E ff ective Written Communication Instructor: Heather Plett www . - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective Written Communication

Instructor: Heather Plett www.heatherplett.com

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Community Agreements

• We will treat each other respectfully and with kindness.
• We will offer constructive criticism only when it is

asked for or appropriate.

• We will do our best to honour each other by showing

up on time and not being disruptive.

• We will honour our own wisdom and be willing to

share it when appropriate.

• We will honour each other’s wisdom and welcome it

when appropriate.

• We will be self-aware and hold ourselves accountable.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Check-in

• A time when we go around the circle

and share something about how our week or day has gone.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective writing?

• What examples have you seen of

effective or ineffective writing this week? In advertising, newspapers,

• nline, etc.?

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Stretching Exercise

• Writing exercise - Six word stories. Examples:
• Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
• Margaret Atwood: Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
• Margaret Atwood: Corpse parts missing. Doctor

buys yacht.

• H-bombs dropped; we all died.
• Best friends. Some beers. New lovers.
• Restraining order lifed. Chucky Cheese anyone?
• Shots fired. Bastard’s dead. Divorce final.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Six Word Memoirs

• Expected more contentment in my middle-age.
• Proud to be your recurring problem.
• Grasping at last shreds of pretty.
• We are strangers in this marriage.
• Plumber: Fix a toilet, get paid crap
• Dominatrix: Woman seeks men - high pain threshold.
• Born in California. Then nothing happened.
• Divorced, broke, spinal tumor. Otherwise fine.
• Got away with more than expected.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective emails

• Pros
• eliminates “phone tag” & allows person to

respond when available

• saves time & interruptions
• speeds the process & permits rapid exchanges
• cheap
• provides a written record

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Emails

• Cons:
• not confidential
• absence of non-verbal clues (voice

intonation, facial expression, etc.)

• doesn’t communicate emotions well
• easy to ignore or delay

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Email

• Beginning the message:
• make it as formal or informal as the relationship

requires

• identify yourself, if necessary
• Organizing the content
• a “top-down” order is most ofen appropriate
• most important information first
• positive info. may be more direct, while negative
• info. more indirect

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Email

• Writing the message:
• formality: determine the nature of the

relationship - casual, informal, or formal?

• conciseness: as short as complete coverage
• f the subject matter will permit
• clarity: concreteness, vigor & precision
• etiquette: courteous - keep it professional
• correctness: proofread & edit carefully

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Goals for effective emails:

• Will actually be read
• Will actually be understood
• Will not annoy the receiver
• Does not take up too much time on the

receiver’s end.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Inappropriate use of email

• message is long, complicated, or requires negotiation
• questions or information need clarification and

discussion

• information is confidential or sensitive, requires security
• r could be misinterpreted
• message is emotionally charged & requires tone of voice
• message is sent to avoid direct contact with a person
• message contains sensitive issues, relays feelings, or

attempts to resolve conflict

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Which message opener is more effective?

An email inquiring about web hosting:

• 1. We are considering launching our own website

because we feel it is the only way to keep up with

• ur competition and make our product more visible

in a crowded market. We have a lot of questions and need information about web hosting.

• 2. Please answer the following questions about hosting
• ur new website, which we hope to launch to

increase our product visibility in a crowded market.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

An email message announcing a professional development program:

• 1. Employees interested in improving their

writing and communication skills are invited to a training program beginning October 4.

• 2. For the past year we have been

investigating the possibility of developing a communication skills training program for some of our employees.

Which message opener is more effective?

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Stretching exercise

• Rewrite one of the following opening paragraphs:
• Several staff members came to me and announced their

interest in learning more about severance plans and separation policies. As most of you know, these areas of concern are increasingly important for most Human Resources professionals. A seminar entitled “Severance & Separation Benefits” is being conducted February 11. The following employees are attending the seminar: Dave Neufeld, Tayreez Mushani, and Gail Switzer.

• Your employee association has secured discounts on auto

repair, carpet purchases, travel arrangements, and many

• ther services. These services are available to you if you

have a Buying Power Card. All employees are eligible for their own private Buying Power Cards.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective emails - tips

• Use simple subject line with enough

information & interest that the recipient wants to open it (consider it a headline)

• Keep it short. You can always follow up with

more info. if necessary.

• Proofread carefully.
• Use proper capitalization for anything

formal/professional.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Email tips (cont’d)

• Provide key information with your

signature (eg. company name, website, etc.)

• If you’re sending attachments, make sure

they’re small & readable.

• Be clear, concise, and complete.
• Be as personal as you can be without
• ffending.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Email tips (cont’d)

• Make one point per email
• Specify the response you want
• Make sure all the necessary information

is included.

