School of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 1 BUSN 20017 Module 4—Business Writing: Genres of Written Business Communication Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................1 The Difference between Written and Verbal Business Communication .........................................1 Employment Letters and Resumes .....................................................................................3 Email.........................................................................................................................9 Reports .................................................................................................................... 13 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 14 References................................................................................................................ 14 Introduction Think about the number of times you have received an email containing spelling and grammatical errors. You can generally understand the denotative information in the email, but what does the email's connotative message communicate about the author of the email? That is to say, what do you think about the person sending the email? Poorly written business documents do not communicate professionalism. Good written communication matters. As with an oral presentation, your written communication begins with understanding why you are communicating and to whom. This starting point is important because it allows you to think about how you want to frame your message. Framing you message is about thinking what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. This module is designed to increase your competency in written business communication. The specific purpose of this module 4 is to help you: • Understand your reader. • Decide what to write. • Produce specific genres of written communication such as reports, email, and resumes The Difference between Written and Verbal Business Communication Written and verbal business communications are different from one another in more ways than simply spoken versus written words. The spoken word is much more ephemeral than the static written word. As long as there is a physical or electronic copy of document the content survives. The spoken word, on the other hand, disappears unless it is recorded or transcribed. Think about the difference between aSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 2 letter and a conversation. You potentially have the letter forever, but past conversations exist as memories, which fade over time. As a corollary of this distinction between the two media we can think of talk as immediate, while the written word can transcend time and space. In addition, the static written work can be read repeatedly. Unless the spoken word is recorded, you can never 're-hear' what was said. Therefore, it is much easier to analyse the written word than it is the unrecorded spoken word. Furthermore, Speaking is more fluid because it can change. As you talk to another person you can correct what you are saying, repeat what you have said, or even 'take' something back if you have said something inappropriate. On the other hand, written communication tends to be more static. So, for example, once you have hit send you cannot change the content of your email. Therefore, it is probably wise to really think about what you are going to say when it is written down. As we will see in later in the course when we discuss non-verbal communication, non-verbal communication provides interpretive cues. That is non-verbal cues ‘help’ or 'guide' you to interpret the verbal communication in a particular way. Written communication also has cue that ‘help’ you interpret the written word. These cues take the form of grammar, style and layout design features. On a more specific note, written business communication is seen to be more professional because it precise and rule governed. Written business communication is precise when it is clear, unambiguous, and free of grammatical errors. In addition, written communication is rule governed in that there are accepted styles or formats used when communicating via the various written modes of communication. Failing to adhere to the prevailing rules or guidelines for written communication can result in miscommunication or misunderstanding and others may perceive this as unprofessional. Therefore when you write it is important to minimise the “noise” created through bad grammar, poor word choices, and/or stylistic error. An additional difference is that the written word assumes a tangible form, whereas the spoken word does not. This means that, unlike verbal communication, written words can be edited prior to the message being sent. When you communicate verbally there is no edit function, you cannot take back or change a verbal message once you have said it. The capacity to edit the message before you deliver it lessens the chances of sending a poorly written message. Following from this observation is that written communication can easily be reproduced, re-presented, and re-read. In contrast, the human mind retains the verbal communication in the form of memories which fade with time. In many professional contexts, written communication is viewed as more official. In part, this perception is based upon the fact that there is documented proof that the communication has taken place. You cannot say that you did not send an email, if the person is holding the proof in their hand. In relation to persuasive communication this suggests that it is difficult for people to retain and/or understand complex spoken arguments, while complex arguments in written form can be reviewed and reread. A fourth difference revolves around the issue of immediate feedback. When you communicate verbally with another person, the feedback is immediate. Based upon this feedback, you can repeat, reinforce, modify, and/or clarify your message if need be. With written communication, this case is not true. Indeed, you may never receive direct feedback to a written message. With written communication, receiving feedback