CHAPTER SIX - MEDIA OF

COMMUNICATION
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Overview of media of communication
6.3 Oral Communication
6.4 Speech
6.5 Telephoning vs. face to face conversation
6.6 Active listening
6.7 Interviews
6.8 Meetings
6.9 Written Communication
6.10 Business letter writing
6.11 Memo
6.12 Report Writing

1
 INTRODUCTION
• Medium (singular form of media) is the method
used to deliver a message.
• As a business communicator, you can often choose
whether to put your message in writing as a letter
or memo.
• You can deliver it by hand or send it via regular
mail or use delivery services like fax or electronic
mail.
• Or you can communicate it orally, either over the
phone or in person. You might also opt for non-
verbal form of communication.
2
 Cont’d
• When choosing among the channels and media
consider;
– the urgency,
– formality,
– complexity,
– confidentially,
– emotional content,
– cost of sending your message,
– your audience’s expectations, and
– your need for a permanent record.

3
 Oral Media
An oral communication media • Oral Media include
is best when:
 You want immediate feedback from
– Face-to- face conversation,
the audience – Speeches,
 Your message is relatively simple
– Meetings
and easy to accept
 You don’t need a permanent record
– Telephone and voicemail

 You can assemble the audience – Audiotape and video tape

conveniently & economically
– Teleconference and
 You want to encourage interaction to
– Video conference
solve a problem or reach a decision

4
 Written Media
A Written communication media • Written Media include
is best when:
You don’t need immediate feed back – Letters,
You do need a permanent verifiable
record – Memos,
Your message is detailed, is complex
and requires careful planning
– Reports,

You are trying to reach an audience

– Proposals
that is large & geographically
dispersed
– Electronic mail
You want to minimize the chances
for distortion that occur when a – Regular and special mail
message is passed orally from person
to person
– Faxes
5
 Oral communication
AOral communication implies communication through mouth.

AIt includes individuals conversing with each other, be it direct

conversation or telephonic conversation. Speeches,
presentations, discussions are all forms of oral
communication.
AOral communication is generally recommended when the
communication matter is of temporary kind or where a
direct interaction is required.
AFace to face communication (meetings, lectures,
conferences, interviews, etc.) is significant so as to build a
rapport and trust.
6
 SPEECH
• Speech is the process of establishing a common
understanding among people within a business
environment by means of spoken language.
• The widely applied means of oral communication
in face- to- face business situations are listening
short talks and presentations, conducting
interview and meetings.
• Speech is one of the media of communication that
we use to deliver message or information for
many people’s at once.
7
 TYPES OF SPEECH
• INFORMATIVE PRESENTATIONS
– Although there is some overlap between informative and
persuasive presentations, informative presentations are
intended to increase understanding, not to change an
attitude.
• To inform is to increase the number of person’s options or
choices (the more you know, the more choices you have).

• PERSUASIVE PRESENTATIONS
– The basic purpose of a persuasive presentation is to
influence choices.
• To persuade is to limit the options that are perceived as
acceptable”

8
PARTS OF
SPEECH CHARACTERISTICS OF
• Speech has A GOOD SPEAKER
three main • Every good speech requires careful
parts: preparation. The speaker must be
1. Introduction
ready to cover the subject
2. Body and
thoroughly and must carefully
3. Conclusion
organize the presentation.
• Here below are the guidelines of
being a good speaker:
1. Know the subject

2. Know the audience

3. Be well organized

9
 Tips for making good speeches:
• Be prepared.
• Set the right tone.
• Sequence points.
• Support your points.
• Accent the presentation.

• Add the right amount of polish.

• Check your technology.
• Don’t bet on the Internet.

• Be professional.

10
TELEPHONE CONVERSATION

11
 TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
• Ever since Graham Bell made it possible for people at for away
places to get connected, the telephone has been an essential tool
for business and social communication that a modern manager
can not do without.

• It is a form of instant communication which achieves quick

responses, but it takes imagination to use a telephone effectively.

• It is ear –to – ear communication which means that it doesn’t allow

the use of body language unlike that of face -to – face
communication.

• As you cannot see the other person or know that he/she is thinking,
your communication will be only as effective as your words and the
way they are used, for example intonation, style of delivery.

