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Seminar business writing-compressed
- 1. June, 2012 MBA. Geoffrey Klein
- 3. If your attitude is “It’s just an e-mail, so it doesn’t have to be perfect” You are doing serious damage to your credibility, your professional image, even your future!
- 4. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 5. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 7. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 8. Some Statistics On average, a professional today spends about 2.5 - 3 hours a day, every single working day on email
- 9. What does that mean? So… We spent 40% of our working day
- 10. Let’s do some maths Time we spent on emails? 60 hours a month 720 hours a year On average: 1 hour/email (and yet, it still might not be perfect) And what else we can’t convey in a math? •The state of mind
- 11. First impression
- 13. Email as our image
- 14. Motives •To inform •To persuade •To enquire info •To gain impression •To maintain relationships
- 15. Consider
- 16. Consider Hi John, hi John, How are you? how are you? We need to We need to address a few points: address few points: The trip, the new account and the A) the trip technical support. this will B) the new account really help. sincerely, C) technical support joe. This will really help. Sincerely, Joe
- 17. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 18. Top Email Mistakes? Your Challenges?
- 20. Challenges for Non- native writer
- 22. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 23. What you will get from TalentLink’s Course •Save time, money, and energy •Banks of email templates •Structural Grammar •Professional first impression •Boost writing confidence and skills •Positive tone and accurate word-choice -> Best email result
- 24. Sample Course Outline (45 intensive hours) •A/ Introduction to Business Email Writing (9 hours) •Define the target receiver for optimal result •Email Etiquettes •Email Format and Styles •Word choice and Email Tones •B/ Grammar Topography (9h) •C/ Types of Email (18h) •D/ Case studies and Practices (9h)
- 25. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 26. Email Writing for results • Common symptoms • Solutions: S&S. Easy to read, comprehend, and react to in thirty seconds or LESS • Why? • So, call for ACTION
- 27. Activity: Writing for results Subject: Some Concerns Subject: Defective Printed Circuit Hi Everybody, I was just thinking Boards May Arrive Tomorrow - Action about some of the things that Required. might be an issue for us in the Dear Mr. …, I have been informed that tomorrow's next few weeks and I think that I shipment of 5,550 Printed Circuit may have stumbled upon Boards from Orient Express Inc. in something we should all take a Thailand may be defective. Our PO# hard look at. I know that we are was 345738, the FEDEX tracking all real busy but it's not a bad idea number is 3847639374. to think about this kind of thing Please have your people ready to sometimes. The shipment we will inspect the shipment upon arrival. get from abroad tomorrow or in Call or email me with the results of the inspections once they are available. the next couple of days might Please let me know if any of this is have some issues. I'm just saying unclear, or if there are other things we we should be careful about it. should also consider. Thanks, Best Regards,
- 28. Activity: Writing for results
- 29. short, Sweet, and to the Point, Please “A good speech should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest” ― Winston S. Churchill
- 31. General Format: Tone •Write in a positive tone •Use smiles , winks ;), “When you complete the and other graphical report” instead of “If you symbols only when complete the report” appropriate. •Avoid negative words that •Use contractions to add a begin with “un, non, ex” or friendly tone. that end with “less” (useless, (don’t, won’t, can’t). non-existent, ex-employee, undecided).
- 32. ACTIVITY: FORMAL OR INFORMAL
- 33. ACTIVITY: FORMAL OR INFORMAL
- 34. ACTIVITY: FORMAL OR INFORMAL Email 1: Email 2: Dear Ms. Laura, Laura, I am writing (1)…Promotional Products in relation to I’m writing (11)… all our family to say thanks you your recent complaint. I was very concerned to learn very much for letting us stay at your seaside house at about the problems you experienced and the (2)…of our the weekend, we really enjoyed it. By now you gave sales staff. (3)…everything that happened, and thanks properly heard from your neighbors about (12)…of you bringing it to my attention. (4)…I will (5)…. my teenage son Harry and his friends when they (6)… send replacement items immediately, at our come back from the pub late on Saturday night. (13) expense, and I will personally make sure that the order is …all the nose they made, and for the damage they correct. (7)…we will also send you credit note to be used caused to your neighbor’s garden. (14)…I will do against any items in our catalogue. I have already spoken everything possible to (15)… (16)…contact your to the sales staff involved (8)…and we are making sure neighbors directly and offer to pay for any damage. that in the future all customer complaints are dealt with (17)…I also sent them some flower and a box of in a polite and helpful manner. chocolates. I’ve already spoken to my son (18)… and he promises it won’t happen again. Once again, I hope you will accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused. I very much hope you will Once again, I am really sorry. (19)…, (20)…-I’ll be at continue to use our services in the future (9)…, (10) home at the weekend ….on my direct line given below.