is more challenging, although not impossible, than verbal communication. This feature of written communication highlights need to make sure that your written communication is as clearly stated as possible, thereby not necessitating the need for further clarification and/or elaboration. Relatedly, when you communicate through most forms of written language the person to whom you are writing is not physically present with you as you write the message down; as would be the case if you were having a face-to-face chat with a co-worker. Although the person or persons are not physicallySchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 3 there, you should write your messages with that person(s) in mind. If you do not know specifically who will read your message, you need to make an educated guess about who the reader will be, and tailor that message to your imagined person/audience. To conclude, all good communication, verbal or written, is adapted or conducted with a particular person/audience in mind; however, doing so is sometimes more difficult when communicating through written language. Employment Letters and Resumes If you have ever applied for a job then you would have had to submit a resume, letter of application and in some cases, a statement responding to specific job selection criteria. The quality of these documents should be developed as to highlight your skills and capabilities to potential employees. The following information is designed to enhance your ability to create professional and effective employment letters and resumes. The first thing a prospective employer will read is your cover letter. Therefore, it is important to create as much impact as possible because this is the first chance you get to introduce yourself to a prospective employer. According to Cielens and Aquino (2007, 59) the successful application letters contain four elements, which (1) link your work skills and experiences and aspirations to the needs of the employer; (2) highlight your specific skills and qualifications that are relevant to the position to which you are applying; (3) summaries aspects of your personality and your work ethic; and (4) highlight your availability for an interview. The opening of a letter of application should begin by addressing the letter to the recipient. This is the salutation part of the letter. If you know the recipient, then the salutation should begin with 'Dear Mr. [Last name]' or 'Dear Ms. [Last name]' If there is no a person listed on the job description then you should open with 'Dear Sir or Madam' (Summers and Smith, 2014). In some cases, there may be more than one recipient. So you may wish to open to 'Dear Search Committee members'. The opening paragraph should seek to build a relationship with this person. To begin you need to identify yourself, state the purpose of your letter (include the position and reference number) and where the position was advertised (optional). If possible include information about why you are particularly interested in this job or why you think that you are well suited for this position. You should make sure to briefly back your statement with specific reasons. For example, you could say 'my education and experience as a financial analysis is relevant to the position that you are seeking to fill'. The body of your application letter should be around three quarters of the length of a page. Here you should briefly outline your current and past work and in doing so highlight specific examples of your professional competence. Directly relate your skills and abilities back to the job that you are applying for. Also provide a summary of your qualifications. In concluding your letter, you want to end on a positive note. You may wish to end by thanking the employing company and inviting them to contact you if they require further information. For example, you could say: 'I welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your requirements for this position'. When you close your letter it is advised (Summer and Smith, 2014) that you end with 'Yours Sincerely' if you know who the recipient is 'Yours Faithfully' if you do not know who the recipient is. The cover letter should be no more than one page in length. Think of the cover letter as a preview of your CV. You need to use the cover letter to encourage the reader to look through your CV, which is aSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 4 much more in-depth document. Think clearly about what you can write in just one page. Make sure that what you write is free of grammar and spelling errors. Poorly written cover letters do not convey a good impression. Figure 4.1 is a general cover letter template.School of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 5 [Your Name] [Street Address] [Address 2] [City, ST ZIP Code] [Phone] [E-Mail] [Website] [Date] [Recipient Name] [Title] [Company Name] [Street Address] [Address 2] [City, ST ZIP Code] Dear [Recipient Name]: I am writing to you in regards to the financial manager position (Ref: 453157) that you seeking to fill. My educational background in [field of study], along with my professional experience, makes me an excellent candidate for this position. As you will see from the enclosed resume, I have more than [number] years of experience in the field of [area of professional expertise]. My resume shows that I have been consistently rewarded for hard work with promotions and increased responsibilities. These rewards are a direct result of my expertise in [area of professional expertise], my commitment to personal and professional excellence, and my excellent written and oral communication skills. If you have questions, or if you want to schedule an interview, please contact me at [phone number]. I look forward to meeting you to further discuss employment opportunities with [Company Name]. Yours Sincerely, [Your Name] CV Response to the Selection CriteriaSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 6 While resumes or CV’s (curriculum vitae) are often specific to institutional norms; there are basic areas that need to be addressed in all CV’s. While these