Page 173 - DENG102_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_II

Communication Skills-II Jayatee Bhattacharya, Lovely Professional University

notes Unit 12: Basics of Official Correspondence

contents

Objectives
Introduction
12.1 Characteristics of Business Correspondence
12.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Correspondence
12.3 General Stages of Writing Process
12.4 Principles of Writing General and Official Correspondence

12.4.1 General Guidelines
12.4.2 Adapting to Legal Responsibilities
12.5 Summary
12.6 Keywords

12.7 Review Questions
12.8 Further Readings

objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

l State the characteristics of business correspondence
l Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of business correspondence
l Identify the general stages in writing process
l Discuss the guidelines for writing general and business correspondence

introduction

A famous English writer Francis Bacon said, “Reading maketh a full man, writing an exact man,
conference a ready man.” In order to make himself ‘exact’ i.e., to say effectively what he wants to
say, the writer has to make considerable effort.
While speech comes to us naturally and spontaneously, writing comes after serious practice and
careful organization of thought. The word ‘write’ has been derived from the old English word ‘writan,’
that means to scratch, draw or inscribe. It shows that man learnt writing through a long process of
drawing, scoring and incising symbols on rock faces, dried skins, tree barks and clay tablets. The
power of writing is eloquently expressed in the saying “pen is mightier than the sword”.
Written communication has come to acquire great significance in the lives of individuals as
well as business organizations. It reaches out across vast geographical areas and targets readers
around the world. Most businesses rely on records and written documents, rather than on verbal
contracts and oral commitments above.
It is impossible to think of business or an organization without such correspondence today. There
are various reasons for this, namely:
1. In the first place, in an organization, there are too many people to have face-to-face
communication with. They are generally spread over wide geographical distances, and are

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