coanca_curs 3_anul iii

8/10/2019 Coanca_curs 3_anul III

1/46

Business Communication in

English

Romanian - American University

Fall Semester 2013


2/46

LECTURE3:

Verbal Communication:

Guidelines, Planning


3/46


4/46

CONTENTS

Verbal Communication:

Audience analysis and orientation

Planning your message

Guidelines for written and oral communication

Style & language


5/46

Verbal communication is natural, but

complex. Understanding verbal communication

can help one communicate more efficiently.

Verbal communication is unavoidable in

almost every work atmosphere. Before gettingto concerned with the principles of verbal

communication, there are three important

things to know: verbal communication is

arbitrary (not intrinsically connected to what

they represent), ambiguous (what they mean

is not clear-cut) and abstract (not concrete or

tangible).


6/46


7/46

ADVANTAGESANDUSE

Oral communication givesthe opportunity forimmediate feedback

- Use oral communication when:

You want the audience to ask

questions, make comments

You are trying to reach a groupdecision

You are trying to relate an

emotional message

You want to read the audiencesbody language, hear the tone oftheir response

Written communicationgives the ability to plan andcontrol the message

- Use written communicationwhen:

Your information is complex

You need a permanent record ofthe message

Your audience is large and

geographically dispersed

You dont need or wantimmediate interaction withyour audience


8/46


9/46


10/46

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION


11/46


12/46

WRITTENCOMMUNICATION

The 5 Cs:

- Clarity

- Conciseness

- Correctness

- Courtesy

- Completion

Inspiration fallacy

Focus on planning as the essential first step


13/46

KEYASPECTSOFWRITING

1.Purpose-What are youtrying to communicate?

2.Audience-To whom are youwriting?

3.Exploration-What ideasshould you consider?

4.Patterns and Outlines-How can you best arrange

your ideas?

5.Details and Examples-How can you support yourpoints?

Think P A S S

-Purpose: what to achieve

-Audience: reception,understanding and/or

response

-Structure: content,emphasis, order and format

-Style: vocabulary, sentence

structure,visual elementsand tone of voice

Think K I S S:

-Keep ItShort & Simple


14/46

COMMUNICATIONCHECKPOINT:

ANALYZINGAUDIENCE

Primary audience (the first people to read or hear

your message)

Secondary audience (a group such as senior

management, which may also read or hear about

your message)

Audience composition, size and their influence on

channels & patterns

Level of intimacy & mutual knowledgeyour

own knowledge

Ways of increasing credibility


15/46

ANALYZINGAUDIENCECONTD.

Audiences background or previous experiencehelpsachieve effective communication

Audiences previous knowledge:

What should they know now about the topic What moredo they want to know about your topic

Ways of planning for feedback

Influence of context on message reception

What do you want/expect your audience to do with theprovided info.


16/46


17/46

PURPOSESOFCOMMUNICATION

General purposes

to inform

to persuade to request

to confirm

to build the

relationship


18/46

STAGESINTHEWRITINGPROCESS

The writing process may be viewed as a three-step process:

Planning

-Who is the audience, what is your purpose,

what do you want to convey?

Writing

-Organize your ideas, choose the direct or indirect approach, and

-Compose your message by deciding on formality of writing level and tone,word selection, writing mechanics

Completing-Revision, readability, editing, rewriting

-Message format, design and delivery

-Message mechanics (proofreading, spelling, correct data)


19/46


20/46

CLASICQUESTIONSOFGREEK

ORATORS

1.Why do I/others even care about --?

2.If I had to devideinto parts or stages,what would they be?

3.What forces/circumstances led to--?

4.What kind of person is interested in --?

5. Ifdid not exist, how would things bedifferent?

6.What aspect ofdo I (or would myreaders) like best? Least?

7.What larger movement, field, orsituation provides background for --?

8.What are the principal benefits of--?

9.Iffails or is ignored, what barrierswere to blame?

10.How couldbe explained to a 10-year-old child?

Dont feel you must answer every q.thoroughly!

Dont work out prose answers!

Just use the qs as mental prods to get your ideas flow

going!