• Avoid “dumping” - sending too much

information to too many people too

• fen.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Email tips (cont’d)

• Don’t use email to avoid contact.
• Never respond when you’re angry.
• Care about correctness.
• Resist humour and personal jokes.
• Limit the tendency to copy to your

distribution list.

• Limit the tendency to reply to the entire cc

list.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Email tips (cont’d)

• Consider using identifying labels (eg.

“Action” , “Urgent”

• Use capitals letters only for emphasis or for

titles

• Announce attachments; consider

summarizing or highlighting important aspects briefly in the email body

• Consider asking for permission before

forwarding

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Consider the audience benefits

(page 40)

Sender focus: To enable us to update

• ur shareholder records,

we ask that the enclosed card be returned. Our warranty becomes effective only when we receive an owner’s registration. Audience focus: So that you may promptly receive dividend cheques and information related to your shares, please return the enclosed card. Your warranty begins working for you as soon as you return your

• wner’s registration.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Polite “You” View

(page 40)

“I/We” View: I have scheduled your vacation to begin May 1. “You” View: You may begin your vacation May 1. “I/We” View: We have shipped your order by courier, and we are sure it will arrive in time for the sales promotion on January 15. “You” View: Your order will be delivered by courier in time for your sales promotion January 15.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Exercise - Revise to emphasize the audience perspective and the “you” view

• To prevent us from possibly losing large sums of money, our

bank now requires verification of any large cheque presented for immediate payment.

• We take pride in announcing daily flights to Singapore.
• So that we may comply with new federal privacy legislation,

we are asking you to complete the enclosed waiver.

• For just $1,195 per person, we have arranged a seven-day trip

to Las Vegas that includes deluxe accommodations, a Cirque du Soleil performance, and selected meals.

• I give my permission to attend the two-day workshop.
• I think my background and my education match the

description of the manager trainee position you advertised.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Conversational but Professional

(page 43)

Unprofessional (low-level diction) badmouth guts pecking order ticked off rat on rip off TTLY Conversational (mid-level diction) criticize nerve line of command upset inform steal talk to you later

Formal (high-level diction) denigrate courage dominance heirarchy provoked betray embezzle I’ll be in touch soon about this

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Warm, friendly tone that sounds professional (page 42)

Formal: All employees are herewith instructed to return appropriately designated contracts to the undersigned. Conversational: Please return your contracts to me. Formal: Pertaining to your order, we must verify the sizes that your organization requires prior to consignment of your order to our shipper. Conversational: We’ll send your order as soon as we confirm the sizes you need.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Exercise: convert to conversational, professional tone

• Kindly inform the undersigned whether or not your

representative will be making a visitation in the near future.

• Pursuant to your letter of the 12th, please be advised

that your shipment was sent 9 June 2012.

• She was pretty ticked off because the manager

accused her of ripping off office supplies.

• Kindly be informed that your vehicle has been

determined to require corrective work.

• He didn’t have the guts to badmouth her to her face.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Positive Language

(page 43)

Negative: We are unable to send your shipment until we receive proof of your payment. Positive: We look forward to sending your shipment as soon as we receive your payment. Negative: You will never regret opening an account with us. Positive: Your new account enables you to purchase high-quality clothing at reasonable prices.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Courteous Language

(page 43)

Less courteous: You must complete the report before Friday. More courteous: Please complete the report by Friday. Less courteous: You should organize a car pool in this department. More courteous: Organizing a car pool will reduce your transportation costs and help preserve the environment.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Familiar words

(page 45)

Less familiar: ascertain conceptualize encompass hypothesis monitor

• perational
• ption

perpetuate perplexing Alternatives: find out see include guess check working choice continue troubling

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Analyzing, Anticipating, Adapting

• Do I really need to write this email?
• Why am I writing?
• How will the reader react?
• How can I save my reader’s time?

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

What’s wrong with this email?

Subject: Meeting Hi Jim. I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled for next week. Let me know if you have any questions. Best wishes, Mark

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

More effective version:

Subject: Reminder of Meeting, 10am on July 30 on harassment policy Hi Jim I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled for Monday, July 30, at 10:00 am. It’s being held in conference room A, and we’ll be discussing the new harassment

• policy. A representative from the board of directors will be

present, along with the human resources team. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch (954-3024). Best wishes, Mark

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

The PASS Process for emails

• P is for PURPOSE - what is the purpose of the email?
• A is for ACTION - what action needs to result from

the email? does it have a due date? (task? respond? read?)

• S is for support - what supporting documentation

needs to be included or attached?

• S is for Summary - have you successfully summarized

your message in the subject line?

http://workawesome.com/communication/ effective-email-communication/

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Writing for an audience

• Who is my audience?
• What does my audience already know about the

subject?

