Lets

Communicate well

Business Wri4ng & E mail

Sta Development Program II
September 2014
Presented by Myat Thurein

TODAY PROGRAM
Pre-exercise (1)
Pre-exercise (2)
Slice 1
Slice 2
Recap
Post-exercise (1)
Post-exercise (2)
2

Our aim = BeTer Communica4on

Pre-Exercise (1)

Please help your friends who absent today, by wri4ng an e mail to presenter as if you are
absentee.
You have 5 minute for this task.
5

Pre-Exercise (2)

Please help to get a quota4on for a PC for our designer who will join our company next week.
You have 10 minute for this task.

business leTer

SLICE ONE

Block Style LeTer

opening sentence (reason for wri4ng)

gree4ng / saluta4on (Dear...)
date
signature
receiver's name and address
sender's name
company logo
l look forward...
main body of text
sender's 4tle
indica4on of an aTachment
subject heading
Yours ...
closing sentence (request for ac4on)
8

Basis structures
1. OPEN PUNCTUATION
2. OPENING & END

O
1

3. 4 POINT PLAN
2

3
4
E

10

4 POINTS- 1) OPENING
Acknowledge previous correspondence
Refer to a mee4ng or contact
Provide an introduc4on to the maTer being discussed.
Examples
vThank you for your leTer of
vIt was good to meet you again at last months dinner.
vWe wish to hold our monthly mee4ng at DSL oce in
the following week.

11

4 POINTS- 2) DETAIL

All the informa4on that the recipient need

Detail should be stated simply, clearly
Separate paragraph where necessary
Flow logically
Use bullet and numbering where applicable

12

4 POINT 3) CONCLUSION
Logical Conclusion (ACTION & RESPONSE)
State the ac4on expected from the recipient
State the ac4on you will take as a result of the details
provided
Examples
Please let me have full detail of the costs together with
its specica4on not later than 25th of September, 2014.
If the payment is not received within seven days from
today, we have no choice but to hold the future
deliveries.
13

4 POINTS 4) CLOSE
One line closing
Relevant to the content and specic
Examples
I look forward to mee+ng you soon.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Please let me know if you need further
informa+on.
14

END OF SLICE 1

15

e mail

SLICE TWO

16

Good and Bad of email

Good

Bad

Informal
Can send many just one
click
ATach and send
Instant
Cheap
Time-zone friendly
Priori4zed

Too informal
Too much email
Virus, large le
Junk mail
Any how cc and bcc
Pressure to respond
Interrup4on
No conden4al
Death of conversa4on

HOW DO WE MAKE BETTER USE OF EMAIL ???

17

Basis Outline of an email

1. Date & Time
2. Subject Line
3. SMART Content
4. ATachment
5. Priority
6. Proof Read
7. To ?
8. CC & BCC ?
9. Send From
10.Click Send

Specic
Meaningful
Appropriate
Relevant
Thoughoul

18

SMART email content

Specic
One topic One email
Meaningful
Make recipient get what you mean
Appropriate
it is not viber, wechat, whatapp,
dont use similes, use full sentence, dont use Burglish
use bullet and number where applicable
wri4ng in Burmese is ne, but not mixed up with English and
Burmese
Relevant
write what the recipient need to know
CC to those who need to know, not everyone you know
Thoughoul
Be thoughoul of your tonal language, emo4ons are hard to convey
in email.
Dont used Capital LeTers, CAPITAL MEAN SHOUTING!!!

19

Sending and Replying, Forwarding e

mail
Dont mess up the inbox with huge aTachment and

unnecessary carbon copies

If your aTachment is huge and sending to so many
recipient, consider online le sharing such as Dropbox,
Google Drive, Yousendit, Send6 etc which can safe 4me and
data usage.
Subject line is the rst that your recipient see, make it
specic and relevant so that it can aTract immediate
aTen4on
Do not use Reply All unless it is necessary
Forwarding is easy, but it would be beTer to include your
comments and add in so that the recipient get the message
Do Not engage in prolonged email, you can always pick up
the phone.
20

Gesng Right tone

Dear John,
Thanks for your email. Im glad your
complaint has been sorted out.
Please let me know if you need
further assistant.
Regards,
Mary Tan

Hi John

Thanks for your e-mail.

