Английский язык для делового общения. Экспресс-курс. Учебное пособие для студентов всех форм обучения

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8. Role-play

JOB INTERVIEWS

Forever Young Ltd. are interviewing candidates for the position of Advertising Manager at their new branch office.

Interviewers Prepare application forms for the candidates and ask them to fill in the forms before the interviewers. You need a bright and creative person who is fluent in at least two foreign languages and who has drive and ambition.

Candidates Fill in the application forms offered by the interviewers. Be ready to speak about your previous work experience, educational background, your future career plans. Your family, hobbies and interests. Explain your motives for applying for this position. Try to convince the interviewers that you are ideal candidate for this job.

Unit II

Business Correspondence

1. Business Letters

Letters are perhaps the most important communication because they officially represent your company or organization to the outside world. Your company will seem less attractive if your letters are not professional.

Letterhead. A letterhead is the name and address of a person or an organization printed at the top of personal or office stationery. Your letterhead gives you more freedom to express the character of your company than any other part of the letter. It is worth thinking over the design of your letterhead carefully. Whatever style you chose, your letterheads should be very distinctive. They should give your correspondents all the information they might need if they want

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to contact you: your company name, your address, your telephone and fax numbers.

The date. Now it is almost always shown as 24 October 2014 without the ‘th’ after the day, and without a comma after the month. In American letters the date is written in the following way: October 24, 1995 (October twenty fourth, nineteen ninety five). If the date is written in figures, it will look as follows: month/date/year, e.g. 05/04/2014, which reads as follows: the fourth of May, twenty fourteen.

Reference. A reference is not essential. If you do have one, it will usually be the initials of the person who dictated the letter and those of the person who typed it, as in KMG/BZG. It can also include a file or account number, for example KMG/BZG/78/5.

The inside address. Make sure you get the name and job title of your correspondent right. If you are replying to a letter, address the person in the form in which he or she has signed. So if someone has signed his letter Hywell Walters, you should address him as Hywell Walters, not H. Walters.

There are three ways of addressing a man, and two ways of addressing a woman. Men can be addressed as:

William Sykes Esq.

Mr William Sykes William Sykes Women can be addressed as:

Miss (or Mrs or Ms) Hilary Briggs Hilary Briggs Which should you use, and under what circumstances?

The use of Esq. (short for Esquire) is now very much rarer than it was. It is a very formal form of address, and although it is still used, it is generally considered a little old fashioned. It is however, still considered polite to use some form of title (Mr, Mrs, Miss, Rev., Dr), although it is becoming more and more the norm to address people simply as Hilary Briggs, William Sykes etc. If you have never previously met a person you should use the title which is more formal. If you have met them, you should be able to judge for yourself whether they will be offended if you leave the title out, or whether they are likely to regard you as a bit too formal if you use it.

Addressing a woman can sometimes be tricky. It used to be common for women to indicate their marital status with their signa-

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ture, as in:

Yours sincerely Philippa Cooper (Mrs)

But many women nowadays, particularly in business, simply sign their names, without indicating their marital status. In that case, you should address them as Ms (Ms Philippa Cooper). This is becoming acceptable as a form of address.

What do you do if you do not even know what sex your correspondent is? If someone signs simply S. Lyon, you have a problem. The best thing to do is to try to guess whether the person is a man or a woman and address your letter accordingly. You should then start your letter ‘I hope it is Mr (or Ms) Lyon. Your letter just signed S. Lyon, so I am not sure.’

How should you address your letter if you are writing to a company or organization? Wherever possible, address it to a specific person in the company, by job title if you do not know his or her name. So, for instance, if it were a complaint about an unpaid invoice, you would write to the Accountant.

After the name of the company the number of the house and the name of the street are given, then the name of the town and of the county or state, as in:

Mr. Cormac Loane,

‘Martinaw Musicians’, 10 Priory Avenue, Selly Park, Birmingham,

B29 7NH, UK

The salutation. The salutation is a part with which a letter

starts.

If you know your correspondent, it will be simple deciding on the best salutation. If you know him or her well, you could begin ‘Dear John’ or ‘Dear Mary’. If you do not want to be quite so informal, you should use their title: ‘Dear Mr Smith’ or ‘Dear Miss Green’. One thing you should not do is address someone whose name you know as ‘Dear Sir’ or ‘Dear Madam’. This is so formal and unfriendly as to be impolite.

If you do not know your correspondent's name, the correct

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salutation is ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ (or Dear Sir/Madam). So in all cases where you are addressing someone by their job title only, you should use this form of salutation. It used to be common to write just ‘Dear Sir’, but this is no longer acceptable, as many business people and top administrators are women; they will quite rightly feel offended by being addressed as ‘Sir’.

