Chapter 2: Planning Business Messages

You need to let your employees know that there will be a mandatory meeting next Monday to discuss your company's health insurance benefit. The most appropriate channel to communicate this message to your employees is ____.

an e-mail

Claire and Brandon are in the first phase of the writing process as they prepare a formal report for a client. In this phase, they should ____.

analyze the audience and determine the purpose of the message

Business writing should be purposeful, economical, and ____.

audience oriented

Communication is defined as "the transmission of information and meaning from a sender to a receiver." The most important element of this definition is ____.

meaning

Anything that interrupts the transmission of a message in the communication process is called ____.

noise

What are the three phases of the writing process?

prewriting, drafting, and revising

The primary purposes of business writing are typically to inform and persuade; a common secondary purpose is to ____.

promote goodwill

True or False? The process of converting an idea into words or gestures that will convey meaning is called encoding.

True

True or False? The three phases of the writing process must be followed in the proper sequence to create successful messages.

False; Expert writers are able to adjust the process to meet their own needs.

True or False? Business writers who use official-sounding language such as "commensurate" and "remuneration" appear more impressive and are more effective than who use words such as "equal" or "pay."

False; Official-sounding language may confuse, not impress, the audience.

True or False? The best words you can use to create an audience-centered message are I and we.

False; The catchiest words you can use are you and your to emphasize audience benefits.

True or False? The communication process begins when the receiver provides nonverbal or verbal feedback to the sender.

False; The communication process begins when the sender has an idea.

True or False? The statement "Every salesman who meets this year's quota will receive two additional vacation days" represents effective business writing.

False; This sentence includes gender-biased language.

True or False? "Each nurse is responsible for charting the status of his or her patients" is a statement that uses biasfree language.

True

True or False? "Will you please submit the proposal by Monday" represents a courteous use of language.

True

True or False? "You can improve your chances for promotion by attending our management trainee seminars" is an example of "you" view.

True

True or False? "Your order will be shipped as soon as we receive credit authorization" represents positive business writing.

True

True or False? A face-to-face conversation is richer medium than a written report or proposal.

True

True or False? Adaptation is the process of creating a message that suits the audience.

True

True or False? Good writers should expect to spend most of their time revising their messages.

True

You can establish a professional yet conversational tone in business messages by ____.

using familiar words and pronouns such as I or you

True or False? The first step in composing a message is to identify its purpose.

True

Megan is creating a property description for a new real-estate brochure. To make her brochure effective, Megan should anticipate her audience by ____.

considering what the readers are like and how they will react to the message

Translating a message from its symbol form into meaning involves ____.

decoding

Writers who put themselves in the receiver's shoes to focus a message on audience benefits are using the skill of ____.

empathy