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Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành 2 (Trường Đại học Ngoại thương)

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1/12 – thi gki

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The ability for an individual to accurately convey a message to another person or group of people

• Most common forms: verbal (spoken), written, body language, facial expression, behaviour, postures
• How important are communication skills in workplace?
o Brilliant communication skills give workers an edge in workplace
▪ Excellent communicators stand out in the fierce competition
o Almost all tasks at the ofÏce are related to communication
▪ Workers engage in a variety of communication activities at the workplace
▪ Excellent writing and speaking skills allow workers to collaborate effectively in
virtual world
o Excellent communication skills increase employability
▪ Speaking and writing skills are the most sought after by employees
▪ Recruiters may evaluate candidates’ communication skills and professionalism via
the contents of their online posts

PROFESSIONALISM
• People skills/interpersonal skills/ professional skills are defined as a combination of
communication, logical reasoning, critical thinking, teamwork, and management skills

Speech habits Never sound uneducated, crude or adolescents

Email Messages with subjects, verbs and punctuations, free from IM
abbreviations, messages that are concise and spelled correctly
Emails addresses that include a name or a positive, businesslike
expressions
Internet, social media Do not sound cute and do not use chatroom nicknames. Posts in
good taste and fit for public consumption
Voicemail An outgoing message that states your name or phone number and
provides instructions for leaving a message
Telephone presence A quiet bg when answering the phone, esp if you are expecting a
prospective employer’s call
Cell phones, tablets Turn off phone and message noti, both audible and vibrate during
meetings, using your smart devices only for meeting-related
purposes
Texting Sending appropriate business text messages only when necessary
• The most common forms of technology at work today
o Clouding:
▪ clouding computing offers access data on remote servers with a computer to
mobile device
o VOIP Phone System
▪ Allows callers to communicate via a broadband internet connection
o Open ofÏce or home ofÏce
o Speech recognition
o Electronic presentations and data visualization
o Social media for business

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 o Blogs, podcasts and wikis
o Web conferencing and video conferencing
• Impact of modern tech
o Remote work and 24/7/365 availability
o More collaborative and tw
o Flattened management layers
o Global competition and cultural diversity
o Emphasis on ethics
Practice

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 UNDERSTANDING CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Culture

Culture is defined as the complex system of values, traits, morals, customs shared by a community

1. Context: stimuli, environment or ambience surrounding an event. Hall arranged cultures on

a continuum (series of things – chuỗi liên tục) from low to high in relation to context.
o Low-context cultures:
▪ Communicators depend little on the context and shared experience to convey
their meaning
▪ Messages are explicit, and listeners rely solely on written and spoken words
▪ Messages should be objective, professional and efÏcient
▪ Words are taken literally: do not have to read between the lines, do not have to
infer what it means (nghĩa đen)
▪ Some countries: USA, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland
o High-context cultures:
▪ Communicators assume that listeners do not need background information
▪ Communicators emphasize interpersonal relationship, non-verbal expressions,
physical setting, and social context => work with acquantancies
▪ Communication cues tend to be transmitted by postures, voice inflection, gestures
and facial expressions.
▪ Some countries: Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kenya and Russia

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2. Individualism:
• Low-context cultures tend to value individualism.
• They believe that initiative and self-assertion (confident about your ability-tự tin) result in
personal achievement.
• They uphold (able to do and maintain) individual action and personal responsibility.
• They expect much freedom in their personal lives.

• Self-sufÏciency: tự cung tự cấp

• Autonomy = freedom to think and do what you want
• Collectivism: (chủ nghĩa tập thể)
o High-context cultures are more collectivist
o They emphasize membership in an organization, a group, and a team
o They embrace group values, duties and decisions
o They resist independence since it fosters confrontation and competition
o Business decisions are made collectively

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Selflessness: lòng vị tha
• Culture convergence:

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3. Power distance: measures how people in different societies cope with inequality
• In high-power distance countries, subordinates expect formal hierarchies and embrace
relatively authoritarian, paternalistic power relationships.
• In low-power distance countries, subordinates consider themselves as equals of their supervisors.
They voice opinions and participate in decision making.