If you are writing to a partnership, the correct form of salutation is ‘Dear Sirs’ or ‘Dear Madam’.

N.B. The American way of writing a salutation is: ‘Gentlemen:’ and a complementary close is: ‘Yours truly’.

The beginning of the letter. The way you begin your letter is important. Set the tone for the rest of the letter early, and think what it is going to be about.

If you are answering a letter from your correspondent, then a simple way of indicating the subject is to say

“Thank you for your letter of 3 July about the equipment

hire.”

In order to get a positive reaction from your readers, you need to make them want to read your letters. It is important to get their attention and interest early on in the letter, and this is why your opening should be eye-catching. For this reason avoid tired old clichtis like

With reference to your letter of 3 July...

I am writing to tell you..

I was delighted to receive your letter of 3 July about...

I was very sorry to hear from your letter of 3 July that...

Thank you for taking the trouble to write and tell me about...

I was concerned to read your letter of 3 July, and to hear that you have been having problems with...

I have thought carefully about the points you raised in your letter of 3 July and...

There are of course many ways of opening your letters - almost as many as there are subjects to write about. Your reader should be able to tell from the opening not only what the letter is about, but also what your attitude is.

The body of the letter. The main body of your letter should

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follow logically on from your opening to the end. It should follow the three rules of business communication and be brief, clear and direct.

The ending of the letter. Your closing paragraph is as important as your opening. This is the last thing your correspondent will read, and the last impression he or she will have of you. You should use it for two purposes:

to summarise your position,

to indicate any action that needs to be taken, and by

whom.

Summarising your position does not mean you should give a summary of everything you have said. You should simply summarise your views, or how you want your reader to feel. There are a few examples of different summary endings:

I hope this has helped you to understand our position. These are the problems I would like to review when we meet. I think you will agree that this is a very special offer.

I am sure you will appreciate our concern over this matter. There are five different kinds of action ending, depending on the

kind of response you expect.

a)Positive reader response

b)This means that you expect the reader to take some action: ‘I would be grateful if you could let me know as soon as possible what action you intend to take’. ‘I look forward to hearing from you’.

c)Positive writer response

d)This means that you will be taking some action: ‘I will thoroughly investigate the problem and contact you as soon as I have an answer’. ‘I will consider your proposals carefully, and let you have my response within the next few days’. ‘I am waiting to hear from my accountant, and will be in touch as soon as I do’.

e)Passive reader response

f)This means that the reader has the option of taking some action if he or she wants to, but that you do not expect it: ‘If you need any further information, do let me know’. ‘If I can be of any further assistance, please get in touch’.

g)(d) Passive writer response

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h) This means that you might take some action: ‘I will contact you if the situation changes’. If I receive any further information, I will let you know’.

(e) No response

If you do not want to continue the correspondence under any circumstances, then you should make this clear - not in so many words, as that would be impolite, but by your closing line: ‘Thank you for writing’. ‘I am grateful for your views’. ‘I found your suggestions interesting, and will bear them in mind for the future’.

A courtesy line. Finally, you can add a courtesy line if you wish or if it is appropriate. It is not always necessary.

‘Thank you for your co-operation’. ‘I apologize for the inconvenience you have been caused’. ‘I look forward to a long and profitable business relationship’.

The complimentary close. If your salutation is ‘Dear Sir or Madam’, then your complimentary close should be ‘Yours faithfully’. If your salutation is ‘Dear Mr White’, ‘Dear Mrs Cjreen’, then your complimentary close should be ‘Yours sincerely’.

If you are being very informal, and writing to someone you know well, you can use ‘With kind regards”, ‘With best wishes’ or some such informal wording.

There should be a space for a signature, and then the name of the signatory. If you are writing to someone you know well, who already knows your position in the company, then it is not necessary to put your job title. But if you are writing to someone with whom you have not had dealings before, you should put your position under your name:

Marlene Iteach Managing Director

Sometimes a letter may be dictated by one person, but signed by another, usually a secretary. For example the Sales Manager might dictate a number of letters before going off on a business trip, and leave them to be typed and signed by her secretary. In that case the signature wood look as follows:

pp Nicola Dunnet Diana Childs

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Sales Manager

Notes about enclosures and copies. If you are enclosing something with your letter, you should type ‘Enc.’ at the bottom. If you are sending a copy to another person you should type ‘cc’ (carbon copy) and the person’s name at the bottom. The following abbreviations may be typed on copies of the letter, but not on the original: ‘bcc’ (blind carbon copy) if you are sending a copy to someone else without the original addressee knowing.

