6th Week: Positive & Negative Messages

Unlike academic papers, which are almost always persuasive pieces of writing, the purpose of business communication is to deliver a message, whether good or bad. As a result, you may find yourself writing positive messages, negative messages, or persuasive messages. Each of these requires a slightly different approach, all of which are detailed below.

A. Positive Writing

Positive messages are often the easiest to write because the audience is expected to be fairly receptive of the presented information, thus they tend to follow the direct pattern by stating the idea at the very beginning following with the explanation. In the explanation, writers will once again want to consider using various highlighting tools to improve readability. Writers will conclude the message courteously and with a request for action by a given date, if necessary.

While all positive writing messages follow a similar format, there are different types of positive messages:

1. Requests for Information/Action

Maintain a courteous tone, spell out what needs to be done, suggest reader benefits, and make it easy for the reader to respond. If there is a deadline, include the date in the closing to ensure that it sticks in the reader's mind.

2. Claims

Claims are letters sent with the intention of correcting something that went wrong (a common occurrence in the business world).

The format of claim letters follow the protocol of other positive messages, but because they are intended to correct mistakes, it is important to maintain a calm tone and refrain from making accusations or placing blame, and to avoid harsh language that will only impede the effectiveness of the letter and may be regretted later on.

3. Replies

Begin by telling the reader what they want to hear and avoid long, drawn out openings. If there is both good and bad news in a reply letter, always begin with the good, but refrain from misleading the reader if you're intentions don't entirely meet their expectations. For example, don't respond by saying "We think your request for donations is a great idea!" if you have no intention of actually donating.

Writers should organize the information they are providing in a clear, coherent manner followed by a courteous closing that refers back to the enclosed information.

B. Negative Writing

Negative messages are usually difficult to write because the audience is being told exactly what they don't want to hear. Negative messages most often include refusing requests and delivering bad news to a customer or to those within an organization. Certain techniques that help soften the blow of bad news are applicable to all negative messages. Remember, when writing a negative message, the audience is likely to be unreceptive so be sure to use the indirect approach.

1. Buffer the opening

Buffers are the first tool business writers use to soften the blow of the message by doing things such as presenting the best news first or complimenting the reader.

Example: Your company has my sincere admiration for the charitable effort you've put forth this holiday season.

2. Cushion the Bad News

Place the bad news strategically after the buffer and before a positive closing to lessen the impact. If the bad news is sandwiched between two positives, the reader is less likely to dwell on the negative.

3. Be Empathetic

Understand where the reader is coming from and do so sincerely. This concept is also included in the audience analysis stage of the 3X3 Writing Process, but it cannot be stressed enough.

4. Provide Reasons

When people are receiving bad news, they want to know why. By providing logical, clear reasons for the negative news, readers are more likely to be agreeable and understanding of the situation.

5. Avoid Negative Words

Choose words carefully to avoid losing the reader's attention and receptivity. Negative words only add to overall negativity of the message, so use positive language that focuses on reader benefits.

Words to avoid include: cannot, regret, reject, fail, mistake, impossible, and the like.

6. Close Pleasantly

The closing serves as the writer's last chance to leave the reader with a positive thought. It's appropriate to promote goodwill by looking ahead toward a brighter future, to offer an alternative option if one exists, to provide the reader with promotional information, or simply to close by wishing the reader well.

C. Persuasive Writing

Persuasion is a critical tool one should master to achieve professional success in the business world, but it is also one of the more challenging. Whether writers are aiming to persuade customers, potential donors, or those working within the same corporation, they will want to focus their attention on four main things:

1. Grabbing the Reader's Attention

Engage the reader quickly and at the beginning so they are immediately interested. A few ways of doing this are to use a startling statistic, an intriguing story, or by telling the reader how they will benefit and what they can gain.

2. Building and Maintaining Reader Interest

Readers can easily disregard letters when they are being asked to do something, so it is essential that writers know how to not only grab the reader's attention, but how to maintain their interest. Keep the reader invested in what they are reading by providing examples that make any requests sound reasonable, appeal to reader emotions, or emphasize indirect benefits the reader may receive such as feeling good about themselves. Writers ultimately want to provide the reader with incentives to do as they ask.