Low-context Words are important esp in contracts and

negotiations
Straightforward, direct
High-context Surrounding context is more important than
words
Contracts are seen as statements if intention
• Ensuring cultural effectiveness
o Avoiding ethnocentrism (chủ nghĩa vị chủng-use your own culture to judge other cultures)
and stereotyping
▪ Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group. Ethnocentrism
causes people to judge others by their own values
▪ Stereotype is an oversimplified, rigid perception of a behavioural pattern or
characteristic applied uncritically to groups. Stereotypes may be hurtful and cause
misunderstanding
o Tolerance and open-mindness:
▪ Tolerance: learning about those who are not like us. Be receptive to new experiences.
Tolerance leads to understanding and acceptance. Be empathetic, trying to see the
world through another’s eyes. Be less judgmental and eager to seek common ground
o Successful oral communication and intercultural audiences
▪ Use simple English: speak in short sentences, short words. Eliminate puns, sport and
military references, slang, and jargon (special business terms). Be especially alert to
idiomatic expressions that can’t be translated, such as face the music and hit a home
run.
▪ Speak slowly and enunciate clearly: avoid fast speech, but don’t raise your voice.
Overpunctuate with pauses and full stops. Always write and display numbers for all
to
see
▪ Encourage accurate feedback: ask probing questions, and encourage the listener
to paraphrase what you say. Don’t assume that a yes, a nod or a smile indicates
comprehension
▪ Cheek frequently for comprehension: avoid waiting until you finish a long explanation
to request feedback. Instead, make one point at a time and pause
▪ Observe eye messages: be alert to a glazed expression or wandering eyes. These tell
you the listener is lost
▪ Accept blame: if a misunderstanding results, graciously take responsibility for not
making your meaning clear
▪ Listen without interrupting: curb your desire to finish sentences or to fill out ideas for
the speaker. Keep in mind that North Americans abroad are often accused of listening
too little and taking too much
▪ Smile when appropriate: the smile is often considered the single most understood
and most useful form of communication. In some cultures, however, excessive
smiling may
seem insincere.

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 ▪ Follow up in writing: after conservations or oral negotiations, confirm the results
and agreements with written messages. For proposals and contracts, hire a
professional translator
▪ Consider local style and conventions: learn how documents are formatted and how
letters are addressed and developed in the intended reader’s country. Decide whether
to
use your organization’s preferred format or adjust to local style
▪ Observe title and rank: use last names, titles, and other signals of rank and status.
Send messages to higher-status people, avoid sending copies to lower-rank people
▪ Hire a translator: engage a professional translator if (a) your document is important,
(b) your document will be distributed to many readers, or (c) you must be persuasive
▪ Use short sentences and short paragraphs: sentences with fewer than 20 words
and paragraphs with fewer than 8 lines are most readable
▪ Avoid ambiguity: include relative pronouns (that, which, who) for clarity in introducing
clauses. Stay away from contractions (especially ones such as Here’s the problem).
Replace two-word verbs with clear single words (return instead of bring back; delay
instead of put off), slang, acronyms (ASAP for as soon as possible), abbreviations (DBA
for doing business as), jargon (input, bottom line) and sports references (ballpark figure,
slam dunk). Use action-specific verbs (buy a printer rather than get a printer).
▪ Cite numbers carefully: in international trade most nations use the metric system. In
citing numbers, use figures (12) instead of spelling them out (twelve). Always convert
dollar figures into local currency. Spell out the month when writing dates. In North
America, for example March 5, 2022 might be written as 3/5/2022, whereas in
Europe the same date might appear as 5.3.2022
• Communicating in diverse workplace
o Seek training: intercultural communication, team building and conflict resolution are skills
that can be learned
o Understanding the value of difference: diversity makes an organization innovative and creative.
Sameness hinders critical thinking
o Learn about your cultural art
o Make fewer assumptions: do not assume that everyone shares the same beliefs,
perceptions, sexual orientations and attitudes toward marriages
o Build on similarities: look for common ground in shared experience, mutual goals, and
similar values.
Practice
1. Every country has a unique culture or common heritage that:
a. Teaches its member how to behave and conditions their reactions
b. Results from a common gene pool
c. Is created by a structured educational system
d. Comes from an elderly system of government and laws
2. Communicators in cultures (north America, Scandinavian and Germany) depend little on
the context of a situation to convey their meaning. They tend to be logical, and action
oriented.
a. High-context
b. Civilized
c. Ancient
d. Low-context

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3. Which of the following is a common trait of a business communicator from a low-
context relationship?
a. Valuing relationships, harmony, status, and saving face
b. Relying on relationships and group decisions
c. Keeping business and social relationships separate
d. Assuming listeners require little background info
4. Which of the following countries would likely view a business contract as a binding document
a. Mexico
b. Greece
c. Japan
d. Germany: low-context
5. Learning about beliefs and practices different from our own and appreciating the means displaying:
a. Tolerance
b. Individualism
c. Stereotyping
d. Gender norming
6. Robert frequently comments that he likes working independently because that’s the American
way- and the American way is the best way! Robert’s belief in the superiority of his own culture is
an example of
a. Stereotyping
b. Individualism
c. Enthnocentrism
d. Communication style
7. While conducting business with a customer from Italy, Geeta was careful to speak slowly and
clearly, using short sentences and familiar words. However, she noticed that the customer had a
glazed expression and did not understand he. Geeta should
a. Repeat what she has said in a louder voice
b. Graciously accept the blame for not making her meaning clear
c. End the conversation until an interpreter can be found
d. Require the Italian businessperson to restate the message in simple words.

