Lesson 4: Writing Clearly and Concisely.

What is communication style and what does is it created?

Choices you make to express yourself: words, manner, paragraphs. Style creates tone, an overall impression. Tone can be forceful, objective, personal, formal, colorful or dry etc. Depends on nature of message and relationship with the reader.

What are paragraphs?

Paragraphs organize sentences related to the same general topic.

Explain choosing the best way to develop each paragraph.

There are five techniques to develop each paragraph: 1. Illustration. (Giving the examples that demonstrate general idea). 2. Comparison or contrast. (Using similarities or differences to develop a topic). 3. Cause and effect. (Focusing on the reasons for something). 4. Classification. (Showing how a general idea is broken into specific categories.) 5. Problem and solution. (Presenting a problem and then discussing a solution). You can combine two or more techniques. Choose techniques based on the effectiveness rather than on the first one that comes to mind.

What are 5 characteristic of usability of user interface?

1. Easy to learn. 2. Efficient to use. 3. Easy to remember. 4. Few errors. 5. Pleasant to use

List three levels to view your writing at.

1. Strong words. 2. Effective sentences. 3. Coherent paragraphs.

Explain why plain language is beneficial and when it is not suitable.

Beneficial because: people spend less time and effort to understand your message. People can actually understand your message. Shows you actually care about your audience. Helpful for ESL. Not suitable for: scientific research, engineering documents, intense feeling and personal insight.

Explain the four types of sentences and how to choose from them.

1. A simple sentence. Has one main clause. 2. A compound sentence. Has two main clauses. 3. A complex sentence. Has one main clause and one subordinate clause. 4. A compound-complex sentence has two main clauses and at least one dependent clause. If you have two ideas, one of which is less important than the other, put it in the dependent clause. To make the writing as effective as possible, strive for variety and balance. Too many simple sentences = writing abrupt and choppy. Too many complex sentences - writing is monotonous. If they are one after another, then the writing is also hard to follow.

Explain word selection in message composition.

1. Choosing precise words. Poor grammar: no respect for audience and being uninformed. 2. Using functional and content words correctly. Functional words: express relationships and have one meaning only. They are conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns. Content words: multidimentional, are subjects to various interpretations and carry the meaning of the sentence. They are nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Content words are building blocks tied together with functional words. 3. Understanding denotation and connotation. Denotative meaning is the literal, or dictionary. Connotative meaning is associations and feelings evoked by the word. Some words have stronger connotative meaning, so choose wisely. 4. Balancing abstract and concrete words. Abstract word: concept, quality or characteristic. Abstractions are usually broad, intellectual, academic or philosophical. Concrete word stands for something you can touch or see, as well as anything technical or/and scientific. Abstractions allow us to rise above common and tangible, however are fuzzy and imprecise. Use them only if there is no way to express in any other way. 5. Finding words that communicate well. 1. Choose precise words. Clear, specific, dynamic. Nouns and verbs are most concrete. Verbs are most powerful - dynamic and specific. Using a lot of adjectives is usually to compensate for weak pronouns. 2. Choose familiar words. Use words familiar to you and your readers. 3. Avoid cliches and buzzwords. They lost their power to communicate. 4. Use jargon carefully. Jargon is the specialized language of a particular profession or industry. If audience not familiar with jargon it will sound meaningless and intimidating, if familiar jargon is efficient.

Explain creating the elements of a paragraph.

