Excellence in Business Communication

Chapter 5: Planning Business Messages

Learning Objectives
5.1 Describe the three-step writing process.
5.2 Explain why it’s important to analyze a communication situation in order
to define your purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.
5.3 Discuss information-gathering options for simple messages, and identify
three attributes of quality information.
5.4 List the factors to consider when choosing the most appropriate medium
for a message.
5.5 Explain why good organization is important to both you and your
audience, and list the tasks involved in organizing a message.
Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process (1 of
3)

The three step writing process consists of:

• Planning messages
• Writing messages
• Completing messages
Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process (2 of
3)

The three-step writing process helps ensure that your

communication efforts are:
• Effective
• Efficient
Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process (3 of
3)

• Planning messages
▪ Analyze the situation
▪ Gather the information
▪ Select the best combination of medium and channel
▪ Organize the information
• Writing messages
▪ Adapt to your audience
▪ Compose your message
• Completing messages
▪ Revise your message
▪ Produce your message
▪ Proofread
▪ Distribute your message
Figure 5.1
The Three-Step Writing Process
Step 1 Plan Step 2 Write Step 3 Complete
Analyze the Situation: Define your Adapt to Your Audience: Be Revise the Message: Evaluate
purpose and develop an audience sensitive to audience needs by content and review readability; edit
profile. using a “you” attitude, politeness, and rewrite for conciseness and
Gather Information: Determine positive emphasis and unbiased clarity.
audience needs and obtain the language. Build a strong Produce the Message: Use
information necessary to satisfy relationship with your audience by effective design elements and
those needs. establishing your credibility and suitable layout for a clean,
projecting your company’s professional appearance.
Choose Medium and Channel: preferred image. Control your style
Identify the best combination for with a conversational tone, plain Proofread the Message: Review
the situation, message and audience. English, and appropriate voice. for errors in layout, spelling, and
Organize the Information: Define mechanics.
Compose the Message: Choose
your main idea, limit your scope, strong words that will help you Distribute the Message: Deliver
select the direct or indirect approach create effective sentences and your message using the chosen
and outline your content. coherent paragraphs. channel; make sure all documents
and all relevant files are distributed
successfully.
Optimizing Your Writing Time
•The more you use the three-step process, the more intuitive and
automatic it will become.
• Reserve:
▪ 50% of your time for planning
▪ 25% for writing
▪ 25% for completing

Thoughtful planning is necessary to make sure you provide the

right information in the right format to the right people.
Planning Effectively
•With careful planning, the writing stage is faster, easier, and
much less stressful.
•Planning can save you from embarrassing blunders that could
hurt your company or your career.
Analyzing the Situation
Explain why it’s important to analyze a communication situation
in order to define your purpose and profile your audience before
writing a message.

•Understanding the situation is essential for getting the content

and tone of a message right.

Choosing whether to be formal, informal, serious, cheerful, apologetic, or any other style that
fits the situation and audience.
Defining Your Purpose
•General and Specific Purposes of a Message
▪ Inform, persuade, or collaborate
▪ What you want to accomplish
•Ask these four questions:

1. Will anything change as a result of your message?

2. Is your purpose realistic?
3. Is the time right?
4. Is your purpose acceptable to your organization?
Developing an Audience Profile
•Identify your primary audience.
•Determine audience size and geographic distribution.
•Determine audience composition.
•Gauge audience members’ level of understanding.
•Understand audience expectation and preferences.
•Forecast probable audience reactions.
Figure 5.2
Using Audience Analysis to Plan a Message
Figure 5.3
Predicting the Effects of Audience Composition
Gathering Information (1 of 2)
Information gathering options for simple messages, and identify
three attributes of quality information.
•Simple messages
▪ You may have all the information you need
•Complex messages
▪ You might need to do some research and analysis before
you begin writing
Gathering Information (2 of 2)
•Consider the audience’s perspective. Read Company Materials
Check past reports, memos,
•Listen to the community. or guidelines to understand
the context and avoid
repeating old mistakes or
•Read reports and other company documents. missing important points.