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 PROVERBS
What do these US proverbs tell us about this culture and its value?
1. The squeaking wheel gets the grease: used to say that someone who complains or causes problems
is more likely to receive attention or help than someone who stays quiet and does not cause
problem
2. Waste not, want not: said to someone not to waste anything, because they might need it in
the future
3. He who holds the gold makes the rule: whoever has the money, has the power
4. If at first you don’t succeed, try again: thất bại là mẹ thành công
5. The early bird gets the worm: trâu chậm uống nước

đục Proverb

What do these Chinese proverbs tell us about this culture and its value?
1. A man who waits for a roast duck to fly into his mouth must wait a very long time
2. A man who says it can not be done should not interrupt a man doing it – kỳ đà cản mũi
3. Give a man a fish and he will live for a day; give him a net, and he will live for a

lifetime What do these proverbs tell us about this culture and its value?

1. No one is either rich or poor who has not helped himself to be so: tiên trách kỷ hậu trách nhân
2. Words do not make flour – (Italian) – Không bột sao gột nên hồ
3. The nails that sticks up gets pounded down (Japanese) – conformation to the rules
Apply the 3-X-3 writing process to business model

In workplace, writing should be

• Purposeful: your goal is to solve problems and covey info. Each message should have definite strategy
• Economical: present ideas clearly but concisely
• Audience centered: look at the problem at the perspective of the audience instead of seeing it from
your own

The writing process consists of 3 phases:

• Prewriting: 25%
o Analyze the audience and the purpose for writing
o Anticipate the audience’s reaction to your message
o Adapt your message to your audience using the right words and tone
• Drafting: 25%
o Research info for the message
o Organize the message
o Prepare the 1st draft of the message
• Revising: 50%
o Edit the message for clarity, conciseness, tone and readibility
o Proofread the message to check spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format

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 o Evaluate the message to decide if it meets your objective

Following the 3-X-3 writing process

How much time do you need to spend for each phase of this writing process?

Analyzing purpose and anticipating the audience

A message might have primary and secondary purposes

- The primary purpose is mainly to inform and persuade

o Information messages are messages that explain procedure, announce meetings,
answer questions and transmit finding
o Persuasive messages attempt to sell procedures, convince managers, motivate workers and
win over customers
- The secondary purpose is to create goodwill (good relationship between customers and the bussiness
– intangible assets – được XĐ giá trị khi cty được mua bán – thiện chí, sự tín nhiệm)

Anticipating audience

Questions to help u identify your audience

Primary audience Secondary audience

- Who is my primary reader or listener? - Who might see or hear this message
- What are my personal and in addition to the primary audience?
professional relationships with this - How these people differ from the
person? primary audience?
- How much does this person know about - Do I need to include more
the subject? background information?
- What do I know about this person’s - How much I reshape my message to make
education, beliefs, culture, and it understandable to whom it might be
abilities? forwarded?
- Should I expect a neutral, positive, negative
response to my message?

Focusing on audience benefits

Adapt your message to the receiver’s needs means

- Putting yourself in the audience’s shoes

- Giving st to the audience
- Solving the audience’s problems
- Saving the audience’s money
- Understanding the feelings and position of the audience

Focusing on audience benefits – Which version do u prefer? Why?

Which one makes clear the action u need to do? The right one because it is direct, not passive voice

The right one again

All employees are herewith instructed to fill out the By filling out the attached survey, you can be one
attached survey so that we can allocate our of the first employees to sign up for our
limited training resource funds to selected limited training fund

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 employees.
Our one-year warranty becomes effective only Your one-year warranty begins working for you
when we receive the owner’s registration. as soon as you return your owner’s registration

Which is more appealing to the audience?

Sender focus Audience focus

All employees are herewith instructed to fill By filling out the attached survey, you can
out the attached survey so that we can be one of the first employees to sign up for
allocate our limited training resource funds to our limited training fund
selected
employees.
Our one-year warranty becomes effective only Your one-year warranty begins working for
when we receive the owner’s registration. you as soon as you return your owner’s
registration

Cultivating the “You” view

“i/we” view “you” view

I need your accountant number because I can Would you mind giving me your account number
do anything about your claim so that I can locate your records and help you
solve the problem?
Our experienced staff has created a webinar Join an upcoming webinar to learn which of your
that teaches how to use Instagram more Instagram photos are generating the most
productively. engagement to promote your business.
- “you phrasing” is more effective than “we phrasing” for indicating interest and intent.
- “you phrasing” attracts attention and transfers ownership to the receiver.
- HOWEVER, do not overuse or misuse pronoun “you”
- Employing expert writing techniques to adapt to your

audience Sounding conversational but professional

To build a professional image, you should NOT:

- Overuse expressions such as super, totally awesome, insanly, you know, and like
- Insert emojis on your business letter
- Include texting-style abbreviations, slangs, sentence fragments.
- Use big word, long sentences, legal technology.

Unprofessional conversational formal

Badmouth criticize Denigrate
Guts Nerve Courage
Pecking order Line of command Dominance hierarchy
Ticked off Upset Provoked
Rat on Inform Betray
Rip off Steal Expropriate

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Be positive rather than negative

What’s the problem of the following messages?