21/46

16 PATTERNSOFORGANIZATION

1. Time

2. Space

3. Cause

4. Emotion5. Logic

6. Relative significance

7. Hidden significance

8. Perspectives

9. Doubt

10. Contrast

11. Comparison

12. Reputation13. Variety

14. Opinions

15. Preference

16. Likelihood


22/46

EXAMPLEOFMASTERPATTERN

Topic: Changes in How We Communicate

Past

I.Fastest forms of communication over longer distancessurvived slower forms

A. The natural world

1.Carrier pigeons vs.human runner

2.Visual signals (smoke,etc.) vs. voice

B. The technological world

1.Telegraph vs. pony express

2.Telephone vs. telegraph


23/46

MASTERPATTERNCONTD

Present

II. New fast modes now compete with familiar slower modes

A. What we send and receive1.Word processing vs. typing

2.Computer modem vs. traditional mail

B. What we store and retrieve

1.Computer memory vs. file drawers

2.Database vs. book-like directors


24/46

MASTERPATTERNCONTD

Future

III. More speed lies ahead, with inevitable changes in howwe communicate

A. How messages are generated1.Artificial intelligence devices that help us find

appropriate words

2.Model documents stored in computer for our use

B. How messages are transmitted1.Satellite networks for worldwide communication

2.Speech-driven computers to free us from thekeyboard


25/46

WAYSTOSUPPORTYOURPOINTS

Use detailsand examplesto:

-Provide information

-Verify (show the truth of) an assertion

-Illustrate (give example of) an abstraction (idea,concept, principle)

Good detailsand examplesare:

1. Specific

2. Clearly understandable3. Brief

4. Focused


26/46

GOODDETAILS& EXAMPLES

?: Some classic automobiles have risen steeply in price inrecent years.

?: Such auto classics as the gull-winged Mercedes, the

MGTD, and the Porsche Speedster have risen 400 percent inreal dollar value since 1965.

?: Our galaxy, a protracted spheroid mass of stellar bodiesand vaporous amalgams arranged primarily along a single

plane, revolves in space

?: The Milky Way, its countless stars drawn together into ashape not unlike an immense fried egg, revolves in space.


27/46

GOODDETAILS& EXAMPLESCONTD.

?:The night manager in Womens Wear, Barbara Conway, wasarrested in mid-October for stealing clothing.She shasheddresses, jeans and blouses worth more then $2000 in trash bagsbehind the store.After closing, she picked up these valuable trashbags.Prosecution is pending.

?: Few coal miners participated in the Grants-for-Educationprogram. I worked until 6 oclock every night.Saturdays, wedrove to my parentshouse.Sunday, I watched football.I didnthave time, thats all.

?:few coal miners participated in the Grants-for-Educationprogram.Bret Jolleson, 28, explains why he turned down a $2500

grant:I worked until six o'clock every night .Saturdays, we drove to myparents' house. Sunday, I watched football. I didnt have time,

thatsall.


28/46

TIPS: THE YOU ATTITUDE

To establish a good relationship with your audience,project the audience-centered approach by using the youattitude-speaking and writing in terms of your audienceswishes, interests, hopes and preferences.

Replace terms that refer to yourself and your companywith terms that refer to the audience (useyou, yoursinstead of I, me, we, us, ours)

Avoid the wordyouwhen its use would be impolite oraccusatory

Sincerely and genuinely empathize with your audience


29/46


30/46

IF WE CALL A ROSE BY ANY OTHER

NAME...

Denotative vs.connotative meaning

Abstract vs. concrete

words

Clichs

Jargon

Euphemisms

Pet expressions

Biased expressions

Trite expressions

Sexist expressions

Redundant expressions


31/46

ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE

To achieve straightforwardsimplicity, clarity andefficiency, be sure to:

- select active or passive

voice

- emphasize key thoughts

- vary sentence length

- use bullets and list

Even though active voiceyields shorter, strongersentences, passive voice is bestwhen:

-You need to be diplomatic

-You want to avoid taking orattributing the credit or theblame

-You want to avoid personalpronouns to create anobjective


32/46

WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT

Let the words flow;

Turn off internal editors & censors:

-Resist the urge to re-phrase, correct punctuation,

grammar etc. while writing the first draft;

If you have difficulty getting the next idea:

-Talk out a sentence or two before trying to write it. Once

you have written for a while, read it aloud, and try to

continue the thought in your speaking voice (imagine

yourself talking to a friend about your idea). After you

speak out what you have to say, write it down (not

necessarily in the same words you used in speech).