12
 Merits and demerits of face – to – face
conversation
Merit Demerit
o Supplemented by verbal language • In accuracy due to non-permanent
o Natural for communicators record
• Less concise
o It needs no charge for the
• It depends on the location of
conversation
communicators
o More reliable and effective • Immediate response may lead
o It enables more people to communicators to unconscious action
participate at once • Unwise use of both verbal and non-
o It avoids misunderstanding when verbal language may be the cause for
two communicators talk Uses non quarrel
verbal language like facial • In face-to-face communication the
expression etc. face-to-face communicator may be influenced by
external environment i.e. status,
physical appearance etc.

13
 Merits and demerits of telephone
conversation
Merit Demerit
• Sharing of ideas easily in a short • It cannot be supplemented by
period of time verbal language
• Overcome the limitation of • It is not very effective when the
distance receiver is not present at the time
• It takes no time to get feedback of dialing
• Facilitate effective person-to- • It is less interactive
person or organization to • Not applicable to longer and
organization information exchange complex messages
etc. • Since it is faster it is difficult to
• Possible to access information reply one by one to all information
without consuming too much etc.
power ,time and cost • It requires being a good listener
• It is persuasive
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 ACTIVE LISTENING

• In our daily life, we cannot make difference

between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’. Listening is defined
as making an effort to hear some body/something.
• Listening is a combination of what we hear,
understand and remember.

• You may physically pick up sound waves with your

ears, evaluate the information and finally you may act
– based on your hearing and evaluation listening
starts from hearing and it goes beyond hearing,
since we evaluate and react based on it.

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16
 What is meant by active listening?

– Listening actively means making conscious effort to

turn off your internal filters and biases to truly hear
and understand what the other person is saying.

OR
– Active listening means being attentive and involved in
the conversation during the times that you are
listening as when you are speaking.
OR
– The process of taking action to help someone say
exactly what he or she really means.

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 Rules for active listening:

–Listen for message content.

–Listen for feelings.

–Respond to feelings.

–Note all cues, verbal and nonverbal.

–Paraphrase and restate.

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 IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE
LISTENING IN ORGANIZATION
• In business environment, three different sources of information
demand effective listening: customers, employees, and
supervisors.
• By listening to customers, for instance;
– the organization can learn objective information about its
products or services.
– customers can suggest desired product improvements that
the research and development department may have
overlooked.
– customers can tell us a great deal about the competition.
– customers will communicate their opinion of you, your
company, and its competition if they are encouraged.
– It also increases sales and the level of customer satisfaction.

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 Cont’d
• Listening to employees is a way of showing support and acceptance,
which make for a more open climate, and an open climate makes
employee satisfaction and productivity more likely.

– To show that they are listening managers’ responses must

communicate acceptance. “There is a genuine working together a
whole new cooperative spirit--- but the most dramatic change is in the
atmosphere.
• Perhaps it is obvious that employees of an organization should listen to
their bosses since their position depends on pleasing higher
authority.

– However many employees do not recognize how important it is to

appear to be listening of course, giving the appearance of listening
without actually listening is unwise, but effective listening to a
supervisor involves not only good listening skills but also giving a
good indication that listening is taking place.
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 Causes of poor listening
– Boredom or lack of interest.
– The listener’s dislike of the personality or physical appearance of the
speaker.
– A desire to change rather than accept the speaker.
– A willingness in the listener to hear only that part of the message they
agree with.
– A perception by the listener that the speaker lack credibility.
– Physical Barriers: a noisy typewriter, duplicating machine, someone's loud
voice etc.
– Personal Barriers: Illness, fatigue, and discomfort make us unable to
concentrate.
– Psychological distractions: Personal problems such as finances, etc.
– Attitudinal biases against the speaker are another type of psychological
block to listening.
– Semantic Barriers: Semantic means "meaning of words".

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 Tips for good listening:

– Stop talking.
– Put the other person at ease.
– Show that you want to listen.
– Remove any potential distractions.
– Empathize with the other person.
– Don’t respond too quickly; be patient.
– Don’t get mad; hold your temper.
– Go easy on argument and criticism.
– Ask questions.
– Stop talking.