1. Topic sentence. Effective paragraph deals with a single topic introduced by topic sentence. In creative writing the topic sentence can be implied rather than stated. In business writing, topic sentence is usually explicit and is often the first sentence of the paragraph. Gives summary of general idea. 2. Support sentences. These are further sentences support and expand the topic sentence. Must provide specific details to make topic clear. Must all be related to topic sentence. Create feeling of unity. 3. Transitions. Connect ideas by showing how they are related to each other, or smoothly prepares reader to what lies ahead, and give writing a smooth flow. Used inside paragraphs to tie related points, or between paragraphs to ease the shift from one distinct thought to another. In longer works it may serve as a mini-introduction to the next section or as a summary of ideas presented in the section just ending. These transitions emphasize the framework. Transitions can be established though: 1. Using connecting words (and, therefore, etc). 2. Echo a word or a phrase from a previous paragraph or sentence (Seagulls are white and chubby. Seagull babies are grey and chubby). 3. Use a pronoun that refers to a noun used previously (Kitty is hungry. She needs to be fed.) 4. Use words that are frequently paired. (The minimum temperature is... The maximum temperature is...). Transitions that alert change in mood and smoothly transition between clauses, sentences, paragraphs: 1. Additional detail (moreover, finally etc.) 2. Causal relationship (therefore, because etc). 3. Comparison (similarly, likewise etc.) 4. Contrast (yet, however etc.) 5. Condition (although, if etc.) 6. Illustration (for example, for instance, etc.) 7. Time sequence (formerly, after, etc.) 8. Intensification (indeed, in fact, etc.) 9. Summary (in brief, short, etc.) 10. Repetition (that is, in other words, etc.)

What are two characteristics of paragraphs that readers expect?

1. Unified. Focused in a single topic. 2. Coherent. Presenting ideas in a logically connected way.

When to select passive and when to select active voice.

Active voice: subject performs an action. Passive voice: subject receives the action. Active sentences make message sound less formal and makes it easier for readers to determine who performed the action. Makes writing direct, livelier and easier to read. Passive voice de-emphasizes the subject. Makes writing heavy, vague, longer. Active voice is generally go-to, passive voice is good in following situations: 1. you want to be diplomatic about a problem or error (sounds less accusatory). 2. you want to point out what is being done without taking credit or blame. 3. When you want to create an objective tone and avoid personal pronouns.

Explain what is first draft:

Safe zone: free-flowing ideas, creativity, no focus on precision. Dont show to anyone.

Explain using sentence style to emphasize key points.

Sentence style my be used to emphasize key points. Ways of emphasizing key points: 1. Describe the point more fully (more words). 2. Add a separate, short sentence to augment the first. 3. Call attention to a thought by making it the subject of the sentence. 4. Place the idea in the beginning or the end of the sentence. (Alternatively, to downplay place idea in the middle of the sentence). 5. To emphasize the idea, put the dependent clause at the end of the sentence (the strongest influence) or the beginning (the second strongest influence). (Alternatively, to downplay the idea, place dependent close in the middle of the sentence).

Explain using technology to compose and shape your messages.

Technology helps create better documents in less time. Be careful not to overdo: when software so complex it takes too long to learn or set-up, than to manually format, use manual. Takes form of word processors or online publishing tools. The technology offers help through: 1. Style sheets, style sets, templates and themes. Ensure consistency, easy to make a unified change. Basically are style templates. 2. Boilerplate and document components. Boilerplate: standard block of text reused in multiple documents. Other components can be cover pages and side bars. 3. Autocorrection and autocompletion. 4. File merge and mail merge. Useful when using several team members contributions to make one document. Mail merge allows to personalize emails by inserting names and email addresses from a database. 5. Endnotes, footnotes, indexes, and tables of contents. Software helps renumber endnotes or footnotes as you add and delete references. For indexes, select text you want in index and software will add it to index.

Briefly explain 3 types of tone and explain 4 ways to achieve conversational tone.

Tone can be informal, conversational or formal. Formal tone is reserved for most formal occasions. Conversational tone is preferred for most business communication. Informal tone is for communication with friends and associates. To achieve conversational tone: 1. Avoid obsolete and pompous language. Pompous language sounds self-important. Use only the words you would say face-to-face. 2. Avoid preaching and bragging. It is irritating. If preaching is necessary insert in the second paragraph and use "as you know". Don't brag, unless to your own peeps. 3. Be careful with intimacy. Normally do not share intimate details. However, if you are close to the team, you may. 4. Be careful with humor. It can spark interest, make negative more positive, but can also divert attention from the message. Humor must be connected with a point that you are making. Never use in formal messages or across cultural boundaries. When in doubt, leave it out.