Unit 2 – Notes (Business Communication)

Note: For detailed notes of oral communication, written communication and non-verbal
communication, refer to unit 1notes.

Principles of Successful oral Communication:

1. Well-Planned - Before presenting something, there should be proper planning regarding the
audience, topics to be delivered, timing and other factors: So, a person must be well-prepared
to deliver his speech.

2. Clear pronunciation - To make oral messages meaningful to receivers, words should be

clearly and correctly pronounced. There should not be any lack of clarity, otherwise, the
communication would be a confusing one.

3. Brevity - Effective oral communication desires that a message should be brief. If the sender
took a long time for talking, his message may not get the attention of the receiver.

4. Precision - Precision is needed to make oral communication effective. There should not be
any confusing words rather message to be delivered should be specific so that there is no
misunderstanding.

5. Natural voice - Any sort of unnatural voice may distort the message. Natural voice can do
a lot to make oral communication effective.

6. Logical sequence - Ideas should be organized in a sequential way to make the message
communicative and attractive. Unorganized ideas do not provide clear sense while a
logical sequence of ideas gives clear sense.

7. Suitable words - Words have different meanings to different people in different situations
in oral communication, a speaker should use the common, simple and familiar words so that
receiver can react to the message without any problem.

8. Courteous - Courtesy costs nothing but can earn many things. So, a speaker should be
courteous while addressing listeners. It helps create a good impression in the mind of listeners
regarding the speaker.

9. Attractive presentation - It is another principle to make oral communication effective. A

speaker should deliver his speech in a very nice and sweet language so that receiver is attracted
to take part in the communication.
10. Emphasis - The speaker must be knowledgeable regarding the portion of the speech where
he should give emphasis. Giving emphasis on respective points will help draw
the attention of the audience.

Principles of Effective Writing:

1. Brevity

2. Clarity

3. Communication

4. Emphasis

5. Honesty

6. Passion and Control

7. Reading

8. Revision

9. Sophistication and Simplicity

10. Simplicity

Approaches the Writing Process Systematically – The 3x3 Writing Process:

1. Prewriting
You’re ready to start writing. So why has that blank page been staring back at you for the past
hour? Prewriting identifies everything you need to do before you sit down to start your rough
draft.
Find Your Idea:

Ideas are all around you. You might draw inspiration from a routine, an everyday situation or
a childhood memory. Alternatively, keep a notebook specifically devoted to catching your ideas
as they come to you. Your own imagination is the only limit to finding your source of
inspiration.

Build On Your Idea:

Two of the most popular methods of fleshing out your idea are free writing and brainstorming.
Free writing means writing every idea that comes into your head. Do not stop to edit your
mistakes, just let the ideas flow. Or, try brainstorming. If you’re on a computer, try a manual
process first to help you visualize your narrative: write your idea in the center of the page and
work outwards in all of the different directions you can take your story.

Plan and Structure:

Piecing the puzzle together comes next. It’s time to sort through your ideas and choose which
ones you will use to form your story. Make sure you keep your notes even after your book is
published – there may be the seeds for your next story as well.

2. Writing:

Now you have your plan and you’re ready to start writing. Remember, this is your first rough
draft. Forget about word count and grammar. Don’t worry if you stray off topic in places; even
the greatest writers produce multiple drafts before they produce their finished manuscript.
Think of this stage as a free writing exercise, just with more direction. Identify the best time
and location to write and eliminate potential distractions. Make writing a regular part of your
day.

3. Revision:

Your story can change a great deal during this stage. When revising their work, many writers
naturally adopt the A.R.R.R. approach:

•Add

•Rearrange

•Remove

•Replace

Written Communication: Purpose and Clarity:

Purpose:

Written communication aims to inform someone of something in a way that they are able to
read and understand the message, with an intention of responding to it. In some cases, the only
way you can communicate certain information is via written communication. This could be the
case in certain aspects of a job, such as a statement of an incident and so on. You could also
consider that story telling in novels is a way of written communication because even though
the words are fictitious, they are still communicating a particular narrative.

•What makes it coherent?

If a form of written communication cannot be understood by the recipient, then the message
may well as not exist. In order to write a piece of information that can be understood clearly
you need to have the correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. In addition, depending on the
form of written communication you need to make sure you use the right format. For example,
if you are writing a letter, then you need to ensure that you are using the appropriate format.