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“Smart people talk while wise
people listen”

Confucius

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Interview

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 INTERVIEW
• The word ‘interview’ refers a two party communication to
all types of planned, face-to-face encounters in which at
least one of the participants has a specific objective in mind.
• According to this definition interviewing includes:
– gathering information,
– appraising employee performance,
– settling grievances and many other interactions which are or at least
going to be a part of your work life.
• Most importantly, interview is always purposeful. Unlike
other spontaneous conversations, an interview includes at
least one participant who has a serious, predetermined
reason for being there.
• Interviews are also more structured than most
conversations.
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 MAJOR TYPES OF INTERVIEW
• There are three major types of interview.
– EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW
• The employment interview is a face-to-face encounter between
prospective employee and prospective employer.
• An employment interview is basically designed to explore how
well a candidate might fit a job.
– EMPLOYEE APPRAISAL INTERVIEW
• Performance appraisal interviews are scheduled regularly
between superior and subordinate to discuss the quality of
subordinates’ performance.
– GRIEVANCE INTERVIEW
• The grievance interview is any type of one-to-one encounter
involving conflict and its resolution /employee-employer
disputes/.

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 Strategies For Success at
Interview
–First Impression

–Body language
–Know yourself

–Know the company

–Know the job profile

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Meetings
 MEETING
– “A business meeting is a gathering where purposive
discourse occurs among three or more people who exchange
information on a common topic or problem, for better
understanding or for solving a problem”
(Murphy and Hildebrandt, 1991)
• The key words in the above definition are: ‘purposive’,
‘understanding’, and ‘solving’.

– ‘Purposive’: a meeting is useful when the leader and participants

know the reason-“specific purpose” for a meeting.

– ‘Understanding’: the word understanding in our definition suggests

that learning from the information presented at a meeting is a first
purpose.

– ‘Solving’: solving a problem is the second and major reason for a

business meeting. 29
 OBJECTIVES OF MEETINGS
• Meetings are an important settings for oral
communication and used for a variety of purpose:
– To provide information to a group of people
– To report on some activity or experience
– To coordinate and arrange activities
– To obtain assistance
– To put forward ideas or grievances for decision
– To create involvement and interest.
• As implied above, meetings can be held for two basic
purposes:
– To present information
– To help solve problems

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 TYPES OF MEETING
i. Informational Meeting
– Informational meetings are held to disseminate information and
check on the understanding of those who attend.
ii. Suggested solution meetings
– Here two kinds of decisions are concerned with problems and
solutions. The simplest is when a manager wishes to hear about
options for solving a company problem. The scenario proceeds like
this:
1) There is a feeling that a problem exists
2) A question is phrased that seeks to get to the heart of the issue such as
“what should be done to control training costs?”
3) A person or committee is assigned to investigate
4) A meeting is called to discuss possible answers, solutions or
recommendation to the question.
– In this type of meetings, no decisions are reached. The manager and review
committee listen to all points of view of attendants, comments on option and
perhaps potential final solutions are discussed. But no decision is made. The
meeting is informative and explanatory. A final decision may be made at a
second, problem solving meeting.
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iii. Problem solving meetings
– Meetings that result in decisions for action predominate in the
business world.
– When the executive or even a committee has no adequate
solution for a problem, he/she or the committee seeks
suggested solutions in a problem solving meeting.
– The problem is presented at the beginning by either the
executive or some one previously appointed to prepare a
written report on it.
– The meeting participants suggest solutions, discuss and
evaluate them and arrive at a decision on which action is to
be taken.
– The problem solving meeting requires the most careful
planning and presiding over by the leader, as well as
challenging participation by those attending.

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 PREPARATION FOR A MEETING
• Successful meetings are just like interviews,
presentations, or letters: they must be well
planned.
• Planning involves five factors:
– Deciding on the purpose of the meeting
– Decide who the participants should be
– Planning the date, time and place
– Planning on the announcement of agenda
– Plan the physical arrangements

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 MINUTES OF A MEETING
• Minutes are official records of the proceedings of a meeting which
summarize what was discussed and what decisions were made.
• Minutes should include the following major items:
1) Name of the organization, department or group
2) Date, time, place of the meeting
3) Names of the members present
4) Name of any other person present as invited guest
5) Name of chairperson
6) Brief summary of reports
7) Highlights of solutions presented and decisions made
8) Time of adjournment and, if announced, the date for the next meeting
 The minute becomes final only when it is read at the end of the meeting
or in the next meeting, approved and signed by the members and
chairperson.

