BusinessWriting BusinessEnglish toinformtopersuadetoentertain Functionsofbusinesswriting Everybusinessmessageisdesignedtoachieveaspecificbusinessobjective Itssuccessdependsonwhatitsaysandtowhatextentitinducesafavorableresponsefromthereader Messagestoinformareusedtoconveythevastamountofinformationneededtocompletetheday to dayoperationsofthebusiness Inadditiontoprovidinginformation somebusinessmessagesmustalsoinfluencethereader sattitudesandactions Tosecurethedesiredresponse itisnecessarytohaveanadequateknowledgeoftheEnglishlanguageandanunderstandingofhumannature Thewritershouldhaveanacquaintancewiththeparticularinterestand ifpossible theemotionsofthereader CriteriaforEffectiveBusinessWriting Abusinessmessageisconsideredsuccessfulwhenthereceiverinterpretsthemessageasthesenderintendeditand 2 itachievesthesender spurposes sixC sprinciples Courtesy Correctness Conciseness Clarity Concreteness Completeness 1 Courtesy 禮貌 Bycourtesywemeantreatingpeoplewithrespectandfriendlyhumanconcern Effectivewritersvisualizethereaderbeforestartingtowrite Theyconsiderthereader sdesires problems circumstances emotionsandprobablereactionstotheirrequest 2 Correctness 正確 Correctgrammar punctuationandspellingarebasicrequirementsforbusinesswriting Inaddition correctnessmeanschoosingthecorrectleveloflanguageandusingaccurateinformationanddata 3 Conciseness 簡潔 Effectivewritingisconcise eachword sentence andparagraphcounts Concisenessmeanstowriteinthefewestpossiblewordswithoutsacrificingcompletenessandcourtesy Concisenesswillgiveemphasistothemessage 4 Clarity 清楚 Claritytellsthereaderexactlywhatheorshewantsandneedstoknow usingwordsandaformatthatmakeyourwritingstotallyunderstoodwithjustonereading 5 Concreteness 具體 Businesswritingshouldbevivid specificanddefiniteratherthanvague generalandabstract especiallywhenthewriterisrequiringaresponse solvingproblems makinganofferoracceptance etc 6 Completeness 完整 Includeallthenecessaryinformationanddatainthemessagebecauseinformationanddatacanhelpsendersgetreceivers responsesandachievedesiredobjectives Achievingthedesiredeffectsisamatterofwritingskillandofunder standinghowpeoplerespondtowords Itinvolveskeepingcertainattitudesinmindandusingcertainwritingtechniquestoworkthemintoyourletters 1 ConversationalStyleAletter agoodletter reflectsthepersonalityofthewriterandalsoshouldbepleasingtothereader Peoplewhowritewithasenseofpersonalcontacthaveabetterchancetomakewhattheysayinterestingandconvincing Suchlanguageiswarmandnatural Thefollowingaresomehelpfulsuggestions 2 ResistingTendencytoBeFormalThereisamisconceptionthatbigwordsanddifficultwordsarepreferredinbusinessletters buttheresultofsuchwordsisacoldandunnaturalstyle onethatdoesnotproducethegoodwilleffectyouwantyourletterstohave 3 AvoidingtheOldLanguageofBusinessGoodwriterstakecaretoavoidstaleexpressions SeeSample1 4 You viewpointYou viewpointistofocusinterestonthereader Itisatechniqueforpersuasionandforinfluencingpeoplefavorably Inabroadsense you viewpointwritingemphasizesthereader sinterestandconcerns Itemphasizes you and your andde emphasizes we and our 5 AccentonPositiveLanguagePeopleenjoyandreactfavorablytopositivemessages Positivewordsemphasizethepleasantaspectsofthegoalandtendtoputthereaderintherightframeofmind Theyalsocreatethegoodwillatmosphere Negativewordsmaystirupyourreader sresistancetoyourgoals 6 SinglingOutYourReaderTosingleoutyourreaderinaletter youshouldwriteforhisorherparticularsituation Whatyousaythroughoutthelettershouldmakeitclearthatthereaderisgettingindividualtreatment 7 UsingtheReader sNamesUsingthereader snameinthelettertextisanotherwaytoshowthatthereaderisbeinggivenspecialtreatment Itmakesthereaderfeelthathis heridentityasindividualisrecognized 8 AvoidingAngerTheeffectofangrywordsistomakethereaderangry Withbothwriterandreaderangry thetwoarenotlikelytogettogetheronwhatevertheletterisabout BasicPatternsofBusinessWriting 1 DirectnessinGood newsandRoutineMessages IndirectnessinBad newsmessages 3 IndirectnessinPersuasion SampleAnalysis Sample1 1 DearSir WewishtoacknowledgereceiptofyourcreditapplicationdatedFebruary17givingtradeandbankreferences andwethankyouforthesame Pleasebeadvisedthatcreditaccommodationsareherewithextendedasperyourrequestandyourorderhasbeenshipped Hopingyouwillgiveustheopportunityofservingyouagaininthenearfuture weremainVerytrulyyours DearSirs Thankyouforsendingsopromptlythetradeandbankreferenceswehaveaskedfor Iamgladtosaythatyourorderhasalreadybeenshippedonthetermsyourequested Wehopeyouwillgiveusthechancetoserveyouagain Verytrulyyours Sample1 1 例1 1中的第一封信語氣顯得生硬 語言也有些老套 例如acknowledgereceiptofyourcreditapplication Pleasebeadvised Hoping weremain等 讀起來難懂 而且沒有親切感 而第二封信比較口語化 一讀便懂 更有效地傳達了信息 Wehavereceivedyourrequestforpermissiontouseourcomputersduringthenextsessionforsummerschool Wearepleasedtoinformyouthatyoumayuseall15ofthelaptopcomputersyourequested WouldyoupleasecomeinandfilloutthenecessarypaperworkanytimebeforeApril Sample1 2 Goodnews Jessica All15ofthelaptopcomputersyourequestedwillbeavailabletouseduringthenextsessionofsummerschool PleasecomebytheofficebeforeApril1tofilloutthenecessaryforms Sample1 2 例1 2是寫給同一請求的兩封回信 內容相同 但寫作風格截然不同 前者采用的是以自我表現為中心的協作風格 后者采用的是以對方為中心的寫作風格 后者簡明 親切 Group1 Wecannotunderstandyournegligence Wewillnottoleratethiscondition Yourcarelessattitudehascausedusalossinsales Wehavenointentionofpermittingthisconditiontocontinous Wehavehadit Sample1 3 Group2 WecandeliverthegoodsonJuly11 Sothatyoumayhavetheon