33/46


34/46

REWRITING, REVISING, EDITING-

STEP 2

Check for Appropriate Transitions

- No mental lurch as you move from one sentence or

paragraph to the next

- Provide a bridge by using transitional words and

phrases

- Transitional words= traffic lightsneither too

many (confusing) nor too few (coarse, unrelated

discourse)


35/46

TRANSITIONAL WORDS &

CONNECTORS

but, or, and still in short inevitably

yet because in sum consequently

however although in brief gradually

furthermore thus first, second increasingly

therefore hence by contrast more and

more

similarly nevertheless of course for example

in addition for instance probably in effect


36/46


STEP 3

Eliminate Unnecessary Wordscontribute little

or nothing to the message.

Repetitious language: We trusted the unfounded

misrepresentations.

Meaningless language: Itwas the manager who

decided which plan to accept.

Wandering language/digressions: My uncles

company (founded in 1937 by my uncle together with

Al Bennett, an insurance salesman)earned $.98 pershare last quarter.


37/46


STEP 4

Text Your Word Choice for Power and Propriety

- Some words may be too weak to use.(e.g.: nice, for pales in

comparison to more descriptive words: The corporate HQ

were niceThe corporate HQ were luxurious.

- Consider both the denotative meaning (dictionary

meaning) and connotative meaning (emotional shading) of

the language you use.(e.g. single female president- NOT

spinster)


38/46


STEP 5

Check for Grammatical and Mechanical Errors

-Slips in grammar and language mechanics (spelling,

punctuation, word usage, capitalization, etc.) distract

readers from your message.

-They lead to mistrust in the users professionalism &

knowledge


39/46

CHECKLIST OF GRAMMATICAL &

MECHANICAL CATEGORIES

Spelling

Sentence structure

Dangling sentence parts

Subject-verb agreement

Correct parts of verbs

Pronoun agreement

Pronoun form

Commas

Semicolons

Colons

Apostrophes

Quotation marks

Italics

Dashes

Parentheses

Hyphens

Capitalization


40/46


STEP 6

Use active verb patterns

Avoid very fancy on formalstyle

Vary sentence types

Avoid unacceptable

contractions Emphasize important words

and abbreviations throughplacement

Use parentheses correctly

Be specific

Avoid unnecessary questions

Eliminate wordiness

Choose words carefully

Create parallels

Avoid awkward constructions

Choose pronouns carefully

and repetitions Control paragraph length

Avoid trite & sexistexpressions, slang.

Make Stylistic Improvements


41/46


42/46


43/46


44/46

STYLE, LANGUAGE AND REVISION

RESOURCES

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

http://www.grammarbook.com/interactive_quizze

s_exercises.asp

http://www.economis.com/research/StyleGuide/

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/ind

ex.html
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.htmlhttp://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html


45/46

SUMMARY

1. Every communication has a purpose. Knowing that purposebefore you begin to write helps you shape your words andideas for your purpose.

2. What you write depends in part on your audience. Analyzethat audience with care.

3. Write naturally and with confidence by getting to know andfeeling friendly toward your audience.

4. Ideas do not usually come by simple inspiration. Thetechniques of the idea circle and the classic questions canhelp to generate ideas when you have time pressures.


46/46

SUMMARY

5. Ideas must be arranged in a logical, persuasive patternin order to communicate effectively

6. Ideas can be made more persuasive and memorable by

supporting them with details and examples.

7. Writing the first draft should be a free, no-holds-barred

attempt to get your major thoughts down on paper.

8. Revising involves a careful look at each word.

coanca_curs 3_anul iii

Documents