• Our request for a fitness will never be approved without senior management support.
⇨ Our request for a fitness center could be approved if we obtain senior management support.
• You failed to include your credit card number so we can’t mail your order.
⇨ We look forward to completing your order as soon as we receive your credit card number.
• Your e-mail of June 9 claims that you returned a defective headset
⇨ Your June 9 e-mail describes a headset your returned.
• Employees cannot park in Lot H until April 1.
⇨ Employees may park in Lot H starting April 1

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Expressing courtesy

What’s the problem of the following messages?

• Jaylen, you must complete all performance reviews by April 1.

⇨ Jaylen, will you please complete all performance reviews by April 1?
• Why can’t you people get anything right? This is the second time I’ve had to write to you.
⇨ Please credit my account for $250. The latest update of my account shows that the error noted in my
e- mail of January 4th has not yet been corrected.
• Have you tried reading the operating manual, or am I the only one who can do that?
⇨ Let’s review the operating manual together so that you can get your documents to print correctly
next time.
• You should organize a carpool in this department.
⇨ Organizing a carpool will reduce your transportation costs and help preserve the environment.
Avoid gender-, age- and disability- language

Gender-biased Improved
Female doctor, woman attorney, cleaning lady doctor, attorney, cleaner
Waiter/waitress, authoress, stewardess Server, author, flight attendant
Mankind, man-hour, man-made Humanity, working hours, artificial
OfÏce girl, ofÏce lady OfÏce worker, administrative assistant
The doctor…he Doctors…they
The doctor…she Teachers…they
Executives and their wives Executives and their spouses
Foreman, flagman, workman, craftsman Lead workers, flagger, worker, artisan
Businessman, salesman Businessperson, sales representative
Each employee had his picture taken Each employee had a picture taken
All employees had their pictures taken
Racially or ethnically-biased Improved
A Hispanic accountant was hired An accountant was hired
Derek Jones, an African American applied Derek Jones applied
A small group of Black students gathered near the A small group of students gathered before the
statue of an Indian on horseback. statue of a Native American on horseback.
Age-biased Improved
The law applied to old people The law applied to people over 65
Sally Kay, 55, was transferred. Sally Kay was transferred.
A sprightly old gentleman A man, an old man
A little old lady A woman, an old woman
Disability-biased improved
AfÒicted with activities, crippled by arthritis has arthritis
Confined to a wheelchair Uses a wheelchair
Is mentally retarded, slow Is cognitively disabled
Recently elected to the city council are a lawyer, a Native American CPA and two businesspersons.

Use plain language and familiar words

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 Unfamiliar Familiar
Implement Begin, start
Subsequent to After
Commensurate Equal
Interrogate Question
Materialize Appear
obfuscate Confuse
Remuneration Pay, salary
Use precise and vigorous words

Imprecise, dull More precise

To get To receive, by, grab, bring, pick up
To earn, obtain, capture, secure, snag
A change in profits A 25% hike in profits
A 10% plunge in profits
To say To promise, confess, understand
To allege, assert, assume, judge
To think about To identify, diagnose, analyze
To probe, examine, inspect

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 Drafting workplace messages begins with research

With today’s ever-present technology, business, technical, and professional people in this digital age
are exchanging more messages than ever before. The faster you can articulate your ideas, the more
you can explain what needs to be said, the more successful you will be in your career.

Process Guide:

- To be able to write efÏciently and clearly is also critical to promotions

- To have a tried and true writing process through the steps necessary to write confidently and clearly
- To focus and address on researching and drafting. You can use this effective process both in college
and on the job.

The 3x3 writing process

Prewriting Drafting Revising

- Analyze: decide on the - Research: gather - Edit: eliminate wordy
message purpose. What background data by filters, long lead-ins,
do you want the searching files and redundancies and trite
receiver to do or the Internet. business phrases.
believe? - Organize: arrange direct Strive for parallelism,
- Anticipate: what does messages with the big clarity, conciseness and
the audience already ideas first. For readability
know? How will it persuasive or negative - Proofread: check
receive this message? messages, use an carefully for errors in
- Adapt: think about indirect, problem- spelling, grammar,
techniques to present solving strategy. punctuation, and format.
this message most - Draft: prepare the first - Evaluate: will this
effectively. Consider how draft, using active- message achieve
to elicit feedback. voice sentences, your purpose? Is the
coherent paragraphs tone pleasant? Did
and appropriate you
transitional encourage feedback?
expressions.
The process of drafting a message before gathering a background information is called research, which
means collecting information about a topic and helps you shape your messages, discover significant
information and reorganize your thoughts. To avoid inaccurate messages, you should collect information
that answers the following questions:

⇨ What does the receiver need to know about this topic?

