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Communication Skills-II

notes l Avoid expression of surprise, doubt, and judgment when they would be interpreted as
insults.

l Use the subjunctive mood. Subjunctive sentences employ such conditional expressions as I
wish, as if, could, would, might, and wish. Subjunctive sentences speak of a wish, necessity,
doubt, or conditions contrary to fact.
l Outlining involves identifying the major and minor ideas and arranging them in the right
sequence.
l The deductive sequence begins with the main idea.

l The inductive sequence began with the explanation and details.
l For emphasis, place an idea in an independent clause; for de-emphasis; place an idea in a
dependent clause.
l To emphasize a word, let it appear more than once in a sentence.
l In paragraphs, the first and last words are in particularly emphatic positions.
l An idea that deserves emphasis can be placed in either position, but an idea that does not
deserve emphasis can be placed in the middle of a long paragraph.

l Words preceded by numbers get special attention.
l Transition sentences are very helpful if properly used, but they can be overused.
l For most part, transition sentences before major headings are sufficient. The word coherence
is used sometimes to mean clarity and understandability; it is used to mean cohesion.

12.4.2 adapting to legal responsibilities

One of the primary responsibilities of writing for an organization is to avoid language that may
land you in the court. In the current business environment, law suits in majority are on the use
and abuse of language. If you want to protect yourself and avoid litigation you must know
what is legal by adapting your language accordingly. In this context, one has to be careful while
communicating in following four areas: investment, safety, marketing and human resources.
l Investment information: Writers describing the sale of stocks or financial services must follow
specific laws written to protect investors. Any messages—including letters, newsletters,
and pamphlets—must be free of misleading information, exaggerations, or half-truths.
Experienced financial writers know that poor timing or language may provoke litigation.
l Safety information: Writers describing potentially dangerous products worry not only
about protecting people from physical harm but also being sued. Manufacturers are to
warn consumers for risk in their products. Warnings on dangerous products must be
written especially clearly. Clearly written messages use easy-to-understand words, such
as doctor instead of physician, clean instead of sanitary, and burn instead of incinerate.
Technical terms are defined.

l Marketing information: Sales and marketing messages are illegal if they falsely advertise
prices, performance capabilities, quality, or other product characteristics. Marketing
messages must not deceive the buyer in any way. Letters, reports and proposals that
describe services to be performed are interpreted as contracts in court. Therefore, language
must not promise more than intended. Here are some dangerous words (and recommended
alternatives) that have created misunderstanding leading to lawsuits.
l Human resources information: The vast number of lawsuits relating to employment
makes this a treacherous area of business communicators. In evaluating employees in the
workplace, avoid making unsubstantiated negative comments. Defamation lawsuits have
become so common that some companies no longer provide letters of recommendation
for former employees. To be safe, give recommendations only when the former employee

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