怎樣讓你的商務(wù)信件寫得完整、連貫，不會(huì)讓客戶看了之后還不是很明白你的意圖？這節(jié)課我們就來學(xué)習(xí)怎樣讓信件完整、連貫。
Being Complete: Why Do It
You've learned that you need to revise your writing 5 times to get results.
You're going to begin revising by looking at being complete. You'll look at the
other "Cs" in the next chapters.
You'll learn how to check your documents to make them complete.
What do you think a complete document contains?
When you revise your writing to make it complete, you make it easy for your
reader to respond. The reader doesn't need to look for missing information.
You'll also help the reader save time; they don't need to read irrelevant
information.
Therefore, a complete document contains
- all that the reader needs to know
- only what the reader needs to know
Being Complete: How To Do It
How do you know that your letter is complete?
You need to ask yourself two questions:
- What is the structure of the letter?
- What should I include in the content of the letter?
Usually, when you want to check if your letter is complete, you begin by
looking at the structure of the letter.
A business letter contains 5 parts. The proper arrangement of these 5 parts
is S-O-F-A-R.
- Salutation
- Opening
- Facts
- Action
- Remark
STRUCTURE
Check the structure of the letter below. Try to identify the five parts of
the letter.
|
Ms Fiona Green
100 Clearwater Bay Road
Sai Kung NT
22 April 200X
Dear Ms Green
PPS
I refer to your recent communication, and for your information please
be advised that the PPS details and application form were sent to you at
an earlier date. Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely
Clever Man |
Is the structure of the letter complete?
One part is missing from the letter. What is it?
A (for Action) is missing. In other words, the writer did not include the
reader's response. That's why the reader will not know what to do after reading
the letter.
You can check to see if your letter is complete by looking at the structure -
or outline - of your letter. If one or more parts is/are missing, your letter is
not complete. So, it needs to be revised.
There is, however, another way to check to see if your letter is
complete.
CONTENT
You can also check the contents of the letter to see if it is complete. You
can do this by comparing the contents of your letter with the plan you wrote
earlier in the Writing Process.
What should be included in the contents of your letter?
- the writer's purpose
- the reader's response
- all and only the information the reader needs.
Look at Clever Man's letter again. Try to identify the writer's purpose, the
reader's response and the information the reader needs.
What is missing from Clever Man's letter?
The writer has stated his purpose: he is "advising" the reader. The writer
has also given the reader some information: he notes that the "PPS details and
application form were sent". But the writer does not tell the reader what to do.
So, the reader's response is missing.
As a result, the reader had to phone Clever Man to find out what she should
do. He told her to fill out the form and return the application form to him.
Try to revise Clever Man's letter to make it complete. On a piece of paper,
write what you think the reader should do. Then decide where you should place
this reader's response in the letter.
Suggested answer:
Ms Fiona Green
100 Clearwater Bay
Road
Sai Kung NT
22 April 200X
Dear Ms Green
PPS
I refer to your recent communication, and for your information please be
advised that the PPS details and application form were sent to you at an earlier
date. Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely
Clever Man
You've checked the structure and the contents. As a result, you had to revise
the letter by adding a sentence.
Now the letter should be complete. However, there's one more thing you can do
to check if a letter is complete.
You can use the "5W1H method". Do you remember this method? (You learned it
in Chapter 1.)
The "5W1H method" involves asking the 5W and 1H questions, ie
Who? What? Why? When? Where? (5W)
How? (1H)
You should use this method whenever you write to
- request action or information
- provide information.
This will help you make sure that you include all and only the information
that the reader needs.
（來源：中國物流論壇 實(shí)習(xí)生江巍 英語點(diǎn)津 Annabel 編輯）
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