對商務(wù)寫作中的 organising 感到頭痛嗎?下面就教你organising 的 SOFAR 五步法。
Organising: SOFAR Strategy
So far, so good?
Actually, if you remember that expression - SOFAR -- it'll help
you remember how to organise external correspondence.
Salutation |
Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss... |
Opening |
Background + Purpose |
Facts |
Reader's Information |
Action |
Reader's Response |
Remarks |
Polite Closing |
You can also use this outline for memos and internal
e-mails. Just leave out the salutation. |
SALUTATION
The Salutation begins with 'Dear'.
The Salutation should include the reader's name (eg, Dear
Mr Chan, Dear Ms Lewis). You can use the reader's first name (eg, Dear John) if
you know them well.
If you do not know the reader's name, use "Dear Sir" or "Dear
Madam".
If you do not know if the reader is a man or a woman, use "Dear
Sir or Madam".
OPENING
(BACKGROUND)
The Opening includes two parts (and usually two
paragraphs):
the background (referring to previous contact with the
reader or introducing a situation)
the writer's purpose
These provide a logical
introduction to your correspondence and help the reader focus on the subject.
The background "sets the scene" by referring to a previous contact
(memo, letter, phone call etc). If you've had no previous contact with the
reader, you should briefly describe the situation that you are writing
about.
EXAMPLES:
Previous contact: Thank you for your call this
morning.
A situation: Our annual staff party is coming
soon!
An attention-grabbing statement or question: Have you
heard
about...? Our Department Open Day is coming soon!
Some opening sentences are better than others.
Read through the sentences in the table below. Decide which
sentence of each pair (in Column A and Column B) is better.
Column A |
Column B |
With reference to your correspondence of 21 August... |
Thank you for your letter of 21 August. |
Further to our conversation earlier today... |
Thank you for your call today about... |
Regarding your request for credit approval... |
I have just received your request for credit
approval. |
If you chose the sentences in Column B, you've chosen the better
ones.
Why?
Sentences that begin with prepositions (eg, with, in, further,
for, following, regarding) are difficult to write correctly. They are also quite
long and therefore more difficult for your reader to understand.
So, keep your writing simple by writing shorter, more direct
sentences.
OPENING (WRITER'S
PURPOSE)
In the second part of the opening you state the writer's purpose.
You've already learned (in Chapter 1) that there can be many
purposes for writing.
Two of the most common reasons are:
to inform someone about something
to request someone to do something.
Look at the memo from the General Manager again. Which sentence
states the manager's purpose for writing?
To: All Staff |
Date: 20 July 200X |
From: General Manager |
Reference |
Subject: Dress Code |
|
As you know, we have always enforced a strict dress code. We
have now revised this code.
I would like to inform you of the changes.
The code for branch staff and office staff is different. As
I'm sure you will appreciate, there are no changes for branch staff. All
branch staff must wear the correct uniform at all times. On the other
hand, if you work in the office, you may wear 'smart-casual' wear.
However, on any day that you do meet people from outside the company,
please ensure you are dressed in a business-like manner.
Please adopt the new dress code from 1 September. If you
have any questions, please call Annie Wong on 2344 7765. |
Answer: I would like to inform you of the changes.
To practise writing openings, do the exercise below.
Read the two situations below and write an appropriate opening for
each of them.
Situation 1: You are replying to a customer who called this morning asking
for details about opening a new account.
Situation 2: You are replying to a customer's letter that you received
yesterday. He would like to know why delivery of his order is late.
Suggested answers:
Situation 1: Thank you for calling this morning asking
about how to open a new account. I am delighted to give you the
details about opening a Premier account.
Situation 2: Thank you for your letter of 28 April about the
delivery of your order. I apologise for the delay and would like to
explain what has
happened. |
FACTS
In the Opening, you provide your reader with background
information and state your purpose.
In the next part of the letter - Facts - you provide all
the information your reader needs so that they can
understand your purpose completely
respond appropriately.
Remember, though - only one main idea per paragraph! If you have a
lot of information for the reader, write several paragraphs in this section.
ACTION
After reading the information you have provided in the
Facts section, your reader should be able to respond.
In the next section -- Action -- you should tell your
reader
how to respond (what they need to do)
when to respond (by what date/time).
For example, if you are writing to invite someone to lunch, what
do you want your reader to do? Come to lunch, right? It may seem obvious to you,
but you need to make it obvious to your reader, too. That will get the result
you want.
Example:
Writer's Purpose: |
I'd like to invite you to lunch next Thursday. |
Reader's Response: |
Please call by Tuesday and let me know if you can
come. |
What you want your reader to do often depends on why you are
writing.
Writer's purpose |
Reader's response |
Invite |
Please let me know if you will be able to
join us. |
Confirm |
If we need to make any changes to the
schedule, please let me know before Friday. |
Inform |
Please adopt the new dress code from 1
September. |
Request |
Please send your bid to us by 15 March. |
Complain |
Please deliver the delayed shipment within
three days. |