#OUJ3700

PROFESSIONAL

COMMUNICATION

LET’S TALK WRITING

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!!

WRITING BASICS

BEFORE YOU EVER

START TYPING

Outline the purpose

•What outcome to you want?

• Inform

• Entertain

• Persuade

WRITING BASICS

BEFORE YOU EVER

START TYPING

THE MAIN THEME OF

GOOD WRITING

• The key to good writing is brevity.

• Be concise and thorough.

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.

UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TO

ACHIEVE

THAT THEME

SVO Writing

•Subject

•Verb

•Object

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.

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.

UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TO

ACHIEVE

THAT THEME

Every word should have a purpose.

• Write your copy

• Diet Coke break

• Review your copy

• Read it aloud

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.

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

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….

LET’S TALK

PROFESSIONAL WRITING

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.

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.

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

LET’S MAKE UP AN

EXAMPLE ON THE FLY

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

LET’S MAKE UP AN

EXAMPLE ON THE FLY

MEMO FORMAT

THE END

• What is the next step?

• When will that step be delivered?

• Be nice.

• Tell Them What You Told Them

LET’S MAKE UP AN

EXAMPLE ON THE FLY

WHAT IS NEXT?

Memo is due a week from today at 5 p.m.

Specs are on BB.