- 35. ELEVATOR SUMMARY Elevator summary “Our profit margin for the last quarter went down 5%. As a result I am proposing budget adjustment for the following areas…” Table of contents “This email contains: A. Budget projections for the last quarter B. Actual performance for the last quarter C. Adjustment proposal
- 36. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 38. Flaming in emails • What is Flaming? • AVOID Flaming • EMAILS are black and white • “Would I say this to this person’s face?” • Read your message twice • Keep Flaming under control
- 39. Write like it’s your only chance
- 40. Responding to a flame
- 41. DELIVERING BAD NEWS Do not take your reader by surprise or press them to the wall Deliver the news up front: “We are unable to order new computers this quarter due to budget cuts.” Explain Reasons Avoid blaming: “I think it will be hard to recover from this, but what can I do to help?”
- 42. APOLOGIES
- 44. Apology: Prompts (1) 1. Please accept my… g) sincere apologies 2. We’re having a temporary problem… j) with our software 3. We’re doing everything we can to… f) resolve the issue/sort it out 4. Can you leave it… i) with me for a day or two ? 5. I’ll look into the matter urgently… b) and get back to you tomorrow 6. I’ll send you… a) a replacement immediately 7. We are sending you small gift… c) as a gesture of goodwill 8. I can assure you that… h) this will not happen again 9. I apologise again… d) for any inconvenience this has caused 10. If you have any further queries, do not.. e) hesitate to contact me
- 45. Activity: Apology 1. I am absolutely/extremely/really/very sorry for what has happened 2. Thanks you for bringing this issue/material/problem to my attention 3. We can assure you that the articles/goods/items/wares were dispatched on time. 4. We were sorry to hear that the product was damaged/defective/faulty/out of work when you received it. 5. This was due to an oversight when we processed your order/a strike in our factory/an inflammation in our warehouse/ circumstances beyond our control. 6. I am trying to sort it out/sort out it/sort the problem out/sort out the problem as a matter of urgency. 7. Please return the faulty goods, and we will refund you/repair them/replace them/restore them immediately. 8. We appreciate that this has caused you considerable inconvenience, but we cannot accept any breach in the contract/ disadvantage/ liability/responsibility on our part.
- 46. Apology: Prompts (2) 1. I am absolutely/extremely/really/very sorry for what has happened 2. Thanks you for bringing this issue/material/problem to my attention 3. We can assure you that the articles/goods/items/wares were dispatched on time. 4. We were sorry to hear that the product was damaged/defective/faulty/out of work when you received it. 5. This was due to an oversight when we processed your order/a strike in our factory/an inflammation in our warehouse/ circumstances beyond our control. 6. I am trying to sort it out/sort out it/sort the problem out/sort out the problem as a matter of urgency. 7. Please return the faulty goods, and we will refund you/repair them/replace them/restore them immediately. 8. We appreciate that this has caused you considerable inconvenience, but we cannot accept any breach in the contract/ disadvantage/ liability/responsibility on our part.
- 47. Activity: Apology 1. Thank you very much this matter for bringing to my attention. 2. I was very experienced to learn the problems about you concerned. 3. I will look the matter into and get back you to within the few next days. 4. Once again, accept our apologies please caused for the inconvenience. 5. Having this matter in detail looked into, I be of no further assistance regret that I can.
- 49. Useful prompts (4) Apologizing we would like to offer our sincere apologies for our mistake Attachments please find the document attached Clarifications there are several points we don’t quite understand; we feel there may have been a misunderstanding between us Closing we look forward to receiving your reply; Regards, Joe Blunt Complaints we were very surprised and disappointed by this Congratulations we would like to congratulate you on your recent good news Meetings would Tuesday 26 October be convenient for you? ; Would it be possible to postpone the meeting until next week? Openings we are writing to enquire about...; I am writing on behalf of ... Orders Re order no. XJ 8103; goods shipped today Payments we have not yet received payment for order no. XJ 8103. Could you please attend to this matter as soon as possible Requests we would be very grateful if you could send us your catalogue and current price list Suggestions another option would be to ... Thanks we would just like to express our gratitude for all your help in this matter
- 50. When Email Won’t Work
- 51. Contents 1. Warm-up session 2. Are Business Emails THAT important? 3. Challenges for non-native speakers 4. What you can learn in TalentLink’s Course? 5. Basic Business Email Etiquettes 6. Bad news/ Apology Emails 7. Quick check-up test
- 52. ACT NOW
- 53. Check-up Test Write an email:
- 54. June, 2012 MBA. Geoffrey Klein
- 55. Thank you!