areas are common to all CVs, you need to make sure that you CV is responsive to the job you are applying for. In order to create an 'audience responsive' CV, you will need to conduct research about both the specific job and the industry in general. You can tailor your CV to the specific job based upon internet research, conversations with other professionals within your network or communication with a representative of the employing company. Making sure that you are responsive to the employing organization is important because it shows that you are generally interested in that specific job. The following information outlines the basic areas beginning with the information at the top of you CV. This part of your CV presents your personal details. This should contain your full name, which is often centered on the first page. Below this you should then include your address, home and mobile telephone numbers and email address. If you wish you may also include a small photograph of yourself. The next section lists your educational qualifications. This information should include educational qualifications and research granting institution starting from your most recent qualification going backwards. Make sure to include the years that you attended. You do not need to include your graduation certificates or assessment reports. If you get the job then you may be requested to provide these documents later. If you have undertaken any courses or training after your formal education be sure to include these as well. Following your educational qualifications, you would need to include your employment history beginning with your current or last employer. Here you will need to list your responsibilities and key aspects of your job. Include your position title and the name of the company. Make sure you include the dates of employment. Be sure to include all forms of employment irrespective of type--this means any part time or volunteer jobs. This comment noted--as you progress with your career, at some point the job that you had after school when at high school will no longer be relevant. After your employment history you need to list your specific skills and achievements. For example, if you were responsible for implementing an organizational change initiative, this is where you would put this information. Likewise, if you were responsible for the management of 20 people, include that information in this section. Again you need to start with your most current skills and achievements. The trick in this section is to highlight your skills and achievements without being too over the top. McKenna et al (2007) suggest you use such word as achieved, attained, built, complied, created, organized, monitored, established, organised or planned. So you may write something to the extent of: ‘Implemented large-scale organized change initiative’ or ‘successfully managed a team of 20 people’. This is the section that you would include any information about received awards, commendations or scholarships. If you wish you can also include a section relating to special interests. This may include memberships to professional bodies, associations or community groups that you belong to. You may also want to include brief information about your recreational interests such as hobbies or pastimes. The last section of a resume consists of your referees. You need to give your referee’s name, title position, address and contact details. It is ideal to include people who have knowledge of your most current work or employment. As a courtesy ask the person first if they wish to be your referee. Figure 4.2 is a general CV template.School of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 7 Writing a Resume This video was made by David Eyles, who is a former BUSN20017 student. This video provides information of resume writing as is a good example of a training video (see assessment 2) https://youtu.be/7yoBL-3OPBkSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 8 [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME] [Street Address, City State, Post Code] | [Email] | [Telephone] Education [School Name], [Location] [Degree] Work Experience [Job Title] [Company Name] [Dates From – To] This is the place for a brief summary of your key responsibilities and most important accomplishments. [Job Title] [Company Name] [Dates From – To] This is the place for a brief summary of your key responsibilities and most important accomplishments. Skills and Abilities Oral Communication Delivered training presentations Conducted communication audits Written Communication Wrote reports to executive community recommending changes to existing communication networks/climates Leadership Team leader……. Managed change…. References [Reference Name], [Title] [Company] [Contact Information]School of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 9 In some cases you may be asked to respond to selection criteria. Respond to each criterion individually. Use examples to support any claims you make. Try to use the language used in the criteria. Given that you are writing about yourself it is perfectly acceptable to write in the first-person. Remember you need to be able to support any claims that you make so choose your words carefully avoiding generalizations and hyperbole. The following articles provide you with more information about writing resumes. Email In many organisations today email is the primary means of communicating at work. This is because email is easy to write, it is fast, and it has the potential for a quick response time. Despite the pervasiveness of email, it is often used ill-advisedly or inappropriately. This situation occurs, in part, because individuals fail to recognize that professional work-related email is a different genre of communication from the interpersonal email sent to friends and family outside of the workplace. The following information makes suggestions for establishing a set of best practices for using email within the workplace. To begin, your work email should be for work-related tasks. You should send personal emails from your personal computer. Most organisations will allow you limited personal use of email, but it is important not to abuse this right. Remember the use of you work email for personal reasons should be limited. In addition, email should follow the chain of command. If you have a question for your co-worker, send the email to the co-worker and not to your supervisor and vice versa. Email that skips the chain of command is either ignored or re-directed to the appropriate person, which wastes time. Furthermore, even if you are upset or confused by interactions with you immediate supervisor, you should address the issues with the supervisor. Sending an email to your supervisor’s supervisor does not follow the chain of command. However, it is possible to jump the chain of command if you need to send an email up the chain if the supervisor is behaving in a way that violates your workplace’s ethical conduct and standards. Furthermore, try not to send email to people who do not need to receive the email. Reading an email and then deleting it because it does not concern you is, again, a waste of time. In addition, people tend to get irritated if they received a large volume of email that does not directly pertain to them. Emails containing rumour, gossip, sexist or racist jokes or commentary is simply inappropriate and wrong. Additional Resource about Writing Resumes Updating Best Practices: Applying On-Screen Reading Strategies to Resume Writing http://ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth &AN=92690830&site=eds-live&scope=siteSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 10 Today most organisations have a set of standards that specifically state that email of this content should not be sent. CQU has substantial guidelines regarding the appropriate use of email. Another point is that when you use your work email remember the email doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to the organisation. This means that under specific circumstances, other people may have access to your emails. This means that email is not the medium to send confidential information because email in not a private medium. Additionally, remember other individuals can forward your email to others without your consent. In regards to forwarding email that you have received with others there are a few considerations that you should keep in mind. While in many cases it is appropriate to forward an email that someone has sent to you to a third party, it is generally best to alter the sender in that you are forwarding his/her email. Forwarding emails to third parties without the sender’s consent/knowledge has the potential to cause conflict. Again, if you receive an email containing inappropriate or unethical content, then it is permissible to forward the email on without altering the originating party. You may have experienced a situation when one individual has sent out a mass email complaining about another individual and/or the organisation. This is clearly not a good practice and should not be done. While complaints about individuals and the organisation may be legitimate, sending out a mass email is not the way to proceed. As last observation, if you find yourself with a grievance or an issue that you need to raise with another person don’t do it over email. Resolving conflict is difficult at the best of times and a richer medium such as face-to-face communication is a better means of communicating. In the spirit of creating a standard of best practices for email use the following information provides you with suggestions about writing email. Email is a hybrid medium of communication. It is combination of the memo and the business letter. The opening format of an email is a variation of the standard opening of the memo. As already noted, make sure you send the email to the right person and only those individuals who need to know should be carbon copied Cc: Bcc, or blind copying copy, should be used judiciously. Generally speaking, the recipients should be known to one another. The subject line should be clear and to the point, briefly summarising the topic of the email. The main part of an email message is similar in format to the business letter. As with the business letter, there is a formal salutation such as Dear [the person’s name and title] or To [person’s name and title]. However if you know the person well, then it’s perfectly all right to drop the formal name and title and just address the person by his or her first name. However, if you are communicating with someone for the first time, then it is best to use the more formal salutation. It is often wise to have a look at how the person signs his or her email as a guideline for setting the degree of formality of the salutation. The main paragraph or paragraphs of an email state clearly the purpose of the email, the background information, and action items to be undertaken if necessary. The purpose may be simple if the person with whom you are communicating is familiar with this topic. If the person is not familiar with the topic then you may need to spend more time explaining why you are sending the email. The background information provides the context for the email. If the person with whom you are communicating is well aware of the context then limit background information as required. However, if the person is relatively new to the context of the communication then you will need to spend more time explaining what it is. In some cases, an email will request actions that need to be undertaken. If this case, then the actions need to be clearly described and a date or time of completion should also be included. Generally speaking emails are short in length. If you have additional or supporting information then send the information in attached documents. Although most email systems clearly indicate theSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 11 presence of an attachment, it is still a good idea to alert the recipient to the presence of these attachments and provide them with a brief description of why you have attached them and what you would like the other person to do with them. So for example, you may be sending a document to a person just for his/her personal reference--this means that they don’t have to read the document in its entirety. It is better to alert the person to this fact than to have him/her find out later on that he/she did not need to read a hundred page document!! As a last point, your sign-off should be appropriate to the working relationship that you have with the other person. ‘Regards’ and ‘kind regards’, are professional and cordial ways of signing off on email. Your signature should contain your name and title and necessary contact details. Having now written your email the very last thing you do before you send an email off is to read it. Poorly written, poorly spelled, grammatically incorrect emails do not convey a professional identity. When responding to emails there are a number of considerations that should be kept in mind. Although this may seem obvious, read over the email carefully--do not scan it. People are busy at work and if you receive an email that contains questions then respond directly to the questions. It is generally good practice to use one paragraph for each question. This way it is clear what topic you responding to. In many cases one email response can answer those questions, but sometimes not. If this is the case then don't get involved in an email dialogue. Pick up the telephone and speak to the person who is asking the questions. Email has the potential to be a great time waster. It is easy to leave your email on and respond to incoming emails immediately. As a normative business practice you do not need to respond immediately. A 24 hour turnaround period is perfectly acceptable. If somebody needs to get in contact with you, he/she can pick up the phone thereby signaling that more urgent communications required. If, for some reason, you are not able to respond because either you don’t have the information or you are forwarding the email onto a more appropriate recipient then tell the sender what actions you are undertaking. There is a tendency to think that email is an informal means of communication and as such it is exempt from professional standards of written communication. Poorly written emails are difficult to interpret and time consuming. The later part of this section focuses upon writing clear professional email. Last, and certainly not least, responding to email or writing an email in anger is a very unwise course of action. If you have not already, you will receive an email that makes you angry, dissatisfied or unhappy. In situations like this it is best to wait for a couple of hours before you send an email response or perhaps talk to that person face-to-face. Sending email that is aggressive or rude is also a poor decision. Sometimes people forget how harmful or hurtful the content can be. Just because the sender of an aggressive email does not observe the other person’s reaction to the message first hand it is still an unwise course of action. Verbal aggression, be is stated face-to-face or by email, is simply wrong because it can cause more aggressive interpersonal interaction. In addition there is an expectation of professional courtesy and aggressive emails violate this normative convention. Table 4.1 summarises these conventions, which if adhered to promote a standard of best practices for communicating via email.School of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 12 Table 4.1 Using Email at Work Standards of Best Practice Work email is for work not for personal correspondence. Email is not private—be careful what you say. Follow the chain of command. Do not send confidential information via email. Email the 'right' person. Be sensible about forwarding email addressed to you to a third party Email should not contain rumors, gossip and jokes. Not everyone needs to be Cc'ed. Email should always be courteous—never be sarcastic or rude. Do not send out mass emails complaining about another individual or the organisation. Email should never be used for conflict management—pick up the phone or set up a time to meet. Email should be short and grammatically correct. Email does not convey emotions well. Do not send out or write an email when you are angry—wait—reread—wait—send. Please read the attached assigned article. This article will give you tips about writing emails. Emails are a hybrid form of the business memo and letter. Like the memo, emails contain ‘To’ ‘Cc’ (carbon copy) ‘BCC’ and a subject line. As already mentioned in the preceding paragraph, make sure that you send your email to the correct and appropriate person. When you Cc another person or persons this should be for informational purposes only. Like the business letter emails contain a formal salutation. The salutation is……. Within the context of the business of email you should use ‘Dear [person’s name]’ or ‘To [the person’s name]. It is important to use the person’s name. So for example if you are going to send an email to the course coordinator or lecturer try to avoid such salutations as ‘Dear Professor or ‘Dear course coordinator’. Take the time to find the person’s name. The main paragraph paragraphs of an email should state the purpose or topic of the email. This information should be a further elaboration on the information set out in the subject line. Following from that it is advisable to provide background information and if necessary action items to be undertaken. How much background information you include is a function of how familiar the recipient is Practitioners' Views about the Use of Business Email within Organizational Settings: Implications for Developing Student Generic Competence http://ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eri c&AN=EJ851119&site=eds-live&scope=siteSchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 13 with the topic that you are discussing. If action items are required then explicitly state what sort of action needs to be taken and when it needs to be taken by. Emails are short in length. Generally speaking they should not be longer than one screen of information. If more information needs to be included then include that