• What does my audience need to know?
• What questions will my audience have?
• What’s the best outcome for my audience? What

do I need to say to get this outcome?

• What’s the best outcome for me or the people I

represent? What do I need to say to get this

• utcome?

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Identifying your audience

• Who they are (age, sex, education,

economic status, political/social/religious beliefs)?

• What level of information do they have

about the subject (novice, general reader, specialist or expert)?

• What is the context in which they will be

reading a piece of writing (letter, newsletter, email, online, etc.)?

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Knowing your audience

• Knowing your audience will help you

understand:

• how much information to convey
• what kinds and levels of details to include
• what concepts to emphasize
• how much time to spend in research
• what writing strategies to use
• how to organize your information
• what words, tone, and style to use to communicate

with your audience

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Using an appropriate style

• What are you trying to say?
• “In the interest of ensuring maximum

utilization of the subterranean components of the building currently not apportioned to

• perations departments, it is recommended that

an evaluation of requisites for storage space be

• initiated. Subject review should be initiated at

the earliest practicable opportunity and should be conducted by administrative personnel not affiliated with operative departments.”

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective Writing Strategies

• Use familiar words. (eg. “end” instead of

“terminate”)

• How to sound as smart as your boss - video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O9m92CAOOo&feature=related

• Use slang & cliché with caution. (eg.

“voted off the island”)

• Business buzzwords video: http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=asZEojIh-gg

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Jargon

above-board action item actionable air it out all-hands meeting bottom line brain drain due diligence exit strategy intelectual property joint venture margin of error bandwidth key performance indicators return on investment subject matter expert deliverables low-hanging fruit

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective Writing Strategies

• Use short words
• eg. “During the preceding year the company
• perated at a financial deficit.”
• could be “Last year the company lost

money”

• Use technical words & acronyms with

caution.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Concrete Language

Abstract

A significant loss The leading company The majority In the near future

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Concrete Language

Abstract

A significant loss The leading company The majority In the near future

Specific

A 53 percent loss First among 3,212 competitors 62 percent By noon Thursday

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective Sentences

(page 59)

• Complete sentences have subjects and verbs

and make sense.

• eg. This report is clear and concise.
• Clauses and phrases, the building blocks of

sentences, are related groups of words. Phrases don’t have subjects and verbs, while clauses do.

• eg. The CEO of that organization sent a letter to
• ur staff.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Effective Sentences

• Clauses can be divided into two groups:

independent and dependent.

• Independent clauses are grammatically

complete, while dependent clauses depend for their meaning on independent clauses.

• Because she writes well, Tracy answers most

customer letters.

• When she writes to customers, Naomi uses

straightforward language.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Sentence Fragment

(page 60)

• A fragment is a broken-off part of a sentence that

is missing either a subject or a verb.

• FRAGMENT: Because most transactions require a

permanent record. Good writing skills are critical.

• REVISION: Because most transactions require a

permanent record, good writing skills are critical.

• FRAGMENT: The interviewer requested a writing
• sample. Even though the candidate seemed to

communicate well.

• REVISION: The interviewer requested a writing sample,

even though the candidate seemed to communicate well.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Run-on Sentence

(page 60)

• A sentence with two independent clauses must be

joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, or, not, but) or by a semicolon (;). Without a conjunction or a semicolon the result is a run-on sentence.

• RUN-ON: Some employers still prefer to see a printed

résumé a growing number specify that only electronic résumés can be submitted.

• REVISION: Some employees still prefer to see a printed

résumé, but a growing number specify that only electronic résumés can be submitted.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Sentence Length

(page 61)

• Because your goal is to communicate clearly,

you’re better off limiting your sentences to 20

• r fewer words.

Sentence Length 8 words 15 words 19 words 28 words Comprehension Rate 100% 90% 80% 50%

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Stretching Exercise

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Assignment

• Write one of the following emails:
• You’re writing to your city councillor to

request that they consider putting a stop sign on your street to slow traffic.

• You’re inquiring about renting a room at the

local community centre to host a celebration for your sports team.

Sunday, 18 November, 12

Heather Plett

sharing stories, wisdom & courage www.heatherplett.com

Grading assignments

• Assignments will be graded for: (approx. breakdown)
• content & development (eg. clarity, accuracy, effectiveness,

creativity) - approx. 50%

• rganization & structure (paragraphs & sentences are well
• rganized & structured) - approx. 20%
• format (appropriate formatting for content/message) - approx.

10%

• grammar, punctuation & spelling - approx. 20%
• My notes will convey the missing elements, but not an exact

breakdown.

• You will have one opportunity to re-submit an assignment

to improve your grade.

Sunday, 18 November, 12