⇨ What is the receiver to do?
⇨ How is the receiver to do it?
⇨ When must the receiver do it?
⇨ What will happen if the receiver doesn’t do it?
Informal research

⇨ Search your company’s files

⇨ Talk with the boss
⇨ Interview the target audience
⇨ Create an informal survey
Formal research

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 ⇨ Primary sources: primary data – from first hand experience – surveys, interviews, observations,
and experiment
⇨ Secondary sources: secondary data – from other people’s experience or observation and
writings about – books, magazines, journals, online resources.

Organizing ideas to show relationships

Tips for making outlines

- Define the main topic in the title

- Decide the main topic into major components or classification (preferably three to five)
- Break the components into subpoints
- Don’t put a single item under a major component; if you have only one subpoint, integrate it with
the main item above it or reorganize
- Strive to make each component exclusive (no overlapping)
- Use details, illustrations, and evidence to support subpoints

Structure ideas into strategies – direct and indirect strategy

Indirect opening Direct opening

As you may remember, our company has been Please help us organizing a college internship
contemplating strategies to attract better-qualified program that the Management Council voted to
prospective job candidates. As a result, the begin next fall. Our company has been concerned
Management Council is actively gathering with attracting better-qualified prospective job
information about a possible internship program candidates. For this reason, the Management
that might attract college students. After Council has been gathering information about an
considerable discussion and investigation, we have internship program for college students.
voted to launch a pilot program starting next fall.
We are asking for your help in organizing it.
Advantages for unreceptive audiences: Advantages for receptive audiences:
- Respect the feelings of the audience - Save the reader’s time
- Facilitate a fair hearing - Set a proper frame of mind
- Minimize a negative reaction - Reduce frustration

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 Writing a first draft with powerful sentences

Good techniques for students:

- Research topic, brainstorm for fresh ideas and select strategy to organize data
- To begin drafting sentences and organizing ideas => work from an outline
- To compose messages set aside a given time (no calls, visitors, of other interruptions)
- Free writing is suggested: getting your thoughts down quickly and refining them in later

versions. Adding interests and variety with 4 sentence types:

- Simple sentence: contains one complete thought (an independent clause) with a subject and
predicate verbs
o Our company lacked a social media presence.
- Compound sentence: contains two complete but related thoughts. May be joined by (a) a
conjunction such as and, but, or; (b) a semicolon; or (c) a conjunctive adverbs such as however;
consequently and therefore
- Complex sentence: contains an independent clause (a complete thought) and a dependent clause (a
thought that can not stand by itself). Dependent clauses are often introduced by words such as
although, since, because, when and if. When dependent clauses precede independent clauses, they
always are followed by a comma.
- Compound-complex sentence: contains at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause
o Because our company lacked a social media presence, it hired a specialist; however, our
brand required time to build.

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 Avoiding 3 common sentence faults

Fragment Revision
Because most transactions require a permanent Because most transactions require a permanent,
record. Good writing skills are critical. good writing skills are critical.
The recruiter requested a writing sample. Even The recruiter requested a writing sample even
though the candidate seemed to communicate well. though the candidate seemed to communicate well.

Run-on sentence Revision

One candidate sent an email resume another sent a One candidate sent an email resume, and another
link to an online portfolio. sent a link to an online portfolio.
One candidate sent an email resume. Another sent a
link to an online portfolio.
One candidate sent an email resume; another sent a
link to an online portfolio.

Comma splice Revision

Be sure to include keywords from the job description, Be sure to include keywords from the job description,
also include variations of the job title. but also include variations of the job
title.
Be sure to include keywords from the job description;
however, also include variations of the
job title.
Be sure to include keywords from the job
description; also include variations of the job title.

Mastering 4 helpful writing techniques

Creating emphasis

To emphasize an idea, a writer can use any of the following mechanical devices:

- Underlining
- Italics and boldface
- Font changes
- All caps
- Dashes
- Tabulation

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 Original Improved
The way we seek jobs has changed. Technology has dramatically changed how job
hunters search for positions.(use vivid words)
Someone will contact you as asap. Ms. River will call you before 5 p.m tomorrow, May
3. (use vivid words)
Consider looking for a job online, but also focus on Consider looking for a job online, but also focus on
networking. networking. (significant idea)
We shop here because of the customer service and We shop here because of the customer service and
low prices. low prices. (significant idea0
Profit-sharing plans are more effective in increasingProductivity is more likely to be increased when
productivity when they are linked to individual profit-sharing plans are linked to individual
performance rather than to group performance. performance rather than to group
performance.
(put important idea first)
You are the first trainee we have hired for this
program (put important idea first)
Our records indicate that you were recently fired. Our records indicate that your employment status has
recently changed. (De-emphasize with harsh
statements)
We can not issue you credit at this time, but we have aAlthough credit can not be issued at this time, you
special plan that will allow you to fill your can fill your immediate needs on a cash basis
immediate needs on a cash basis with our special plan. (De-emphasize with harsh
statements)

Creating parallelism (solved)