Notes de l'éditeur
- Welcome to the Email Etiquette Workshop. This presentation was designed in response to the growing popularity of email and the subsequent need for information on how to craft appropriate email messages, send resumes and cover letters via email, communicate with colleagues and classmates, and how to participate in electronic mailing lists. Anyone who uses email (regardless of regularity or purpose) will find this workshop to be useful. This presentation includes explanations and activities to include audience participation. \\
- Individual task, warm-up: in 5 mins, draft a short email respond to a customer’s email complaining about your delay of the goods delivery.
- So how do you feel after the warm up? Do you think email writing is boring and time-consuming? Why are they the most important communications method in business
- When we meet someone, we can read them verbally and non-verbally, through their body languages, their appearance, and their communications. But what about reading emails? Based on which factors can we judge them? We all interact with the printed word as though it has a personality and that personality makes positive and negative impressions upon us. Without immediate feedback your document can easily be misinterpreted by your reader, so it is crucial that you follow the basic rules of etiquette to construct an appropriate tone. /
- We all interact with the printed word as though it has a personality and that personality makes positive and negative impressions upon us. Without immediate feedback your document can easily be misinterpreted by your reader, so it is crucial that you follow the basic rules of etiquette to construct an appropriate tone. Explanation : Email has become very prevalent in most people’s lives and many use it to cheaply and quickly communicate with friends, family, and co-workers. Although this technology is available to everyone, and most people are accustomed to using email, people still are not very savvy when it comes to understanding how email functions in a relationship both personally and professionally. How we interpret email : While most people are aware that the computer is not a person and that emails do not have a character of their own, many people still react to them as though they do. Readers assign meaning to everything that people write and tend to perceive it as concrete because it is in black and white (or whatever color you may choose). This response, coupled with a lack of nonverbal cues, poses a serious challenge for email writers. It is easy for emails to be misinterpreted because people write as though they are having a conversation; however, the receiver does not read that way. REFERENCE: http://www.sitepoint.com/email-etiquette-sacking/
- Explanation : Email has become very prevalent in most people’s lives and many use it to cheaply and quickly communicate with friends, family, and co-workers. Although this technology is available to everyone, and most people are accustomed to using email, people still are not very savvy when it comes to understanding how email functions in a relationship both personally and professionally. How we interpret email : While most people are aware that the computer is not a person and that emails do not have a character of their own, many people still react to them as though they do. Readers assign meaning to everything that people write and tend to perceive it as concrete because it is in black and white (or whatever color you may choose). This response, coupled with a lack of nonverbal cues, poses a serious challenge for email writers. It is easy for emails to be misinterpreted because people write as though they are having a conversation; however, the receiver does not read that way. Ask the audience: How many times have you received an email and felt a little put off by the message even though it was from a good friend? Have you ever sent an email that upset or confused someone? What was it like to be in that situation and what did you do to clear up the misunderstanding? It is because of these uncomfortable situations that some ground rules on email etiquette were established and why email writers should be mindful of them.
- We all write for a specific purpose: So how important do you think writing an email would play?
- Seeing this guy and this guy for the first time Who would you trust? Who would you do business with? But will you tell them to their face that you feel them untrustworthy because of their look? (weren’t we all taught “don’t judge a book by its cover?) But yes, we do judge our first impression on the cover, subconsciously
- Which is clearer, easier to follow? Who is more professional. Which takes more time to do? (actually the 2 nd email takes only 30 seconds extra to get the touch-up)
- Brainstorming session (5 mins): divide into groups, give paper, later present to the whole class
- Brainstorming session (5 mins) Omitting the subject line Not making the subject line meaningful Not personalizing your message to the recipienct Not accounting for tone Forgetting to check for spelling and grammar Thinking that no one else will ever see your email Your signature Expecting an instant response Completing the "to" line first Reply in anger or in long thread Overuse of the "high-priority" flag SO: Write like it's your only chance
- Grammar General Tone Choice of Words Tactful writing Styles & Format
- How TalentLink can hep!
- Save time, money, and energy Offer you banks of ready-to-use business writing samples Refresh grammar rules with logical structure Help your workforce make a professional first impression Boost writing confidence and skills Bring the best result from your email by implementing the most positive tone and accurate word-choice
- Explanation: This slide provides an overview of the entire sample course.
