Collins Eng I ish for Business WRITING Nick Brieger Scanned for Agus Suwanto HarperCollins Publishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith London W6 8JB 43 First edition 2011 Reprint 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 2 1 0 ©Nick Brieger 2011 The author asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work ISBN 978-0-00-742322-4 Collins® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Limited www.com A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset by Davidson Publishing Solutions, Glasgow Printed in Italy by LEGO SpA, Lavis (Trento) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the Publisher. This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Scanned for Agus Suwanto About the author After a first degree in Law and an M.
in Applied Linguistics, Nick Brieger's early career included language training and teacher training in Eastern and Western Europe. In the 80s, he worked with teachers and trainers on developing communication skills programmes for managers in Poland, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. In the 90s, as the focus for global business moved towards Asia, he worked on programmes to develop English language competence for those wishing to follow an international career. In recent years, he has worked with a range of major public and private international organisations on communication, team building and intercultural training programmes.
In addition to his training activities, he is the author of more than 20 books in the field of language, communication and culture. Scanned for Agus Suwanto Contents Introduction 2 Section 1 - Who are my readers? Unit 1 C hoosing the correct amount of information 4 Unit 2 C hoosing the right techn1callevel 8 Unit 3 Plann1ng the document 12 Section 2- What structure and organisation for my document? Unit 4 Layout for an email or letter 16 Unit 5 Unit 6 Linking 1: Connecting sentences Linking 2: Sentence structure 24 20 Section 3 - What tone for my readers? Unit 7 Recognising and using tone 28 Unit 8 Varying tone with words and expressions 32 Unit 9 Varying tone using sentence structure and sentence length 36 Section 4 - What language for my document? Unit 10 Starting off: Greeting, introduction and reference 40 Unit 11 The main part: Signalling intentions 44 Unit 12 Finishing off: Next steps, pre-closing and farewell 48 Unit Unit 14 13 Section 5 - How do I write efficiently? Wntlng clearly a n d simply Writing transparently 52 56 Unit 15 Writing quickly 60 Unit 1 6 Editing for accuracy: Checking and correcting language 64 Section 6- How do I put it all together? Unit 17 Best practice 1: Ema i ls 68 Un1t 18 Best pract1ce 2: Business reports 72 Unit 19 Best practice 3: Minutes 76 Unit 20 Best practice 4: Business writing 80 Appendix 1 Key phrases for business letters and emails 84 Appendix 2 Linking words and phrases 88 Appendix 3 Reporting verbs 89 Appendix 4 Sample documents 90 Glossary @ 102 Answer key 110 Scanned for Agus Suwanto Introduction Collins English for Business: Writing will help you to write more effective business documents in a more efficient way. You can use Writing: • as a self-study course • as supplementary material on a business communication or business English course. Writing will help you develop your knowledge of and skills in business writing.
The book is divided into two main parts: 1 the elements of an effective document 2 the process of efficient writing The starting point for the first part is a framework to introduce the core elements of effective documents: emails, reports, and minutes of a meeting. The second part helps you become more efficient by writing more clearly, more simply and more quickly. Writing contains 20 units. These are arranged into six sections.
1 Who are my readers? 2 What structure and organisation for my document? 3 What tone for my readers? 4 What language for my document? 5 How do I write efficiently? 6 How do I put it all together? At the back of the book there are: • the Appendices • a Glossary- this highlights the most difficult words from each unit giving definitions and further examples from the Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary • the Answer key- providing model answers to the exercises Unit structure Each of the 20 units of Writing focuses on a separate feature of business writing. In order to develop your knowledge and skills, each unit provides: • an introduction to the writing feature, explaining and demonstrating its relevance to business writing • tasks to practise the specific feature of business writing. In order to increase awareness of the international dimension of communication, each unit includes a short cultural note. This is intended to encourage reflection on the impact of culture 2 on your business writing.
