6: Completing Business Messages 6-1
Chapter 6: Completing Business Messages
This chapter wraps up the section on the three-step writing process by covering the tasks involved in
completing a message: revising, producing, proofreading, and distributing messages. It includes advice on
evaluating, editing, and revising the work of other writers and on designing messages for mobile devices.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Revising Your Message: Evaluating the First Draft
Evaluating Your Content, Organization, Style, and Tone
Evaluating, Editing, and Revising the Work of Others
Revising to Improve Readability
Varying Your Sentence Length
Keeping Your Paragraphs Short
Using Lists to Clarify and Emphasize
Adding Headings and Subheadings
Editing for Clarity and Conciseness
Editing for Clarity
Editing for Conciseness
Producing Your Message
Designing for Readability
White Space
Margins and Justification
Typefaces
Type Styles
Formatting Formal Letters and Memos
Designing Messages for Mobile Devices
Proofreading Your Message
Distributing Your Message
Learning Catalytics is a “bring your own device” student engagement, assessment, and classroom
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can use any modern, web-enabled device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop) to access it. For more
information on using Learning Catalytics in your course, contact your Pearson Representative.
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LECTURE NOTES
Section 1: Revising Your Message: Evaluating the First Draft
Learning Objective 1: Discuss the value of careful revision, and describe the tasks involved in evaluating
your first drafts and the work of other writers.
Since the first draft is rarely as good as it could be or needs to be, recognize that you’ll need to revise the
document.
Careful revision can mean the difference between a rambling, unfocused message and a lively, direct
message that gets results.
The third step of the three-step writing process involves four key tasks:
• Revising your message to achieve optimum quality
• Producing your message
• Proofreading your message
• Distributing your message
The nature of revision will vary according to the medium you’re using and the nature of each message.
Audiences are likely to equate the quality of your writing with the quality of your thinking.
For informal messages to internal audiences, particularly when using instant messaging, text messaging,
email, or blogging, the revision process is often as simple as quickly looking over your message to correct
any mistakes before sending or posting it.
With more complex messages, try to put your draft aside for a day or two before you begin the revision
process so that you can approach the material with a fresh eye.
After letting the document sit for a day or so, start with the “big picture,” making sure that the document
accomplishes your overall goals before moving to finer points, such as readability, clarity, and
conciseness.
Evaluating Your Content, Organization, Style, and Tone
To evaluate content, ask:
• Is the information accurate?
• Is the information relevant to the audience?
• Is there enough information to satisfy the readers’ needs?
• Is there a good balance between general information and specific information?
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To review organization, ask:
• Are all your points covered in the most logical order?
• Do the most important ideas receive the most space, and are they placed in the most
prominent positions?
• Would the message be more convincing if it were arranged in another sequence?
• Are any points repeated unnecessarily?
• Are details grouped together logically, or are some still scattered throughout the document?
Ask whether you have achieved the right style and tone for your audience by answering these
questions:
• Is your writing formal enough to meet the audience’s expectations, without being too formal
or academic?
• Is it too casual for a serious subject?
• Does your message emphasize the audience’s needs over your own?
Spend a few extra moments on the beginning and end of your message.
• Be sure that the opening is relevant, interesting, and geared to the reader’s probable reaction.
• Make sure your conclusion summarizes the main idea and leaves the audience with a positive
impression.
Evaluating, Editing, and Revising the Work of Others
Before you dive into someone else’s work, recognize the dual responsibility that doing so entails:
• Unless you’ve been specifically asked to rewrite something in your own style or change the
emphasis of the message, remember that your job is to help the other writer succeed at his or
Answer the following questions as you evaluate someone else’s writing:
• What is the purpose of this document or message?
• Who is the target audience?
• What information does the audience need?
• Does the document provide this information in a well-organized way?
• Does the writing demonstrate the “you” attitude toward the audience?
• Is the tone of the writing appropriate for the audience?
• Can the readability be improved?
• Is the writing clear? If not, how can it be improved?
• Is the writing as concise as it could be?
• Does the design support the intended message?
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Section 2: Revising to Improve Readability
Learning Objective 2: List four techniques you can use to improve the readability of your messages.
After confirming the content, organization, style, and tone of your message, make a second pass to
improve readability.
During your second pass, focus on readability:
Readability formulas offer a useful reference point but are limited by what they are able to measure:
• They can measure word length, number of syllables, sentence length, and paragraph length.
Help readers skim your message by:
• Varying the sentence length
• Using shorter paragraphs
Varying Your Sentence Length
By varying sentence length, you can create a rhythm that:
• Emphasizes important points
Each sentence length has its advantages:
• Short sentences can be processed quickly and are easier for nonnative speakers to interpret.
• Medium-length sentences are useful for showing the relationships among ideas.
Each sentence length also has disadvantages:
• Too many short sentences in a row can make your writing choppy.
• Medium sentences lack the punch of short sentences and the informative power of longer ones.
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Keeping Your Paragraphs Short
Try to keep paragraph length short to medium:
• Short paragraphs of 100 words or fewer are easier to read than long ones.
Don’t go overboard with short paragraphs; for example, use one-sentence paragraphs only
occasionally and usually only for emphasis.
