Jan 20 (ch 14): Informative and Positive Messages

• Informative message - receiver’s reaction neutral
• Positive message - receiver’s reaction positive
• Neither message immediately asks receiver to do anything

Purposes

Primary

• To give information or good news
• To have receiver view information positively

Secondary

• To build good image of sender
• To build good image of sender’s organization
• To build good relationship between sender and receiver
• To deemphasize any negative elements
• To eliminate future messages on same subject

Common Media: Instant Messages and Text Messages

• Use IMs and TMs to
  - Be less intrusive (than visit or phone call)
  - Ask questions on tasks that fellow colleagues are working on
  - Leave a communication trail

Common Media: Letters/Memos

• Use letters to send messages to people outside your organization
• Use memos to send messages to people within your organization

Common Media: E-mail

• Use e-mail to accomplish routine business activities
• Save time
• Save money
• Allow readers to deal with messages at their convenience
• Communicate accurately
• Provide details for reference
• Create a paper trail

Organizing

• Start with good news or the most important information
• Clarify with details, background
• Present any negative points positively
• Explain any benefits
• Use a goodwill ending
  - Positive
  - Personal
  - Forward-looking

Subject Lines

• Serves three purposes
  1. Aids in filing, retrieving
  2. Tells readers why they should read
  3. Sets up message
• Specific, Concise, Appropriate for Message
  - Differentiate from others on same topic
  - Usually less than 35 characters
  - Must meet situation and purpose

Subject Lines—E-mail

• Specific, concise, and catchy
• Include important information/good news
• Name drop to make connection
• Make e-mail sound easy to deal with
• Create new subject line for reply when
  - Original becomes irrelevant
  - Re: Re: Re: Re: appears

Managing Information

• Give audience information they need
• Consider your purpose
• Develop a system that lets people know what is new if you send out regular messages
• Put the most vital information in e-mails, even if you send an attachment
• Check message for accuracy and completeness
• Remember e-mails are public documents

Audience Benefits

• Use audience benefits when
  - Presenting policies
  - Shaping audience’s attitudes
  - Stressing benefits presents the motives positively
  - Introducing benefits that may not be obvious
• Omit benefits when
  - Presenting factual information ONLY
  - Considering audience’s attitude does not matter
  - Stressing benefits makes audience seem selfish
  - Restating them may insult audience’s intelligence

Ending

• Not all messages end same way
• Goodwill ending–focuses on bond between reader, writer
  - Treats reader as individual
  - Contains you-attitude, positive emphasis
  Omits standard invitation
  - Ex: If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call.

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.