Communication Types
05-01-2011
COMMUNICATING VIA EMAIL
When communicating via email; it is important that the format and language used is adequate to get your point across in the most effective way. Make sure the email is relevant, to the point, worthwhile and compelling.
Start your email by addressing the person or person’s by name. If you have not met them before introduce yourself and introduce the company. Explain why you are contacting them and move on to your point.
It is good to have a generic blurb about yourself and your company that you can use in emails and other correspondence if you have not ha dealings with before.
Once you have explained your point and given all the information you need to. It is important that you have a signature at the end. Always finish your email with either “Kind regards”, “Many thanks” or statements along these lines.
Always include your name, title, address and contact number. If you have a relevant website it is also good to put this link onto the end of it. An example of this is:
Jenni Sutton
FashionCapital.co.uk Editor
Head Office
1st Floor
28 Station Approach
Hayes
Bromley
BR2 7EH
Tel: 020 8462 9620
Always make sure you spell check the email before it is sent out as this could be the first impression they will get of you. Also use a font style and size that is easy to read and clear such as Arial. Like all correspondence, this should have a start, middle and end and an introduction, explanation and conclusion.
PRESENTATIONS
Presentation is a skill used frequently in the work place. Whether you are presenting to an individual or to a large group of people preparation is the key.
- Practice your presentation before you do it. You can then gauge how long this will take as well as what you think works and what you think doesn’t. A good tip is to record the presentation and play it back to yourself so you can work out which bits work well and which bits don’t.
- Remember to pause. Pausing at the right stage allows you to gather your thoughts as well as giving the people you are presenting to a chance to digest what you have previously said. It could be a chance to allow your audience to ask questions on what you have previously presented on.
- Do not leave your presentation preparation to the last minute. It is important to give yourself time to write and prepare the presentation. Leaving it to the last minute will make the whole presentation even more nerve racking.
- Make sure you have spent time in the presentation room before your presentation so you can gauge the size and atmosphere of the room. You should also test all the equipment such as projectors and computers to ensure they are working properly before you do all the presentation.
- Leaving handouts to your audience is a very useful skill. You have gone to a lot of effort to do your presentation so give the audience something they can take away with them to look back on, even if it is just a collection if images and bullet points. Always include your contact detailed so the audience can contact you if they need to.
- As much as possible try to memorise your speech. It doesn’t look good to simple read off a piece of paper, be proactive and interactive. Reading odd it will sound flat and unstimulating.
- Power point is a good tool to assist with your presentation. It gives the audience something to look at other than just you as well as giving you a visual aid for your presentation.
LETTERS
When writing a good letter it is important to follow the letter writing rules. When writing a letter on behalf of your company you must use a titled letter head. For example this is an example of a letter template.
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Fashion House 28 Station Approach Hayes Bromley BR2 7EH Tel: 020 8462 9620
Dear Sir or Madam, Please may I take this opportunity to reintroduce www.fashioncapital.co.uk to you prior to Graduate Fashion Week. FashionCapital.co.uk is a unique organisation providing educational institutes and up and coming designers with access to a range of service, mentoring and vast hub of current leading industry information, documentation and trend predictions. Our business support organisation offers these services and vital industry information under a membership scheme for just £399 + VAT for a year for up and coming designers. However our educational package provides 50 of these memberships for £599 + VAT therefore saving over £9000 for each institute. As part of the educational package we will provide a free seminar with students and teachers demonstrating how to fully utilise out one step online resource that will take you though the entire supply chain and beyond. We will also be available at the end of the phone, via email and on skype if any students or teachers have any immediate questions needed answering. FashionCapital is giving away 5 free full annual memberships at Graduate Fashion Week for 5 lucky students. These memberships will provide:
We would love to come to your stand at Graduate Fashion Week or welcome you to visit ours at F106 to discuss these benefits available for your institution and students. I look forward to meeting you and your students in June. Yours sincerely
Emily Tullett Education Manager FashionCapital Manager Fashion Enter LTD 020 8462 9620 |
Firstly always include your address of the company you are writing on behalf of and your contact address.
Date the latter with the date you are writing. Also include a contact telephone number. Address the letter if you do not know the reader by Dear Sir or Dear Madam. If you know the person you are writing to address it by name. Conduct your letter with a start, middle and end, introduction, explanation and conclusion. End your letter “Yours sincerely” and your name and title.
Letters are used less due to advances in technology and hence the extensive use of emails however when a letter is sent out it is more frequently used for important and professional reasons. Use paragraphs and spaces correctly; make it clear to read and engaging. This is more a personal and structured way of contacting somebody.
MEETINGS
Meetings take place all the time in the work place. It is important that you conduct yourself well in meetings to get the best out of the time spent with colleagues or clients as possible.
Conduct: You need to be at the meeting in good time. It is not a good start to be at the meeting late. If it is someone you have not met before introduce yourself by shaking their hand. Be polite and smile. Before going to the meeting be prepared. Make notes or follow an agenda on what you would like to discuss and what you would like to achieve from the outcome of this meeting. There may be some issues that need resolving and this is the reasons for the meeting. Take note with you and take notes during the meeting.
There will be a leader/facilitator of the meeting; this is normally the person who has called the meeting. Meeting should all have an agenda sent out prior to the meeting. This will allow you to prepare for the meeting and know what is expected of you. If you are leading the meeting it is important you let the people know who are attending the meeting what will be discusses in the meeting and what you expect of them.
An example of an agenda is:
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Venue: The Workshop Time: 10.00 – 13.00 hrs The Workshop Unit 5 Mavros House 85 Vale Road Haringey London N4 1TG
10.00 Introduction and welcome Managers to discuss an overview, summary of sales/profits and current probelsms, experiences. 10.15 Jenny Holloway – Director 10.30 Kosa Radelvic – Production Manager 10.45 – Andreas Angelidrs – Factory Manager 11.00 Jenni Sutton – Creative Manager 11.15 Lynsay Mcchonachie – Sales Manager 11.30 Emily Tullett – FashionCapital Manager and Education Manager 11.45 Megan Cook – Retail Manager 12.00 Syreeta McQueen – Retail Manager – Barking 12.15 AOB |
The location of the meeting is important too. The venue must be somewhere that everyone can fir in comfortably and if any images or power points need to be shown computers and projectors must be available.
Make sure when attending a meeting that you are dressed appropriately. Depending on who that meeting is with and where, make sure you are dressed appropriately for the occasion.
Once the meeting has been concluded it is sometimes useful to send a follow up document to state what was concluded and achieved in the meeting.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Social networking is a great new marketing tool used in every industry nowadays. It is a great way of updating your audience and customers on a regular basis on mass. It is also a great way of showing your latest products through the use of images as well as making important contacts in the industry.
There is a certain way in which to conduct your instant promotional pages when using the social networks. Most social networking sites will allow you to create a profile; you must make sure this tells everyone about yourself and your organisation on a professional level. Give a professional contact email address and number. Tell them about your job role, the company you work for and how you can help them.
Below are some examples of social networking pages utilised in the industry and how they should be used.
BLOGS
A blog is a free commercial way of informing your customer of exactly what is going on in your company as well as the chance to advertise your products.
It is a free and easy way of keeping your customer updated about new products and services. They can be done daily, weekly or monthly but the more frequent the better as you will retain customer loyalty and word will virally spread much faster.
When writing you blog you need to introduce yourself so the reader knows exactly who you are and what you have to offer. Choose and appropriate website to launch your blog and ensure you share a mutually relevant target customer.
Try tom combine images with your txt when creating your blog. It is free and easy way of advertising that can sustain your readers attention and encourage them to revisit.
