Kaipulakadambari’s Blog

At the time of writing a letter, we need to keep three questions in the mind:

• Who are we writing to?
• What are we writing for?
• What do we expect in return?

Let’s discuss each in detail…

Who are we writing to?

This question is important because it helps us choose the right tone for the letter. By tone we mean the manner of expression. Let’s understand it further with the help of an analogy. Suppose we are responding to a job advertisement in the news paper and we are writing a covering letter for our CV or Bio-Data. Let’s see how the tone of the letter could vary, depending on whom the letter is being addressed to. Three possible scenarios are discussed here.

• If the application were to be addressed to the CEO or someone similar, it means this appointment might be of significant strategic importance to the organisation and selection might be taking place under the direct supervision of the decision-maker. Hence, what we write in our letter might just work out to be even more important than our CV, at least for the initial rounds of scrutiny. Thus, highlighting our USP(Unique Selling Proposition) and our stability for the job in distinct terms attains significance in this case. In such a scenario we could adopt a direct and assertive tone for our letter.
• If the letter is being sent to the HR Department in general, then it is most likely to be read by one of the executive as a matter of routine. She/He would match our qualifications and experience with the given sent of criteria, and would accept or reject our candidature for the next round of scrutiny. Hence, we need not be too assertive in writing such an application. We should do well by providing sufficient information to prove that we are suitable for the job. Our letter in this case should more or less balance our CV.
• If we happen to be replying to a P.O. Box address, where the identity of the advertisement has not been disclosed, our letter could simply be a courtesy cover letter accompanying the CV and hope that our CV will eventually do the rest of the talking.

Mobile Phones and Internet might be the ‘in-things’, our preference might be shifting towards E-mail and SMS, nevertheless the good old letter, written or typed on a sheet of paper, still remains the principal mode of formal and official communication. Unfortunately, with the advent of new technology based tools our letter writing skills seem to have taken a serious beating, and many of us face genuine difficulties in composing formal letters. In upcoming post, we will discuss some tips to effective letter writing for professional and general purposes. The readers may please take note that this blog does not cover ‘letter writing’ from the examination point of view. It is advised to refer to some prescribed book of English grammar for this purpose. The process of writing a professional letter has to be understood at two levels:

• Conceptual Level
• Practical Level

Whenever Someone asks the Question – What’s Communication? I am instantly reminded of the famous story from the Mahabharatha. During the battle of Kurukhshetra, when the Pandavas were not able to get past Dronacharya, the chief of the Kaurava army, krishna came up with a plan. He said, lets give Dronacharya the false news of the death of his son, Ashwathama. Krishna knew that his son would be powerful enough to distract Drona’s attention and gain an opportunity to defeat him. Next day, when the battle was in full swing, as per the plan, Bhima killed an elephant named Ashwathama and arranged for the news of Ashwathama’s death to reach Dronacharya. Dronacharya was a clever man, conversant in all the ways of the war. When he came to know of the death, he said that he wouldn’t believe a word unless someone as truthful as Yudhisthir would confirm it. Yudhisthir, who was known to speak only the truth, came up and said, ‘Ashwathama killed; but not the man, the elephant. However the moment Yudhisthir had finished saying ‘Ashwathama killed’, Krishna blew a conch-shell and other pandava warriors joined him in creating a commotion, causing the latter part of the sentence to be drowned in the noise. Thus, Dronacharya could only get to hear ‘Ashwathama killed’! Now that’s what I call Communication! What you say is important, but what is more important is:

• How it’s presented
• What gets received
• How  it’s interpreted

Further, communication can take place through countless number of channels and for an infinite number of reasons. Thus communication could be a casual chat between two friends; but communication could also refer to some document as important as the Constitution of the country. It is not possible to cover the entire spectrum of communication modes in a slim volume. Nor is the necessary. Our focus in the blog will be on Inter-personal Formal Communication, both written and verbal.