The document provides principles for effective business communication. It discusses how most people are poor communicators and listeners. It emphasizes the importance of clear, concise written communication and provides 12 principles to improve writing skills, including: orienting writing towards the receiver; using simple vocabulary; using concrete rather than abstract words; using active voice; and ensuring coherence, unity, and flow. The document also covers style and tone considerations for business writing.

1. The problem with communication is the
illusion that it has been accomplished
George Bernard Shaw

2. PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION

3. BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
SOME HOME TRUTHS
 Most of us are poor communicators and very
poor listeners/readers
 Few of us try very hard to get our message
across
 Few of us take advantage of various media
available to us
 We could all improve our writing skills
 We assume others pay attention; we are often
wrong

4. FACTOID
The average employee receives about 190
communications a day by paper, voicemail, email,
phone, etc.
Pitney-Bowes survey

5. ADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION
 Creates a permanent record
 Allows you to store information for future
reference
 Easily distributed
 All recipients receive the same information
 Necessary for legal and binding
documentation

6. IS IT CLEAR? HAVE YOU HIT YOUR
TARGET?

7. In written communication most confusion & frustration
is caused by failing to be specific …..
Make it clear, brief and concise…..

8. PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS WRITING
PRINCIPLE-1
 Orientation towards the receiver
Problem: Our proficient IT specialists in DTP could
facilitate the production of data transference onto
hard copy to generate improvements in mail shots.
Revision: You will write better letters with the help of
our experts in Desk Top publishing.

9. PRINCIPLE-1
Problem:
1) To A.Verma
We are running a training workshop in customer
oriented written communication skills for all new
employees. Register below for inclusion herewith.
2) Dear Sir/Madam
Our company trading terms now stipulate a 5% deposit
must be transmitted for all orders to be expedited in a
maximum seven days.

10. PRINCIPLE-1
Revision:
1) Aditya,
You are warmly invited to improve your skills in
writing to your customers. Please sign your name
below. We look forward to seeing you.
2)Dear Mrs.Khanna,
Your 5% deposit will ensure that, complying with
our new terms, you will receive your orders within a
week.

11. PRINCIPLE-2
Use short, simple vocabulary
Problem:
1.The ambiguous nature of prediction of weather patterns
makes it difficult for forecasts to be congruent.
2.The unanimity of current forecasts is not incontrovertible
evidence of an impending business acceleration.

12. Revision:
Because of the ambiguous nature of weather data all
weather forecasts are vague.
Agreement on the forecasts are not proof that business
will get better.

13. PRINCIPLE-3
Use concrete rather than abstract words
I require this report as soon as possible
Is „soon‟ minutes, hours, days?
This is the tallest building in the city
Is „high‟ inches, feet, miles?
I drive very fast
Is „fast‟ time or speed?
I have been waiting for my friend for a long time
Is „long‟ time or distance?
The company has suffered major losses in the
previous FY

14. PRINCIPLE-3
Use concrete rather than abstract words
I require this report by 5p.m. today.
This 75 metres tall building is the tallest building in the
city
I drive at 80kms per hour.
I have been waiting for my friend for an hour.
The company has suffered 30% loss in the previous FY

15.  Please check on the offer wall to make sure our
offer partner has credited you with completing the
offer. In some cases it may take a few hours or
even a few days to confirm.
How can we be more specific?

16. PRINCIPLE-4
 Use active voice rather than passive
 The goods were ordered by the customer
 The customer ordered the goods
 The sessions of the faculty will be attended
and reviewed by the Dean
 The dean will attend and review the sessions
of the faculty

17. PRINCIPLE-5
Use action verbs
Achieved Assisted Established Executed
Founded Generated Guided Doubled
Administered Conceived Created Designed
Financed Analysed Developed

18. PRINCIPLE-6
Avoid pompous, inflated, legal-sounding
phrasing. Be brief.
The capital improvement project (hereafter to be
designated as CIP) for the fiscal year 2007-2008
stipulated budget allocations in the amount not exceeding
Rs.40,000 to be decimated for utilisation by a program
under the nomination of the 23rd street Renaissance
Market.‟
The duly accepted forms should be submitted to the
undersigned upon completion.

