It is important to make our communications clear, neat & easy to understand. Written communication plays a major role in disseminating information, instructions or directions. Here is a presentation explaining the important of written communication in personal & professional life of an individual

1. Written Communication
By: Nitin Kirloskar
24th January 2012

2. Agenda
• What is communication all
about?
• Why written communication is
important?
• How do we improve it?

3. What is communication?
• Communication is “sharing of ideas or
feelings with others.”
o Communication takes places when one
person transmits information and
understanding to another person.
o There is a communication when you
respond or listen to someone.
o Movements of lips, the wave of hands or
the wink of an eye may convey more
meaning than even written or spoken
words.

4. Basic elements of communication
o Communicator: It is the
sender, speaker, issuer or writer, who
sends out a message .
o Communicatee: It is the receiver of
the message for whom the
communication is meant.
The basic elements of communication process include:
o Message: This is also known as the
subject matter of this
process, i.e., the content of the
letter, speech, order, information, ide
a, or suggestion

5. Basic elements of communication
o Communication channel: It
is the media through which
the sender passes the
information
o Feedback: This is essential to
make communication, a
successful one. It is the
effect, reply or reaction of the
information transmitted to the
communicatee

6. Characteristics of Effective Communication
o Clearness and integrity of
message to be conveyed.
o Adequate briefing of the recipient.
o Accurate plan of objectives.
o Reliability and uniformity of the
message.
o To know the main purpose of the
message.

7. o Proper response or feedback.
o Correct timing.
o Use of proper medium to
convey the message properly.
o Use of informal
communication.
Characteristics of Effective Communication

8. Guidelines to make communication effective:
o Try to simplify your thoughts before
communicating your message.
o Analyze the intent of each and every
message.
o Discuss with others, where appropriate, in
planning communication.
o Be careful while communicating, of the
overtone as well as basic content of your
message.

9. o Take the opportunity to suggest something of
help or value of the receiver.
o Follow-up your communication.
o Prepare yourself for transmitting the
message in a proper way.
o Be sure your actions support your
communication.
o Seek not only to be understood but
understand.
Guidelines to make communication effective:

10. Communication Barriers:
• A communication is a two-way process. Distance matters !
• Personal factors include:
o Difference in judgment
o Social values
o Inferiority complex
o Bias attitude
o Time pressure
o Communication inability

11. Written Communication:
• Communication through words may be in
writing or oral.
• Written communication entails
transmission of message in black and
white.
• It mainly consists of
diagrams, pictures, graphs, etc.
• Reports, policies, rules, orders, instructio
ns, agreements, etc have to be conveyed
in written form for proper functioning of
the organization.

12. • Written communication guarantees that
everyone concerned has the same
information.
• It provides a long-lasting record of
communication for future.
• Written instructions are essential when
the action called for is crucial and
complex.
• To be effectual, written communication
should be understandable, brief, truthful
and comprehensive.
Written Communication:

13. Merits of written communication
• It ensures transmission of information in
uniform manner.
• It provides a permanent record of
communication for future reference.
• It is more precise and explicit.
• It is an idealistic way of conveying long
messages.

14. Merits of written communication
• It ensures little risk of unauthorized
alteration in the message.
• It tends to be comprehensive, obvious
and accurate.
• It is well suited to express messages
to a large number of persons at the
same time.

15. Merits of written communication
• It assists in proper delegation of
responsibilities. While in case of oral
communication, it is impossible to fix and
delegate responsibilities on the grounds of
speech as it can be taken back by the
speaker or he may refuse to acknowledge.
• It can be quoted as legal evidence in case
of any disputes.

16. Demerits of written communication
• It is costly and time consuming. It
becomes difficult to maintain
privacy about written
communication.
• It is rigid and doesn’t provide any
scope for making changes for
inaccuracies that might have crept
in.
• Feedback is not immediate. The
encoding and sending of message
takes time.

17. Demerits of written communication
• It is very formal and lacks personal
touch.
• It boosts red-tapism and involves
so many formalities.
• It may be represented in a different
way by different people.
• Effective written communication
requires great skills and
competencies in language and
vocabulary use. Poor writing skills
and quality have a negative impact
on organization’s reputation.

18. Some useful tips
• Avoid being verbose: Choose
shorter words and sentences. For
e.g. “I wanted to bring to your
notice that the meeting has been
cancelled”. [10 words] This
sentence could be rephrased as
“Please note the meeting has been
cancelled”. [7 words]

19. • Use objective subject lines: The
subject of the memo / letter / e-
mail should be objective and should
reflect the content of the message.
For e.g. “Tips on Effective Writing
for Business” conveys to the reader
that the message content will be
related to information on effective
writing.
Some useful tips

20. • Decide your audience: It is
advisable to write to one set of
audience as writing to different
professionals would require choosing
correct verbiage which is understood
by different professionals in the same
way. Also, do not use words which are
very technical and can be understood
only by a specific audience.
Some useful tips

21. • Request for action: Never leave
the reader guessing “what next ?”
He or she should know what is
expected out of him / her. Close
your mail / letter with the action
you are expecting the reader to
take.
Some useful tips

22. • Share companywide messages with a
strategy: Do not overload people with a
lot of text heavy mails. Divide the
message. For e.g. If a company has set
up a videoconference room, the Corporate
communication Team should sent out: a)
The first message announcing the
launch, b) The second message on how to
use the equipment, and c) The third
message on how to block the conference
room for client meetings and calls.
Some useful tips

23. • Logically format a
document: Ensure that the content
in the message is linked to the
subject and to the content below
and above it. There should be a
logical connection in various
paragraphs included in the
document.
Some useful tips

24. • Be Persuasive: Address one
reader rather than many as it
increases the focus and also creates
accountability of the reader
Some useful tips

25. • Engage the audience: Talk to the
audience. For e.g. Rather than
saying, “There will be two ways for
calculating the cost.” The sender of
the message could say, “Financial
Analysts can choose one of two
procedures to calculate the cost”
Some useful tips

26. • Check before you send: Always
proofread the mail / memo /
document that is to be sent.
Remember the first draft is not
always the final draft. Do not only
check for content, but also, check
for formatting, subject
lines, audience, and attachments.
Some useful tips

27. • Execute with confidence: Do not be
fearful while sending the communication.
If a reminder needs to be sent, it should
be sent. Do not try to send it to a
group, rather send it to those who haven’t
sent the reports so far. For e.g. In case
you are following up on a report you
asked for, address the audience as “Thank
You X, Y, Z for sending the reports. We
are still awaiting reports from A, B, and C.
Request you to send them latest by 4:00
PM today.”
Some useful tips

28. And now let me say it in writing…