3. Reducing Reader Resistance

Be prepared for readers to be reluctant and to ask questions. Anticipate this reaction by presenting counter-arguments to whatever objections the reader might raise and as always, stress the benefits and focus on the positive.

4. Motivating the Reader to Act

Encourage the reader to respond or act by a certain time. Writers will want to sound confident that they have achieved their goals without sounding arrogant or pushy.

Source: Midge Gillies, Business Writing: The Essential Guide To Thinking And Working Smarter.

4th Week: Planning Business Messages

In planning a business messages, It’s important that what you write is clear, concise and conveys the right message. Ultimately, you need to make sure what you say gets to the point. 

A) Put your main point first – always put your important message in the first paragraph. If you waffle and mention the important part at the end, people will already have lost interest.

B) Use plain English – use the simplest language you can. Simple = clear and easy to understand. 

C) Avoid jargon and buzzwords – don’t assume people understand your jargon. All industries develop jargon and abbreviations over time. But your customers won’t have a clue. Explain things clearly and simply. And try to avoid business cliches like ‘thinking outside the box’ or ‘blue-sky thinking’. They make you sound old-fashioned and overly corporate.

D) Avoid too many long sentences – keep sentences short and to the point. Three short sentences are much better than one long, hard-to-read sentence. And vary the length of sentences. Like this. It can really create a much better impact for what you’re saying.

E) Simplify long emails – when writing a long email, try to keep emails to less than 500 words. If you absolutely have to write a long email, outline the main points as bullets at the start of the email.

When you are preparing an e-mail message, memo, letter, or oral presentation, the process will be easier if you follow a systematic plan. The 3-x-3 writing process breaks the entire task into three phases: prewriting, writing, and revising.

01. Prewriting

The first phase of the writing process prepares you to write. It involves analyzing the audience and your purpose for writing. The audience for your letter will be other franchise owners, some highly educated and others not. Your purpose in writing is to convince them that a change in policy would improve customer service. You are convinced that a singleline system, such as that used in banks, would reduce chaos and make customers happier because they would not have to worry about where they are in line.

Prewriting also involves anticipating how your audience will react to your message. You are sure that some of the other owners will agree with you, but others might fear that customers seeing a long single line might go elsewhere. In adapting your message to the audience, you try to think of the right words and the right tone that will win approval.

02. Writing

The second phase involves researching, organizing, and then composing the message. In researching information for this letter, you would probably investigate other kinds of businesses that use single lines for customers. You might check out your competitors. You might do some calling to see whether other franchise owners are concerned about chaotic lines. Before writing to the entire group, you might brainstorm with a few owners to see what ideas they have for solving the problem. Once you have collected enough information, you would focus on organizing your letter.

The final step in the second phase of the writing process is actually composing the letter. Naturally, you will do it at your computer so that you can revise easily.

03. Revising

The third phase of the process involves revising, proofreading, and evaluating your letter. After writing the first draft, you will spend a lot of time revising the message for clarity, conciseness, tone, and readability. Could parts of it be rearranged to make your point more effectively? This is the time when you look for ways to improve the organization and tone of your message. Next, you will spend time proofreading carefully to ensure correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format. The final phase involves evaluating your message to decide whether it accomplishes your goal.

Source: Marry Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Business Communication Process & Product, 7th Edition

3rd Week: Intercultural Communication at Work

Although it is best to speak a foreign language fluently, many of us lack that skill. Fortunately, global business transactions are increasingly conducted in English. English has become the language of technology, the language of movies, and the language to know in global business even for traditionally non-English-speaking countries. English is dominant in business. However, the level of proficiency may be limited among nonnative speakers of English. Americans abroad make a big mistake in thinking that people who speak English always understand what is being said. Comprehension can be fairly superficial. The following suggestions are helpful for situations in which one or both communicators may be using English as a second language.

01. Learn foreign phrases.

In conversations, even when English is used, foreign nationals appreciate it when you learn greetings and a few phrases in their language.

02. Use simple English.

Speak in short sentences (under 20 words) with familiar short words. For example, use old rather than obsolete and rich rather than luxurious or sumptuous. Eliminate puns, sports and military references, slang, and jargon (special business terms). Be especially alert to idiomatic expressions that can’t be translated, such as burn the midnight oil and under the weather .

03. Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.

Avoid fast speech, but don’t raise your voice. Overpunctuate with pauses and full stops. Always write numbers for all to see.

