SJM School of Management Communication Skill and Presentation OCTOBER 2011 Faculty- Mrs.

Celia Rodrigues Be careful of every detail, lest you confuse your reader Follow the rules of the road Warren Buffet: Answer people not letters. If a Letters worth Writing its worth writing well. Letter writing is a major business asset. You project your image as well as the image of your own company. A letter/email should be crafted carefully. It should be clear, concrete and concise, correct and complete, conversational and courteous. Follow the seven steps to write an effectively: 1. Begin by getting all the facts. 2. Say what you mean and mean what you say. 3. Say it, dont take half the day. 4 Be courteous-Courtesy is to business what oil is to machinery. 5. Focus on the reader. 6. Make it sound friendly and human. 7. Use tact in contact. Mary Guffey imparts her secret---3 3 principle-- of good letter writing. 1 Determine your purpose 2 Anticipate the reaction 3 Visualize your reader 1 Research 2 Organize 3 Compose 1 Revise 2 Proofread 3 Evaluate

Joseph Pulitzer on Letter Writing: Put it before them briefly so they will read it, Clearly, so they will appreciate it, Picturesquely, so they will remember it and above all Accurately, so they will be guided by it. From Elements of Style by J B Strunk Jr. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words; A paragraph, no unnecessary sentences; For the same reason that a drawing has no unnecessary lines and a machine, no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short; That he avoid all detail and treat his subject in outline, But that every word tell.

Essentials of Business Writing Principle 1 1 I have sent the books you have ordered from our bookstore, by Mamata courier Services. 2 We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as suppliers of industrial and marine grade products

3 We, Bharat Petroleum, are pleased to inform you that we will now have the privilege to supply you LPG cylinders .We shall commence rendering service to you on and with effect from 4 November, 2012. Principle 2: 1. The consensus of opinion of this group is that Naresh was wrong. 2. The requirements of the job require a minimum of three years experience. 3. We expect to deliver the goods in the event that we receive the money Principle 3: 1. She makes good profits for the company every year so I have given her a good promotion. 2. John lost a fortune in Macau and his kith and kin have abandoned him 3. If we dont receive the goods soon, we will cancel the order shortly.

Principle 4: 1. It is believed by the employees, that this company policy is wrong. 2You are kindly requested to quote us the lowest possible rates of the compressor. 3These reports are accurately and promptly prepared by the salespeople every day. Principle 5: 1. It was my duty to make a determination of the damages. 2. The discussion should have been done before the order was released, and not after the commercial batch was taken. 3. We will ask him to bring about a change in his attitude as soon as possible. Principle 6: 1. In spite of the fact that he was successful it did not take him long before he was sorry that he had used so many words. 2. I t is imperative that consumers be unrestrained in determining their preferences.

3The Union is involved in the task of reviewing the seniority provision of the contract. Principle 7: 1. Regardless of their seniority or union affiliation, all employees who hope to be promoted, are expected to continue their education either by enrolling in the special courses to be offered by the company, which are scheduled to be given after working hours, beginning next Wednesday, or by taking approved online courses selected from a list, which may be seen on the company portal.

2Although we have not definitely determined the causes for the decline in sales volume for the month, we know that during this period construction on the street adjacent to the store severely limited traffic flow and that because of resignations in the advertising department, promotion efforts dropped well below normal.

3. The Consumer Education Committee is assigned the duties of keeping informed of the qualities of all consumer goods and services, especially of their strengths and short comings, of gathering all pertaining information on dealers sales practices, with emphasis on practices involving honest and reasonable fairness, and on publishing any of the information collected that may be helpful in educating the consumer.

Principle 8 1. In case a student fails his test, he will not be eligible for admission. 2. Four people applied for the job, including two well groomed black women. 3. The committee consisted of a lady doctor, a businessman and a lawyer. Principle 9 1. The company lost money last year. The loss occurred in spite of record sales. 2, Only I asked you to write. I asked only you to write. I asked you only to write 3. By working hard your goal can be reached Principle 10 1. The functions of the school administrator is in reality a difficult question to answer in that the school administrator has varying needs to meet in different educational systems. 2. Mr. Jackson is our manager, he has a degree in law.