Writing Scanned for Agus Suwanto Using Writing There are three ways to use this book: 1 Work through the units from 1-20 2 Choose from the Contents page (as trainer or learner) those units which correspond with your specific learning needs 3 Refer to Unit 20 to assess your personal learning needs Study tips For ease of use, each unit follows the same structure. It is recommended that you follow these steps when working though a unit: • read through the first section which explains the writing feature and demonstrates its relevance to business writing • work through the practice tasks • compare your answers with the key • regularly revise and go over what you have learnt Language level Writing has been written to help business learners at 82 level and above (Upper Intermediate to Advanced). Other titles Also available in the Collins English for Business series: Listening and Speaking. I lntmductlon 3 Scanned for Agus Suwanto 1 Choosing the correct amount of information I'm sony I wrote you such a long letter; I didn't have time to write a short one.
- Blaise Pascal (French theologist and mathematician) The first step in writing a document is choosing the content. To do this effectively, ask yourself the following questions: 1 How much information does the reader actually need? 2 If you are asking for information, is your request concise so that the reader knows how to reply? 3 If you are giving information, is your message precise and easy to understand? Using correct language is only a small part of effective writing; you need to think about the appropriate information for your document. When writing professional documents, it is easy to include more information than is required. For example, when a specialist communicates with a non-specialist, the specialist may overestimate how much the non-specialist needs to know; or perhaps the specialist wants to show their expertise by giving a very full answer to a question, when a brief response would be better.
Therefore it is important to spend time on planning the content of your writing before you start and editing the content of your document after you have written the first draft. As a skill, writing requires more planning (before) and editing (after) than speaking. When you speak, you can check your listener's understanding by the feedback you receive. When you write, this feedback is less immediate, as it takes time for written communication to be exchanged.
Finally, we live in a world with easy access to enormous quantities of data. Make your readers' lives easier by converting the data into usable and useful information. Useful tips Planning Editing • What does my reader already know about • Is there too much or too little detail for this subject? my reader? • How much information do they need to know? • Is there any redundant information, e. repetition? • How can I present the information in a concise way so that it is easy to understand? • Are there any gaps in the information which will make 1t difficult for the reader to understand? I 4 Writing Scanned for Agus Suwanto UNIT 1 I Choosing the correct amount of information II Whether a document contains redundant information will depend on: the writer's view of how much information the reader needs 2 the reader's view of their actual needs in terms of information However, to encourage you to think about the right q uantity of information for your reader, here are some expressions which give examples of redundant language.
In each phrase, put brackets around the redundant word(s). 1 advance planning 6 close proximity 1 1 general public 2 advance reservations 7 difficult challenge 1 2 past experience 3 all meet together 8 each and every 1 3 reason is because 4 basic fundamentals 9 end result 1 4 regular routine 5 cheap price 10 estimated roughly at 1 5 unexpected surprise Read through the following email written by a computer maintenance company about a customer's problem with their computer monitor. In the email, find the following: a three examples of redundant information. Cross these out.
b two examples of missing information. Put asterisks where this information should be. To: jknowles@knowles.com Subject: Returns Your reference: monitor XT3458 Dear customer We have received your request to return the faulty monitor, which is not displaying the correct colours. We will process this as fast as possible.
In order to provide a quick and reliable service, we kindly ask you to follow these instructions closely: Within the next twelve hours, you will receive two emails from GTS. In the first email you will find a link to a GTS return label. Please print out this label with a laser printer. With this number you can track the delivery status of your item on the Internet.
Please pack your defective device into its original packaging. Afterwards please stick the return label clearly onto the box so that it is easily visible. When your parcel is ready for collection. please call GTS to arrange for collection.
Make sure you pack your defective device in the original packaging! If you don't have the original packaging or any other secure packaging for transportation, contact us by email so that we can provide you with suitable packaging. Please let us know. Please only send in your defective LCD display together with its stand and the external power adapter (without its power cord). You will be charged for extra shipping costs in case we need to send back any accessories which you sent to us in error.
Yours sincerely Electronic Computer Services I5 Section 1: Who are my readers? Scanned for Agus Suwanto IJ Read the two job-related emails: a an e m a i l for a job in sales and m arketing b an e m a i l for a n internshi p. Look at the quantity of information in each document and decide if there is too much or too little. II To: seansmith@autosales.com Subject: Application Dear Mr Smith I am responding to your advertisement 1n The Daily Observer of 8 January 2011, regarding the Automotive Sales Representative position. Attached is my CV, showing my education, experience, and background.
As you will see from my CV, I graduated from the U niversity of Watersville in 2007 with an upper second class honours degree 1n Bus1ness Adm1nistrat1on.