Business communication

"Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter."

— Gilbert AmelioPresident and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp

We are learning how to write e-mails\letters\fax messages + speak over the phone + participate in a teleconference!  
 
Listen to the essential vocabulary

Recommended book: 'Commercial Correspondence' by A. Ashley

1	acronym	an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something, pronounced as a word (FYI – for your information, ASAP – as soon as possible) \ акронім
2	attach	join or connect \ вкладати
3	bad line	used to say that the connection is bad \ проблема на лінії
4	complimentary close	an ending of a letter\e-mail (Yours sincerely,)
5	contact sb	to communicate with someone by telephoning them or sending them a letter, email, etc \ зв'язатись з
6	enclose	to send something in the same envelope or parcel as something else \ вкладати
7	enquiry	the process of asking a question, information \ запит
8	fax message	a document that travels in electronic form along a telephone line and is then printed on paper \ факсимільне повідомлення
9	hear from sb	if you hear from someone, you get a letter or telephone call from them, or they tell you something \ отримати звістку від
10	hang up \ ring off	to end a telephone conversation \ покласти слухавку
11	hold on	to wait \ чекати
12	I'm afraid he\she is in a meeting	a typical excuse used by secretaries when a person can not answer the phone \ перепрошую але він\вона на зібранні
13	letter of advice	a letter with which you inform sb about sth \ повідомлення, авізо
14	letter of apology	a letter in which you say sorry for doing sth \ лист вибачення
15	letter of application	a letter you write when you apply for a job \ супровідний лист
16	letter of complaint	a letter written to say that something is wrong or not satisfactory \ лист скарга
17	letter of credit	a letter from a bank allowing the person who has it to take a particular amount of money from a bank in another country \ акредитив
18	letter of reference	a letter that is written by someone who knows you, to describe you and say if you are suitable for a job or course, etc \ рекомендація
19	letter of refusal	is a negative response to either an invitation or a job offer \ лист відмова
20	line is busy\engaged	if a telephone line is busy, someone is using it \ “зайнято”
21	look forward to doing sth	used at the end of a formal letter to say you hope to hear from or see someone soon, or that you expect something from them \ з нетерпінням очікувати чогось
22	memo	a message or other information in writing sent by one person or department to another in the same business organization \ службова записка
23	offer	when someone asks you if you would like to have something or if you would like them to do something \ пропозиція, оферта
24	on behalf of	representing; instead of \ від імені та за дорученням
25	order	a request to make, supply or deliver food or goods \ замовлення
26	proofread	to find and correct mistakes in proofs (= copies of printed text) before the final copies are printed \ коректувати
27	put through	to connect a person using a telephone to the person they want to speak to \ тел. з'єднувати
28	reminder	a written or spoken message which reminds someone to do something \ нагадування
29	request	when you politely or officially ask for something \ прохання
30	teleconferencing	a meeting involving people who are in different places, but who are connected by video and computers \ телеконференція

The types of business letters are these:

Personal Business Letter. Informal Business Letter. Letter of Enquiry (Request). Offer (Proposal Letter). Order. Reminder. Letter of Refusal. Letter of Persuasion. Letter of Complaint. Replying to Complaint.

Letter of Apology. Sales Letters. Advertising. Letter of Credit. Granting Credit. Requesting Credit. Asking for an Extension of Credit. Making and Acknowledging Payments. Complaining (about accounts). Complaining about an error on an invoice. The Letter of Application. // Letter of Reference

SALUTATIONS

SURNAME KNOWN

If you know the name of the person you are writing to, write it as the first line of the address. Include either the person's initials or his or her first given name, e.g.Mr. J.E. Smith or Mr John Smith, not Mr Smith.

CouRte sy title s used in addresses are as follows:

—Mr (pronounced /'miste/) is the usual courtesy title for a man. The unabbreviated form Mister should not be used.

—Mrs (pronounced /'misiz/, no unabbreviated form) is used for a married woman.

—Miss (pronounced /' mis/, not an abbreviation) is used for an unmarried woman.

—Ms (pronounced /miz/ or /mas/, no unabbreviated form) is used for both married and unmarried women. It is advisable to use this form of address when you are unsure whether the woman you are writing to is married or not, or do not know which title she prefers.

—Messrs (pronounced /'mesez/, abbreviation for French 'Messieurs', which is never used) is used occasionally for two or more men, e.g. Messrs P. Jones and B.L. Parker, but more commonly forms part of the name of a company, e.g.Messrs Collier, Clark & Co. It is rather old-fashioned.

Other courtesy titles include academic or medical titles, e.g. Doctor (Dr), Professor (Prof.); military titles, e.g. Captain (Capt), Major (Maj.), Colonel (Col), General (Gen.); and aristocratic titles, e.g. Sir, Dame, Lord, Lady. Sir means that the addressee is a knight, and is always followed by a first name, e.g. Sir John Brown, never Sir J Brown or Sir Brown. It should not be confused with the salutation Dear Sir.

COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE

If the letter begins Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, or Dear Sir or Madam, the COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE should be Yours faithfully.

If the letter begins with a personal name, e.g. Dear Mr James, Dear Mrs Robinson, or Dear Ms Jasmin, it should be Yours sincerely.

A letter to someone you know well may close with the more informal Best wishes. Note that Americans tend to close even formal letters with Yours truly or Truly yours, which is unusual in the UK in commercial correspondence.

Avoid closing with old-fashioned phrases, e.g. We remain yours faithfully, Respectfully yours.

A comma after the complimentary close is optional, i.e. Yours faithfully or Yours faithfully.

The complimentary close is usually placed on the left, aligned under the rest of the letter.

Source: 'Commercial Correspondence' A. Ashley

Title	Status	Complimentary close
Mr	Married or unmarried female	Yours sincerely,
Mrs	Married female	Yours sincerely,
Miss	Unmarried female	Yours sincerely,
Ms	Married or unmarried female	Yours sincerely,
Sir	Male – name not known	Yours faithfully,
Madam	Female – name not known	Yours faithfully,
Sir\Madam	When unsure whether you are addressing male or female	Yours faithfully,

Video
Speaking over the phone