3Our production increased in January, and our equipment is wearing out. Principle 11 1As the manager of the food chain there are not enough hands. 2 Incase of any information/clarification/details required, please feel free to contact us. 3 I never knew an executive who was interested in helping workers who had got in to problems that caused them to worry.

Principle 12 1] Books are meant to be preserved and to be read for years. Some of them, the classics, were written centuries ago and are still read. Everybody should develop the habit of reading the newspaper to keep abreast of current events. The newspaper gives a lot of information and a background for intelligent conversation. But newspaper writing is not meant to last. Nobody is interested in yesterdays paper

2]13 percent of the economists expected an increase: 28 percent expected little or no change; 59 percent expected a downturn; 87 percent who expected a downturn, thought it would come in the first quarter.

3] Jennifer has a good knowledge of office procedures. She works hard. She has performed her job well. She is pleasant most of the time, but she has a bad temper which has led to many personal problems with the group. Although I cannot recommend her for promotion, I approve a 5 % raise for her.

PRINCIPLE 13 1. We regret to inform you that we cannot permit you to use our auditorium for our meeting, as the ladies investment club asked for it first. We can, however, let you use our conference room, but it seats only 60. 2. You were wrong in you conclusion, you should have read paragraph three, for paragraph three of our agreement clearly states the conditions for exchange of goods.

3. You should have known that the camera lens cannot be cleaned with tissue, for it is clearly explained in the instructions. Principle 14 1. You cannot visit the plant except on Sundays. 2. We cannot deliver the goods till Friday. 3. We have no intention of permitting this condition to continue.

Principle 15 1. As a matter of interest, I am interested in learning your procedure. 2. We must assemble together at 10.30 a.m.in the morning. 3. In my opinion, I think the plan is sound. Avoid Clichd and stereotyped terms, Jargon, dull, stilted and roundabout construction. Dont exaggerate or show excess of good will. Dont preach and advise. Converse in familiar and simple language. Remember the Seven Cs of Communication You should be good at Grammar [no matter what language you use]: Be aware of subject -verb agreement/ Use the appropriate pronouns and verb. Avoid the dangling participle. Use the correct tense, and sequence of tense. Use the correct word/usage-apt/liable/likely Know the word in all parts of speech: beauty, beautify, beautiful, beautifully Use the correct participle according to the tense of the verb: think, thinks thinking thought, thought

Letter Writing Letter writing is indispensable to business. It can boost your sales and and develop good relationships with clients. A well written letter can calm troubled water and heal wounded feelings.. Your letter must reflect YOU. Be simple and straightforward. Do not sound stilted and pompous Think before you write 1. Purpose: Have it firmly in your mind before you start writing. 2 Draft: You should plan your letter carefully Paragraph 1: express your purpose-come to the point Paragraph 2: Give facts, details and information Paragraph 3: ask for action from the reader or state the action you will take. 3 Body: Give all the information required. Be concise and brief- a busy person has no time to read long letters. Your sentences should not exceed three lines. Keep your paragraphs short Language should be free from jargon and clichs Avoid abbreviations and short forms. Avoid longwinded phrases. Say what u mean, mean what u say Be logical and organize the points chronologically or in the order of importance Use headings, bullets, and spacing [respect your reader] 4Close: End on a firm and positive note Beware of the dangling participle: Hoping to hear from you Thanking you in anticipation Assuring you of our best attention at all times 5 Edit: Revise your letter until it is perfect. Check your grammar, spelling, punctuation, correctness of detail. 6. Maintain a copy of the letter for future reference and proof of reply. 7 Presentation is very important. Use good stationery, A4 size paper. Use paper with the companys letter head, trade name, registration number, The companys registered office, name of the director and nationality, logo, telephone and fax numbers. 8 Layout: Use the block or the semi block format-stick to the one you have chosen. if you do not write on the companys or your personal letterhead, you must write your address, the date-month, day, year-October 31,2012/31ST October 2012/31 October2012