- Your emails don't seem to generate the immediate and decisive action you had hoped for, and you can't understand why. After all, you have a lot of important and useful information to convey to your co-workers, and your carefully-crafted essay dissected the issue at hand from all possible angles and with multiple embedded clauses and subsections. What went wrong? "Maybe everybody else is just not able to think at my high level," you say to yourself... ASK: do you have these symptoms? Cure: Don't write long, rambling emails. (Short and sweet, always keep this in mind) Make your emails easy for the recipient to read, comprehend, and react to in thirty seconds or less . Why it Works: Long and complex email messages seldom get read, and are usually a sign that you could be using your time more effectively . Your boss probably gets hundreds of emails per day, and can only read them in between meetings, over lunch hour, or outside normal working hours. So make your email short and sweet, with clear questions, directions, or calls for action!
- Consider this situation: Let's suppose you are worried about the quality of a shipment your company is going to receive tomorrow, and you want to make people aware of your concern and why, and take appropriate action to prevent loss of business and save the company some money . A noble goal, right? Let's say it's a shipment of printed circuit boards from Thailand. Activities: In group compare these 2 emails, which will give more positive/ faster action Why? Note some differences
- A relevant subject line with a clear call to action. A clear request for specific action from a specific individual. Instructions for exactly what is to be done and what to do once the task is completed. All pertinent detail surrounding the situation, so no followup emails will be required to understand precisely what is being requested. An open question to the recipient to contact the sender if anything is unclear. An invitation to improve upon the proposed course of action if there are better ideas out there.
- So: in short: S, S and to the point, please. (read the quote) . Same applies for emails
- Start of this demo session. Write a salutation for each new subject email. Try to keep the email brief (one screen length). Return emails within the same time you would a phone call. Check for punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors Use caps when appropriate. Format your email for plain text rather than HTML. Use a font that has a professional or neutral look. Many complain that writers of email do not take the time to be personable. One way to remedy this and extend good will toward the reader is to add a salutation for each new subject. “Dear,” “Hello,” and “Hi” are all acceptable greetings. If a writer is communicating with someone about the same subject (for example, authorization for overtime) then it is considered acceptable to just begin the email with the first sentence. Length: A number of experts have a wide range of opinions on how lengthy an email should be. Some say that it does not matter and others say that an email should be as long as the text box without scrolling. Both perspectives appear to be correct. In general emails should be short and to the point. However, many companies are moving to paperless memos and other written transactions, thereby requiring that emails be longer. Time: It is considered rude not to respond to an email as soon as possible. Writers should strive to respond to emails as quickly as they would a phone message, which tends to be immediately. If the email requires a longer message than the writer is able to provide at that moment, it is considered proper etiquette to let the sender know that the message was received and that the writer is planning to respond as soon as time permits. Grammar and Punctuation: For the professional work world it is imperative that writers use capitalization, grammar, and other traditional ways of writing to include neutral fonts. Plain Text vs. HTML: Not all emails are formatted to read html. It is best to send everything in plain text unless the writer knows for certain that the person he or she is writing can read html.
- Explanation: The main point of this slide is to help participates understand the importance of tone. These are ways to create a document that sounds friendly and “nonverbally” open. While it is important to follow rules of punctuation and grammar in email, using contractions can create a conversational style that isn’t intimidating. Remind students that tone is dependent on audience -- an email to a co-worker might have a substantially different tone than email to a boss. Ask them to think about situations and determine appropriate tones for them.
- Work in group/pair: decide formal or informal
- Answers: Yellow box: FORMAL
- Now Form the 2 email, can you tell which to choose in each email? (Hint: one is formal and one is informal, which one?) At the end, the most important thing to remember is the TONE CONSISTENCY
- Mouse-click to activate text Elevator Summary: Business experts often refer to this kind of summary either as an elevator summary or an executive summary. Either terminology is correct. An elevator summary is a summary that can be given to a colleague or employer in the short time it takes to get from the ground floor to the third floor on an elevator. It has the bare essentials of the message. *Angell and Heslop Why a summary? We all know what it is like to inundated with email, so much so that is difficult to figure out what emails have priority over others. If there is a brief summary at the top readers can make a decision about whether to save the email for later or finish it at that time. The table of contents: The table of contents is a very friendly gesture toward readers when they are required to read long messages. It allows them to skip to the sections of the email that apply to them and avoid those areas that do not. Other explanations : If the reader needs to respond immediately to the email then that should be conveyed in the first paragraph; otherwise, that message may be overlooked and the writer will not receive the response as quickly as one is needed.
