UNIT II: CORPORATE COMMUNICATION IN PHILIPPINE SOCIETY

Lesson 1: The Principles of Professional Communication

Corporate Culture and Professional Communication

 People shift their language depending on a variety of social factors:

1. Who they are talking to.
2. The number of people they are addressing
3. The general social context
 Physical factors matter as well, such as the distance between speakers or the
presence of the crowd
 Consider the chronological factor, or when the utterance is made, such as a time of
the day, a certain point in a week, or a season of a year.
 Cultural conventions guide the communication situation, for example, “no comment”
is a typical response from both politicians and celebrities to journalists whose
questions they do not wish to answer.

William S. Pfeiffer explains that while the purpose of academic writing is to generate
new knowledge in a particular academic branch, the purpose of the professional
communication is to get something done with-or within- an organization.

Basic Principles in Professional Communication

1. Professional Purpose-record important workplace information

- to give or ask for information from the people within the company via memos,
outside the company via business letters, or either of the two via professional
reports
- persuade readers to take action- pay a fee, buy something
- build an individual or company’s positive image to establish rapport-
essentially goodwill.
2. Audience of Professionals-consider the level of knowledge of the single reader
or of the audience.
-use technical terms that are familiar to the readers without having to explain
what theses mean
3. Style of Professional Writing-effective professional writing is reader-centered,
emphasizes the positive, and the uses bias-free language.
-adopting a professional style means adopting a reader perspective in writing.

“you-attitude”- style of writing which looks at things from the reader’s point of
view, emphasizing what the reader wants to know, respecting the reader’s
intelligence, and protecting the reader’s ego.

I-attitude
 If I can answer any of your queries,
I’m perfectly willing to do so.
 We delivered the order to the
provided address this morning.
 I’m happy to tell you that…
You-attitude
 If you have any questions, please
ask.
 Your order was shipped to your
address this morning.
 You’ll, be happy to hear that…
 -the writer should give the reader exactly the information that he or she has
requested or needs.

4. Professional Language-requires language that is appropriate to the workplace

setting: polite, professional rather than overly personal, and grammatically
accurate.
a. polite language-essential in a context wherein there are power asymmetries
b. both personal matters and overly friendly language should not appear in
workplace correspondence
c. it should go without saying professional writing should exhibit grammatical
accuracy in the use of Standard English
d. professional writing can be made clear and direct by the avoidance of what is
called “ business jargon”
e. emojis and emotions and shortcuts that are commonly used in text messages
and electronic communication have no place in professional writing.
5. Genres of Professional writing
business letter-document that conveys information to a member of one
organization from someone outside the organization
- external communication

Business Letter Template

Company Letterhead
(two or more blank lines)

Date of letter

(two or more blank lines)

Name of recipient
Position/designation of the recipient
Address of the recipient

(one blank line)

Dear + Courtesy title+ Reader’s last name:

(one blank)
First single-spaced paragraph

(one blank line)

Second single-spaced paragraph

(one blank line)

Third single spaced paragraph)

One blank line

Complimentary close, such as “Respectfully
yours”

(three blank lines for the sender’s signature)

Name of sender
Title/Designation of sender
memo-(short for memorandum) is a document written by a member of an organization
to one or more members of the same organization

-internal communication

Memo Template
(two inches of blank space)

Memorandum or Memo

To: Readers’ names (individual or group name)and designations/ job titles

(one blank line)

From: Writer’s name and designation/ job title
(one blank line)
Date: Current date
(one blank line)
Subject: What the memo is all about

(two blank lines)

First single-spaced paragraph: opening that grabs attention and introduces the
purpose of the memo, the context and problem, and the specific assignment or
task

(one blank line)

Second single-spaced paragraph: a body that explains the purpose and context
in gender detail; uses lists, if necessary, for easy digestion of information

(one line blank)

Third single-spaced paragraph: a closing that includes a request for action,

deadline, and reasons: end courteously

 spell out acronyms at first mention: afterwards use the acronym.

 spell out symbols as ampersands, “and” not &.
 spell out numbers from one-nine as words, and write the rest as figures.

6. The Design Principles of Professional Writing

-good design elements are tied to the purposes of professional writing: not only
to persuade readers to take action on something but also to record information
clearly so that when it is read or revisited, the key points will be easy to see.
-the use of negative or white space
the arrangement of the content on the page-also the layout of the content on the
page.

Lesson 2: Intercultural Issues in a Workplace Communication

-“In a global environment the ability to communicate effectively can be a challenge.

Even when both parties speak the same language there can still be misunderstandings
due to ethnic and cultural differences.”

-the advances of media, particularly telecommunication system, email, text messaging,

and social networking sites means that people across the planet can communicate and
share information with each other.
cross-cultural communication or intercultural communication- the people who
speak different languages or who came from different cultures will have to deal with
each other.

Cultural Differences

-diverse cultures can mean a diverse knowledge base and new approaches to solving
workplace problems.

-certain ideas maybe at risk of being “lost in translation”

-value given to time

-tied to language differences, that is language and culture go hand in hand. ”Language
reflects the realities of a given culture and affects the way its members define their
experiences”. Language can reflect how concepts by people from different cultures.

-the use of pronoun we (kami)-exclusive and refers to the in-group (and excludes
the outsider)

-the use of pronoun we (tayo)- inclusive

Effective Intercultural Communication

2 More Cultural Differences that affect communication between those from the
East and West

1. Directness vs. Circumlocution

2. Personal/Friendly language vs. Respectful Language

The Job Application Process

A. Cover letter and Resume’

Cover letter-letter you write to a prospective employer to persuade him/ her to give
you a job.

-does not contain mistake when it comes to the information of the company and
prospective employer. The applicant should find out the full name, position, and
preferred title addresses-sometimes the employer, sometimes the head of the
Haman Resources department

The date and inside address should be provided, the latter including the contact
person’s name and position, as well at the company’s name and its address.

1st Paragraph-The applicant should immediately state an interest in the specified position as
well as give reasons as to his/her suitability as a candidate.

2nd Paragraph- qualifications should be supported with concrete and specific details, such
as highlights from the applicant’s resume

Resume’-attached to a cover letter to serve as “persuasive summary of your

qualifications for employment format
-an effective resume’ should also look good with effective use of white space, and other
typeface features (e.g. font size, bold).Information should be nearly divided into clearly
labelled sections for education, experience, and other major categories of professional
qualifications. There should be no typographic or mechanical errors in spelling,
capitalization, punctuation and grammar.

Types of Resume’

1. Chronological resume- the traditional and most accepted resume

2. Functional resume-focuses n the skills and talents developed by the applicant
and does not emphasize job titles, employer names and dates.
3. chrono-functional resume- a combination of the two types.
-it chronologically lists job history and education but also allows the applicant to
highlight certain marketable qualifications.

B. Job Interview
Types of Interview
1. traditional one-on-one interview- the candidate is interviewed by one
person
2. panel interview-the candidate is interviewed by a group or panel
3. stress interview- the candidate is askes a series of difficult and intimidating
questions to see how he/she handles stress.

Before the interview

1. Research
2. Know the typical questions asked.
3. Know what questions are illegal
4. Prepare your own questions

During the interview

1. Arrive early and present yourself well.

2. Smile, make frequent eye contact and control your body movements.
3. Be clear.
4. Wait for the interviewer to officially signal the end of the interview