Lecture Business and administrative communication: Chapter 3 - Kitty O. Locker, Donna S. Kienzler

Chapter 3 - Building goodwill. In this chapter, students will be able to understand: Create you-attitude, create positive emphasis, improve tone in business communications, reduce bias in business communications.

Chapter 3

Building Goodwill

Chapter 3 Learning Objectives

 Build goodwill through

 You-attitude

 Positive emphasis

 Bias-free language

 Looks at things from audience’s

viewpoint

 Emphasizes what audience wants to

know

 Respects audience’s intelligence

 Protects audience’s ego

1. Talk about audience, not yourself

2. Refer to audience’s request or order

3. Don’t talk about feelings

4. In positive situations, use you more often than I Use we when it includes the

audience

5. In negative situations, avoid you.

Talk About Audience, Not Yourself

 Tell how message affects the audience

 Don’t mention communicator’s work or

generosity

 Stress what audience wants to know

 Lacks you-attitude

We designed a new Web site for you.

 Contains you-attitude

Your Web site redesign is now online.

Order

 Make specific references, not generic

 Name content of order for person or

small business

 Cite purchase order numbers for

customers that order often

 Lacks you-attitude

We shipped your order.

 Contains you-attitude

Your order for 235 bicycle tires will

 Express your feelings to

 Offer sympathy to audience

 Congratulate audience

 Don’t talk about audience’s feelings

 Don’t predict audience’s response

 Give audience good news

 Lacks you-attitude

We are excited to have you as a customer.

 Contains you-attitude

Your new membership guarantees the

Than I.  Use We If It Includes the Audience

 Use you in positive situations

 Avoid I in printed text

 Avoid we if it excludes the audience

 Lacks you-attitude

We are now giving you a raise.

 Contains you-attitude

Your raise will be effective Jan 1.

 Protect audience’s ego

 Avoid assigning blame

 Use passive verbs

 Use impersonal style

 Lacks you-attitude

You were late this morning.

 Contains you-attitude

The timecard was not punched on time today.

 Way of looking at situations

 Communication focuses on the positive

 Create positive emphasis through

 Words

 Information

 Organization

 Layout

Half full or half empty?

Emphasis

1. Avoid negative words

2. Beware of hidden negatives

3. Focus on what audience can do, not

limitations

4. Justify negative information by giving

reason or linking to audience benefit

5. Put negative information in the middle

and present it compactly

 Tone – implied attitude of the

communicator toward the audience

 Good tone –

 Businesslike, not stiff

 Friendly, not phony

 Confident, not arrogant

 Polite, not groveling

 Words that do not discriminate on basis of

 Ethnicity

 Physical condition

 Religion