Module 4 Introduction

In this, our final module, I will talk about finalizing your documents as well as informal communications. Several of the most important tasks when creating a business document come after the writing of the initial draft. Those tasks are revising, editing, and proofreading. Believe it or not, they are not the same thing. Each is quite different in purpose and each should be done individually in order to create a truly high quality document. I’ll talk about how they differ, how and when they should be done, and who should do them. Specific things to look for and other hints and tips will also be provided to help you make the time you spend on editing and revising and proofreading well worth it. Next, I’ll share some ideas regarding the visual appeal of your document or how to make your document grab the reader’s attention and hold onto it. We’ll discuss tables, graphs, spacing and headers. I will also talk about emails in the module. Emails, we get way too many of them and yet few of us would be willing to give up email even for a day. Emails have become the primary means of rapid and informal communication in the business environment. So rapidly, it seems as if it happened overnight. Just in the past 2 years, I see more and more organizations moving towards email even for formal communication with capabilities such as e-signature and multi-layered security systems. Along with email came numerous other forms of electronic social interactions and I think that some of the new rules of syntax and grammar that have developed with social media have infiltrated our emails. I will talk about that and the importance of maintaining a professional demeanor even electronically. And finally, a brief segment on social media in business. More and more businesses are using various social media outlets to communicate with their customers. If you are tasked with this responsibility, you’ll find this information very helpful.