Write a 150 word reflection in email format about what you learned in the attached files
novakingwai
academic-writing_to_business-writing_ppt21.pptxBusiness Writing Differs
Visuals
Academic writing is mostly narrative.
Business writing employs multiple strategies to convey a message – tables, charts, Powerpoints, and more.
Visuals
Academic writing is mostly narrative. This is the essay style we talked about.
Business writing uses the best (and many different) medium to convey the message. Business writing is meant to be attractive and persuasive. It’s written to get the reader’s attention. So, go ahead, use lots of visuals to convey your message. May be charts, graphs, visual images or pictures, appropriate clip arts, But, NOT get too cutesy. Learn to stay professional and polish your work.
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Business Writing Checklist/Rubric
In Blackboard usually in the Course Documents folder, you’ll find the Business Writing Checklist/Rubric which details items in business writing. Review this list, compare the items to the mentions in your text and in all the content in Blackboard. Contact me for any expansion of information that you need. Use this document as a reminder of all the requirements for this new way of writing and thinking.
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Good Business Writing…
Is clear & concise
Is complete
Is correct
Saves the reader’s time
Builds goodwill
Effective business writing is clear and concise. The language is easily understood by the reader. Use as many words as you need to convey your message - no more and no less.
Be complete. This means include everything the reader needs to know and no more. Too little information is upsetting to the reader and causes a need for him/her to follow up with you. Too much information causes the reader to get bored and stop reading. This is a critical business writing factor to employ.
Correct. It should go without saying, your document is to be error free. If you have errors in your work, you loose credibility. If you loose credibility in business, you have harmed your ability to get ‘things’ done.
Saves the reader’s time. You are to create documents that are quick and easy to read. Don’t make the reader work hard to understand…because they won’t. They’ll stop reading and feel dis-engaged from you.
Goodwill. Business is relationships. We get work done through each other and with each other. So, when you communicate both in writing and orally, you need to work to build goodwill. Keep your relationships with your readers/audience solid. This applies to even in academic writing. You must maintain good relationship with all your instructors who are your readers. Remember, we care that you do well.
http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/jan08/persuasive_communication2.html
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Controlling Sentence Length
Sentence Length
8 words
15 words
19 words
28 words
Comprehension Rate
100%
90%
80%
50%
In the beginning of moving from academic to business style writing, I often find sentences made of 50 or more words. Yikes. As you can see from the table on the slide, this is not helpful to the reader.
According to Guffey, The American Press Institute data, states that sentences that are 8 words in length are understood by the reader at 100% comprehension. The more words in the sentence the more we don’t comprehend. Notice that at 28 words our comprehension has dropped to 50%.
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Conventional Formatting
Use 11 font size
Standard margins
Single-spaced
Times News Roman, Veranda, Arial
Follow cultural conventions
Conventional (typical) business writing is in 11 (Times News Roman, Veranda or Arial), using Microsoft’s standard margins and is single-spaced. Be careful not to choose fonts that cause the reader to feel the message is too formal or too casual.
Most importantly, follow cultural conventions in your place of employment. They vary from organizations to organizations. Its not one size fits all. That is to say, whatever that particular organization uses as protocol is the format of appropriate choice.
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Academic-Writing to Business-Writing
Business Communication, MGT309
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Writing that Works (2010). Oliu, Brusaw, & Alred
Business writing requires new thinking. It’s takes know-how and it takes practice. I look forward to receiving your works, watching you grow and be a better business writer.
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