http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Communication/Correspondence A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Communication and Correspondence in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Communication/Correspondence http://tc.eserver.org/35135.html http://tc.eserver.org/35135.html Although extensive research has been done on teaching emails and on the use of emails in organisations, little research exists about how to incorporate organizational practitioners' views as the voices of the community of social practice. To remedy this pedagogical gap, this article uses a genre approach to discuss organizational practitioners' views on the use of email in organizational settings. It also develops seven teaching and learning stages for situated learning and teaching in business communication based upon the presented study findings. http://tc.eserver.org/34560.html http://tc.eserver.org/34560.html Learning about writing for the web has made me a better email communicator and project manager. Email would be much more effective if content was broken out in easy-to-understand sections with a clear guide for next steps at the end. http://tc.eserver.org/34447.html http://tc.eserver.org/34447.html Anyone whose ever been part of an online "flame war" has had the experience of a tiny "e-mole" becoming a mountain. Studies have shown that readers add (or invent) emotional bias that is often counter to your intent as the sender. In this case, all of the niceties you thought you were writing ended up sounding very different in the mind of your employee. http://tc.eserver.org/33407.html http://tc.eserver.org/33407.html One of the most fundamental tools used in any form of e-business is email, but most of us don't really think about it - we just use it out of habit, not with any real plan. And as business becomes ever busier it's easy to become inundated with email and fall so far behind that it becomes useless and customers get frustrated with lack of responsiveness. http://tc.eserver.org/32371.html http://tc.eserver.org/32371.html This handout will help you solve your memo-writing problems by discussing what a memo is, describing the parts of memos, and providing examples and explanations that will make your memos more effective. http://tc.eserver.org/31961.html http://tc.eserver.org/31961.html Should you use CSS or (horror of horrors) tables? And what do you do when images are ‘blocked’? http://tc.eserver.org/31551.html http://tc.eserver.org/31551.html Gone are the days when you called a reporter, mailed a letter or sent a fax and expected to get a callback. These days, more reporters than ever are relying on e-mail to review news pitches or story ideas. Pitching by e-mail is sometimes more difficult than sending a pitch letter by standard mail or calling a reporter on the telephone, because with more and more e-mail being sent these days, yours needs to stand out from the rest. Here are tips on how to make your pitch stand out in the maze of e-mail communications that reporters, and other media contacts, receive each day. http://tc.eserver.org/31523.html http://tc.eserver.org/31523.html The productivity of information workers is jeopardized by too much e–mail. A proposed solution to e–mail overload is the creation of an economy that uses a scarce synthetic currency that senders can use to signal the importance of information and receivers can use to prioritize messages. A test of the virtual economy with corporate information workers showed that people in a large company used different amounts of the currency when sending e–mail messages, and that the amount of currency attached to messages produced statistically significant differences in how quickly receivers opened the messages. An analysis of the network of virtual currency trades between workers showed the different roles that participants played in the communication network, and showed that relationships defined by currency exchanges uncovered social networks that are not apparent in analyses that only examine the frequency, as opposed to the value of interactions. http://tc.eserver.org/31465.html http://tc.eserver.org/31465.html With recent press surrounding the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act and possible future charges for sending e-mail as well as virus creators competing with each other for infection rates, how can you ensure that your e-mail communications are still effective and reach their intended recipients? E-mail has qualities that make it an ideal communication vehicle. But for all of these positive characteristics, e-mail has taken a serious blow over the past six years. An anti-spam technology company estimated that 62 percent of all e-mail sent across the Internet was identified as some sort of spam by users of their technology. http://tc.eserver.org/31462.html http://tc.eserver.org/31462.html An informal poll within the U.S. indicates that more than half of respondents favor a law restricting "spam," that is, unwanted electronic advertising that everyone with an e-mail address has been exposed to but does not know how to stop. In the poll, 30 percent favor making false e-mail headers illegal, but only slightly more than 11 percent said spam restrictions would violate the First Amendment. http://tc.eserver.org/31340.html http://tc.eserver.org/31340.html Some of the nicest people we know send the most thoughtless e-mails. Many are telegraphic, with a smattering of disconnected words and abbreviations, leaving the reader to fill in the blanks. Most are dashed off without review and arrive in their native state: confusing, grammarless and brimful of spelling errors. That's not even to mention lack of logic and transitions. http://tc.eserver.org/30380.html http://tc.eserver.org/30380.html The features of time, place, speaker, and audience define the situational context of any communication--face-to-face, paper-based, or electronic. However, they are significantly altered in electronic communication. If participants in electronic communications do not recognize how these features are altered they may not be able to use their electronic mail effectively. http://tc.eserver.org/30087.html http://tc.eserver.org/30087.html Direct marketing in the form of direct mail is used by almost every company whether it is the local service station or shoe repair shop or a Fortune 500 company. Unlike documentation that instructs or describes a process, marketing materials must persuade as well as inform. Increasingly, technical communicators’ responsibilities are being expanded to include marketing materials such as advertisements and direct mail. Writing successful direct marketing letters or advertisements can be easier by using a 10-point guide that uses the principles of attracting attention, arousing interest. creating desire and asking for action. http://tc.eserver.org/29322.html http://tc.eserver.org/29322.html What did the kids say? Email is dead. It's hanging on as a mode of communication for adults (that's us) and within businesses. Kids will even use it to communicate with adults. But for the majority of kids, email has been replaced by two things: text messaging and social networks. http://tc.eserver.org/29113.html http://tc.eserver.org/29113.html The purpose of this article is to help determine whether the use of emoticons in computer mediated communication (CMC) are truly nonverbal cues. A review of the literature revealed that the traditional nonverbal theorists failed to predict the future employment of nonverbal cues in electronic CMC. A variety of emoticons are then described including the traditional happy face 3 and sad face 3, numerous variations of faces employing keyboard keys, a number of abbreviations commonly in use, and FLAMING. Inasmuch as emoticons are presently in widespread though informal use, the problem of how and what business communication instructors should teach about emoticons is discussed. The conclusion reached is that of a generational recipient determinism. It is recommended that recipients who are Traditionalists (born before 1946) should not be sent e-mail with emoticons; those who are Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) probably should not be sent e-mail with emoticons; those who are Generation Xers (those born between 1964 and 1980) may be sent e-mail with some of the more common emoticons; and those who are termed Millenials (born after 1980 and coming of age after 2000) may be sent e-mail with generous use of emoticons. http://tc.eserver.org/29082.html http://tc.eserver.org/29082.html Based on an analysis of 63 fundraising packages representing 46 nonprofit organizations, as well as research in trade journals and other secondary sources, this study discusses a variety of persuasive techniques used in fundraising messages to accomplish their missions. The fundraising package consists of the carrier envelope, the fundraising letter, the reply form, the reply envelope, and optional enclosures such as brochures, small gifts for the reader, and surveys to complete. These parts work together to perform the following tasks: 1) persuade recipients to open the envelope and read the letter; 2) convince readers a serious but not unsolvable problem exists; 3) make readers want to help solve the problem; 4) convince readers they can help by giving to the appealing organization; 5) tell readers what the organization needs them to do; and 6) make it easy to comply. http://tc.eserver.org/29149.html http://tc.eserver.org/29149.html Americans contribute $240 billion dollars to charities each year, raised in part by writing letters to potential donors. While it is debatable what the reasons are for donors to give so much money, most donors seem to be moved to contribute by pathos, particularly pity. The concept of pathos as a rhetorical appeal has become more complex over the years, growing from a simple strategy to a complicated set of parameters requiring careful delineation. Beginning with the Greeks, particularly Aristotle, pathos was defined with greater clarity (especially the concept of enargia), with Aristotle's formal definitions of the emotions, and with the use of an image upon which to direct the audience's pity. Cicero adds to the theory by calling for the use of pathos in the peroration and reinforcing Aristotle's emphasis on careful audience analysis. St. Augustine and those who follow, including Renaissance, 18thcentury rhetoricians, and 20th-century scholars like Kenneth Burke, argue that style can also be an effective persuasive strategy for a pathetic appeal. Accordingly, the charity letters examined illustrate not only Aristotle's and Cicero's tenets but also show that elements of style, particularly rhetorical figures and schemes, are common rhetorical strategies used in these charity letters. While at first the rhetoric of charity letters seems simple and straightforward, to raise billions of dollars every year charity letters use sophisticated appeals to pity that have a long and interesting history. http://tc.eserver.org/28840.html http://tc.eserver.org/28840.html If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two. The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories. Each of these three types of emails requires a slightly different approach. Their purposes are different, and each should be optimized to perform their respective tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/28843.html http://tc.eserver.org/28843.html I don't recall the last time I received a commercial email that made me take notice or smile. http://tc.eserver.org/28832.html http://tc.eserver.org/28832.html The best buddy approach works within specific product and service sectors, where readers can easily be tripped into a state of dissociation...because they have problems that the writer promises to solve. http://tc.eserver.org/28806.html http://tc.eserver.org/28806.html E-mail styles and preferences can vary from country to country, presenting a possible challenge to effective communication. Read on for how to add a personal touch to your messages so that e-mail becomes an asset to your business. http://tc.eserver.org/28149.html http://tc.eserver.org/28149.html Sometimes copywriters and content writers write in clichés. To a reader, the line has barely any meaning, and certainly no impact. Why not? Because it is too familiar. Because he or she has read the same phrase so many times before, in too many other places. http://tc.eserver.org/28054.html http://tc.eserver.org/28054.html Lack of personalization made an email newsletter completely useless to the recipient, damaging long-term customer relationship efforts. http://tc.eserver.org/26003.html http://tc.eserver.org/26003.html Always start by putting your main message up front. Some people feel that bad news should be buried. But research shows that readers will always look for the bottom line. http://tc.eserver.org/25953.html http://tc.eserver.org/25953.html Ever had an e-mail message go missing in cyberspace? With about half the e-mail messages sent daily being spam, it's no wonder that Internet Service Providers are installing spam blocking software. But are your legitimate messages being blocked too? Find out how to avoid triggering spam alerts with your everyday mail. http://tc.eserver.org/25784.html http://tc.eserver.org/25784.html Use this checklist to ensure that your e-mail reflects a high level of professionalism and increases your credibility within your company. http://tc.eserver.org/24741.html http://tc.eserver.org/24741.html A sales letter must capture the reader's attention immediately or it won't get read. Most people accomplish this by stating their biggest benefit at the top of their letter. I've found something that works even better. http://tc.eserver.org/24523.html http://tc.eserver.org/24523.html Most emails have lousy subject lines, are too wordy, and probably are deleted unread, read but not responded to, or filtered out as spam. Learn how to avoid these fates by composing Power Emails that are legal, ethical, and effective. http://tc.eserver.org/24548.html http://tc.eserver.org/24548.html This limited case study examines the situated-language practices associated with the production of negative letters in an insurance company. Using genre and sociocultural theories, the study combines textual analyses of a set of negative letters together with writers' accounts of producing these letters to identify effective (as defined by the company) strategies for composing this correspondence. These letters are examples of generic action, and they demonstrate that genres function as constellations of regulated, improvisational strategies triggered by the interaction between individual socialization and an organization. Moreover, these constellations of resources express a particular chronotopic relation to space and time, and this relation is always axiological or value oriented. In other words, genres express space/time relations that reflect current social beliefs regarding the placement and actions of human individuals in space and time. The article identifies some of the strategies that characterize effective negative messages in this organization. It also critiques this text type for enacting a set of practices and related chronotopic orientation that is against the interests of its readers and writers. http://tc.eserver.org/23395.html http://tc.eserver.org/23395.html We can't halt the flow of incoming email messages, but we can give you some suggestions that will help you become a better email communicator. http://tc.eserver.org/23159.html http://tc.eserver.org/23159.html When you write a business letter, it's important to use a tone that is friendly but efficient. Readers want to know there’s someone at the other end of the letter who is taking notice and showing interest in their concerns. Try to sound—and be—helpful and friendly. http://tc.eserver.org/23163.html http://tc.eserver.org/23163.html If the average business letter starts poorly, then it invariably finishes poorly. Your closing paragraph should bring your letter to a polite, businesslike close. Typical final paragraphs in business letters invite the reader to write again or use overused and meaningless phrases that detract from the impact of the letter. http://tc.eserver.org/23162.html http://tc.eserver.org/23162.html Your first job in writing any letter is to gain your reader's attention. It's an important principle of effective writing to put the most important information first. Your opening paragraph is both the headline and the lead for the message that follows in the rest of the letter. http://tc.eserver.org/23161.html http://tc.eserver.org/23161.html Can you imagine reading a newspaper or magazine without any headlines or headings? Headlines and headings help us find our way around, decide what to read, signal what's coming next and highlight key points. http://tc.eserver.org/23160.html http://tc.eserver.org/23160.html Plain English is clear English. It is simple and direct but not simplistic or patronising. Using plain English doesn’t mean everyone's writing must sound the same. There is no one ‘right’ way to express an idea. There's plenty of room for your own style—but it will only blossom once you have got rid of the poor writing habits that are typical of most business writing. http://tc.eserver.org/21301.html http://tc.eserver.org/21301.html How do you write an effective email that your recipient finds clear and easy to understand? There's more to it than just typing a few words and clicking the Send button. These notes give you some guidelines on the following: technical issues, document structure, the importance of knowing your audience, language issues and layout and visual design. http://tc.eserver.org/21061.html http://tc.eserver.org/21061.html When you ask readers whether they want your e-mail newsletter in HTML or text e-mail, be sure to honor their preference. http://tc.eserver.org/21073.html http://tc.eserver.org/21073.html Email usability can be dramatically increased or decreased by how URLs are designed and placed in messages. An example of one problem is described in detail in this article. Also, a couple of simple tips are provided to help you improve the URLs in your email messages. http://tc.eserver.org/20814.html http://tc.eserver.org/20814.html Transactional email can be a website's customer service ambassador, but messages must first survive a ruthless selection process in the user's in-box. Differentiating your message from spam is thus the first duty of email design. http://tc.eserver.org/20809.html http://tc.eserver.org/20809.html A writer/sales trainer tells how to structure effective sales letters and avoid common mistakes. Many sales letters fail not because of content but because of poor structure. http://tc.eserver.org/19620.html http://tc.eserver.org/19620.html The informal e-mails you exchange with your friends don't have to meet any particular standards, but if you want to be taken seriously by professionals, you should learn proper e-mail etiquette. http://tc.eserver.org/18855.html http://tc.eserver.org/18855.html In a conversation, there is some minimum of shared context. You might be in the same physical location, and even on the phone you have, at minimum, commonality of time. When you generate a document for paper, usually there is some context embedded in the medium: the text is in the proceedings of a conference, written on a birthday card, handed to your professor with a batch of Econ 101 term papers, or something similar. With email, you can't assume anything about a sender's location, time, frame of mind, profession, interests, or future value to you. This means, among other things, that you need to be very, very careful about giving your receivers some context. This section will give specific strategies for doing so. http://tc.eserver.org/14690.html http://tc.eserver.org/14690.html Hay-Roe presents nine rules for writing clear, concise e-mail messages. http://tc.eserver.org/13560.html http://tc.eserver.org/13560.html Email is a powerful way to reach customers, but overdoing it is risky. Let users know up front that you'll respect their mailboxes. Otherwise, they won't give their email addresses, and you'll lose a unique channel for marketing and customer service. http://tc.eserver.org/13049.html http://tc.eserver.org/13049.html This document offers 10 tips to help you write effective professional e-mails. The informal e-mails you exchange with your friends don't have to meet any particular standards, of course, but if you want to be taken seriously by people who use e-mail frequently, you should know e-mail etiquette. http://tc.eserver.org/12939.html http://tc.eserver.org/12939.html For some reason, there is a common misconception that correspondence and other forms of communication are not subject to protection by U.S. copyright laws; however, generally, that is not true. The U.S. Copyright Act states that protection exists 'in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.' Therefore, letters typically are protected by copyright law. http://tc.eserver.org/10690.html http://tc.eserver.org/10690.html Your letters will be more successful if you focus on positive wording rather than negative, simply because most people respond more favorably to positive ideas than negative ones. Words that affect your reader positively are likely to produce the response you desire in letter-writing situations. A positive emphasis will  persuade the reader and create goodwill. In contrast, negative words may generate resistance and other unfavorable reactions. You should therefore be careful to avoid words with negative connotations. These words either deny--for example, NO, DO NOT, REFUSE, and STOP--or convey unhappy or unpleasant associations--for example, UNFORTUNATELY, UNABLE TO, CANNOT, MISTAKE, PROBLEM, ERROR, DAMAGE, LOSS, and FAILURE.