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 - A conference organizer must arrange for the venue, the hospitality, and a person to give the
keynote speech.
- Our primary goals are to increase productivity, reduce costs, and the improvement of improve
product quality.
- We are scheduled to meet in Baltimore on February 4, we are meeting in Boston on the 18th of
March, and in Detroit on June 3.
- Darian audits all accounts lettered A through L; Jaya audits accounts letters M through A are audited
by Jaya.
- Our Super Bowl ads have three objectives:
o We want to increase product use. => increase product use.
o Introduce complementary products.
o Our corporate image will be enhance. => enhance our corporate image

Dodging or misplaced modifier Clear modification

Skilled at 3-D printing, the manga character was Skilled at 3-D printing, Blake easily copied the
easily copied by Blake. manga character.
Working together as a team, the project was Working together as a team, we finally complete
finally completed. the project.
To meet the deadlines, all paperwork must be To meet the deadline, applicants must send all
sent by May 2. paperwork by May 2.
The recruiter interviewed candidates who had In the morning, the recruiter interviewed
excellent computer skills in the morning. candidates with excellent computer skills.
As a newbie in our ofÏce, we invite you to our As a newbie in our ofÏce, you are invited to our
Friday after-hours get-together. Friday after-hours get-together.

Building well-organized

paragraphs Creating paragraph

coherence

- Sustaining the key ideas

- Dovetailing sentences
- Employing transitional expressions

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8 tips for safe social networking:

- Beware of privacy networking

- Check before you click
- Realize that Big Data never goes away
- Beware of oversharing
- Think twice before friending
- Be careful of third-party apps
- Limit your LinkedIn info
- Don’t link accounts

Practice MCQs:

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 COMMUNICATING IN THIS DIGITAL ERA WITH E-MAILS AND MEMOS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, students should be able to

- Examine the professional usage, structure, and format of e-mails and memos in the digital era workplace
- Explain workplace messaging and texting including their liabilities and best practices.
- Identify professional applications of business podcasts and the professional standards
underpinning them.
- Describe how businesses use blogs to connect with internal and external audiences.

Some statistics about the use of emails in workplace

- 1" email was sent about 50 years ago

- Email trafÏc growth: 4% per year worldwide
- OfÏce workers receive on average 120 messages/day
- 125 billion business e-mails are exchanged daily
⇨ YOU CAN'T KILL E-MAlL!' (Alexis Madrigal - Tech Expert)
What makes preferential?

- E-mail is technologically far superior to social media, messaging, and collaboration platforms.

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 - E-mail is least distracting, most sophisticated social network, and offers greater privacy.

Some common complaints about E-mail

Email is not always done well

- More than one typo per e-mail is unprofessional.

- E-mail seems to be impersonal; for example, when you have only one-line e-mails. They are
so transactional as they sound like an automation is responding
- People need to have writing skills for e-mails.

Email Overload

- Workers report they spend about 5 hours a day reading and writing e-mail (3 hours on work e-mail and
2 hours on personal messages). Some of those are unnecessary, just to confirm receipt or to express
thanks.

The scary permanence of digital messages

- After deletion, e-mail files still leave trails on servers within and outside organization. Long-
forgotten messages may turn up in court cases as damaging and costly evidence.
- Organizations can legally monitor their staff's personal e-mail accounts too if the workers access them
on the company's network.
- If employees set up their company's e-mail on their smartphones, they have given their employer
the right to remotely delete all personal data on the mobile device.
- Make sure you know your organization’s e-mail policy before sending personal messages or forwarding
work-related information to your personal e-mail account. Otherwise, you may be fired for Internet or
e- mail-related misuse.

When and how to use e-mail efÏciently and safely?

- Short informal messages travel by text, instant message, or chat while e-mail is appropriate for
longer, more involved, and well-organized messages that may provide request information and
respond to inquiries;
- E-mail is effective for messages to multiple receivers and those that must be archived (saved);
- E-mail is appropriate as a cover document when sending longer attachments.

In which situation is email NOT a substitute?

- When you want to convey enthusiasm or warmth, explain a complex situation, present a
persuasive argument, or smooth over disagreements;
- When it ‘requires a human moment’ that is those that are emotional, require negotiation and relate
to personnel.
⇨ In these situations, face-to-face conversations or telephone calls are far more -
appropriate than e-mail.

What characteristics represent a professional e-mail?

A professional e-mail has

- A compelling subject line;

- Appropriate greeting

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 - Well-organized bodies;
- Complete closing information.

A professional email

Step 1: Draft a compelling but concise subject line

Remember!

- Avoid meaningless statements — ‘Help’, ‘Urgent’, ‘Meeting’;

- Summarize the purpose of the message clearly;
- Make the receiver want to open the message;
- Try to include a verb;
- Subject line should appear as a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters - NEVER in all
lowercase letters or ALL CAPS!