the reference if replying to their letter, say, your ref if referring to your letter say- our ref. Name and designation of the person you are writing to. Salutation: Try and find out the name of the person you are writing to. Dear Sir/ Dear Madam/ Dear Mr. Rao/ Dear Miss/ Ms/ Mrs. Ambani If you are familiar with the person, say Dear Nita. Text Conclusion: If you address the person by name, say Yours sincerely/Regards/ Best Wishes Otherwise end with -Yours faithfully Signature: Sign the letter and write your name [without title] beneath it, followed by your designation.[under your name] A woman may put her title[Ms/Mrs. / Miss] in brackets after her name.

Effective Email Writing Structure

1] Address 2] cc 3] Subject line 4] Salutation 5] Main body 6] Signature 1] Address: click in the address from the address book to save time and errors. 2] CC: send it only if it is a must, or you will clutter your mail. 3] Subject line: Give a clear idea of your text and context, Give the gist of your message. If your ID is unfamiliar to the receiver say: important message from (Cos name) or the reader may delete it. E-marketers use fancy subject lines and we delete them as we consider them spam. It should be brief or it gets truncated. If it is in response to a mail use - Re If it is important say- URGENT Say- Req when the receiver gets a lot of mail; it signals action. If you give information, say- FYI (for your information) 4] Salutation: For a senior person [age and position]- Dear Mr. Shah For peers/colleaguesDear Anita / Hello/ Dear Colleagues or nothing at all. Dear all - must be avoided. Mr. Rodrigues.Name General Manager.Designation / Professional affiliation 5] Main body of the mail: Get to the point quickly- if you know the person. Mention the context at the start if the receiver is a new person. Mr. Sherma has asked me to contact you. Or say: I am Mr. Shermas relative/friend. If you receive a strange mail, ask the person to identify him/herself or ask how he/her came to know about you If you are referring to a previous document, quote the document. Dont say : did you get all that you needed? Use > or [ ] to quote previous mail or message or if you have asked for information say >Ive got the --Provide for context of message. Start with the answer to the question. Put the main information at the start, it gets saved. Take time to draft your message in a concise manner so that it is easily understood. 6] Signature or sign off:

Sign off with; Thank you / With regards/ Best wishes

It should be less than five lines Dos 1] Use short paragraphs, point wise; and a few sentences. 2] Type 29- 70 characters on a line or it gets truncated. 3] Write 25 lines or less. 4] Try to avoid using attachments as your receiver may not have the time to access it or use the well-known file format--Word, Excel, Power point 5] Be brief rather than be misunderstood. 6] Use correct English, grammar, spelling, punctuation and appropriate, wording. 7] Give many details if you have a list of recipients. 8] Use: */ italics/!!! / Capital letters, for emphasis 9] Use a conversational tone, to elicit a response. 10] Be aware of page lay-out, your receivers computer may not be as up dated as yours. 11] Be aware of the culture and customs of you receiver. 12] Use: */capital letters or italics to replace gestures. Donts 1] Do not type the entire mail in the upper case. 2] Avoid Pronouns (especially in the first three sentences) 3] Do not use fancy fonts, colors or page layouts 4] Avoid long paragraphs 5] Dont be too formal you may not get a response or one youd like to get. 6] Do not be sloppy in your writing,[bad English, poor spelling, wrong usage, bad grammar, jargon; it causes a bad impression. 7] Dont say Good morning/ evening due to different time zones across the world. 8] Dont use short forms unless you are sure about the person/ group you are writing to. 9] Dont use words that your receiver wont understand. 10] Dont use too many words. 11] Dont forget to give the proper context.

Use your official name-your full name Follow it with your designation It must be provided or the mail could be deleted.

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