•Talk with supervisors, colleagues, or customers.

•Ask your audience for input.
Uncovering Audience Needs
•Uncovering audience needs
▪ Audience members may be unable to articulate exactly
what they want.
▪ Try to think of relevant information needs that your
audience may not have expressed.
▪ Use judgment.

Don’t just respond — anticipate. That’s how you meet audience needs they didn’t
even know they had.
 you're not sure what the audience really
needs or how to begin. That’s completely
Finding Your Focus normal!

Here are two creative ways to get unstuck:

•In some situations, the objective is unclear on how to get started
in determining what the audience needs to know.
• Free writing
▪ Silence your “inner critic”
• Sketching
▪ Use a sketchpad or tablet and start drawing
Providing Required Information
•Providing required information
• Journalistic approach: who, what, when, where, why, and
how
•Be sure the information is accurate.
▪ Quality of information is just as important as quantity
▪ Double check every piece of information
Give credit where it's due and avoid
•Be sure the information is ethical. plagiarism.
•Be sure the information is pertinent.

A strong message is complete, correct, ethical, and focused

on what your audience needs to know — not just what you
feel like saying.
Selecting the Best Combination of Media and
Channels

Factors to consider when choosing the most appropriate medium

for a message.
•The medium is the form a message takes.
•The channel is the system used to deliver the message.
The Most Common Media and Channel Options (1
of 3)

•The simplest way to categorize media choices is to divide them

into oral (spoken), written, and visual.
•Each can be delivered through digital and nondigital channels.
Table 5.1 (1 of 3)
Medium/Channel Combinations: Advantages and Disadvantages
Medium/Channel Advantages Disadvantages
Oral, in-person • Provide opportunity for immediate feedback • Restrict participation to those
• Easily resolve misunderstandings and negotiate meanings physically present
• Involve rich nonverbal cues (both physical gestures and • Unless recorded, provide no
vocal inflections) permanent, verifiable record of the
• Allow you to express the emotion behind your message communication
• Can reduce communicator’s control
over the message
Oral, digital • Can provide opportunity for immediate feedback (live • Lack nonverbal cues other than voice
phone or online conversations) inflections
• Not restricted to participants in the same location • Can be tedious to listen to if not
• Allow time-shifted consumption (podcasts, for example) audience focused (recorded messages
such as podcasts)
Written, printed • Allow writers to plan and control their messages • Offer limited opportunities for timely
• Can reach geographically dispersed audiences, although feedback
not as easily as digital • Lack the rich nonverbal cues provided
• Offer a permanent, verifiable record by oral media
• Can be used to avoid immediate interactions • Often take more time and more
• Can deemphasize emotional elements resources to create and distribute
• Give recipients time to process messages before • Can require special skills in
responding (compared with oral communication and preparation and production (elaborate
some digital formats) documents)
Table 5.1 (2 of 3)
Medium/Channel Combinations: Advantages and Disadvantages

Table 5.1 [Continued]

Medium/Channel Advantages Disadvantages

Written, digital In general, all the advantages of written printed documents • Can be limited in terms of reach and
plus: capability (for instance, you need
• Can be delivered quickly someone’s email address before
• Offer the flexibility of multiple formats and channels, sending a message)
from microblogs to wikis • Require internet or mobile phone
• Offer the ability to structure messages in creative ways, connectivity
such as writing a headline on Twitter and linking to the • Are easy to overuse (sending too
full message on a blog many messages to too many
• Can offer links to related and more in-depth information recipients)
• Can increase accessibility and openness in an • Create privacy risks and concerns
organization through broader sharing (exposing confidential data; employer
• Enable audience interaction through social media features monitoring; accidental forwarding)
• Can be easily integrated with other media types, such as • Entail security risks (viruses,
embedded videos or photos spyware; network breaches)
• Can create productivity concerns
(frequent interruptions; nonbusiness
usage)
Table 5.1 (3 of 3)
Medium/Channel Combinations: Advantages and Disadvantages

Table 5.1 [Continued]