Example 1: Need You to Attend Las Vegas Trade Show

Example 2: Meeting Location Changed to Conference Room II

Poor subject line:

- Budget report
- Division meeting
- Important!
- Parking permits

Step 2: Include a Greeting/salutation

- Greeting sets the tone for the message and reflects your audience analysis;
- For friends or colleagues, try friendly greetings: ‘Hi, Lara’; ‘Good morning, Lara’.
- For outsiders, use more formal messages: “Dear Ms. Ingram‘; ‘Dear Robin Gray’ (if gender is not known)

Step 3: Organize the Body for Readability and Tone

- Start directly
- Group similar topics together;
- Present some information in bullets or numbered lists;
- Add headings if the message contains more than a few paragraphs;
- Condense phrases and sentences if possible;
- Get rid of wordiness BUT DO NOT sacrifice CLARITY;
- Keep a longer sentence if it is necessary for comprehension
- To convey the best tone, read the message aloud. If it sounds curt, it probably is

Step 4: Close Effectively

- Include an action statement with due dates and requests;

- You might include a friendly closing such as ‘Many thanks’ or ‘Warm regards’ though
complimentary closes are unnecessary;
- Do include your name because messages without names become confusing when forwarded or when
they are part of a long thread of responses; block, which your email application can insert
automatically.

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 - For most messages, include full contact information in a signature block, which your email application
can insert automatically.

How to keep your INBOX in check?

- Use time management strategies:

o Check e-mail at set times such as first thing in the morning and again after lunch or at 4 p.m
o Turn off your audio and visual alerts
o If mornings are your best working times, check your e-mail later in the day
o Discuss with your boss your schedule for responding and share it with your colleagues
o The two-minute rule: if you can read and respond to a message within 2 minutes, then take
care of immediately, add them to your to-do or schedule them on your calendar. To be polite,
send a quick note telling the sender when you plan to respond

Replying e-mail efÏciently with Down-Editing?

Down-Editing is a useful skill involving:

- Inserting your response to parts of the incoming message

- After a courteous opening, you reply message will include only the parts of the incoming messages
to which you are responding
- Your responses can be identified with your initials if more than one person will be seeing the response.
You may use a different font color for your down-edits.

What are the good points of the down-edited reply?

- Reducing confusion
- Saving writing and reading time
- Making you look professional

Writing ofÏce memos

Memos are necessary for important internal messages that are

- Too long for e-mail

- Requiring a permanent record – without a long thread of confusing replies or without changing
the origination date when a file is accessed like in an e-mail
- Demanding formality
- Informing employees who may not have work e-mail such as those in manufacturing or construction
⇨ Within organization, memos deliver changes in procedures, ofÏcial instructions
and reports

Compare Memos and E-mails:

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Similarities Differences
Components: both have subject line, dateline, - In e-mails to customers and clients,
identifications of sender and receiver, using you need to close messages with
headings, bulleted lines, and enumerated items goodwill statements
whenever possible to enhance readability - In messages to coworkers, you need NOT
close messages with goodwill
statements, however, some closing
though is often
necessary to avoid sounding abrupt.
Content: both carry non-sensitive information and
generally close with:
- Action information, dates, or deadlines
- A summary of the message
- A closing thought

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 Practice

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 MAKING PODCASTS WORK FOR BUSINESS

Podcasts are digital audio programs resembling radio shows. They tend to be series of episodes that generally
feature a host, sometimes two, oken interview format. They are distributed regularly. They can be played on
demand in a Web browser or with a mobile app on various digital devices. Cover diverse topics. Most are pre-
recorded, but some are live.

Statistics:

- 2017-2022: awareness has grown from 50%-60% among Americans 12 years old and up
- More than half listen to at least 1 podcast
- 850000 with more than 30 million episodes may be vying for listeners

Main players

- Podcasts can be categorized by genre, producers and their purpose. A majority of podcast is devoted
to entertainment
- We focus on business organization, podcasting entrepreneurs, news media and podcasting in education

Why are companies eager to jump into making a podcast series?

- Independence from social algorithms

- Diversification in company’s media channels

External use of podcast: making public, professionally produced podcast series for their own

- Caterpillar
- IBM

Internal use of podcasts

- Inform, engage, and train staff

- Podcast often replace costlier live teleconferences
- Human resources can be presented in podcasts or videos for on-demand

consumption To attract listeners, the podcast host should be a well-known businessperson or

TV personal These players have necessary technical and journalistic expertise

The benefits of Educational podcasts

- Facilitate accessible learning for students in anytime and anywhere especially for those with disabilities
- For auditory learners
- Create an archive of lessons

Public relations and customer relations

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 - To provide updated company information to the media, employees, and the public
- Blogs can be written by rank-and-file employees or top managers
- Tech companies rely on blogs a lot
- Retailers also blog

Engagement and viral marketing

- Engagement aspect of blogging aims at soliciting creative ideas from the public, but its efÏciency is still
in doubt
- Viral marketing means the rapid spread of messages inline much like the spread of infectious diseases
- Viral messages must be authentic and elicit and emotional response
- Large companies often have their own social media experts and marketers to scrutinize social media
and positive and negative posts about their organization and products

Online communities

- Company blogs can draw a loyal core following business and brands
- Such followers want to keep informed about company events, products updates, offers, freebies
and other news

