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Mitchell Fratrik
Megan Keaton
ENC1102-01
29 July 2014
Business Economics Inquiry Research Project
In the business world, there are many ways to get a step ahead of the competition. If an
individual desires success in one of the most competitive sectors of the country, then they must
understand ways of communicating with others. Humans communicate through genres that have
been revised and changed over time to make them more effective and efficient. Genres of
communication can be used through speech and/or writing. In a competitive market, mastering
the genres of communication is key to getting ahead and achieving success. Through genres of
writing, writing, such as emails and PowerPoint presentations, businessmen provide a first
impression of their character and professionalism to the audiencebusinessmen provide a first
impression of their character to the audience. Through email messages and PowerPoint
presentations, members of the business community are providing an example of who they are
and how professional they can be. In order to get ahead, the genres of writing must be
manipulated in a way that makes yourself look better than the next individual. By utilizing
advice and tips from experts on how to write well in the business world, can put many people in
a position for success.
One of the simplest forms of communication, both between businesses and within
companies themselves, is an email. An email serves the purpose of delivering a quick message to
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another individual over the Iinternet. While this is simple and meant for the speed at which a
message can be sent, it is important to use certain language when sending any email with
business purposes in order to portray your own personality in a professional manner. According
to Yates and Orlikowski, writing a professional email can be broken down into a five step
process. The first thing that an email recipient will see is the subject line, therefore it should be
treated as the ultimate [first] impression (Yates and& Orlikowski 71). It is advised to not use
simple statements such as For You or Please Read because this does not catch the recipients
attention, rather it may make them send the email to the trash or to spam without even reading it.
In order to catch their attention without being unprofessional, it is suggested that the writer use a
subject line that quickly describes the purpose of the email in a few words. Once the other person
has been convinced to open and read the email, then the content of the email must be refined to
make the writer appear in better light.
Step two in the email process may seem simple but is often overlooked: it is essential to
know exactly who you are addressing the email to. If an email writer would like to have a better
connection with the recipient then they should [m]ake every attempt to learn the name of the
emails recipient (Yates and& Orlikowski 73). In an interview with economist Mark Fratrik, he
reiterated that yYou must know who you are writing to, not just to sound formal and to show
respect, but also to know exactly what to say (Fratrik). Knowing who the recipient is connects
directly with the third step in the process, understanding the audience. Contrary to just knowing
who the audience is, its important to understand who they are and how you should address them.
By grasping an understanding of what the audience is looking for, you are able to appear more
relatable and convincing (Yates & Orlikowski 76). If you can understand what the recipient is
looking for in that particular message, you will be able to manipulate the content to your benefit
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and likely experience more business success compared to someone who does not follow steps to
communication. For example, if an employee is sending an email to their boss with an idea to
change a workplace rule, the employee must recognize that his boss will not want to read a long
email that includes a lot of details. The employee may try to schedule a time to discuss the idea
further so that too much information is not included in the message. In this scenario, the audience
would directly influence what the writer of the email would include.
It may seem like common sense but step four of the process is to make your purpose clear
and concise. Many entry level business employees commonly make the mistake of being too
vague or beating around the bush as they try to bring up their purpose (Fratrik). Without
clarity, the recipient of an email is less likely to accept anything being offered and they are likely
to not even understand why the email was sent. Use every essential detail in order to accurately
convey the purpose so as to make it easier on the recipient and to possibly expedite any proposal
process that was written in the email. By combining the steps, it is clear that there still needs to
be a balance between the amount of detail included and not making the email too long for the
reader. This may appear difficult but if a detail is not essential or can possibly be explained better
in person than through an email, it probably shouldnt be included to keep the length shorter.
Once the purpose has been established, the final step would be to remove any slang or informal
language. In order to best portray yourself as a professional individual, slang must be avoided at
all costs. Using such language detracts from the formality of a professional business message
that would normally be essential to making progress (Pece 27). Here, Pece provides an
explanation of why using slang is bad for a professional life. The use of slang is much more
acceptable for text messaging while it has no place in the business world.
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Depending on the purpose of the email, some of these steps may change. In the case of
sending a friendly informal email, it isnt as important to remove slang from an email. However,
it may still benefit you by eliminating the use of slang in any professional environment because
this directly reflects on your personality. If an individual is always known for using slang in
conversation or in many email, he or she may be looked down on by executives as less
professional and not fit for any type of promotion, obviously depending on the company.
