard work. I also try to get some

images or fun company pictures in there to get readership up!

Flyers

We can download or create many business flyers for Front screen main page.

Flyer Writing Tips

1.Write a headline with a hook!

You've got two seconds or less to grab attention. Your flyer headline must immediately hook

prospective customers by answering their unspoken question, "what's in it for me?"

Your business name is rarely your best hook. Before anyone cares about who you are, they must want

what you do.

2. Focus on customer benefits.

Flyer copy should use the reader's self-interest to promote your product or service. If possible, show the

benefit visually. For example, before-and-after pictures are especially good at communicating benefits.

3. Set yourself apart.

Tell what makes you different and better, by giving one really good reason why someone should do

business with you instead of one of your competitors.

4. Keep it short.

For best results, flyers should have just enough information to attract interest and inquiries. Try to limit

your main copy block to no more than 100 words. If you can limit your flyer copy to fewer than 50

words, that's even better. This paragraph is 50 words.

5. Give it all you've got.

Your flyer should include lists of other benefits, uses, or service offerings. One may be the trigger for a

call.

6. Check your spelling.

Misspelled words reduce your credibility. Even people who are not good spellers will sense that

something "doesn't look right" about your flyer, and toss it away.

7. Close your flyer with an offer.

Always ask for the sale. And, give potential customers an incentive to act quickly. That incentive could

be a free estimate, a limited-time special offer or coupon, or a reminder of urgency.

8. Be a frequent flyer.

Frequency is essential in all forms of advertising. For best results, you should deliver your flyer at least

three times to each household.

Also, keep several of your latest flyers and thumbtacks in your cars, so whenever you see a community

bulletin board you can post your flyers immediately. I prefer flat thumbtacks to pushpins because

they're easier to carry but harder to pull out, making them less likely to be repurposed by less-prepared

people posting their flyers.

If you post your flyers, check and replace them regularly to make sure they're always visible and in good

condition.

9. Distribute your flyer right.

Look for pockets of potential customers, especially in areas where you already have customers. Place

your flyer on the doormat, hang it from the doorknob, or slip it into the screen door. It's illegal to use

the mailbox. If you must fold or roll up your flyer, make sure your headline shows.

If you're tossing your flyer onto the driveway (usually in a small plastic bag weighted with pebbles),

distribute them very early so people can pick them up with their morning newspapers. Also, make sure

your headline "hook" is visible no matter how the flyer lands.

If you use a flyer distribution service, confirm distribution yourself either in person, or by calling friends

or relatives in the target area to make sure your flyer was delivered.

10.Hire the Flyer Writer!

Hey, I wouldn't be the Flyer Writer if I didn't ask for the sale! Remember, I can do the job quickly, and for

just $50 - that's just pennies per piece! Buy now!

Information exchange in and outside of the organization

Cross-cultural communication.

To communicate effectively with different people in different languages and from different

cultures.

Why ?

• Ethnocentrism: Inability to accept another culture's world view; "my way is the best."

• Discrimination: Differential treatment of an individual due to minority status; actual and

perceived; e.g., "we just aren't equipped to serve people like that."

• Stereotyping: Generalizing about a person while ignoring presence of individual

difference; e.g., "she's like that because she's Asian – all Asians are nonverbal."

• Cultural Blindness: Differences are ignored and one proceeds as though differences did

not exist; e.g., "there's no need to worry about a person's culture – if you're a sensitive

teacher, you do okay."

• Cultural Imposition: Belief that everyone should conform to the majority; e.g., "we know

what's best for you, if you don't like it you can go elsewhere."

Ways to embrace cross-cultural communication:

• Assess your cross-cultural knowledge

Not sure whether your workplace is truly embracing cross-cultural communication? No

problem – have your employees complete a short online assessment.

• Learn their culture, earn their loyalty

World cultures are as varied as world languages - both are essential in communicating with

people of other backgrounds. Encourage your employees and clients' loyalty by honoring

their beliefs and traditions.

• Watch what you don't say: Non-verbal communication

Did you know that in China, you should never write on a business card, or put the card in your

pocket? Or that in Mexico, conversations take place at a close physical distance, and if you

backed up for some personal space, you'd be considered rude?

• Embrace diversity for your company's benefit

Cultural diversity doesn't have to mean problems – in fact, the company that learns to embrace

cultural differences and fresh ideas, is the company that is always open to growth within

the ever-evolving marketplace.

• Slow down: Speak slowly and annunciate clearly so that non-native English speakers have

the time to absorb your words.

• Maintain a positive outlook: Don't assume a person with a heavy accent is "slow" – most

non-native speakers to take more time when speaking a less-familiar language.

• Don't jump: To conclusions, that is. Listen and then summarize what you believe the

speaker has said. Make sure you're clear on the intended message before continuing the

conversation.

• No funny business: Avoid humor when communicating with someone of another culture (at

least until you really understand each other) because humor is almost always culture-

specific.

• Strike the slang: Before using a cliché or other slang expression, consider the words at face

value, which usually mean something entirely different. Instead, say what you mean, and

mean what you say.