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A quick and easy way to communicate within a
company- most are done electronically.
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 Memorandum
• A memorandum (known as ‘memo’ in short form) is by definition,
“a written statement that you prepare specially for a person or
committee in order to give them information about a particular
matter”.
 In an organization, it takes the form of “a short official note that you write
to a person or to several people, especially people who you work with.”
 It has been derived from the Latin word ‘memorare’ changed to
‘memorandus’ (notable), and means literally ‘to mention’ or ‘tell’.

 A memo plays a very useful role in an organization. It

 ensures quick and smooth flow of information in all directions;
 enables officers to maintain good business relationships;
 aids when you wish to avoid coming into personal contact with certain
colleague; and
 establishs accountability.
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Business Letters
37
 BUSINESS LETTERS

• Business letters are purposeful internal and external

written medium of communication from one business firm
to another or from a business firm to an individual. Such
as:
– a potential customer
– a supplier, or another business firm.

• They are the most common form of written messages

used by the business to communicate with people and
organizations outside the firm.

– Therefore, business letters are often the main means of

establishing business relations with the outside world.

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 Why write Business Letters?

· To persuade · To congratulate
· To inform · To reject a proposal or offer
· To request · To introduce a person or
policy
· To express thanks
· To invite or welcome
· To remind
· To follow up
· To recommend
· To formalize decisions
· To apologize
 Writing Effective Letters

• Have a clear sense of your PURPOSE and theirs;

• Conduct appropriate research;

• Select the best communication strategy; and

• Draft, revise and edit letter.

 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD BUSINESS LETTER

• We will discuss these characteristics that your letter should

possess in addition to the 7 C’s of effective communication:
1. Accuracy: Be accurate in mechanical and technical details but also in references
and statements, dates, spellings, (especially the names of persons or of firms), the
use of language and punctuation, and argument.
2. Thoroughness: make sure that your letter contains the essential points that you
want covered.
3. Conciseness: a concise message saves time and expense for both the sender and
the receiver. Conciseness is saying what you have to say in the fewest possible
words with out sacrificing the other qualities of your message.

4. Clarity: to write a letter that will be clear to the receiver, you must first have a
definite idea of what you mean to say. If you are vague in your thoughts, how can
you expect the reader to grasp it immediately?

5. Promptness: if you cannot answer a letter promptly, acknowledge its recipients

and state that you will give it your early attention. Include a courteous expression of
thanks in the letter.

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 CONVENTIONAL PARTS OF BUSINESS LETTERS

• A letter is a written message in a particular format.

• The business letter mostly has seven standard parts.
These are;
– The heading
– The date
– Inside address
– Attention line (optional)
– Salutation
– Body
– Complementary close
– Signature block

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Heading – return
address

Inside Address

Greeting

Body

Complimentary Close

Signature line
 Letter Formats
• Some organizations designate the format for their
letters; others permit the originator to select the
format.
• The most widely used business letter formats are:
– Full block
– Modified block and
– Simplified

• The format of the letter helps to establish its

tone.

44
 Full block format
• In full block format all parts of the letter begin at the left
margin. This feature makes the document quick and easy to
key.
• It has eight components (in order):
– Heading
– Address
– Salutation
– Text of the message. Do not indent the paragraphs, but
leave an empty line between paragraphs
– The complimentary close
– Your signature should be in blue or black ink
– The identification line containing your typed name
– Enclosures or distribution
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 Letter Styles

Full Block
 Modified Block Format
• Differs from full block in the placement of the
heading, date, complimentary close, signature, and
identification lines.

• These components start about halfway across the

page and aligned vertically/center of the page.

• Begin the paragraphs with a one-tab or three to five

space indentation.

• Do not leave an empty line between paragraphs.

47
 Letter Styles

Modified Block
 Simplified Format:
• The simplified format is often used when:
– A letter is addressed to a company rather than an
individual,
– The gender of the receiver is unknown, or
– The marital status of a female receiver is unknown.