Knowing the purpose is only half of the work for directing an email. A writer must also know the
audience and how that audience would interpret the purpose. If the audience is a list of company
executives, it would be wise to avoid clichs and petty mistakes, while if the audience is your
coworker and the purpose is to spread a joke then obviously a less formal format can be utilized.
If an email can act as a first impression in the business world, then a face-to-face
presentation is the peak of all business relations. When giving a presentation, the presenter lays
out everything visible about them for judgment. To appear professional and to get ahead in a
business environment, during a presentation it is not only important to look qualified but it is key
to have a well written PowerPoint as the genre utilized. Mark Fratrik suggests that,
Face-to-face presentation is what business life is all about. If an individual is incapable
of speaking in front of a group of people with a proposal than it will be difficult to
progress in this field. However, everything can be saved with a properly displayed
presentation, specifically through PowerPoint (Fratrik).
Based on the suggestion of many experts, it is clear that an individual must focus on the quality
of their PowerPoint prior to a presentation, therefore, steps can now be followed to produce the
best presentation possible.
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Gregory Pece, a business professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
writes in his book about how modern society is now reliant on PowerPoint for many
professional needs. (Pece 64). He expresses this viewpoint by pointing out that nearly every
presentation from business, to governmental, to economic relies in some way on PowerPoint.
Many people have been run down by the improper use of PowerPoint and only those who fully
know how to use it have been the most successful in the long run (Pece 42). According to
Townsend and Kahn, the first thing to do to make sure your presentation will be perfect is to use
key phrases (996). These key phrases can be utilized throughout to the presentation to reference
important topics and they can also be utilized as header for many slides. An example of using a
key phrase would be, if during a presentation, you are addressing specific financial data and you
intend to reference it again later in the presentation, then it would be a good idea to use a key
phrase such as 2014 First Quarter Financial Reports. Contrary to some beliefs that its
important to create a unique PowerPoint, some experts suggest that slides be set up exactly how
they are expected,; with a title on top, followed by the presentation notes. These notes should not
be long paragraphs rather, they should be short, concise, and clear bullet points that highlight the
key components of what is being explained so that the slides are not too long and distracting. By
keeping the format simple, not only is information easier to find for the audience but the slides
become easier to follow as the presentation will move in a logical flow between points. In
addition, because the PowerPoint acts as a template for the presentation, punctuation isnt always
necessary. Sometimes, slides can get cluttered with punctuation marks and it can become
difficult to follow the points (Townsend & Kahn 40). In this case, it is best to include bulleted
notes on the slide instead of full sentences that may require more punctuation.
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Even though punctuation seems like a minor detail in a presentation it can play as big a
factor as using obnoxious fonts. In addition,Since because the PowerPoint acts as a template for
the presentation, punctuation isnt always necessary. Sometimes, slides can get cluttered with
punctuation marks and it can become difficult to follow the points (Townsend & Kahn 40).
Punctuation might not be the most important aspect of creating a useful presentation, but it will
enhance the overall quality by making more subtle changes. In a professional environment, it is
also not a good idea to use frilly and fancy fonts. Rather, it is suggested to use simple and easy to
read fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman. This makes it easier for those observing the
presentation to follow along and read off of the slides. It is also a good idea to use contrasting
colors with the background so the information is easy to read. Using light text on a dark
background is the most effective pattern to use because it makes the text pop ad catch the eyes of
those reading (Koegel 78). As suggested, using a light on dark color scheme can make the slides
clearer and easy to follow which benefits the presenter even further. Both font and color fall into
the formatting of the presentation. When choosing a format or template for the presentation, the
best thing to choose is one that is simple, clean, and straightforward. To appear demanding, be
straightforward with the format so that it doesnt distract from the presentation and you can pull
the audience to the real purpose (Fratrik). To add variety to a presentation, Koegel suggests that
the presenter utilize graphs, charts, and photos to keep the audience paying attention to data
(82). This also provides another visual aid to express any main points.
One of the most common mistake made by an amateur presenter is using too many
transitions and animations. PowerPoint provides many interesting animations that can add to a
presentation and keep the audience involved but they arent always appropriate for the
professional atmospheres. Mark Fratrik recalls a presentation he observed where the presenter
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used some sort of animation on each slide and this made all of us watching look at him in a less
professional image. This comes full circle to understanding the audience at hand. When
presenting to a professional group of people such a board of directors, it probably isnt
appropriate or useful to use mass animation. However, if presenting to an elementary school
class, using animation may be a good idea because it may keep the students focus on the
information on the screen. If these points are utilized and the audience is understood well, then
any PowerPoint presentation can be successful.