04. Observe eye messages.

Be alert to a glazed expression or wandering eyes, these could tell you that the listener is lost.

05. Encourage accurate feedback.

Ask probing questions, and encourage the listener to paraphrase what you say. Do not assume that a yes, a nod, or a smile indicates comprehension.

06. Check frequently for comprehension.

Avoid waiting until you finish a long explanation to request feedback. Instead, make one point at a time, pausing to check for comprehension. Make sure the listener understand what you have said before proceeding.

07. Accept blame.

If a misunderstanding results, be open to accept the blame for not making your meaning clear.

08. Listen without interrupting.

Hold your desire to finish sentences or to fill out ideas for the speaker.

09. Smile when appropriate. 

Smile is the single most understood and most useful form of communication in either personal or business transactions. In some cultures, however, excessive smiling may seem insincere.

10. Follow up in writing.

After conversations or oral negotiations, confirm the results and agreements with follow-up letters. For proposals and contracts, engage a translator to prepare copies in the local language.

Source: Marry Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Business Communication Process & Product, 7th Edition

2nd Week: Professionalism: Team, Meeting, Nonverbal Communications and Listening

In business communication, most people think to be able to communicate well is the most important of all. However, there is one more aspect that people usually ignore, which is the ability to listen well to the others. By listening other patiently and earnestly, we then would earn respect from others, and others would be gladly to listen to us.

Here are several advice on developing listening skills:

01. Control internal and external distractions

Try to focus on the speaker, ignore any noise that could disturb your concentration.

02. Become actively involved
Show that you are listening closely by leaning forward and maintaining eye contact with the speaker. Don’t fidget or try to complete another task at the same time you are listening.

03. Separate facts from opinions

Listeners must evaluate assertions to decide their validity. Good listeners consider whether speakers are credible and speaking within their areas of competence. They do not automatically accept assertions as facts.

04. Identify important facts

Speakers on the job often intersperse critical information with casual conversation. As listener, your task is to select what’s important and register it mentally.

05. Avoid interrupting

Do not interrupt with a quick reply or opinion. Don’t show nonverbal disagreement such as negative head shaking, rolling eyes, sarcastic snorting, or audible sighs. Good listeners let speakers have their say. Interruptions are not only impolite, but they also prevent you from hearing the speaker’s complete thought. Listeners who interrupt with their opinions sidetrack discussions and cause hard feelings.

06. Ask clarifying questions

Good listeners wait for the proper moment and then ask questions that do not attack the speaker. Use open questions to draw out feelings, motivations, ideas, and suggestions. Use closed fact-finding questions to identify key factors in a discussion.

07. Paraphrase to increase understanding

Rephrase and summarize a message in your own words. Be objective and nonjudgmental.

08. Capitalize on lag time

While you are waiting for a speaker’s next idea, use the time to review what the speaker is saying. Separate the central idea, key points, and details. Sometimes you may have to supply the organization. Use lag time to silently rephrase and summarize the speaker’s message.

09. Take note to ensure retention

Try to take notes of the important key points as you listen to the speakers. Make sure to keep that note in a good place. Having a small note is better than remembering all the time.

10. Be aware of gender differences

Men tend to listen for facts, whereas women tend to perceive listening as an opportunity to connect with the other person on a personal level. Men tend to use interrupting behavior to control conversations, while women generally interrupt to communicate assent, to elaborate on an idea of another group member, or to participate in the topic of conversation. Women listeners tend to be attentive, provide steady eye contact, remain stationary, and nod their heads. Male listeners are less attentive, provide sporadic eye contact, and move around. Being aware of these tendencies will make

you a more sensitive and knowledgeable listener.

Source: Marry Ellen Guffey & Dana Loewy, Business Communication Process & Product, 7th Edition

1st Week: Goal

My goal after I graduated from BINUS is to develop a company that give service of consultation for foreign company that want to build relation with national company. Since a kind license is needed for a foreign company to make such relation, this company I plan for will take care of any necessary requirement to lighten the negotiation process between two parties, including the required license I mention before.

Not only for company. I also plan to make this kind of business could be useful for foreign students and college students. Such as providing a residence with strategic position for their school or university, and friendly price for them to stay, transportation for them if the need it. Also a tour service for people who want to visit various places in Indonesia.