PLANNING BUSINESS

MESSAGES
Chapter 4
Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process

 The three step writing process helps to ensure

that your messages are both effective (meeting
your audience’s needs and getting your points
across) and efficient (making the best use of your
time and your audience time).
 The three steps are:
 1) Planning your business messages
 2) Writing your business messages
 3) Completing business messages
 Planning Your Business Messages

 The first step in the three-step writing process is

planning your business message.
 Planning your business messages involves the
following steps:
 1) Analyze the situation
 2) Gather information
 3) Select the right medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)
 4) Organize information
 1) Analyze the Situation
 1) Analyze the situation: Every communication
effort takes place in a specific situation.
 This means that you have a specific message to
send to a specific audience under a specific set of
circumstances.
 For example: Describing your professional
qualifications to your boss is very different than
describing your qualifications in your LinkedIn
profile.
 1) Analyze the Situation
 The fundamental information for your two
messages in the previous example could be very
similar.
 But the level of detail to include, the tone of the
writing, and the specific words choice—these and
other choices will be different from one situation to
another.
 Making the right choices involves:
 A) Defining your purpose clearly
 B) Understanding your audience’s needs.
 1) Analyze the Situation
 A) Defining your purpose clearly: All business
messages have a general purpose such as:
 To inform
 To persuade
 To collaborate
 The general purpose will define the overall
approach you will need to take for gathering
information to organizing your message.
 1) Analyze the Situation
 Each message also has a specific purpose which defines
what you expect to achieve with your message.
 The specific purpose of the message also states what your
audience should do or think after receiving your
message.
 For example: Is your goal simply to update your
audience about some future event, or do you want people
to take immediate action?
 State your specific purpose very precisely by including
which audience member should respond and how they
should respond, and when.
 1) Analyze the Situation
 After you have defined you specific purpose, take a
moment and ask yourself if the purpose is worthy of
the time and effort that is required to prepare and send
the message.
 The following questions will help you determine if
the message is worthy of your time and effort.
 1) Will anything change as result of your message?
 2) Is your purpose realistic?
 3) Is the time right?
 4) Is your purpose acceptable to your organization?
 1) Analyze the Situation
 The next step in analyzing the situation is developing
an audience profile.
 Use the following steps to conduct a
comprehensive analysis of your audience.
 1) Identify your primary audience: For some
messages, specific audience members may be more
important than others.
 Do not neglect the needs of less influential audience
members but focus more on the key decision makers.
Using Audience Analysis to Plan a Message
 1) Analyze the Situation
 2) Determine audience size and geographic
distribution: A message directed at 10,000 people
across the globe will need a different approach than
one directed at 10 people down the hall.
 3) Determine audience composition: Look for
similarities and differences in culture, language,
age, education, organizational rank and status,
attitudes, experience, motivations, biases, beliefs,
and any other factors that might impact the success
of your message.
Predicting the Effects of Audience Composition
 1) Analyze the Situation
 4) Evaluate audience members’ level of understanding: If
audience members share your general background, they will
most likely understand your material without any problem.
 If not, your message will need to educate your audience to
help them understand your message.
 5) Understand audience expectations and preference:
 For example: Will members of your audience expect
complete details or just a summary of the key points?
 In general, for internal communication, the higher up the
organization your message goes, the fewer details people
want to see.
 1) Analyze the Situation
 6) Predict possible audience reaction: Potential
audience reaction impacts message organization.
 If you anticipate a favorable response, you can
state conclusions and recommendations up front
and offer little supporting evidence.
 If you expect skepticism, you should introduce
conclusions gradually and offer more supporting
evidence.
 2) Gather Information
 2) Gather information: When you have clear picture
of your audience, you next step is to gather the
information that you need to include in your message.
 There is a number of informal ways to gather insight
that will guide your information gathering process such
as:
 1) Consider the audience’s perspective: Put yourself
in the audience position.
 What are these people thinking, feeling, planning?
 What information do they need to move forward?
 2) Gather Information
 2) Listen to the community: For just about any
subject related to business, there is a community of
customers, product enthusiasts, or other who
engage in online discussion.
 3) Read reports and other company documents:
Annual reports, financial statements, news releases,
blogs by industry experts, marketing reports, and
customer surveys are potential resources for
information.
 2) Gather Information
 4) Talk with supervisors, colleagues, or
customers: Co-workers and customers may have
information that you need.
 5) Ask for audience for input: If you are not
certain what audience members need from your
message, ask them if you can.
 2) Gather Information
 Finding Your Focus
 If you face a situation where the assignment is so vague
that you have no idea how to get started in determining
the needs of your audience you could use discovery
technique such as free writing or sketching.
 Free writing: involves writing whatever comes to your
mind without stopping to make any corrections for a
period of time.
 Sketching: involves you grabbing a sketchpad and start
drawing.
 2) Gather Information
 Providing the Required Information
 After you have defined your audience’s
information needs, you next step is to satisfy those
needs.
 One way to test the thoroughness of your message
is to use the journalistic approach.
 Check to see whether your message answers who,
what, when, where, why, and how.
 Class Exercise
 For the following message determine if it meets
the journalistic approach:
 We are exploring ways to reduce our office space
leasing costs and would like your input on a
proposed plan in which employees who
telecommute on alternate days could share office.
Please let me know what you think of this proposal.
 2) Gather Information
 You should also make sure that the information
you provide your audience is:
 Accurate: The quality of the information you
provide is as important as the quantity.
 Ethical: Messages can be unethical if information
is left out or is false.
 Pertinent: the information should be relevant to
the audience ‘s needs.
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 3) Select the right medium ( oral ,written,

visual electronic):
 The most common media channels options are:
 1) Oral (spoken medium), In Person Channel
 2) Oral (spoken medium), Digital Channel
 3) Written Medium, Print Channel
 4) Written Medium, Digital Channel
 5) Visual Medium, Print Channel
 6) Visual Medium, Digital Channel
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 1) Oral (spoken medium), In Person Channel:

involves talking with people who are in the same
location, whether it’s a one-on-one conversation
over lunch or a more formal speech or presentation.
 Being in the same location helps you observe
nonverbal signals from your audience.
 Face-to-face is very useful for complex,
emotionally charged situations where building a
business relationship is critical.
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 2) Oral (spoken medium), Digital Channel:

includes any transmission of voice via electronic
means, both live and recorded including:
 Telephone calls: offer the give-and-take of in-
person conversations but no non verbal
communication can be observed with this method.
 Podcasts: Good way to share lectures,
commentary, and other spoken content.
 Voicemail messages
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 3) Written Medium, Print Channel: are the

classic ways that business communication was
conducted.
 Memos: are brief printed documents used for
routine, day-to-day exchange of information inside
an organization.
 Letters: are short written messages sent to
customers and other receivers outside the
organization.
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 There are some situations where you should think

about using a printed message over electronic
message such as:
 When you want to make a formal impression
 When you are legally required to provide information
in printed form
 When you want to differentiate yourself from the
flood of electronic messages
 When you need a permanent, unchangeable, or secure
record.
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 4) Written Medium, Digital Channel: Most of

your business communication will involve digital
messages such as tweets, website content, PDF
files and others.
 5) Visual Medium, Print Channel: Photographs
and diagrams can be very effective communication
tools for express emotional content, spatial
relationships, technical processes and other content
that can be hard to explain in words alone.
3) Select the Right Medium ( oral , written, visual
electronic)

 6) Visual Medium, Digital Channel: Business

messages can come alive through visual media in
digital channels.
 Infographics, interactive diagrams, animation, and
digital video have the potential to engage audience
in ways that other medium can not.
 Factors to Consider when Choosing Media and
Channels

 The following are factors that you should consider

when choosing a medium or channel for your
messages:
 1) Richness: is a medium ability to:
 A) Convey a message through more than one
informational cue (visual, verbal, vocal).
 2) Accommodate feedback
 3) Establish personal focus
 Factors to Consider when Choosing Media and
Channels

 The richest medium is face-to-face communication

because it is personal, it provides immediate
feedback (verbal and nonverbal), and it conveys the
emotional that is behind the message.
 The leanest mediums are texting and IM.
 2) Formality: Your media is a nonverbal sign that
impacts the style and tone of your message.
 For example: a printed memo or letter is more likely
to be perceived as a more formal gesture than an IM
or email message.
 Factors to Consider when Choosing Media and
Channels