- Activity: (read the following email to the audience) “I am so sick and tired of all the crap that goes on in this office. Judy is the most annoying person that I’ve ever known and she hardly ever gets her work done in a timely manner and I’m tired of watching her do nothing. Besides that, every time I try and get help Larry just acts like there isn’t a problem. I am SO CLOSE TO QUITTING! I swear that if someone says another thing to me I am out the door honestly. The procedures in here are only for certain people and the rest are favorites. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think this problem can be solved until Judy is fired.” Explanation : Many people become frustrated with a co-worker, boss, or office policy and have the need to vent that frustration. However, there are some serious problems with flaming and it should happen sparingly in emails. Discussion: Have the audience think about the ramifications of sending this email. Who will be hurt? How? What could have been done by the writer earlier to avoid this build up of frustration? Might the writer have some legitimate concerns that are masked by his or her anger? What might be a better way to write about those concerns?
- Flaming is a virtual term for venting or sending inflammatory messages in email. Explanation: It is easy for writers to let their guards down when communicating electronically because they are not actually getting immediate feedback. The nature of communication changes. Sometimes people tend to do and say things over email and on electronic mailing lists that they would never do in an office meeting or face to face with a co-worker. It is essential that the participants understand how unproductive flaming emails are and the snowball effect they can have in the office (because they can be forwarded or printed). Reminder: Do not use obscene or abusive language and do not flame in a public forum like a message group or electronic mailing list. Avoid flaming because it tends to create a great deal of conflict that spirals out of control. What you say in EMAILS cannot be taken back; it is in black and white. Before you send an email message, ask yourself, “would I say this to this person’s face?” Calm down before responding to a message that offends you. Once you send the message it is gone. Read your message twice before you send it and assume that you may be misinterpreted when proofreading.
- Mouse-click to activate text Explanation: When responding to a flame, the respondent must do his or her best to remain professional and neutral. Emails are infamous for creating misunderstandings. Try to be as clear as possible and as empathetic as possible. Empathize with the sender’s frustration and tell them they are right if that is true If you feel you are right, thank them for bringing the matter to your attention Explain what led to the problem in question Avoid getting bogged down by details and minor arguments If you are aware that the situation is in the process of being resolved let the reader know at the top of the response Apologize if necessary If none of the above tactics work then it is most appropriate to take this concern outside of the electronic sphere and into the traditional interpersonal (face to face) sphere.
- Activities: ask the audience what they would do to deliver bad news (give it up front or save it for later), is it better to give subjective reasons (blaming other things) Explanation: Explanation: One of the quickest ways to frustrate someone is to surprise him or her by either copying a complaint to both him or her and their boss (skipping over the chain of command) or waiting until the end of the day to introduce a problem. This is likely to compromise the complaint’s effectiveness and alienate the writer from his or her audience. Once the audience is alienated, co-workers and employers may not express any empathy toward the writer, his or her concerns may not be addressed in a timely manner, the message may be ignored, or the writer may receive a flippant email. Rather than take readers by surprise writers should address concerns as soon as possible and with as much decorum and diplomacy as possible. There is a myth that continues to circulate that the more a person stalls in getting bad news out the better the recipient will feel about it because he or she will be prepared. THIS IS NOT TRUE. In fact, stalling or beating around the bush only leads to reader frustration and may not serve the messenger well if he or she is writing the email to their boss. It is better to deliver bad news up front in the elevator summary. This slide provides examples of poor choices for prioritizing information and shows ways to construct messages that are not blaming or ambiguous.
- This is how your business reputation gets damaged. Be sincere in any problems the customers facing and always react in a reasonable/ professional manner
- Work in pair/ group to Match the beginnings of the sentences (1-10) with the ending (a-j)
- Work in pair/ group to Match the beginnings of the sentences (1-10) with the ending (a-j)
- Work in pair/ group to Cross out the one word or phrase in italics in each sentence that is not natural.
- The grey words can’t be put in the sentence
- Work in pair/ group to Rewrite the sentences below in the correct word order
- The grey words can’t be put in the sentence
- Explanation: Not all messages are best delivered via email. There are many instances when one should stop and say, “It’s time to meet or talk in person because we’ve gotten as far as we can through email.” Generally, most people are agreeable to talking in person. There are times when you need to take your discussion out of the virtual world and make a phone call. If things become very heated, a lot of misunderstanding occurs, or when you are delivering very delicate news then the best way is still face-to face. Reminder: Because of the facelessness of email there are a number of misunderstandings and misperceptions that can occur.
- Individual task, like warm-up: now have 10 mins, draft a short email respond to a customer’s email complaining about your delay of the goods delivery (using the given prompts and etiquettes you have learnt) Remember: tone, format and structure (remind about apology structure: acknowledge the problem, apologize, give reason, give solution, give assurance, apologize, thanks,…)
- The End (give some summarisation)
- Q&A