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 礼貌 Bycourtesywemeantreatingpeoplewithrespectandfriendlyhumanconcern Effectivewritersvisualizethereaderbeforestartingtowrite Theyconsiderthereader sdesires problems circumstances emotionsandprobablereactionstotheirrequest 2 Correctness 正确 Correctgrammar punctuationandspellingarebasicrequirementsforbusinesswriting Inaddition correctnessmeanschoosingthecorrectleveloflanguageandusingaccurateinformationanddata 3 Conciseness 简洁 Effectivewritingisconcise eachword sentence andparagraphcounts Concisenessmeanstowriteinthefewestpossiblewordswithoutsacrificingcompletenessandcourtesy Concisenesswillgiveemphasistothemessage 4 Clarity 清楚 Claritytellsthereaderexactlywhatheorshewantsandneedstoknow usingwordsandaformatthatmakeyourwritingstotallyunderstoodwithjustonereading 5 Concreteness 具体 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中的第一封信语气显得生硬 语言也有些老套 例如acknowledgereceiptofyourcreditapplication Pleasebeadvised Hoping weremain等 读起来难懂 而且没有亲切感 而第二封信比较口语化 一读便懂 更有效地传达了信息 Wehavereceivedyourrequestforpermissiontouseourcomputersduringthenextsessionforsummerschool Wearepleasedtoinformyouthatyoumayuseall15ofthelaptopcomputersyourequested WouldyoupleasecomeinandfilloutthenecessarypaperworkanytimebeforeApril Sample1 2 Goodnews Jessica All15ofthelaptopcomputersyourequestedwillbeavailabletouseduringthenextsession