Writing Business Messages: Composing Your Message
Composition is easiest if you have already figured out what to say and in what order. Although you may need to pause now and then to find the right word, you may also discover as you go along that you can improve your outline. Feel free to rearrange, delete and add ideas as long as you do not lose sight of your purpose.
Choosing Strong Words
Effective messages depend on carefully chosen words, whether you select them during your first draft or edit them in later. First, pay close attention to correctness. The rules of grammar and usage are constantly changing to reflect changes n the way people speak. Even editors and grammarians occasionally have questions about correct usage and they sometimes disagree about the answers. For example, the word data is the plural form of datum, yet some experts now prefer to treat data as a singular noun when it is used in non-scientific material to refer to a body of information. You be the judge: Which of the following sentences sound better?
Using Functional and Content Words Correctly
Words can be divided into two main categories. Functional words express relationships and have only one unchanging meaning in any given context. They include conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns. Content words are multidimensional and therefore subject to various interpretations. They include nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. These words carry the meaning of a sentence. In your sentences, content words are the building blocks and functional words are the mortar that holds them together. In the following sentence all the content words are underlined:
Finding Words That Communicate
By practicing your writing, learning from experienced writers and editors or reading extensively, you will find it easier to choose words that communicate exactly what you what to say when you compose your business messages think carefully to find the most powerful words for each situation.
*SOURCE: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TODAY 8TH ED; BOVEE AND THLL; PGS. 130-134*
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