19. Revision
The Capital Improvement Project (CIP) in 2007-2008
included the amount of Rs.40,000 for the 23rd Street
Renaissance Market.
Please return the signed forms when you have completed
them.

20. PRINCIPLE-7
Use short crisp sentences
Problem
Those who do not attend the meeting and prefer to stay
away, by offering feeble and lame excuses, shall be dealt
with in a serious manner, vide IAC 37, which deals with
office discipline and punishments liable thereof, in order
to maintain the sanctity of office and to uphold our
honored traditions, on which the edifice of our
organisation has been developed.

21. Revision
Those who do not attend meeting without sufficient
reasons will be dealt with seriously. Your attention is
drawn to IAC 37 which deals with office discipline.
this is being done in order to uphold our traditions
and sanctity of the office.‟

22. PRINCIPLE -8
Use gender neutral words whenever possible.
The Chairman of the Committee will address the
meeting at 10a.m.
The Policeman chased the thief
Shah Rukh Khan is a great actor; so is Kajol a great
actress.
Shivani is a great authoress & poetess

23. PRINCIPLE-9
Use proper sentence structure and design.
1.This year the sales increased, however the cumulative
losses also increased.
2.Even though the sales increased, the cumulative losses
increased.
3.The cumulative losses increased, in spite of an increase
in sales.

24. Use Proper Sentence Design
The main point of our research was to try and find
out who the soft drink customer was and why they
drank the soft drink that they drank.
High turn-over of skilled employees continued to be
major problems for employers last year. Moreover,
it has become very expensive to use monetary-
related methods to retain employees.
We will analyze the retention rate of workers,
comparing to previous years and trends,
as well as look over the effectiveness of workers.

25. PRINCIPLE -10
Coherence ,unity clarity and flow
Sentences convey a single thought
Paragraphs discuss a single idea

26. PRINCIPLE-11
Consistency and continuity
Clear, complete and concise
Avoid disjointed, choppy sentences

27. PRINCIPLE-12
Sentence and paragraph linkages must be
coherent and seamless
„The apprehensions faced by the students, during
The MBA course, arise from the fact that they are
not able to set realistic goals. Sometimes
students coming from backgrounds where
exposure to the outside world is minimal. This is
one of the reasons for unrealistic goal setting.
One of the results of unrealistic goal setting is
frustration and stress at the end of the MBA
course‟
„

28. PRINCIPLE-12
„At the end of the MBA course, students face
lot of stress and frustration due to incorrect
goal setting. One reason for this is the
background of the student, parental
pressure etc.‟
„The background of a student has a great
effect on his/her goal setting process……..‟
„Incorrect goal setting results in lot of
problems for the students. These
include……‟

29. STYLE AND TONE
 State the main business, purpose, or subject matter right
away.
 avoid round-about beginnings.
Ex: "I am writing to apply for the position you
currently have open...."
"I am writing in response to your letter of July 24,
1997 in which you discuss problems you have
had with an electronic spreadsheet purchased
from our company."

30. STYLE AND TONE
If you are responding to a letter, identify that letter
by its subject and date in the first paragraph or
sentence.
Dear Mr. Stout: I am writing in response to your September
1, 19XX letter in which you describe problems that you've
had with one of our chainsaws. I regret that you've
suffered this inconvenience and expense and....
Dear Ms. Cohen: I have just received your August 4,
19XX letter in which you list names and other sources
from which I can get additional information on the
manufacture and use of plastic bottles in the soft-drink
industry....

31. STYLE AND TONE
 Keep the paragraphs of most business letters short,
between three and eight lines long.
 Paragraphs that are made up of only a single
sentence are common and perfectly acceptable.

32. STYLE AND TONE
 "Compartmentalize" the contents of your letter.
 A complaint letter concerning problems with the
system unit of a personal computer, can have
these paragraphs:
 A description of the problems
 The ineffective repair jobs
 The compensation you think you deserve and why
 Provide topic indicators at the beginning of
paragraphs.

33. STYLE AND TONE
 List or itemize whenever possible in a business
letter.
 Place important information strategically.
 Information in the first and last lines of paragraphs
read and remembered better.
 Information buried in the middle of long paragraphs
overlooked or forgotten.

34. STYLE AND TONE
Find positive ways to express bad news in
your business mail.
Avoid such words as "cannot," "forbid," "fail,"
"impossible," "refuse," "prohibit," "restrict,"
and "deny" as much as possible.
Problem: ’Because of the amount of
information you request in your letter, simply
cannot help you without seriously disrupting
my work schedule.‟ (cold and unfriendly)

35. STYLE AND TONE
Revision: „In your mail you ask for a good amount of
information which I would like to help you locate.
However, I need further information in order to be
able to solve the problem.... „(positive, cordial and
tactful)

36. STYLE AND TONE
We cannot supply before May 13
You can secure our services after May 12
A not inopportune moment
A convenient time
You have not yet responded
Please reply
You failed to enclose
Please send
If-when, but-however, could- can
Whenever possible end with a thank you.

37. STYLE AND TONE
Problem: While I am willing to discuss
changes in specific aspects of this article
or ideas on additional areas to cover, I am
not prepared to change the basic theme of
the article: the usability of the Victor
microcomputer system.

38. STYLE AND TONE
Revision: I am certainly open to
suggestions and comments about
specific aspects of this article, or any
of your thoughts on additional areas
that you think I should cover. I do
want, however, to retain the basic
theme of the article: the usability of the
Victor microcomputer system.

39. STYLE AND TONE
 Give your business letter an "action ending"
whenever appropriate.
 An "action-ending" makes clear what the writer of
the letter expects the recipient to do and when.
„As soon as you approve this plan, I'll begin
contacting sales representatives at once to
arrange for purchase and delivery of the
microcomputers. May I expect to hear from you
within the week?‟
„ I am free after 2:00 p.m. on most days. Can we
set up an appointment to discuss my background
and this position further? I'll look forward to
hearing from you. „

40. 1. Proofread aloud everything going out. By reading aloud, your ear will catch mistakes your eye
misses.
2. Make no assumptions. The ideas you are presenting must be explained in full to be understood.
PEOPLE READ ONLY WHAT IS ON THE PAGE.
3. Do not lecture. Write only what must be understood to make the proper decision or choice.
4. Rough draft all important letters and reports. Check them for content, sequential development of
ideas, and conciseness.
5. Always put yourself in the “other person‟s shoes” and ask yourself, “Would I want to read this
letter or report? Why? Does it say something of value and real importance to me?”
6. Many people are too busy to read carefully. Be sure your ideas are clear and easy to follow. As a
general rule, the most effective manner in which to develop an idea is:
Concept è Benefit Example è Data
This method leads your reader to the conclusion you want because the conclusion is already
clearly stated as the concept (hypothesis). Your examples and data are support for the
conclusion.
7. Define all “terms” and eliminate vague pronouns. These two traps cause more problems in
writing than any other set of conditions.
8. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling should be perfect. Use a dictionary -- either a good
unabridged volume or the “spelling checker” version on your computer.
9. Plan your time to allow for proofreading and correcting. When your success depends upon the
quality of your letters and reports, there are no excuses for ineptitude. There is no substitute for
EXCELLENCE!

41. RECAP
Some of the most basic tips to remember when writing
include:
 Avoid slang words
 Try not to use abbreviations (unless appropriately defined)
 Steer away from the symbols (such as ampersands [&])
 Clichés should be avoided, or at the very least, used with
caution
 Brackets are used to play down words or phrases
 Dashes are generally used for emphasis

42. RECAP
 Great care should ALWAYS be taken to spell the names
of people and companies correctly
Should you have any possible further questions,
please write to us at support@xxx.com
 Numbers should be expressed as words when the
number is less than 10 or is used to start a sentence
(example: Ten years ago, my brother and I…). The number
10, or anything greater than 10, should be expressed as a
figure (example: My brother has 13 Matchbox cars.)
 Quotation marks should be placed around any directly
quoted speech or text and around titles of publications
 Keep sentences short

43. "But words are things, and a small drop
of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought,
produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps
millions, think"
--Lord Byron (1788-1824)

44. THANK YOU