Professional Communication

1. #OUJ3700
PROFESSIONAL
COMMUNICATION

2. LET’S TALK WRITING

3. WRITING BASICS:
BEFORE YOU EVER
START TYPING
• Research the client
• Research the client’s competitors
• Research your company
• Research your company’s competitors
• Research the target audience
• Context Matters!!

4. WRITING BASICS
BEFORE YOU EVER
START TYPING
Outline the purpose
•What outcome to you want?
• Inform
• Entertain
• Persuade

5. WRITING BASICS
BEFORE YOU EVER
START TYPING

6. THE MAIN THEME OF
GOOD WRITING
• The key to good writing is brevity.
• Be concise and thorough.

7. UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TO
ACHIEVE
THAT THEME
Commitment Statement
• How can you explain everything you are
talking about in one sentence?
• That sentence should have emotional
impact.
• Everything you write needs to revolve
around that commitment statement.

8. UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TO
ACHIEVE
THAT THEME
SVO Writing
•Subject
•Verb
•Object

9. UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TO
ACHIEVE
THAT THEME
• Avoid passive voice at all costs
• Passive voice is confusing.
• Passive voice is cumbersome.
• Passive voice is not conversational.
Passive voice writing will hurt your grade.
Don’t use it.

10. WHAT IS PASSIVE
VOICE?
The man was bitten by the dog.
The dog bit the man
SVO writing shortens your sentences.
SVO writing is more clear.
SVO writing is better.

11. UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TO
ACHIEVE
THAT THEME
Every word should have a purpose.
•Write your copy
• Diet Coke break
• Review your copy
• Read it aloud

12. LAUNDRY LIST OF
WRITING TIPS
• Do use active voice verbs create immediacy.
Use them.
• Don’t use jargon. It’s confusing.
• Do vary sentence structure and length.
• Don’t overly hype something.
• Do think about tone.

13. WAYS TO CLARIFY
WRITING
Example
• We all played show and tell in elementary school.
Definition
• If you use a complex term, assume people don’t
know what it means
Comparison
• We know about apples to apples

14. WAYS TO CLARIFY
WRITING
Restatement
• Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
• Tell them.
• Tell them what you told them.
• 3 minimum amount of times you have to tell
someone something before they have a
chance to get it….
• 8-11 times before it sticks….

15. LET’S TALK
PROFESSIONAL WRITING

16. WHY ARE WE TALKING
ABOUT BUSINESS
WRITING?
• Strategic Communication is about telling stories
that preserve or improve brands.
• The better a brand, the more likely it survives.
• A surviving brand means you still have a job.
Good business writing helps you eliminate clutter, workplace
drama and other annoyances that prevent you
from doing the work you want to do.

17. INTERNAL MEMO
• Bosses gloss over stuff.
• You need to keep them updated on
client progress.
• Memos make that happen.
• They also cover you when something
goes wrong.

18. MEMO FORMAT
THE BEGINNING
Why are you writing?
• Mention this in the subject line
• Mention this in the first or second sentence
• Be nice
Tell Them What You’re Going To Tell Them

19. LET’S MAKE UP AN
EXAMPLE ON THE FLY

20. MEMO FORMAT
THE MIDDLE
All the slides I will just talked about…do it.
• Bullet Points
• Outline
• Vary Copy
• Visual Aids
• Context AND Content
Tell Them

21. LET’S MAKE UP AN
EXAMPLE ON THE FLY

22. MEMO FORMAT
THE END
• What is the next step?
• When will that step be delivered?
• Be nice.
• Tell Them What You Told Them

23. LET’S MAKE UP AN
EXAMPLE ON THE FLY

24. WHAT IS NEXT?
Memo is due a week from today at 5 p.m.
Specs are on BB.