• In this style, the salutation and complimentary

close are eliminated.
• A subject line, displayed in upper-case letters
without the word Subject, replaces the salutation.
• The writer’s keyed signature and title are displayed
in one line using uppercase letters.

49
 TYPES OF BUSINESS LETTERS
• Enquiry letter
– Business people periodically made routine requests for
information.

– Those routine enquiries are neutral messages that

require no persuasion, and therefore, should be written
using a direct plan.

– The enquiries may be about a product, service, or a

person.

– A letter of enquiry must be written so that the writer will

obtain all the information necessary to make a decision
about the product, service or person.
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 An enquiry about products or services
focuses on the following areas:

– Specifications on the size, shape, quality, quantity

of product required.
– Terms of payment and the price
– Sample of the product (if necessary)
– Time required for shipment of goods
– Guarantee on the products
– Availability of supply and accessories
– Cost of installation, repair and maintenance

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 Claim Letter
• A claim letter is written by the buyer to the seller seeking some type of
action to correct a problem/some type of adjustment with the
seller’s product or service.
• Many compliant letters would probably be more successful if they
carried an implied claim that the writer wanted some adjustments to be
made as a result of a poor product, service or unfair treatment,
practices and so on.
• Claims should be written as soon as a problem is identified because
delaying unnecessarily might not only push you past the warranty date
but might also raise suspicions about the validity of your claims.
• While writing claim letters, you should be courteous and avoid
emotional language. Your reader who becomes angry with the strong
language you used in your letter will be less likely to do as you ask.

52
 Adjustment Letters
• An adjustment letter is written to inform the customer, or the
supplier, etc., of the actions taken in response to their claim
letter in order to attain customer satisfaction and business
reputation.
• In writing the adjustment letter,

– you should consider the claims very promptly because any

delay will cause further annoyance.
– offer further cooperation and assurance of satisfaction to
prompt good will and good relationship with the customer.
– adopt a gracious and confident approach to show honesty and
in the essential worth of your own company and its products
• If the claim is unclear or unreasonable or unjust, state
why you are refusing or partially accepting the claim.
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Guide lines for writing an adjustment letter
– Respond promptly.
– Begin the letter directly, telling the reader
immediately what adjustment is being made.
– Adopt a courteous tone: use neutral or positive
language
– If appropriate, thank the reader for writing and
apologize some where in the letter.
– Provide information that re-establishes your
customers confidence in the product or your
company.
– Close on a positive note.

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 Employment Letters

• The employment letters’ objective is to get you into an

interview or written test by your prospective employer.
• Well planned and organized employment letters will
attract the employer for more information about you which
will result in you being called for an interview.
• When you apply for a job/ when you seek employment in
a particular organization two major parts of an
employment letter. i.e.,
– application letters and
– resume or curriculum vitae/CV or bio-data are necessary

55
 Employment Letters
Application Letter: The Resume (curriculum
vitae/bio-data)
• Application letter is the first step
where you show a specific • A resume is a persuasive
company what you can do for summary of your qualifications
it. for employment.
• It is a form of advertising and • It is a document which you will
it should be organized like a use to sell your self in the job
persuasive message to get an search process.
interview.
• Its purpose is to convince
• In your application letter you potential employers that they
need to stimulate your reader’s should interview you.
interest, it must be neat, clear,
polite, purposeful, accurate • A well designed resume will
and technically correct. emphasize your skills, abilities,
talents and experience.
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There are two types of application letter.
These are:

– Unsolicited application letter:

• is sent to a company for which you would like to work
even though no vacancies are being advertised.

– In response application letter

• Or solicited application letters are letters written in
response to an advertisement.
• These are sent to the company or institution only when
they have announced a specific job vacancy by
advertisements and called for applications.

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 Parts of a Resume
1. Opening section- includes:
– Your name, date of birth, address(residential), telephone number
– Job or career objectives
– Summary of basic qualifications

2. Education
– List all relevant schooling and training since post-secondary school,
with most recent first/Reverse chronological order.
– List the name and location of every institution you have attended with
the dates you entered and left and the degrees or certificates you
obtained
– Indicate your major and minor fields in college work
– State the numerical base for your grade point average, overall or in your
major, if your average is impressive enough to the employer.
– List relevant required or elective courses in descending order or
importance.
– List any other relevant educational or training experiences such as job
related seminars or workshops attended and certificates obtained.

