Business correspondence is one of the most common forms of communication. Businesses need to communicate with their customers, suppliers and other business partners to conduct business. More often than not, this communication is in the written form.
An effective letter is one that conveys the subject clearly. The writer should have a good knowledge of the subject, clear purpose, and target audience. These principals of letter writing hold good for both oral and written forms of communication.
Understanding the Audience
Before composing any message, the writer should be aware of the subject, and have a clear picture of what he/she wants to convey and what he/she wishes to achieve through the communication.
Understanding the audience is often a more challenging task. It calls for cultivating a “you” or “reader-oriented” attitude. The writer then has to transfer this understanding or mental picture of the audience into the written form by selecting the content carefully and organizing the different parts of the message
effectively.
Cultivating a “You” Attitude
Readers find ideas more interesting and appealing if they are expressed from the reader’s point of view. A letter reflecting a “you” attitude indicates sincere concern for the reader’s needs and interests. To think from the reader’s point of view, the writer can begin by considering a few questions:
Is the information stated as truthfully and ethically as possible?
Are ideas expressed clearly and concisely?
Are ideas stated tactfully and positively and in a manner that preserves the
reader’s self-worth and cultivates future business?
If the writer concentrates on these points, it will help to boost the reader’s confidence in the writer’s competence and will communicate non verbally that the reader is valued enough to merit the writer’s best effort.
How Can We “Understand the Audience”?
To help the writer see a situation from the reader’s point of view, he/she must focus on relevant information about the reader -- background, values, opinions, preferences, and so on. Knowing how the reader reacted in similar, previous experiences will help the writer greatly in anticipating how a reader is likely to react in the current situation. To understand unfamiliar readers, the writer can consider all he/she knows about the reader and how this information might affect the content and style of the
letter. Major factors like Age, Economic level, Educational/Occupational background, Culture, Rapport, Expectations, and Needs of the Readers have to be carefully considered before writing a letter.
Understanding the audience helps the writer see the issue or subject from the reader’s point of view.
Although knowledge about the recipients assists writers in developing empathy, writers can learn to predict reader’s reactions with reasonable accuracy by placing themselves in the reader’s shoes. To do so, they should ask themselves the following questions:
Would I react favorably to a message saying my request is being granted?
Would I experience a feeling of disappointment upon learning that my request has been refused?
Would I be pleased when an apparently sincere message praises me for a job well done?
Would I experience some disappointment if I am informed that my promised pay hike is being postponed?
To understand the audience and develop a sense of empathy toward them, a writer should ask himself/herself how he/she would react if he/she were in the other person’s position. Asking that question before writing a message will greatly simplify the task of organizing the message.
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