information as an attachment. You may wish to alert the recipient to the attachment and briefly describe what is contained within the attachment. Finally your sign off should be professional and cordial. Within an Australian professional context ’regards’ or ‘kind regards’ or ‘thanks is appropriate’. Before you send your email the very last thing you need to do is check for spelling and grammatical errors. Poorly spelt and grammatically incorrect emails do not convey professionalism. When you receive an email there are a number of principles that you should keep in mind. In the first place do not skim over an email. Skimming over the content of the email can result in misreading or misinterpreting the information. Having read the information think about what you want to say before you start writing. Often times email is used for asking questions. If you receive an email with three or more questions that will take a lot of time to respond or require a large amount clarification do don’t use email: instead pick up the phone. You should remember that most people speak more quickly than they can write and is certainly easier to provide clarification immediately over the phone rather than sending a series of follow up emails. You will also need to be aware of the organisation’s expectations regarding response time. While you do not have to respond to an email immediately, 24 hour response time is appropriate. At some time in your career you are going to receive an email that makes you angry or annoyed. You should never respond to an email when you are angry. Wait think about what you want to say and if necessary seek further clarification. Please watch this YouTube video on writing business email. Reports You will at some time during your work life be required to write a report. Reports come in many forms (McKenna et al., 2007. Pp. 211-212). The form of the report relates to the purpose or objective and context of the report. For example there are informational reports. This kind of report collects and presents data. Analytical reports collect, analyse and presents data as findings. A recommendation report gathers information, analyses and provides recommendations for action. In order to write a report you need to understand your purpose, you need to understand what your goals and objectives are and you need to understand what your audience wants from the report. The following information provides you with a generic structure for report writing. The first part of report is the letter of transmittal. The letter of transmittal is sent with the report. The letter of transmittal serves the function of introducing the report. This letter is addressed to the party or the individual who commissioned the report and should draw the attention of the reader(s) to significant parts of the reports especially the findings, conclusions and recommendations if there are any. The next page of the report is the title page. The title page contains the name of the report, who produced the report, the The Key Forms of Business Writing: E-Mail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=887bWEduy8ISchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 14 date and the intended audience. After the title page there is an executive summary or abstract. An executive summary is a brief overview of the entire report—purpose, research, methods, findings, conclusions and recommendations. It should be no more than one page in length. The purpose of the introduction, which is the next part of the report, is to provide context for the report. The introduction should describe the purpose and the scope of the report in addition to providing any necessary background information. It is in the introduction that any terms are defined. The method is the first part of the body of the report. In this section the writer outlines the research methodology and methods used. This includes a description of how the data was collected or obtained, demonstrating its reliability and relevance to the report. The next section of the report is the results or findings. The results or findings are communicated either in written form or visual data (e.g. graphs and tables) or a combination of the two. It is important that this information is factually presented and not interpreted. The discussion interprets or gives meaning to the data. So for example, the report could compare and contrast its findings to other comparable studies or reports. Additionally, the discussion could explain why the findings are important. The conclusion provides a brief summary of the findings. Short reports, business reports, engineering reports, research reports and feasibility reports all include a recommendations section. This is often the most important part of the report for the readers because the recommendations may provide justification for their future actions. Conclusion This module was designed to introduce you to written communication. In doing so, this module opened with a discussion of the differences between written and spoken communication. It is importance that your written communication maintains the formality of professional written communication and does not default to the less informal conventions seen in spoken communication. In addition, this module introduced three different genres of business communication: application letters and resumes, emails and reports. Knowing the generic features of these different types of written professional communication enhances your competence as a professional communicator. References Archee et al. (2013). Chapter 12: Writing for the workplace: Content and genre. 318-358. References Cielens, M. and Aquino, M. (2007). The business of communicating (4th ed.). Irwin/McGraw-Hill: North Ryde. Mckenna, B., Thomas, G., Waddell, N., and Barry, M. (2007). Corporate communication: effective techniques for business (2nd ed.). Thomson Social Scientific Press: Sydney. The Key Forms of Business Writing: Reports https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoY4Ri3i6PESchool of Business and Law CQUniversity |CRICOS Provider Code 02219C BUSN20017 |Week 4 | Page 15