Since the field of business is such a professional atmosphere, it is important to understand
the guidelines to make yourself appear better than the competition. By writing correct formal
emails, getting to the purpose quickly, and following basic grammar rules, almost anyone can
leave a good first impression on another business man. However, what sets the best apart from
the rest is their ability to make an excellent PowerPoint presentation. By following the advice of
many professionals, a business proposal presentation can jump start a persons career just by
appearing better than any other individuals. Essentially, it comes down to understanding your
purpose and what the intended audience wants so that the information can be manipulated to
your benefit.





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Works Cited
Campbell, Kim Sydow, et al. "Peer Versus Self AssessmentSelf-Assessment of Oral Business
Presentation Performance." Business Communication Quarterly 64.3 (2001): 23-40. Print.
Dudley, Lola Woodard, DenryDeny H. Davis, and David G. McGradyMcGrath. "Using an
Investment Project to Develop Professional Competencies in Introduction to Financial
Accounting." Journal of Education for Business 76.3 (2001): 125. Print.
Fratrik, Mark. Personal interview, 18 July 2014
Koegel, Timothy J. The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula to Open Up! and Own the
Room. Greenleaf Book Group Press, (2007): 74-95. Print.
Pece, Gregory S. The PowerPoint society: the influence of PowerPoint in the US Government
and bureaucracy (2005): 25-72Print.
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TOWNSENDTownsend, ClaudiaLAUDIA, and BarbaraARBARA E. KahnAHN. "The "Visual
Preference Heuristic": The Influence of Visual Versusversus Verbal Depiction on
Assortment Processing, Perceived Variety, and Choice Overload." Journal of Consumer
Research 40.5 (2014): 993-1015. Print.
Yates, JoAnne, and Wanda Orlikowski. "The PowerPoint Presentation and its Corollaries: How
Genres Shape Communicative Action in Organizations." Communicative practices in
workplaces and the professions: Cultural perspectives on the regulation of discourse and
organizations (2007): 67-91. Print.


Interview Questions
1. What experience have you had giving presentations at work?
a. Since I began working for this company, Ive had to give many face-to-face
presentation. Most of them were some form of business proposal or an idea that I
wanted to pitch to my bosses. After a few years, I was promoted and now Im on
the other side of the presentations, watching them.
2. Why were you able to get a promotion so quickly?
a. It comes down to professionalism. I started the job and got right into work, I
didnt wait around to get some footing, insteadand instead I tried to jump ahead of
the rest. I gave my first proposal presentation after my second week and my
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bosses were impressed at how easily I picked up the job and how professional my
proposal was.
3. So would you say your presentation is what set you ahead?
a. Face-to-face presentation is what business is all about. If an individual is
incapable of speaking in front of a group of people with a proposal than it will be
difficult to progress in this field. However, everything can be saved with a
properly displayed presentation, specifically through PowerPoint. I have used the
program too many times to count.
4. How has your writing changed since joining this job?
a. Now that I have experience with this job, I can mess around with my writing
more. What I mean is that I can experiment with some things that I say to see
whats actually going to work best. To keep learning, I have changed certain
aspects of my presentation even though it works. Just because it works doesnt
mean that its the best way to go.
5. What is something that you tried that doesnt work?
a. When I was younger, I thought the animations on slide were really cool. I used
them pretty often until I realized that it wasnt benefiting the presentation.
6. What made you realize that it didnt help?
a. The first presentation I watched made me re-evaluate my own presentations. The
presenter used some sort of animation on each slide and this made all of us
watching look at him in a less professional atmosphere.
7. What is the most important aspect that you have picked up?
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a. I find that using graphs and tables to display data is one of the most helpful things
a presenter can do for the audience. It lays all important facts into a clean format
that is easy to read. As long as the data is explained, this can really benefit the
presentation.
8. What is a recommendation you would make to a college graduate?
a. I would emphasize both speaking ability and creativity. In order to get a message
across in a presentation, you need to be able to speak in front of others relatively
well. You also need to be creative and innovative with presentations so that the
executives will remember you as a thinker and hard worker.