Medium/Channel Advantages Disadvantages

Visual, printed • Can convey complex ideas and relationships quickly • Can require artistic skills to design
• Are often less intimidating than long blocks of text (complicated visuals)
• Can reduce the burden on the audience to figure out • Require some technical skills to
how the pieces of a message or concept fit create
• Make simple charts and graphs (easy to create in • Can require more time to create than
spreadsheets and other software), then integrate with equivalent amount of text
reports • Can be expensive to print (large or
elaborate pieces)
Visual, digital In general, all the advantages of visual printed documents • Require time, cost, and skills to
and all the advantages of written digital formats plus: create
• Can personalize and enhance the experience for • Can require large amounts of
audience members bandwidth to distribute
• Offer the persuasive power of multimedia formats,
particularly video
The Most Common Media and Channel Options (2
of 3)

• Oral medium, in-person channel

• Management by walking around
• Oral medium, digital channel
• Written medium, print channel
• Memos, letters
▪ Choose a printed message when you:
• Want to make a formal impression
• Are legally required to provide information in printed form
• Want to stand out from the flood of digital messages
• Need a permanent, unchangeable, or secure record
The Most Common Media and Channel Options (3
of 3)

•Written medium, digital channel

•Visual medium, print channel
•Visual medium, digital channel
• Infographics, interactive diagrams, animation, and digital
video
Figure 5.4
Media and Channel Choices
The Unique Challenges of Communication on
Mobile Devices

•Mobile devices have become a primary tool in business

communication. Special considerations:
•Screen size and resolution
• Many messages are larger than the screens they will be viewed
on.
•Input technologies
•Bandwidth, speeds, and connectivity limitations
• Quality varies by device
•Data usage and operational costs
Factors to Consider When Choosing Media and
Channels

•Richness
•Formality
•Media and channel limitations
•Urgency
•Cost
•Audience preferences
•Security and privacy
Organizing Your Information (1 of 2)
(LO 5.5) Explain why good organization is important to both you
and your audience, and list the tasks involved in organizing a
message.
•Good organization benefits your audiences by helping them
accept your message in less time.
Organizing Your Information (2 of 2)
•Good organization helps the receivers of your message in three
ways:
1. It helps them understand your message.
2. It helps them accept your message.
3. It saves your audience time.
Defining Your Main Idea (1 of 2)
• The topic of your message is the overall subject.
• The main idea is a specific statement about that topic.

Table 5.2: Defining Topic and Main Idea

General Example of Specific Example of Example of Main Idea
Purpose Purpose Topic
To inform Teach customer service Technical Careful, thorough edits and additions to
representatives how to edit support wiki the wiki help the entire department
and expand the technical provide better customer support.
support wiki
To persuade Convince top managers to Funding for Competitors spend more than we do on
increase spending on research and research and development, which helps
research and development development them create more innovative products.
To collaborate Solicit ideas for a Incentive pay Tying wages to profits motivates
companywide incentive employees and reduces compensation
system that ties wages to costs in tough years.
profits
Defining Your Main Idea (2 of 2)
• If your main idea isn’t clear, multiple creative approaches can clarify
and refine it.
• Brainstorming
▪ Generating as many ideas as possible
• Journalistic approach
• Question-and-answer chain
▪ Start with a key question and work back to the message
• Storyteller’s tour
• Mind mapping
• Generate and organize ideas
Figure 5.5
Mind Mapping
Limiting Your Scope
•The scope of your message is the range of information you
present, the overall length, and level of details.
•Limit the number of major supporting points to the most
compelling and important ideas.
•The ideal length of a message depends on:
• The topic
• Your audience members’ familiarity with the material
• Their receptivity to your conclusions
• Your credibility
Choosing Between Direct and Indirect Approaches

Two options:
• Direct approach—starts with the main idea and follows with
supporting points and evidence
• Indirect approach—starts with reasoning, evidence, and
background information, and builds up to the main idea
▪ Indirect approach is used when:

1. Your audience is likely skeptical or hostile

2. You need to convey negative information
3. You want to persuade people
Figure 5.6
Organizing Your Thoughts with a Clear Outline
Outlining Your Content
•Identify the main idea
• This helps establish the goals and strategy of the message.
•Two considerations:

1. What you want your audience to do or think

2. Why it is beneficial for them to do so
•Assemble major supporting points
•Gather compelling examples and evidence
Table 5.3 (1 of 2)
Six Types of Detail

Type of Detail Example Example

Facts and figures Sales are strong this month. We have two new Enhance credibility more than any
contracts worth $5 million and a good chance of other type, but can become tedious
winning another worth $2.5 million. if used excessively.
Example or We’ve spent four months trying to hire recent Adds life to a message, but one
illustration accounting graduates, but so far, only one person example doesn’t necessarily prove a
has joined our firm. One candidate told me that point. Idea must be supported by
she would love to work for us, but she can get other evidence as well.
$10,000 more a year elsewhere.
Description Upscale hamburger restaurants target burger Helps audience visualize the subject
lovers who want more than the convenience and by creating a sensory impression.
low prices of a fast-food burger. These places Doesn’t prove a point but clarifies it
feature more adventuresome menus, a greater and makes it memorable.
range of toppings, and a more sophisticated
atmosphere.
Table 5.3 (2 of 2)
Six Types of Detail
Table 5.3 [Continued]
Type of Detail Example Example
Narration (storytelling) When Rita Longworth took over as C E O, she faced a Stimulates audience interest through the
tough choice: shut down the tablet P C division entirely use of dramatic tension. In many
or outsource manufacturing to lower costs while instances, must be supplemented with
keeping the division alive. As her first step, she statistical data in order to prove a point
convened a meeting with all the managers in the convincingly.
division to get their input on the two options. (Story
continues from there.)
Reference to authority I discussed this idea with Jackie Loman in the Chicago Bolsters a case while adding variety and
plant, and she was very supportive. As you know, credibility. Works only if authority is
Jackie has been in charge of that plant for the past six recognized and respected by audience.
years. She is confident that we can speed up the
number 2 line by 150 units an hour if we add another
worker.
Visual aids Graphs, charts, tables, infographics, data visualization, Helps audience grasp the key points
photos, video about sets of data or visualize
connections between ideas.
Building Reader Interest With Storytelling
Techniques (1 of 2)

•Storytelling
• Helps readers personalize the message and understand causes
and consequences.
•The power of story
• Helps readers and listeners imagine themselves living through
the experience of the person in the story
• Can demonstrate case-and-effect relationships
• Can help readers envision future possibilities
Building Reader Interest With Storytelling
Techniques (2 of 2)

•Three elements of storytelling:

• A beginning that introduces a sympathetic person with a
dream or a challenge
• A middle that shows the obstacles to be overcome
• An ending that resolves the situation and highlights the moral
or message of the story
Checklist: Planning Business Messages (1 of 3)
Checklist Planning Business Messages

A. Analyze the situation.

• Determine whether the purpose of your message is to inform, persuade, or
collaborate.
• Identify what you want your audience to think or do after receiving the message.
• Make sure your purpose is worthwhile and realistic.
• Make sure the time is right for your message.
• Make sure your purpose is acceptable to your organization.
• Identify the primary audience.
• Determine the size and composition of your audience.
• Estimate your audience’s level of understanding and probable reaction to your
message.
Checklist: Planning Business Messages (2 of 3)
B. Gather information.

• Decide whether to use formal or informal techniques for gathering

information.
• Figure out what your audience needs to know.
• Provide all required information, and make sure it’s accurate, ethical, and
pertinent.

C. Select the best combination of medium and channel for your message.

• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of oral, written, and visual

media distributed through both digital and nondigital channels.
• Consider media richness, formality, media limitations, urgency, cost, and
audience preference.
Checklist: Planning Business Messages (3 of 3)

D. Organize your information.

• Define your main idea.

• Limit your scope.
• Choose the direct or indirect approach.
• Outline content by defining your main idea, identifying major
supporting points, and gathering examples and evidence.
• Look for opportunities to use storytelling to build audience
interest.