COMMUNICATION Q&A Kim Asbill is the owner of Asbill Public Relations and a publi

Question

COMMUNICATION Q&A

Kim Asbill is the owner of Asbill Public Relations and a public relations manager at SCANA. She has worked in public relations for various businesses and organizations for over two decades.

Courtesy of Kim Asbill

Pete Cardon: For important written business messages, what process do you go through?

Kim Asbill: First, I listen. I also ask a lot of questions. The more, the better! Sometimes I brainstorm and come to a meeting prepared with a list of questions. Some clients communicate better verbally, and they tell you their business message. That’s when you take really good notes and try to repeat and rephrase what they are saying to demonstrate understanding. Other clients respond best to written information. In that case, I often craft a message on my own based on my knowledge of the situation and use the written document to communicate back and forth until the message is correct.

PC: What strategies do you use to get the right tone in your writing?

KA: You have to know your audience to get the right tone. When I worked at an ad agency, one of our clients was Nickelodeon cable TV network. We worked on a campaign called “The Big Help” designed to encourage kids to volunteer in their communities. For that client, the tone was very informal and fun. You weren’t allowed to use the word child. You had to use kid. You can imagine, writing for a bank or an electric utility would be much more formal. You have to know what your goal is too. Are you trying to get more customers to eat at a local restaurant? Maybe you are using a persuasive tone. Are you informing young mothers about how to install a car seat properly? Maybe your tone is focused on a step-by-step process.

PC: How do you think business writing is changing?

KA: I think the digital media age has changed business writing profoundly. Email was the first thing to change the way people communicate in business. The need for good writers in the workplace is more important than ever. The ability for these writers to communicate correctly for different audiences in a variety of mediums, traditional and digital, is what will set them apart in this new age of technology.

PC: What advice would you give young professionals about writing effective messages in the business world?

KA: Write. Write all the time! Think before you write. Use outlines. Remember your audience. Less is more. Read good writing. Attend workshops on writing; even webinars are great. Volunteer your writing skills to organizations you care about. Don’t be shy about asking someone to proof your work. And never stop learning!

Communication Q&A Discussion Questions (LO5.1, LO5.2, LO5.3, LO5.4, LO5.5)

Read the comments and advice of Kim Asbill in the Communication Q&A section. Respond to the following questions:

A. What does Asbill say about the process of writing messages? What two strategies will you better incorporate into your approach to writing?

B. She also mentions tone several times. According to her, what is the importance of tone? What type of tone does she try to project?

C. In what ways does she say that business writing is changing? How will you adapt to some of these changes?

D. What pieces of advice that she gives are most relevant for your writing? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

A.Asbil tells to make writing as a habit.Always to follow outlines
and always should write according to the audience.Also reading various
good write ups,attending seminars will be a great advantage.

The two point to incorporate in my approach to writing is that
to always keep the audience in the mind.And to have a good
writing we should listen first.

B.Accordin to her tone plays a important part in the communication.
like when building a communication both side should be on the
same tone to have a healthy communication.

She is trying to potray to be dynamic when setting up a tone.Like
when there is a show for kid the tone should be informal and fun
But when its a business meeting the tone should be formal and polite.

C.According to her business writing has changed a lot.For example
Email is the first thing which changed the way of communication
of people.So now for different audience different mediums,traditional
and digital gives them a advantange.

With the present change want to incorporate the way of
writing proper emails and the way of presenting it.

D.THe main advice she give about writing is that to have a habit
of writing always.Also she points out to attend different seminar,
webinars to enrich the knowledge.Last but not the least to
have a good writing we should first read good writing.

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