- •1. An introduction to business writting
- •What are the purposes for writing business letters?
- •What strategies can be used to achieve your purpose?
- •Why is it important to analyze the audience you are writing to?
- •What categories of audience do you know? Can you characterize them?
- •2. Business letter layout
- •2.5 What does the letterhead consist of? What types of companies can you come across in the letterhead? How you should write dates?
- •2.6 What courtesy titles do you know? What other titles can you use to address a person you are writing to?
- •2.7 What are the ways of addressing a letter? (when you know only a department, the company etc.)
- •2.8 What do we need references for? Is attention line optional or compulsory?
- •2.9 What is salutation followed by? When can we use the phrase “To Whom It May Concern”?
- •2.10 What is the role of the subject line in a business letter?
- •2.11 What are the paragraphs of a business letter? What does each of them serve for?
- •What does a signature block include? What does p.P. Stand for?
- •What are the last two components of a business letter? What do the abbreviations cc: and bc: stand for?
- •What are the formats of business letters? What are the differences between them?
- •Content and style in business correspondence.
- •Why do executives prefer written documents to other forms of communication?
- •10. Keep your sentence average length low
- •11. Use simple words rather than complex ones
- •12. Order and sequence
- •13. Use active verbs rather than passive verbs
- •14. Prepositions
- •What are the format guidelines?
- •What are the types of memos? Can you characterize them?
- •5. Sales letter
- •What’s a sales letter and what’s its job?
- •Is any other support literature needed and what is it needed for?
- •What should a sales letter be in order to sell?
- •What is people’s motivation to buy based on and what does it mean for writing a sales letter?
- •How do you understand “buying resistance”?
- •Could you name seven universal motivations?
- •What are the steps in sales letter writing?
- •Why is it important to catch your reader’s attention from the very beginning?
- •What’s the first thing your reader will look at?
- •Can you give any examples of headlines? Why are these headlines proven to get your reader’s attention?
- •Can you describe “problem-agitate technique”?
- •What do you do after identifying the problem?
- •What examples of credentials can you provide?
- •What should you point out in your sales letter: benefits or features of your product or service?
- •What besides benefits could be considered as powerful selling tools?
- •What do the best offers comprise?
- •What extra incentive can you give in your sales letter?
- •There is one more most read element in sales letters. What’s it?
- •What are the parts of a sales letter? Can you characterize them?
- •6. Resume
- •6.2. What’re the two basic resume designs and what’s the choice of your resume design based on?
- •6.8 What information do you present in the body of a resume and how is it arranged?
- •6.9 What information should you provide under the “work experience” title?
- •6.10 What should you do if you can’t keep all the details about your experience and education at one page?
- •6.11 What follows the experience section?
- •6.12 What do you write in the conclusion?
- •6.13 Why do we need letters of recommendation?
- •6.14 What are the way of presenting a letter of recommendation? Which way is better? Why?
- •7. Cover letter.
- •7.6 Characterize the body of the Cover Letter and the two approaches which can be used here.
- •7.11 What shouldn’t you say explaining why you left the previous positions?
- •7.12 How to explain why you are applying for the position?
- •8. Inquiry
- •What is usually asked for in the body of an inquiry?
- •9. Replies to inquiries.
- •9.1 What are the general rules for writing a reply to an inquiry?
- •9.2 What should you do if you received an inquiry erroneously?
- •9.3 What are the parts of a reply? (3)
- •10. Quotations
- •10.4 What should be mentioned in a quotation?
- •10.5 Are the prices quoted always legally binding?
- •10.6 What types of discounts do you know?
- •10.7 What main Incoterms do you know?
- •10.8 What are the two ways of quoting terms?
- •11. Offers
- •11.1 Types of offers.
- •11.2 Parts of offers.
- •12. Counter-Proposals
- •13.Orders
- •The reasons for refusing an order:
- •14. Complaints
- •14.1 What is a complaint, its objective and scope?
- •14.2 The essential rule in writing complaints
- •14.4 What may complaints arise from?
- •14.5 What are the parts of complaints? Characterize them.
- •15. Adjustments
- •15.1 The objective of an adjustment
- •15.2 The rules for writing adjustments
- •15.3. The parts of adjustments
- •15.4 The ways of correcting mistakes which have been made?
- •15.5 The reasons for rejecting complaints
10. Keep your sentence average length low
Sentence length is crucial to good writing. Almost everything written by good writers has an average sentence length of between 15 and 20 words. This doesn’t mean writing every sentence the same length. Good writers naturally vary the length and rhythm of their sentences—longer sentences balanced with shorter ones—but they keep their average sentence length well below 20 words.
11. Use simple words rather than complex ones
Many writers have difficulty keeping their message simple and clear. Instead of using everyday words they use complex or unfamiliar words. Simple, everyday words will help you get your message across. Too often we use words such as additional, indicate, initiate and proliferate for extra, show, start and spread.
12. Order and sequence
As well as containing the right amount of information, your letter should also make all the necessary points in a logical sequence, with each idea or piece of information linking up with the previous one in a pattern that can be followed. Do not jump around making a statement, switching to other subjects, then referring back to the point you made a few sentences or paragraphs before. The ideas and information should be in a clear logical order.
13. Use active verbs rather than passive verbs
Using active verbs rather than passive verbs is the key to good writing. Why? Because passive verbs are longwinded, ambiguous, impersonal and dull. Active verbs make your writing simpler, less formal, clearer and more precise. Here's an example:
Passive: It was agreed by the committee... Active: The committee agreed...
14. Prepositions
Special care should be taken when using prepositions. There is a big difference between “The price has been increased to £15.00”, “The price has been increased by £15.00”, and “The price has been increased from £15.00”.
What are seven c’s that you should follow? Each letter/memorandum should be: clear, concise, correct, courteous, conversational, convincing (убедительный), complete
4. IN-COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE. MEMORANDUMS
What is memos?
Memorandums are written internal communications which advise or inform employees of policies and procedures that their company has decided to adopt. There are numerous subjects that memos deal with, from informing staff of a retirement, to announcing important administrative or structural changes in the company.
What differs a memo from a business letter?
Memos can be as formal as a business letter. However, the heading and overall tone make a memo different from a business letter. Because you generally send memos to co-workers and colleagues, you do not have to include a formal salutation or closing remark.
Is a memo always a right solution to communicate a matter?
While memos are a convenient channel to communicate, it is always necessary to determine if a meeting is more appropriate. By meeting with everyone, however, you not only get to hear final decisions but the rationale behind them. In fact, new ideas may stem from face-to-face discussions.
What are the purposes of memos?
Usually you write memos to inform readers of specific information. You might also write a memo to persuade others to take action, give feedback on an issue, or react to a situation. However, most memos communicate basic information, such as meeting times or due dates.