Business and Technical Correspondence (Harty)

-Use form letters sparingly and only when appropriate because you may have to end up sending several follow up letters
-Just because electronic communication is easier doesn't mean it should be careless and sloppy
-Remember that the audience of electronic communication can exceed the specific audience for which you intended the message

Making Your Correspondence Get Results (Lewis)

Write For Him, Not to Him
-Just because you are clear and concise, doesn't mean that you are interpreted well. Readers want to know what's in it for them.
-Persuade the audience that it is worth it to them to read and to believe your point of view.

Personalize You Letters
-Use conversational language
-Use "you" and "your" not "I" and "me"

Mastering Tone
-Shy away from negative words
-Shy away from impersonal, neutral words

How to Write the Way You Talk
-Don't use older sayings such as "at a later date" or "Attached herewith please find" , see complete list on pg. 125
-Use contractions where they would seem normal if you read it alound

"I Have Some Bad News for You" (Glatthorn)

3 Guidelines for Delivering Bad News:
1. Be sensitive and emathetic
2. Try to deliver news face to face
3. Be honest and forthright

Indirect Bad News Message

When:
1. You want further contact with the person
2. You want to seem caring
3. You bleive that hte person won't be able to handle direct message.

Format:
Thanks...Because...Sorry...Thanks

Direct Bad News Message

When:
1. You want to slam the door shut.
2. You want to be tough and direct.
3. You are addressing an individual who prefers for forthrightness

Format:
Thanks...Sorry...Because...Thanks

How to Write Better Memos (Mintz)
Memos and letters are a lot alike but some differences:
-memos remain in-house
-memos don't ususually "hook" the audience
-memos can skip background info if already known

Organization:
-What are the facts?
-What do they mean?
-What do we do now?

Caution:
-Don't baffle your audience, make it clear and concise.
-Don't send too many, especially to boss aka "memo-itis"

How to Use Bootom-Line Writing in Corporate Communications (Fielden & Dulek)

-Trouble in corporate writing lies not within the length but the organization of documents
-And organize their writing backwards, with the real purpose at the end.
-There is a high efficiency and production cost of the time it takes people to write and read messages that are hard to comprehend.
-People try to write sensitive circuitous organized messages when only 90% of business writing can be direct and straigtforward.

-Three things that program for inefficiency:
1. Social Upbringing- always better to be "polite"
2. Educational Programming- taught that "longer is better"
3.Indoctrination into Anxiety- young people in workplace

Email: Presenting a Professional Image (Chan)
-Use Active, Plain, Non-Inflated, Uncluttered Language
-Write grammatically correct sentences with complete thoughts
-Use gender neutral language
-Avoid punctuation errors

Three Discussion Topics:
1. What have been some times in recent history when electronic correspondence has been interpreted incorrectly and why? pg. 133
2. What are ways to master the tone of writing and "write for the audience, not the writer"?
3. When are the appropriate times to use indirect and direct bad new messages?