Formatting. Formatting your letter do not forget about two main ways of setting out your letter:

1) the fully displayed or indented style; 2) the blocked style; and two styles of punctuation:

1) full punctuation; 2) open punctuation

Here is an example of a fully displayed or indented style let-

ter:

NATURAL RAPPORT 23 Westhouse Court, Westhouse Grove, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 6PS, G.B. Telephone: 121441 2577 International +44 121 441 25 77 Facsimile: 121 441 2518 International +44 121 441 2518 Partners: N.Chebili, R.J.McCaig

23 November 1996

Mr David Bintley,

4 Keen Street, Foxhill, Cambridge, CA25 3VC. Dear Mr Bintley,

I, like you, currently work in the same field but have recendy taken up the offer of a new business opportunity to run alongside my business, in order to maximize income potential and timeeffectiveness.

As this move has proven very successful for me, I considered that others in a similar situation may wish to benefit from the same opportunity.

This business requires no recognized skills - only a commitment to succeed. It can be worked on a part-time or full-time basis, enabling you to maintain your tuition business, if desired.

To give you some idea of its potential, our group of associated

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businesses is now turning over in excess of £ 4 million per month in the UK alone. This is from a standing start three years ago.

You may be interested to know that our business is currently expanding into Europe and may be able to offer you business internationally.

This business has been termed the ‘opportunity of the 90s’ and offers any participant the potential for extremely high rewards - both financially and in terms of enjoyment - together with a refreshingly ethical approach.

If you are interested in the above and have an open mind, I would be grateful if you would telephone me to discuss this matter further.

Yours sincerely, Richard Me Caig Partner

Here is an example of a blocked style letter:

UN I VER S AL GR O UP 28 ALDERNEY STREET PIMLICO LONDON SW1V 4EU TEL: 01 828 6547, FAX: 01 630 5021

Ref. PC/NA/6693

28 September 1991 Ms

Kumarova

Myra 10 Priory Avenue Birmingham

В29 7NH

Dear Ms Kumarova

Universal Group requires speakers to give a series of lectures concerning life in the present day Commonwealth of Independent States.

These speakers must have lived in the CIS and possess an indepth knowledge of life in the CIS as it is today. They must also be able to speak English fluently and clearly.

Enclosed is a copy of the topics on offer for the series - but only a few of them will be needed.

If you are interested in being considered as one of the speakers, please write to us by 14th October, 1991, stating

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1)Any experience you may have of public speaking

2)Which of the topics on the enclosed list you could speak about for at least half an hour

3)What audio-visual aids you may have e.g. videos, slides, tapes, posters, etc.

4)Your availability during the day.

We look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely

P. Cronin Enc. 1 page

Some blocked letters tend to be semi-blocked. It means that the date can be shown on the right-hand side and sometimes the complementary close is in the centre of the page.

1.1.Answer the following questions:

1.What is the layout of the letter, how do you understand it?

2.What is a letterhead?

3.Design the letterhead of your company.

4.Why is it important to get your correspondent’s name and job title right?

5.What are the three ways to address a man?

6.What are the two ways to address a woman?

7.Why addressing a woman can sometimes be tricky?

8.What do you do if you do not even know what sex your correspondent is?

9.What is the correct way to address a partnership?

10.What is the right way to write the address of your correspondent?

11.What kind of salutation should you use if you know your correspondent?

12.What kind of salutation should you use if you do not know the correspondent’s name?

13.What kind of salutation should you use if you are writing to the partnership?

14.How would you begin your letter?

15.Which three rules of communication should follow the construction and style of your letter?

16.For what purpose do you use a closing paragraph?

17.What are the five action endings, depending on the kind of response you expect?

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18.What courtesy lines would you add to your letters?

19.What is the right way to make a complimentary close?

20.How should a signatory put the signature in a correct way?

21.What kind of an authorized signature looks old-fashioned?

22.How would you finish a letter dictated by someone and signed by you?

23.Which of the styles is the most popular and why?

24.What are the parts of a business letter?

25.Draw a layout of a fully-displayed style letter.

26.Draw a layout of a blocked style letter.

27.What is the American way of writing the date?

28.What is the accepted American way of making a salutation and a complementary close in a business letter?

1.2. Write an enquiry using phrases given below.

We are interested in ... produced by your company

We saw your product at the exhibition and would ask you to send us your latest catalogue

We are interested in purchasing ... from your company We are in the market for...

We would be obliged if you could quote your best prices and terms of delivery and payment

We would like to buy ...

Please send us your latest catalogue of goods and a price-list Please send us samples of your product Please send us full details of the products We should like you to give us a quotation for ...

Your prompt reply will be appreciated

Kinds of letters

A letter of invitation for a business is a professional and formal letter. This letter is written to invite clients, customers and business partners for a launch of new magazine. This letter helps people to know that the publication house is launching a new magazine related to health. The letter gives the date, time and venue of the