Written Communication

1. Written Communication Helen Spencer Marc Shirley Jen Seile

2. Today’s Symbol Dagger – double-edged sword of right thought followed by right action – cuts through foggy notions to bring clarity to areas that need closer examination. 

3. Typo Hunters

4. Today’s Agenda • Creating messages that convey appropriate tone • Writing to inform, respond or persuade • Effective proofreading

5. Group Formation Exercise Create a team name that relates to today’s session.

6. Why is it important to write “good”? Your written communication skills are a reflection of your professionalism and your organization’s image. Enron knew about the power of the written word when they bought all those shredders.

7. What do you think of their image? Did you know you could LEED points with your ornamnetal fence?

8. What did Dunkin’ do wrong?

9. What are the kids learning at the zoo? The PLATYPUS has a duck’s bill and a beaver’s tail. This strange looking mammal can hold it’s breathe under water for 10 minutes while resting

10. What communications do you write? • Email • Memos • Letters • Reports • Minutes • Post-it notes • Text Messages • Signs and posters • To-do lists • Forms • Facebook • IM

11. Appropriate Tone • Know your audience • Managers, executives, peers • What do you know about the people to whom you’re writing? • Email & IM • Emoticons  • ;-) • \_/7 • @==>==>= “Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

12. Tone • Active/Passive Voice • Active voice = the subject performs the action. • Generally more effective than passive voice • Passive voice = the subject is acted upon by the verb • Can be wordy and roundabout • Appropriate in some cases • “Doer” is not known or unimportant

13. Active/Passive Voice Exercise • The project planwas presented to the staff byJen. • Jenpresented the project plan. • It was recommended that the policy be changed • Marc recommended that the policy be changed. • An analysis of the report was made by Helen • Helen analyzedthe report.

14. Tone Exercises • To whom do you write? • Supervisor • Peers • Employees • Customers/clients • Vendors • What is the best tone for each?

15. Reasons for Writing • Inform • Respond • Persuade

16. Inform • Writing to explain • “Newspaper writing” • Clear introduction • Provide context What types of informative communications do you write?

17. Respond • Answer a question or address an issue • Provide reasons/critical thinking • Audience/tone is important What types of responsive communications do you write?

18. Persuade • Seeks to influence the reader to take action or change an opinion • Get right to the point (what is the call to action?) What types of persuasive communications do you write?

19. Brake Time? Break Time!

20. Grammatical Errors & How to Avoid Them

22. Grammar Basics • Sentence construction • Fragments • Contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought • Run on sentences • Two or more complete ideas joined without punctuation • Not too short, not too long: just right

23. What’s the problem? • Went to the meeting. Back later. • I’ve gone to the meeting about the new initiative it is scheduled from 2 until 4 and will cover everything we need to know to be successful in the new fiscal year since I usually leave at 4:15 I’ll be back at my desk first thing tomorrow morning. Fragment Run on

24. Grammar Basics • Subject/Verb Agreement • Subject and verb must agree in number • Ignore phrases that separate the subject from the verb • If using “and”, use a plural verb; if using “or” use a singular verb • Use a singular verb after each, everyone, nobody, someone, every, one, another and much. • Use a plural verb after both, few, many, others, and several • If a group is acting as one unit, use a singular verb

25. Subject/VerbAgreement: • Finance isthe best department at GW. • Finance arethe best department at GW. • The vase of flowers on her desk looks beautiful, but the scissors lookvery sharp. • The vase of flowers on her desk look beautiful, but the scissors looksverysharp. • My Manager and I are going to the conference in Hawaii. • My Manager and I is going to the conference in Hawaii.

26. What’s wrong with this picture?

27. Punctuation • The punctuation used determines the meaning of a sentence. Oh. Oh! Oh?

28. Commas and Examples • Used to separate two complete thoughts with a coordinating conjunction (but, or, yet, so, for, and, ornor) • He did not attend the All Hands Meeting, nor did he send his report. • Sets off an introductory dependent clause • Before we can reach our goal, we need additional revenue.

29. Commas and Examples • When three or more items are listed in a series, place a comma before the and preceding the last item. • The Finance Division is comprised of Office of the Comptroller, Procurement, BMAG, Risk Management, Treasury Management, and Tax, Payroll, and Benefits. • To set off a year if it follows the months and day • We are planning to upgrade several ERP’s as of January 1, 2012, as part of our continuous improvement initiative.

30. Commas and Examples • Between adjectives in place of and • My department is looking forward to moving into the spacious, well-lit building.

31. Apostrophes • To show possession • In contractions Deep Fried Oreo’s They Dont Support Our Kids Education

32. Quotations • A single word or a short phrase may be enclosed in quotation marks to indicate ironic use • To indicate the exact words of a speaker • To indicate phrases introduced by words such as labeled, signed, and entitled. • Periods and commas go inside quotation marks, colons and semicolons go outside, question marks and exclamation points can go either place.

33. Spelling & Word Usage Aoccdrnig to rscheearch by the Lngiusiitc Dptanmeret at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

34. Spelling & Word Usage • Don’t rely only on spell check • Commonly misspelled words • Commonly misused words

35. It’s vs. Its It’s Its Contraction of it is or it has It’s great to be a part of GW Finance. It’s been too hot outside for weeks! Possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it Finance held its quarterly meeting last month. GW increased its bond rating. A simple test If you can replace it's in your sentence with it is or it has, then your word is it's; otherwise, your word is its.

36. They’re, Their, and There Their They’re There Possessive, meaning it owns something The Department’s Xerox machine is broken. = Their Xerox machine is broken. Refers to a place or idea Look over there! Can also refer to something more abstract There are many reasons to show up for work on time. Contraction for they are The Directors are attending the meeting. = They’re attending the meeting.

37. Your vs. You’re Your You’re Possessive, meaning you own something Your paycheck is deposited into your account every other Friday. Your work helps the Finance Division. Contraction for you are You’re using your annual leave to visit family in Bermuda. Do you know what you’re doing? Yes, you’ve heard this before These follow the same rules as their and they’re

38. Your vs. You’re

39. Less vs. Fewer Less Fewer Qualities or quantities that cannot be individually counted I drank less water than she did. Normally used when referring to time or money. I have to leave in less than an hour. Lunch cost less than $10. Objects that can be counted one-by-one She drank fewer bottles of water than he did. Specific units of time or money use fewer only in cases where individual items are noted He worked fewer hours than I did.

40. Less vs. Fewer

41. To, Too and Two To Too Two Preposition, always precedes a noun. They’re going to the meeting. He's going to lunch. Infinitive when it precedes a verb I need to leave early. 2 Adverb meaning “also” or “excessively” (when it precedes an adjective or adverb) Can I go too? I'm too busy to go to the meeting. He ate too much.

42. To, Too and Two Two boys walked to Tucson on Tuesday. “I’m too tired to walk home,” one said. “Me too,” said the other.

43. Remember to check your work

44. Proofreading Tips • Re-read all written communication thoroughly • Proofread important or technical material at least twice – double check figures and proper names • Let it rest • Read your text aloud, or ask a friend to read it to you • Picture each sentence written correctly • Use a spellchecker but don’t rely on that alone • Read your text backwards “The difference between the almost-right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning-bug & the lightning.” ~Mark Twain

45. Conclusion • Creating messages that convey appropriate tone • Writing to inform, respond or persuade • Effective proofreading

46. Final Exercise • Write an Email Invite Dave Lawlor, Dave Green, Donna Ginter, and Deb Dickenson to a mandatory meeting tomorrow at 3pm in Room 266 to discuss a new initiative.

47. Group Challenge Results

48. The End