Using Lists to Clarify and Emphasize
By using bulleted or numbered lists, you can:
• Show the sequence of your ideas.
Listed items can be separated by numbers, letters, or bullets, and they are easier to find if the entire
numbered or bulleted section is set off by a blank line before and after it.
Introduce lists clearly so that people know what they’re about to read:
Items in lists should be phrased in parallel form.
Adding Headings and Subheadings
Headings (brief titles that tell readers about the content of the section that follows) serve several
important functions:
• Organization—showing readers at a glance how the document is organized
Headings may be:
• Descriptive—merely identify the topic
Headings should be brief and parallel throughout the entire document.
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Section 3: Editing for Clarity and Conciseness
Learning Objective 3: Describe eight steps you can take to improve the clarity of your writing, and give
four tips on making your writing more concise.
Editing for Clarity
Ask yourself whether your message is as clear and as concise as possible by focusing on your:
• Paragraph organization
When editing for clarity, be sure to:
• Break up overly long sentences.
• Rewrite hedging sentences.
• Impose parallelism.
Editing for Conciseness
When editing for conciseness, remember to:
• Delete unnecessary words and phrases.
• Shorten long words and phrases.
As you rewrite, concentrate on:
• How each word contributes to an effective sentence
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Section 4: Producing Your Message
Learning Objective 4: List four principles of effective design, and explain the role of major design
elements in document readability.
Production quality of your message—the total effect of page or screen design, graphical elements,
typography:
Designing for Readability
Document presentation can help or hurt readability in two ways:
• Carefully done design elements can improve the effectiveness of your message (and thus
Effective design helps you:
• Establish the tone of your document.
• Guide your readers through your message.
Make your design elements effective by paying careful attention to the following design elements:
• Consistency
Class discussion question: Have you ever prejudged or rejected the message contained in a document or
website because of poor or inappropriate visual presentation? For example, if a website’s design looked
dated or clumsy, did you find yourself dismissing its content because something so poorly presented
couldn’t possibly be useful, authoritative, or current? What effect does visual design have on the
credibility of a message?
White space:
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White space includes:
• The open area surrounding headings
• The space in margins
Lines of type can be set:
• Justified (flush on both the left and right margins)
• Flush left with a ragged-right margin
Justified type:
• Creates a denser look because the uniform line lengths decrease the amount of white
space along the right margin
Flush-left–ragged-right type:
• Produces a less formal and more contemporary look
• Gives a document an informal, contemporary feeling of openness
Centered type is:
• Rarely used for text paragraphs
• Commonly used for headings and subheadings
Flush-right–ragged-left type is rarely used in business documents.
The term typeface refers to the physical design of letters, numbers, and other characters.
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Serif typefaces such as Times Roman:
• Have small crosslines (serifs) at the ends of each letter stroke
Sans serif typefaces such as Helvetica and Arial:
• Have no serifs
• Are ideal for larger sized font
The classic style of document design uses a sans serif typeface for headings and a serif typeface
for regular paragraph text; however, many contemporary documents now use all sans serif.
Two typefaces should be enough for most business documents, although you might consider a
third for special uses.
Type style is any modification that lends contrast or emphasis to type, such as:
• Boldface
• Italics
Use boldface type for subheads, but avoid overuse of boldface within the text.
Use italic type for emphasis as well as for highlighting quotations and indicating foreign words,
irony, humor, book and movie titles, and unconventional usage.
When completing your business message, choose your type size to match the importance of your
message and the space allotted:
• Use a size of 10 to 12 points for regular text and 12 to 18 points for headings and
subheadings.
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Formatting Formal Letters and Memos
Formal business letters usually follow certain design conventions.
Most are printed on letterhead stationery, which includes the company’s name, address, and other contact
information.
Typical elements, in the following order:
• Date
• Inside address (identifies the person receiving the letter)
Paper memos have largely been replaced by digital media in many companies.
When used, they usually contain the following:
• A title such as Memo, Memorandum, or Interoffice Correspondence
Memos usually don’t use a salutation, complimentary close, or signature, although signing your initials
next to your name on the From line is standard practice in most companies.
Memos are often distributed without sealed envelopes, so they are less private than most other message
formats.
Designing Messages for Mobile Devices
Follow these steps to format content for mobile devices:
• Think in small chunks. Try to divide your message into independent, screen-size, easy-to–
consume bites.
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Section 5: Proofreading Your Message
Learning Objective 5: Explain the importance of proofreading, and give eight tips for successful
proofreading.
Review your document for:
• Undetected mistakes from the writing, design, and layout stages
• Mistakes that crept in during production
Several techniques can help you proofread more effectively:
• Make multiple passes.
• Use perceptual tricks (such as reading each page backward).
The amount of time you need to spend on proofreading depends on:
Class discussion question: How do you react when you see a typo, grammatical error, or other mistake
in a written message? Do you tend to look past it and keep your focus on the message, or does it color
your assessment of writer’s knowledge, education, and abilities? Do you judge formal messages and
documents more harshly than informal ones?
Section 6: Distributing Your Message
When planning your distribution, consider:
• Cost
• Convenience