 3) Media and channel limitations: Every medium

and channel has limitations.
 For example: IM is great for communicating
simple messages between two people but is less
effective for complex messages.
 4) Urgency: Some media establish a connection
with the audience quicker than others.
 5) Cost: Cost is both a real financial factor and a
perceived nonverbal signal.
 Factors to Consider when Choosing Media and
Channels
 For example: depending on the situation, expensive video or
multimedia presentations can send a nonverbal signal of
sophistication and professionalism or disregard for a company’s
budget.
 6) Audience preference: If you know the medium that is
preferred by you audience, make sure to use it or risk having the
message missed or ignored.
 7) Security and privacy: Your company may have rules and
restriction on which medium and channels that you can use.
 Also be careful when handling sensitive information.
 Do not assume that your email, IM, and other digital
communications are private.
 4) Organize information

 4) Organize information: Organization can

make the difference between success and failure.
 Good organization helps your readers or
listeners in three ways:
 1) Good organization helps them understand the
message
 2) Good organization helps receivers accept your
message.
 3) Good organization saves audience time.
 4) Organize information

 Defining Your Main Idea

 The topic of your message is the overall subject.
 Your main idea is a specific statement about the topic.
 For example: If you believe that the existing system of
using paper forms for filling employee insurance claims
is expensive and slow.
 You might craft a message in which the topic is employee
insurance claims and the main idea is that a new web-
based system would decrease costs for the company and
decrease reimbursement delays for employees.
Topics versus Main Ideas
 4) Organize information

 Limiting Your Scope

 The scope of your message is:
 The range of information that you present
 The overall length of the message
 The level of details in the message
 It is important to limit yourself to the scope that is
necessary to convey your main idea and no more.
 Limit the number of major supporting points to 6
or so.
 4) Organize information

 Choosing Between Direct and Indirect Approaches

 After you have defined you main idea and supporting
points, you need to decide on the sequence you will use
to present you information.
 There are two options. They are:
 1) The direct approach: Starts with the main idea
(such as a recommendation, a conclusion, or a request)
and follows with the supporting evidence.
 2) The indirect approach: Starts with the evidence and
builds up to the main idea.
 4) Organize information

 To choose between the two approaches, analyze

your audience reaction to your purpose and
message.
Choosing Between the Direct and Indirect Approaches
 4) Organize information

 Outlining Your Content

 After you have chosen the best approach, you need
to figure out the most logical and effective way to
present your major points and supporting details.
 Get into the habit of creating outlines when you
are preparing business messages.
 After outlining your message, start your message
with the main idea.
 4) Organize information

 The main idea will help you establish the goals of

the message, and it summarizes critical
considerations such as:
 1) What you want your audience members to do or
think
 2) Why they should do so
 Everything in your message should either support
the main idea or explain its implications.
 Structuring an Outline (Example)

 1. First major point

 A. First subpoint
 B. Second subpoint
 1. Examples and evidence
 2. Examples and evidence
 a. Detail
 b. Detail.
 3. Examples and evidence
 C. Third subpoint
 Structuring an Outline (Example-
continued)
 II. Second major point
 A. First subpoint
 1. Examples and evidence
 2. Examples and evidence
 B. Second subpoint
 4) Organize information

 You need to support your main idea with major

points that clarify and explain the main idea in
concrete terms.
 Examples: If your purpose is to inform and the
material is factual, your major points my be based
on something physical or financial-something you
can visualize or measure.
 If you are describing a process, the major points
should be the steps in the process.
 4) Organize information

 If your purpose is to persuade or collaborate, you

should select major points that develop a line of
reasoning or a logical argument that supports your
central message and motivates your audience to
act.
 After you have defined the main ideas and
identified the major supporting points, think about
examples and evidence that can affirm or expand
on your supporting points.
 4) Organize information

 Build Reader Interest with Storytelling

Techniques
 Storytelling is one of the most commonly used
structures in television commercials and other
advertisement.
 A key reason storytelling can be very effective is
that stories help the audience imagine themselves
living through the experience of the person in the
story.
 Reference
 Bovee, S.L., & Thill, J.V. (2018). Business
Communication Today, 14th edition, Pearson
Education Limited.