Chapter Four

The Process of Preparing

Effective Business
Messages

Wednesday, December 1
8, 2021
 The Process of Preparing Effective
Business Messages
• Five Planning Steps
 Identify Your Purpose
 Analyze Your Audience
 Choose your Ideas
 Collect Your Data
 Organize Your Message
• Basic Organizational Plans
 Direct (Deductive) Approach
 Indirect (Inductive) Approach
• Beginnings and Endings
 Opening Paragraphs
 Closing Paragraphs
• Composing Messages
 Drafting Your Message
 Revising Your Message
 Editing and Proofreading Your Message
 FIVE PLANNING STEPS
1. IDENTIFY YOUR PURPOSE:
 The Objective of your message is almost
always two fold: the reason for the message
itself and the creation of goodwill.
OR
 You must know why you should write and
what should be written. The purpose may be
request, inquiry or refusal etc.
 2.Analyze Your Audience:
 See your message from your receiver’s point of
view: their needs, interests, attitudes, even their
culture.
OR
 It is better for the sender to understand the
receiver. You should know his background,
qualification, education, position, status in the
company, desire, expectations, problems, and
possible reaction to your request. Also he/she is
superior subordinate, laborer, professional or
technical person, colleague, single or married, man
or women, young or old, new or long time
customer.
 3.Choose Your Ideas:
 The ideas you included depend on the type of
message you are sending, the situation, and
the cultural context.
OR
 It depends upon the type of message. Before
working down the points to be covered in
communication, and then bring them in order
of importance and urgency.
 4.Collect Your Data:
 Be sure to collect enough data to support your
ideas; check names, dates, addresses and
statistics for precision.
OR
 To Explain facts, figures, quotation, visual aids
may be utilized, or other forms of evidence to
support your points.
 5.Organize Your Message:
 Organizing your material before writing your
first draft can prevent rambling and unclear
messages.
OR
 Once the ideas have been jotted down, they
should be properly arranged and organized.
Failing to organize will fail the objectives of
the message.
 Basic Organizational Plans
• For letters, you can choose one of the
four basic organizational plans:
1. Direct-Request Plan
2. Good-News Plan
3. Bad-News Plan
4. Persuasive-request Plan
– The first two plans use the direct approach,
which begins with the main idea; the last two
plans use the indirect approach, which
states the main idea later
 Direct (Deductive) Approach:
• When you think your reader or listener will have a
favorable or neutral reaction to your message
• You begin with the main idea or best news. After
the opening, you include all necessary
explanatory details in one or several paragraphs
and end with an appropriate, friendly closing
• Use the direct-request plan when the main
purpose of your message is to make a request
that requires less persuasion
• Use good-news plan to grant requests, announce
favorable or neutral information, and exchange
routine information within or between companies
 Indirect (Inductive) Approach:
• If you think your readers or listeners might react
negatively to your message, generally you
should not present the main idea in the first
paragraph
• Instead consider beginning with a buffer-
relevant pleasant, neutral, or receiver-benefit
statement; then give an explanation before you
introduce your idea
• The bad-news message is one of the most
difficult to prepare because your reader may
react negatively.
• Likewise, in the persuasive request you may
face resistance
 Beginnings and Endings
 Two of the most important positions in any
business message are the opening and closing
paragraphs.
 You have probably heard the Old Saying “First
Impression is Last Impression”.
 Whenever possible, place the main favorable
ideas at the beginning and ending of the
paragraph.
 Opening Paragraphs:
 The opening of a message determines
whether the reader continues reading, puts
the message aside, or discards it.
1. Choose Openings Appropriate for Message
Purpose and Reader.
2. Make the opening Considerate, Courteous,
Concise, and Clear.
3. Check for Completeness
 Closing Paragraphs:
 Closing should be strong, clear, and polite;
they should have a sense of closure and
goodwill with the receiver.
1.Make Action Request Clear and Complete with
the Five W’s.
2.End on a Positive, Courteous Thought.
3.Keep the last Paragraph Concise and Correct.
 Composing the Message
Drafting the Message:
 Your first draft is often the most difficult to
write. The important thing is to get the most
important information in your message on
paper early.
OR
 When you have completed the five planning
steps and considered your openings and
closings, then you will be ready for your first
draft.
 Revising Your Message:
 Revising means adding necessary and deleting
unnecessary Information, making sure your
points are adequately supported, checking
your organizational approach, and reviewing
your language in terms of the seven C’s.
OR
 If you included unnecessary material, delete
it. If you need additional information, get it,
change, move, add and delete as much
information as you need to create an effective
message.
Editing and Proofreading Your Message:
 Editing and proofreading are important to
ensure that your document has no mistakes in
grammar, spelling, punctuation, or word
choice.
 Proofread your document several times to be
sure that you have not missed any errors.
 Persons writing in a second language will find
it helpful to read their written material aloud.
 In fact, pronouncing written material out loud is a
good idea for everyone.