INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

The need for effective communication

Florence (Italy) early 15th century business administration + letter writing.
Developing adequate oral and written communication skills a major objective of
training courses in business.
Effective business communicators - to select those communication skills that will prove the most
adequate for a particular situation and will serve their interests best.
Recent studies necessity to organise training courses for developing
communication skills
critical-thinking skills
to cope with:
high technology
competitive world
demands of the modern economy
written & oral communication skills
advocacy
elocution
oral response
preparing formal reports
writing business plans
planning and writing strategies
changing people's attitude towards acquiring these abilities
communication = innate ability?
Good communicators' strengths:
they know what to communicate
how to communicate to different people in different ways
a system of measuring their performance (how much they have
progressed)
Business schools should teach both formal and informal skills
Specific language functions:
explaining
analysing
making tactful refusals
persuading
making complaints
criticising tactfully

communication expertise

Needed to work consciously on these skills

to acquire a set of abilities associated with

high performance in business communication

ability to express oneself

ability to use analytical/conceptual skills
ability to write and speak creatively
ability to empathise with the partner (social self)

What is communication?
Definitions:

very technical descriptions exchange of information taking place between two

systems (as in the case of telecommunication)

philosophic perceptions

(Communication is) the totality of procedures by which a brain affects another brain
[not only oral and written communication, but also communication achieved by music,
painting, theatre, ballet etc.]

human communication = a social event

a relationship between at least two persons who convey information to each other
the relationship is facilitated basically by language
C. Cherry: A group of people, a society culture, I would define as people in
communication
a certain quantity of information is conveyed from one person to another, from one system to
another.(cf. Ayer 1955)
The code principle/code model the oldest theory of communication
language polarity
two main processes involved: transmission and reception
sender encoding choosing among certain alternatives
receiver decoding involves selection, on the basis of both linguistic and
extralinguistic signs

CONTEXT
MESSAGE
ADDRESSER

ADDRESSEE
CONTACT
CODE

Figure 1. Main elements of the communicative act

(cf. JAKOBSON 1960, p. 353).

Exploiting the language functions

Emotive function ability to express oneself induce a certain reaction; selection of

vocabulary/structures/registers, etc)
REFERENTIAL
POETIC
EMOTIVE

CONATIVE
PHATIC
METALINGUAL

Figure 2. The language functions (cf. JAKOBSON 1960, p. 357).

Conative function correct level of approach; to get the partner involved; use of vocatives/
polite forms of address/titles)
Emotive + referential function ability to speak & write creatively; adequate reference to
the business context = proof of increased creativity)
Phatic function empathy with the partner/ adapting to the partner
Phatic communication/ Rapport adequate use of those verbal and non verbal elements in
order to create the atmosphere of sociability/ communion necessary to the development of
co-operative relationships (business meetings & negotiations)
Oral and written communication
nature of the channel

Oral communication
roles of speaker & listener
reversible
(biunivocal relationship)
open to linguistic varieties
(regional, social varieties, dialectal items etc)

Written communication
irreversible
(univocal relationship)
restrictive
(standard language)
3

negotiation of meaning
(both partners contribute to the building of the
meaning; "I mean", "What do you mean by?",
"what I mean is ")
the processing of information = spontaneous
face-to-face communication
(less elaborate, sometimes, faulty; repetitions;
starts & re-starts; hesitations; fillers; redundant
elements; non-verbal = paraverbal elements,
violation of rules, feedback, more informal,
etc)
interactional + transactional
Tends to establish and maintain relationship, to
create a certain social atmosphere)

once the message has been sent, the writer

cannot change the meaning
(cannot work out on it)
careful elaboration of the message;
observance of rules
(complex syntax, reduced repetition, precise,
concrete vocabulary, lack of immediate
feedback, more formal)
predominantly transactional
(orientation towards conveying factual
information)

Business communication strategy based on the following elements

the problem
the objectives
the listener/ reader
the order
the format
The problem assess the circumstances imposing the necessity to communicate (speak/write).
Particular setting/background
Factors:
internal
external
strengths
state of competition
weaknesses
technological level
(of various people/depts)
customers' attitude
The objectives
General objectives
to inform
to get approval
to get information
to persuade
to give instructions
to make complaints
to notify
to make adjustments
to make proposals
to congratulate
Specific objectives
to give details
to support the general objective
Successful communicators:
4

only one major objective for each piece of communication

make the message clear taken into account promptly
followed by immediate action

not clear objectives misinterpretation

ineffective communication
additional action/waste of time
The audience (listener/ reader)
Action oriented towards the audience
do whatever necessary to help the audience
sensitive to the audience's needs
try to anticipate their reactions
adapt their communication to the type of the audience
Categories of audience
I.
general public
expert audience
layperson
II.

primary (decision makers; action takers, etc)

secondary (people affected by the decision taken)

The order of presentation

The way in which selected information & data are arranged to achieve the objectives
In business letters 3 levels where order becomes relevant
the overall message
the paragraph
the sentence
The overall message: can be arranged
directly most important ideas at the beginning of the message
indirectly main objective at the end of the message
Arrangement depends on:
type of message
objective
relationship with the partner
The paragraph - arranged such a way as to emphasize a particular point
direct the reader's attention to the main point

Topic sentence = the sentence carrying the core information;

all the other sentences will be related to it
A well-written paragraph should be;
coherent (it follows a definite plan)
developed (all sentences explain the main point)
unified (all sentences should be relevant to the main point)
The sentences: selection + combination of words
to achieve emphasis
to direct the reader's attention
Examples:
1. Decision-making is essential in managerial activity.

2.

Managerial activity includes decision-making.

Presentation of ideas: certain patterns

simple complex
familiar unfamiliar
known unknown
most important least important
cause effect
chronological
The format refers to the type of communication
oral presentation
memo
letter
note
fax