International communication and recruiting

- Blogs can be used to keep virtual teams on track and share updates on the road internally
- Such blogs

7 tips in mastering blogs

- Craft a catchy but concise title

o Headlines makes online readers click to go your post
o Intriguing question or promises
o How is success measured? – engagement in the form of LIKE, SHARE or COMMENT
- Ace the opening paragraph
o The lead must deliver on the promise of the headline
o Identify a need and propose to solve the problem
o Ask a relevant question
o Tell an anecdote or use an analogy to connect with the reader
o Say something startling
- Provide details on the body
o Mind the So what? What’s in it for me?
o Use vivid examples, quotations and testimonials or statistics
- Consider visuals
o Add visuals interest with relevant images and diagrams
- Include a call to action
o Call on readers to do something or provide a take-away and gentle nudge at the end
o Ask open-minded questions – also effective closing
- Edit and proofread
o Cut any unneeded words, sentences and irrelevant ideas
o Fix
- Respond to posts respectfully

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 o Build a positive image online by posting compelling comments on other bloggers’ posts
o Politely and promptly reply to comments on your site
o If you disagree with a post,

Popular social networking site: FB, Ins, Twitter

- Users: individuals and businesses

- Purpose: connect with customers, employees, share company news, promote goods and services
and exchange ideas.

Benefits of enterprise social networking

- Internet social networking platform is to help organizations share knowledge, improve decision
making, and foster innovation
- They expect their investment in an enterprise networking platform shall lead to greater
employee engagement and productivity
- Enterprise social media networks are searchable, enable workers to tag, follow, view activity feeds.
Users can access and send information more efÏciently than by email alone.
- Nimble damage control and responding to grievances
- Connecting dispersed workers
- Crowdsourcing employees to achieve buy-in: Internal social networks and blogs can help
companies invite employee input to effect change and solve business problems

What are possible risks of social networks for businesses?

- Incurring productivity losses

- Attracting the wrath huge Internet audiences
- Leaking trade secrets
- Facing embarrassment over inappropriate employee posts

How could firms use electronic media professionally?

- Learn your company’s media policies

- Separate work and personal data
- Avoid sending personal e-mail, IM messages or texts from work

The dark side of Technology and Social Media

- Privacy fears
- Disinformation and election tampering
- Deepfakes, doctored videos
- Incivility, trolling and cyberbullying
- Data security

Summary of main points

- Social media such as Facebook and Twitter allow firms to share company news, exchange ideas
and connect with customers, employees, other stakeholders and the public
- Companies boost their brand recognition by engaging customers on the social media platforms
where they congregate; enterprise social networks provide secure internal communication

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- Productivity losses, legal liability, leaking of trade secrets and angry Internet user are potential risks
of social media use at work
- Workers should share only appropriate, work related information, not post questionable content,
they should activate and monitor their privacy options on social media sites.
- Technology and social media have a dark side, which includes threats to privacy,
disinformation, deepfakes, incivility and trolling as well as threats to data security.

Practice

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 BUSINESS REPORT

Writing reports in the digital age

Basic report functions

- Informational: present data without analysis or recommendation

o A trip report describes an employee’s visit to a trade show
o Weekly bulleted status report summarizes activities of each group member and shared
with supervision
o Monthly sales report
o Progress report
o Government compliance report
- Analytical: present data or findings, analysis, conclusion and recommendation
o A yardstick report (potential manufacturing locations for a new automobile part)
o Feasibility studies (for expansion opportunities)
o Justification reports (for buying equipment or changing procedures) – báo cáo đánh giá

Organizational strategies

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Report writing styles

Informal report writing style: use for short, internal business reports

- Users:
o Short, routine reports aimed at familiar audience
o Noncontroversial reports
o Most reports to company insiders
- Effect
o Feeling of warmth, personal involvement, closeness
- Characteristics:
o Use of first pronouns
o Use of contractions
o Emphasis on active voice verbs
o Shorter sentences
o Occasional use of humor
o Acceptance of author’s opinions, ideas

Formal report writing style: objectivity, authority, impartiality => proposals and long research reports

- Users:
o Theses
o Research studies
o Controversial and complex reports, especially to outsiders
- Effect
o Impression of objectivity, accuracy, professionalism, fairness
o Distance created between writer and reader

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- Characteristics:
o Absence of first-person pronouns; use of third person
o Absence of contractions
o Use of passive voice verbs
o Complex sentences, long words
o Absence of humor, colorful adjectives, adverbs
o Elimination of author’s “editorializing

Report formats

Letter For informal reports sent to outsiders

Memos/e-mail For informal reports sent within organization
Manuscript For longer, more formal reports
Preprinted forms For routine activities, such as expense reports
Digital Useful for collaboration and for posting online
Report headings

- Serve as an outline of the report

- Highlight major ideas and categories
- Act as guides for locating information
- Provide resting points for the mind and the eye
- Organize data into meaningful blocks

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