58
 Cont’d
3.Work experience
– List all relevant work experience, including paid employment and
volunteer work
– List full-time and part time jobs, with the most recent one first---
State the month, year you started and left each job, list the job titles
and describe you functions and responsibilities briefly.
• N.B. Note all on-the-job accomplishments such as organization
recognitions letters or money.

4. Activities, honors and achievements

– List all relevant activities, including offices and leadership positions
you have held, significant awards or scholarships not listed
elsewhere, projects you have undertaken that show an ability to
work with others, and publications and role in academic or
professional organizations.
• N.B. Exclude mention of religious or political affiliations.

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 Cont’d

5. Reference
– List three to five references, or offer to supply the names on
request.

– Supply names of academic, employment and professional

associates- but not relatives .

– Provide a name, title, address and telephone number or each

reference

– List no names as reference unless you have that person’s

permission to do so.

– Exclude you present employer if you do not want him or her

to know that you are seeking another position, or add 60
 BUSINESS REPORTS
– A business report is an impartial, objective, and planned
presentation of facts to one or more persons for specific,
significant business purpose.

– A business report can be also defined as any factual,

objective document that serves a business purpose.

– A business report is an orderly and objective

communication of factual information that serves some
business purpose.
– to be classified as a business report,
• a report must serve some business purpose of solving a
problem.
• must be specific enough to be meaningful, broad enough to
take in variations found in reports.
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OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESS REPORTS

– To present the facts in an unbiased manner;

– To monitor and control operations;

– To help implement policies and procedures;

– To comply with legal or regulatory requirements;
– To document work performed for a client;
– To guide decisions on particular issues; and
– To obtain new business or funding.

62
CLASSIFICATION OF BUSINESS REPORTS
– Reports are commonly classified by:
o who initiated the report,
o why it is being prepared,
o when it is prepared, and
o where it is being sent.
– Here are some common report classifications:
– Routine reports vs. special reports.
• Routine or periodic, reports are submitted on recurring basis
(daily, weekly, quarterly, annually).
• Special reports, nonrecurring reports that deal with unique
situations or one-time events.
– Internal reports versus external report.
• Internal reports (used within the organization) are generally less
formal than external reports (sent to people outside the
organization).
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 PREPARATION BEFORE WRITING REPORTS

 The following six important planning steps of preparation

(regarding purpose, reader, ideas to include, facts to collect,
interpretation and organization) before writing a report are
required.
1.Define the Problem, Purpose, and Scope
– The first planning step is to analyze the problem involved and know
the purpose of your report. Ask questions like “What is wanted?”
“How much?”, “Why?”, “When?”
2. Consider Who Will Receive the Report
– Visualizing your reader or listener and his or her needs is an
extremely important step in business report preparation. Who wants (or
needs) this report? Who will read it? How much detail do they prefer?
What is the reader’s point of view? Experience? Knowledge?
Prejudice? Responsibility?
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 Cont’d

3.Determine Ideas to Include

• You will need to develop any general idea in order to
meet the report’s purpose and for analyzing a problem as
a basis for determining what information you will need.
– During planning you will jot down the tentative topic
headings in a preliminary, tentative outline.

4. Collect Needed Material

• The fourth step in report preparation is to gather needed
facts thoughtfully from reliable sources.
– They might include primary sources (collecting data
from people who are actually closer to the problem) and
secondary sources (published materials).

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 Cont’d
5. Sort, Analyze and Interpret Data
• After investigating your primary and secondary
sources, you may find that some points in your tentative
outline are not logical or possible to complete.

• Conversely, some areas that should have been included in

the outline may have been omitted. And so you now
revise, add, and delete topics where necessary.
6. Organize Data and Prepare Final Outline
• After careful analysis and interpretation, you will organize
the findings and make the final outline.

• But before preparing such an outline, you need to know

what constitutes a report body and to consider various
methods of organizing and outlining.
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EFFECTIVE REPORT CONTENT
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THANK YOU…..!!!!