Im really pleased that we have been
able to nd a solu4on to this
problem. Good luck with your
further progress.

I will be here when you decide on
how we can help you again.

Mary

21

Gesng Right tone

Subject REMINDER!!!

John
Appreciate if you would consider and
bear in mind that I am no longer
responsible for dealing with peTy cash.
Some of your stas keep bringing their
voucher to me, but this responsibility has
been taken over by Mar4n in Accounts,
he is the one who should be contacted
hencefroth for all peTy cash maTers.
Your co-opera4on is appreciated in
making sure all your stas know about
this.
BRgs/Sally

Subject PeTy Cash Voucher

Hi John

Some of the sta from your department
are s4ll bringing their peTy cash
vouchers to me. However this
responsibility was taken over by Mar4n
in Account last month.

Please inform your sta that they should
deal with Mar4n in future.

Thanks for your help John.

Sally

22

Impact of 1st Impressions

Words
7%

Body Language
55%

Tone of Voice
38%

23

K I S S

SLICE TWO

24

25

Kiss Principle 1
commence

start

dispatch

send

u4lize

use

assist

help

purchase

buy

sucient

enough

Expedite

Hurry,
speed up

terminate

end

Advise

Tell

endeavor

try

visualize

see

require

need

kindly

please

regarding

about
26

Kiss Principle 2

I should be glad if you would

In spite of the fact that
With regard to
In the event that
In the very near future
At a later date
We would like to ask you to

Please
Despite
About
If
Soon
Later
please

27

Because the longer the sentence, the

lesser the degree of understanding.
27 words Degree of Understanding
and more
2%

15-20 words
43%

7-8 words
55%

28

Be Fashionable,
Old fashioned words will impress no
one.
We refer to your leTer
Thank you for your

of 21st October 2013

As spoken in our
telecon today.
Please revert to me
soonest possible.
Should you require any
further clarica4on
please do not hesitate
to contact the
undersigned.

leTer on 21 October.
Thank you for calling
me this morning.
I hope to hear from you
soon.
Please give me a call on
12345678 if you have
any ques4ons.
29

ABC
Accurate
Check facts carefully
Include all relevant details
Proofread thoroughly
Brief
Keep sentences short
Use simple expressions
Use non-technical language
Clear
Use Plain, simple English (but not sub standard English)
Write in an easy, natural style
Avoid formality, or familiarity
30

Right Tone

Resist the tempta4on to reply to an oensive leTer in a similar tone.

Instead, answer courteously and do not lower your dignity.

We cannot do anything about

your problem.

Unfortunately we are unable

to help you on this occasion.

This problem would not

happened if you had
connected the wires properly.

The problem may be resolved

by connec4ng the wires as
shown in the handbook.

Your televisions guarantee is

up, so you will have to pay for
it to be xed.

Your televisions guarantee

has ended, so unfortunately
you must bear the cost of any
repairs.

I am wri4ng to complain
because I was very unhappy
with the way I was treated in
your store today.

I was most unhappy with the

standard of service I received
in your store today.
31

Avoid something like these

Your failure to reply

You did not see
We must insist
You should not expect to
Your refusal to co-operate
You have ignored
This is not our fault
I can assure you
You failed you
I have received your complaint
32

END OF SLICE 2

33

RE CAP

34

Dont just follow Rules,

use common sense
Mark 04092014
35

You have all these op4ons.

Phone Call (Line Phone)

Phone Call (Mobile)
Messages (SMS)
E mail
LeTer
Memorandum
Informal meet up
Formal mee4ng
36

What did we talk?

Our aim = BeTer Communica4on

Business LeTer (Block Format)
Open Punctua4on
4 Points

Outline of e mail
SMART
ABC
KISS
37

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