Modern Business Writing

	Enhancing Business Writing Skills Facilitated by Mosedimosi Business Training September to October 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHT
	The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Seta’s.

Table of Contents

Module 1 5

1 Planning and constructing documents 5

1.1 The importance of written communication 5

Methods of communicating 5

Value of the written word 7

Resistance to writing 7

Cultivate your writing skills 7

1.2 Set the objective(s) 8

1.3 Purpose and Scope 10

1.3.1 Purpose 10

1.3.2 Scope 10

1.4 Planning the document 11

1.4.1 When following the planning process, you need to: 11

1.4.2 State the purpose 11

1.4.4 Gather required information 14

Notes on drafting a questionnaire 15

1.4.5 Analyse your information 15

1.4.6 Determine the solution 16

1.4.7 Organise your document 17

Module 2 18

2.1 Mind Maps 18

2.1.1 Introduction 18

2.1.2 Drawing Basic Mind Maps 19

2.1.3 Improving your Mind Maps 20

2.2.1 Terms of Reference 21

2.2.4 Preliminary findings 23

2.2.5 Conclusions 24

2.2.6 Financial implications 25

2.3 Tactics to get rid of writer’s block 26

Module 3 29

3.1. The foundations of your writing skills 29

The system focuses on four rules 29

Its foundations are 30

English a complex language 30

What you are up against learning English: 30

H. Schultz v The New York Cleaning Department 31

3.2 Grammar 33

Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t. 34

3.2.3.2 Word use 36

Be precise, avoid jargon and clichés 36

3.2.3.3 Useless words 37

3.2.3.4 Nice words 38

Nice man 38

Nice food 38

Nice flowers 38

3.2.3.5 Positive and negative words 38

3.2.3.6 Don’t use big words 41

3.2.3.7 When to use a “BIG” word 41

3.2.4 Pomposity 42

“Creative” pomposity 43

3.2.5 Verbs 44

3.2.5.1 Active and Passive 44

Active voice 45

Passive voice 45

Example 45

3.2.5.2 When to use the passive voice 45

3.2.6 Sentences 47

Major punctuation marks are . ? ! : ; - 47

Minor punctuation marks are , ( ) “ “ ‘ ‘ 47

Sentence length 47

Sentence structure 47

3.2.7 Paragraphs 48

3.2.7.1 Signposts 48

3.2.8 Punctuation 50

Option 1 56

Option 2 56

4 Producing documents which are clear, effective and professional 57

4.1 Ambiguity 57

4.2 Choosing the correct tone 58

4.3.6 Ten principles for effective writing 63

64

5.1 Inter-office memos 65

5.2 Letters 67

5.2.1 Structure of a letter 67

5.2.2 Business letter examples 71

Example: 73

5.2.2.3 Responding to an enquiry/request for information 74

5.2.5 Exercise 83

Decide what type of complaint the following complaints are and choose one that you are going to respond to in writing. 83

1.Your customer complained that another customer received a reduced rate, but he paid the full price. He insists to also pay the reduced rate 83

4.A very rude customer complains about a rude staff member 83

5.A customer complains that one staff member made a promise and another now says that the promise can’t be fulfilled as it’s against the policy 83

The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. 90

Leads to action 91

Gets to the point 91

Is user friendly 91

5.4.2 Informal reports 92

5.4.2.1 Layout of an informal report: example 93

5.4.2.2 Language and tone of informal reports 93

5.4.3 Proposed structure of final report 98

Report writing - example of an executive summary 99

Purpose 99

Methodology 99

Findings 99

Conclusion & 99

Recommendations 99

5.4.5 Example of a structure of a business plan 100

Executive summary 100

Introduction and background 100

Business outline 100

Data gathering 100

Operations 101

Financial 101

Risk / reward assessment 101

5.4.6 Financial and statistical reports 101

5.4.6.1 Numbers 102

Comparison – the key to understanding 102

Columns 102

Decimals 102

Consistency 102

Diagrams 103

Colours 103

104

5.4.7.2 Guidelines for writing an effective précis 104

Original document 105

Action: underline key words or ideas 105

Action: write note-form summary 105

5.4.8 Persuasive report writing 106

5.5.1 Definition of a meeting 109

5.5.2 Cycle of a Meeting 109

This cycle is for a monthly meeting assuming it is held on the 1st of each month. Numbers in brackets are target dates for each action. 109

For less frequent meetings, the principle of an agenda sent out a week before, minutes sent out within the week after, should still be applied. 109

For weekly meetings, the dates change from a week to a couple of days. This cycle may seem to set very tight deadlines, but: 109

If you don’t enjoy typing up your minutes, they only get worse with procrastination 109

If you have to phone a participant and ask for clarification on content, it is better to do it while s/he can still remember what was said 109

110

5.5.3 The Stages in the cycle 111

5.5.4 Preparing the Notice 112

5.5.5 Specimen of notice of board meeting 113

BATAVIER ENGINEERING SOUTH AFRICA LIMITED 113

5.5.7 A specimen agenda of a routine board meeting 115

For meeting of directors to be held in the Board Room on 115

5.5.8 Note-taking skills 116

5.5.8.1 Get the complete picture 116

First Step – PREPARATION 116

Second Step - DURING THE MEETING 116

Third Step - AFTER THE MEETING 116

Suggestions 116

5.5.8.2 Ways to streamline notes 118

5.5.9 The minutes of a meeting 119

5.5.10 Necessity of minutes 120

5.5.11 Minutes of narration 121

Chairperson 122

BATAVIER ENGINEERING SOUTH AFRICA LIMITED 123

Present: Mr L King (Chairman) 123

Vote No Description Amount 124

Module 6 125

6.1 Proof reading 125

6.2 Editing 126

6.3 Presentation 127

6.4 Document polishing check-list 131

6.6 Where do you go from here? 134

6.7 Can you raed tihs? Olny srmat poelpe can 135

To learn is to change. Education is a process that changes the learner. George B Leonard