COMMUNICATION ETIQUETTE AND YOU

Communication Etiquette and You



Communication Etiquette and You

Business communicators speak of persuasion, good-news and bad-news letters, the you-attitude, and goodwill. Pragmatics research supplies more rigorous tools to examine these concepts than the often fuzzy, pop-psychology approach found in business communication literature (Rodman 2001). This study is a first step toward a 'pragmatic grammar of business communication.'

1st passage (Paraphrased)

Sales ManagerRex Textile MillsSubject: Sales letter for hosiery items

Please provide me opportunity to introduce our company. Having a history full of successes and business adventures, Boris Textile Producing Co. Ltd, is a premium Russian hosiery producer and exporter. Our hosiery items are known for their good value, merchandise lines, and competitive charges. Our hosiery articles have the finest nylon and cotton materials. Our total output averages 10 million in twos per year, 70% for trade goods and 30% for the household market.

Boris is in the quest of reaching the American markets, starting from the most popular and renowned hosiery brands. Hence, we offer you sales of our export quality hosiery products. In the enclosed catalogue, you will find the host of items we deal in.

We at Boris Textile Co. will work with you to make the kinds of socks or hosiery goods that will sell well in your stores. We assure both our quality and in-time consignment of shipments and our charges are very competitive. I am looking forward to a positive response.

Thank YouSincerely Yours

Comments

According to Rodman, the sender must have an idea of the distance between him and the reader to appropriately inculcate “You-Attitude” in communication. In the sales letter, there is a considerable distant, both in terms of geographic proximity and business nature. Therefore, the manager rather adopted an 'I' tone (Brounstein 2007). The sender has, however, used an appropriate level of case grammar suggested by Rodman.

2nd Passage (Paraphrased)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Referring to your advertisement in London Times (April 11, 2011) for the position of 'telecom manager,' I present myself for the same position. In the enclosed resume, you will find details about my qualifications, experience, and skills. As you can see in the resume, I possess sound experience of developing and managing telecom teams in the most challenging situations. Having completed a master's degree in 'Telecommunication' this year, I am in a strong position to cater for growing telecom businesses such as yours. I have successfully designed, developed, and supported live telecom applications. Further, I ...