•Why?

Written communication is prevalent in everyday life because it is not simply the case of writing
down a message on a piece of paper. Nowadays we use written communication constantly in
the form of email, text messages, online chats, social networking and so on. It has
become an integral part of communicating with people around us.

Clarity:
Clarity is critical in business communication, where messages are continuously conveyed over
different media to many audiences. Technology and globalization make business
communication more complex, even for a small business that might be challenged to control
internal and external messaging. A small business might view communication as a problem
only for large corporations with many employees, but effective communication is vital for
success in businesses of every size and scope. Clarity in business communication requires an
intentional approach to communication in its many forms. Lack of clarity in business
communication causes misinformation, mistakes, unhappy customers, frustrated employees
and information lags that make companies look bad and affect profits.

Effective Listening:

Listening is an art that can be cultivated. It is a crucial aspect of effective communication. It is

a skill that can be developed through patience and practice.

Difference between hearing and listening:

One must not be confused between hearing and listening. The differences are as follows:
Hearing is simply the act of perceiving a sound via the ears, listening involves hearing as well
as understanding what is heard. Hearing is an inactive process, whereas listening is an active
process. Hearing is involuntarily, whereas listening is voluntarily.

Definition:

According to Rodriques, “Listening is a process of receiving, interpreting and reacting to the

messages received from the communication sender.”

Types of Listening:

Broadly, we can classify listening into three types:

1. Active
2. Passive
3. Selective

Active listening:

Active listening means actively listening.

It is a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice. However, active listening can be
difficult to master and will, therefore, take time and patience to develop. It requires full
concentration on what is being said rather than just passively ‘hearing’ the message of the
speaker.

Active listening involves listening with all senses. As well as giving full attention to the
speaker, it is important that the ‘active listener’ is also ‘seen’ to be listening – otherwise the
speaker may conclude that what they are talking about is uninteresting to the listener.

Passive listening:

It is basically opposite of active listening. It is a sort of hearing we can say. It means – physically
present and mentally absent.

Selective listening:

It means you are listening only that talk, which is related and important to you and rest talks
you are ignoring i.e. only selective talk.
Barriers to Listening:

1. Physical
2. Psychological
3. Linguistic
4. Cultural etc.

Elements of Effective Listening:

The elements of effective listening, arranged in the order in which they occur, are as follows:

1. Hearing
2. Filtering
3. Interpreting
4. Evaluating
5. Responding

Four Stages of Listening:

When a message is sent to us, we move through four stages in order to fully understand and
retain what we heard and it goes like this:

•Attending

•Interpreting

•Responding

•Remembering

Reflection and Empathy: Two Sides of effective oral communication:

Reflecting is the process of paraphrasing and restating both the feelings and words
of the speaker. The purposes of reflecting are:

•To allow the speaker to ‘hear’ their own thoughts and to focus on what they say and feel.

•To show the speaker that you are trying to perceive the world as they see it and that you

are doing your best to understand their messages.

•To encourage them to continue talking.

Reflecting does not involve you asking questions, introducing a new topic or
leading the conversation in another direction. Speakers are helped through reflecting as it not
only allows them to feel understood, but it also gives them the opportunity to focus their ideas.
This in turn helps them to direct their thoughts and further encourages them to continue
speaking. Two main techniques of Reflecting are:

1. Mirroring - Mirroring is a simple form of reflecting and involves repeating almost exactly
what the speaker says. Mirroring should be short and simple. It is usually enough to just repeat
key words or the last few words spoken. This shows you are trying to understand the speakers’
terms of reference and acts as a prompt for him or her to continue. Be aware not to over mirror
as this can become irritating and therefore a distraction from the message.

2. Paraphrasing - Paraphrasing involves using other words to reflect what the speaker has
said. Paraphrasing shows not only that you are listening, but that you are attempting to
understand what the speaker is saying.

Empathy:

Simply stated, empathy is defined as the ability to identify and understand another’s situation,
feelings and motives.

“Empathy is the no.1 soft skill that you can develop.” – Forbes Magazine

Here are a few suggestions that may contribute to a more empathetic approach…

•Develop your self-awareness

•Smile and greet others with genuine enthusiasm

•Lead the way

•Remember other’s names

•Listen and show sincere interest

•Advocate for other’s needs

•Find common ground

•Provide encouragement

•Share professional resources etc.

Conversation Control: