MAN 16
Benefits of Good Communication Skills
- Creates business opportunities - Provides increased employee satisfaction - Saves money and time when done effectively -Good communicators earn more -Good communicators make good managers
Identifying and Developing Audience Benefits
1. Identify needs, feelings, and wants that motivate audience 2. Identify objective features of your product or policy that could meet needs 3. Show how audience's needs can be met with those features
Step 1: Gather Knowledge
1.What are the facts? 2.What can you infer from the information? 3.What additional information might be helpful? 4.Where could you get it? 5.What emotional complexities are involved? Problem solving usually starts by gathering knowledge. Use these question's answers as a way to brainstorm a solution.
Step 2: Answer Questions for Analysis
1.Who is/are your audience(s)? 2.What are your purposes? 3.What information must your message include? 4.How can you build support for your position? 5.What aspects of the total situation may be relevant?
3. Use more Active Voice
Active voice: The subject carries out the action Example: Mackenzie processes all sales orders daily. Passive voice: The subject receives the action Example: All sales orders are processed daily by Mackenzie.
Techniques for Writing Good Benefits
Adapt benefits to audience Stress intrinsic and extrinsic motivators Prove benefits with clear logic and explain them in detail Express benefits in you-attitude
Audience Benefits
Advantages the audience gets from: •Using your services •Buying your products •Following your policies •Adopting your ideas' If good benefits... 1.Informative Messages •Give reason to believe the message 2.Persuasive Messages •Give reasons to act, to overcome resistance 3.Negative Messages Don't give benefits
Who Is/Are Your Audience(s)?
Audience characteristics More than one audience Knowledge level of audience(s) Likely response Potential objections An in-depth understanding of the audience is necessary to develop an effective message. What audience characteristics are relevant for this particular message? If you are writing or speaking to more than one person or level of audience, how do the people and levels differ? How much does your audience know about your topic? Depending on their level of knowledge, how much do you need to tell them so they can understand your message? What objections might they have to your message?
Josue, the new sales manager of a local car dealership, is preparing the quarterly sales report for the cars in his locality. He is trying to decide whether he should use a bar chart or line graph to supplement his discussion in the report. Which guideline for creating effective visuals and data displays is Josue following in this scenario?
Choose the right visual for the story.
Communication Channels
Communication channels: means by which you communicate your message Choose channels based on the audience, purpose, and situation Channels vary by: •Speed, accuracy, and cost •Number of messages carried •Number of people reached •Efficiency and goodwill A communication channel is the means by which you convey your message. Communication channels vary in speed, accuracy of transmission, cost, number of messages carried, number of people reached, efficiency, and ability to promote goodwill. Depending on the audience, your purposes, and the situation, one channel may be better than another. A written message makes it easier to present extensive or complex data, present many specific details, and minimize undesirable emotions. Oral messages make it easier to use emotion to help persuade the audience, focus the audience's attention on specific points, resolve conflicts and build consensus, modify plans, and get immediate action or response. Choosing the right channel can be tricky sometimes.
Myself
Correct: I myself think the call was a very productive one. Incorrect: Elaine and myself will follow up on this order. Correct: Elaine and I will follow up on this order. Incorrect: He gave the order to Dan and myself. Correct: He gave the order to Dan and me. "In the end, it's him and I" - G-Eazy
Demographic profiling
Demographic profiling is a form of Demographic Analysis used by marketers so that they may be as efficient as possible with advertising products or services and identifying any possible gaps in their marketing strategy. Demographic profiling can even be referred to as a euphemism for industrial espionage.
Accurate Denotations
Denotation is a word's literal or dictionary meaning Most common words have multiple denotations Consider the word pound: •Unit of weight •Place where stray animals are kept •Unit of money in Britain Verb to hit
Just Start Putting Ideas Down
Down Draft- Just get some ideas down Up Draft-Fix the first draft Sometimes you just have to start putting ideas down. In Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, writer Anne Lamott tells the story of her 10-year-old brother trying to write his report on birds. He had had three months to write it, it was due the next day, and he had not started: "He was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." Lamott calls the second draft the "up draft": you start fixing up the first draft. It is at this stage that you start turning your writing into professional writing
What is true about the costs of communication?
Email storage contributes to a significant part of the cost of communication.
A Planning Checklist for Business Messages
General purpose? (inform, persuade, entertain, facilitate interaction, motivate) Determine your specific purpose •Make sure your timing is appropriate •Make sure your sources are credible •Make sure the message reflects positively on your business •Determine audience size •Determine audience composition •Determine audience knowledge and awareness of topic •Anticipate probable responses •Select the correct channel •Make sure the information provided is accurate, ethical, and pertinent •Mom's Rule
Write a sentence using "further" properly
He offered no further information. Farther= actual distance Further= everything else/ figurative distance
Analysis Question 2
How much information do they need? •What do they already know? •Does their knowledge need to be updated? •What do they need to know to appreciate your points? When some of your information is new to the audience, you need to: •Make a special effort to be clear. Define terms, explain concepts, use examples, and avoid acronyms. •Link new information to old information that the audience already knows. •Use paragraphs and headings to break up new information into related chunks so that the information is easier to digest. •Test a draft of your document with your reader or a subset of your intended audience to see whether the audience can understand and use what you've written. If you're trying to change someone's understanding of something, you need to: •Acknowledge the audience's initial understanding early in the message. •Use examples, statistics, or other evidence to show the need for the change, or to show that the audience's experience is not universal. •Allow the audience to save face by suggesting that changed circumstances call for new attitudes or action. When the audience must think of background or old information to appreciate your points, you can: •Preface information with "As you know" or "As you may remember" to avoid suggesting that you think the audience does not know what you're saying. •Put old or obvious information in a subordinate clause: for example, "Because we have recently expanded delivery into Central America, we need to consider a change to heat-resistant packaging."
Analysis Question 1
How will the audience initially react? •Will they see this message as important? •How will the fact that the message is from you affect their reaction? When the audience may see your message as unimportant, you need to: use a subject line to reflect the message's importance, make the requested action as easy as possible, suggest a realistic deadline, and keep the message as short as possible. When your audience has negative feelings about you, you need to: •Make a special effort to avoid phrases that could seem condescending, arrogant, rude, hostile, or uncaring. •Use positive emphasis (Chapter 3) to counteract the natural tendency to sound defensive. •Develop logic and benefits fully.
Analysis Question 6
How will the audience use the document? •Under what physical conditions? •What purposes will the document serve? •Examples: reference, guide, basis of lawsuit When the reader will use your document outside an office: •Use a lot of white space. •Make the document small enough to hold in one hand. •Number items so readers can find their place after an interruption. If the document will serve as a general reference: •Use a specific subject line to aid in filing and retrieval. If the document is online, consider using several key words to make it easy to find the document in a database search program. •Use headings within the document so that readers can skim it. •Give the office as well as the person to contact so that the reader can get in touch with the appropriate person some time from now. •Spell out details that may be obvious now but might be forgotten in a year. If the document will be a detailed guide or contain instructions: •Check to be sure that all the steps are in chronological order. •Number steps so that readers can easily see which steps they've completed. •Group steps into five to seven categories if there are many individual steps. •Put any warnings at the beginning of the document; then repeat them just before the specific step to which they apply.
Write a sentence using a semicolon appropriately
I bought shiny, ripe apples; small, sweet, juicy grapes; and firm pears.
Outline
Introduction- Main idea Body- I.Main Idea: Point 1 Subpoint 1 A.1 specific information 1 A.2 specific information 2 II. Main Idea: Point 2 Subpoint 1 B.1 specific information 1 B.2 specific information 2 III. Main Idea: Point 3 Subpoint 1 C.1 specific information 1 C.2 specific information 2 Conclusion- Summary of main 3 points
What about using humor in business communications is true?
It can help increase the chances that a message is read or heard.
Which of the following is an accurate statement about the style used for traditional term papers?
It is generally impersonal.
What about information overload is true?
It makes people become selective about the messages they open and read.
What about goodwill ending in positive and informative messages is true?
It should show you see the reader as an individual.
What Information Must You Include?
List all required points De-emphasize or emphasize properly •To de-emphasize: •Bury in paragraph and message •Write and speak concisely •To emphasize: •Place first or last in paragraph and message •Add descriptive details Make a list of the points that must be included; check your draft to make sure you include them all. To include information without emphasizing it, put it in the middle of a paragraph or document and present it as briefly as possible.
In what situations should passive voice be used?
Mara wants to emphasize that an organization is being acted upon by protestors
Letters vs Emails vs Texts
Outside vs Inside Memos?? Differences in length, formality, writing style, pattern of organization Differences in format
Same, but Different
Pharmacy Tech/Drug Dealer Clocks/Time Machines Giving Birth/Releasing Inner Child Grown-up Movie/Adult Movie Black & White Movie/Interracial Movie Wise Guy/Wise Man "Forgive me father for I have sinned"/"Sorry Daddy, I've been naughty" Evening Gown/Night Gown
________ are a type of nonverbal communication.
Pictures
Costs of Poor Communication
Poor communication can cost billions of dollars. But costs of poor communication are not just financial. When communication isn't as good as it could be, you and your organization pay a price in wasted time, wasted effort, lost goodwill, and legal problems. ex) Wastes time Wastes efforts Loses goodwill Creates legal problems
General Purpose and Thesis Statements
Purpose must convey some main idea A thesis statement: •Clarifies the idea in your mind •Short, specific, and to the point A thesis statement should: •Be a declarative statement •Be a complete sentence •Use specific language, not vague generalities •Be a single idea •Reflect consideration of the audience
Step 3: Organize
Put good news first Put main point or question first Subject line or first paragraph—clear importance Persuade a reluctant audience by delaying the main point/question
How to write an effective essay
Question Thesis: Answer to the question Proof 3 main reasons for thesis 3 supporting ideas for each reason Conclusion (based on the proof)
The Ways Good Writers Write
Realize that the first draft can be revised Write regularly but in small chunks Have clear goals focusing on audience(s) and purpose Have several different strategies to choose from Use rules and guidelines flexibly Wait to edit until draft is complete Research also shows that good writers differ from poor writers in identifying and analyzing the initial problem more effectively, understanding the task more broadly and deeply, drawing from a wider repertoire of strategies, and seeing patterns more clearly. Good writers also are better at evaluating their own work.
How Can You Build Support for Your Position?
Reasons for your decision Logic behind your argument Benefits adapted to audience In your message, use support that speaks to audience needs and that the audience will find convincing. The reasons and logic supporting your message should be clear and complete.
Final Steps: Revise, Edit, Proofread
Revise to emphasize the positive: •Put first, give it more space •Eliminate negative words •Focus on what is possible Edit to eliminate spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors Good business and administrative communication is both friendly and businesslike. Edit to emphasize the positive. Business people care about correctness in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Edit and proofread your communications carefully.
Brainstorming, Planning, and Organizing
Spend substantial time planning and organizing •Use analysis questions to identify purpose and audience (Chapter 1) •Use strategies to analyze audience and audience benefits (Chapter 2) •Gather information you can use in your document Select points to make and supporting materials Brainstorming. Think of all the ideas you can, without judging them. Consciously try to get at least a dozen different ideas before you stop. Good brainstorming depends on generating many ideas. Freewriting. Make yourself write, without stopping, for 10 minutes or so, even if you must write "I will think of something soon." At the end of 10 minutes, read what you've written, identify the best point in the draft, then set it aside, and write for another 10 uninterrupted minutes. Read this draft, marking anything that's good and should be kept, and then write again for another 10 minutes. By the third session, you will probably produce several sections that are worth keeping—maybe even a complete draft that's ready to be revised. Clustering. Write your topic in the middle of the page and circle it. Write down the ideas the topic suggests, circling them, too. (The circles are designed to tap into the nonlinear half of your brain.) When you've filled the page, look for patterns or repeated ideas. Use different colored pens to group related ideas. Then use these ideas to develop your content. Talking to your audience. As research shows, talking to internal and external audiences helps writers to involve readers in the planning process and to understand the social and political relationships among readers. This preliminary work helps reduce the number of revisions needed before documents are approved.
Arianna is the human resource head for a farm equipment company. She suggests to higher management that the firm should adopt pay-cuts over downsizing to deal with the economic recession. However, Arianna is well aware that the decision to reduce salary will be opposed by the employees. What should Arianna do when delivering such messages?
Start her message by focusing on areas that the employees and the HR team agree with
Solving Business Communication Problems
Step 1: Gather knowledge Step 2: Answer five questions for analysis (Upcoming slide) Step 3: Organize your information to fit: •Audiences •Purposes •Contexts Step 4: Make document visually inviting Step 5: Revise and edit When you're faced with a business communication problem, you need to develop a solution that will both solve the organization's problem and meet the psychological needs of the people involved. Some strategies to help you solve business communication problems include gathering knowledge, brainstorming solutions, organizing information to fit the audiences, contexts, and purpose, and making the document visually inviting.
Texting
Texting has become a common way to connect It is useful for: •Short exchanges •When talking over the phone is not an option Tips for effective business texting •Know your recipient •Anticipate unintentional misinterpretation •Don't text someone too frequently •Unplug yourself once in awhile •Don't text and drive Article: Jeff Fager firing
Period (.)
The answer is no. Period. Full Stop.
Understanding and Analyzing Situations
The best communicators are conscious of the context in which they communicate; they're aware of the bigger picture and the nuances. Each business communication situation is unique and we need to fully analyze the situation before we develop our message. 1.What's at stake and to whom? 2.Should you send a message? 3.What channel should you use? 4.What should you say? 5.How should you say it?
What about pie charts as visuals or data displays is true?
The data in a pie chart can be put in a bar chart.
5 types of audiences
The first step in adapting your message to your audience is to determine your audience. Organizational messages have multiple audiences. A gatekeeper has the power to stop your message instead of sending it on to other audiences. The primary audience will decide whether to accept your recommendations or act on the basis of your message. You must reach the primary audience to fulfill your purposes in any message. The secondary audience may be asked to comment on your message or to implement your ideas after they've been approved. An auxiliary audience may encounter your message but will not have to interact with it. A watchdog audience does not have the power to stop the message and will not act directly on it, but it has political, social, or economic power, and may base future actions on its evaluation of your message. Note: a person can be in two audiences.
Explain clearly how to use BCC: in an email.
The person in the BCC will get the email but the other people in the email will not know it went to the BCC.
Write a sentence using the word "fewer" properly. Write a sentence using the work "less" properly.
There were fewer people in the room. There is less time on the test.
2. Use Jargon Sparingly
Two kinds of jargon: •Technical jargon •Use for job application materials to show you're competent •"significant" "correlation" "KSAs" •Business jargon •"As per your request..." •"enclosed please find.." •"please do not hesitate..." •None of these words are necessary—eliminate them
Singular/Plural Verbs
Use a plural verb when two or more singular subjects are joined by and. Correct: Larry McGreevy and I are planning to visit the client. Use a singular verb when two or more singular subjects are joined by or, nor, or but. Correct: Either the shipping clerk or the superintendent has to sign the order. When the sentence begins with Here or There, make the verb agree with the subject that follows the verb. Correct: Here is the booklet you asked for. Correct: There are the blueprints I wanted.
Adapt Your Message
Use audience analysis to adapt your message Six questions to ask (following...) As you answer the six questions for a specific audience, think about the organizational culture in which the person works. At every point, your audience's reaction is affected not only by his or her personal feelings and preferences but also by the political environment of the organization, the economy, and current events.
Analyzing Your Audience
Use common sense Use empathy Ask questions Questions for analysis 1.How will the audience initially react to the message? 2.How much information does the audience need? 3.What obstacles must you overcome? 4.What positive aspects can you emphasize? 5.What are the audience's expectations for appropriate language, content, and organization or messages? 6.How will the audience use the document? The most important tools in audience analysis are common sense and empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to feel with that person. Use what you know about people and about organizations to predict likely responses. Ask questions of your audiences—what are their needs, values, attitudes, expectations?
What should you do when analyzing business communication situations?
Use detailed instructions to understand audiences and corporate culture.
Step 4: Make Visually Inviting
Use subject line to orient reader Use headings to group related ideas Use lists for emphasis Use numbered items if order matters Use short paragraphs A well-designed document is easier to read and builds goodwill. To make a document visually attractive, consider these guidelines.
Useful for messages that have more content than a text message In business communication, e-mails: •Require attention to detail •Should have a professional tone •To: •Must be correct! •BCC: Recipient doesn't see the people listed under BCC. •(But the people in BCC get the email) •To: •Inside salutation not necessary, but often used •Closing •Desirable •Signature Blocks--Very handy •Long email threads Delete old stuff when you reply.
Analysis Question 5
What does the audience expect? •What writing style do they prefer? •Are there red flag words? •How much detail does the audience want? •Do they prefer direct or indirect organization? Good writers adapt their style to suit the reader's preferences. A reader who sees contractions as too informal needs a different style from one who sees traditional business writing as too stuffy. As you write: •Use what you know about your reader to choose a more or less formal, more or less friendly style. •Use the reader's first name in the salutation only if both of you are comfortable with a first-name basis. When you need agreement or approval, you should: •Avoid terms that carry emotional charges for many people: for example, criminal, un-American, feminist, fundamentalist, liberal. •Use your previous experience with individuals to replace any terms that have particular negative meanings for them. A message that does not give the audience the desired amount or kind of detail may fail. Sometimes you can ask your audience how much detail they want. When you write to people you do not know well, you can: •Provide all the detail needed to understand and act on your message. •Group chunks of information under headings so that readers can go directly to the parts of the message they need. •Be sure that a shorter-than-usual document covers the essential points; be sure that a longer-than-usual document is free from wordiness and repetition. You'll be more effective if you use the structure and organization your audience prefers.
What Are Your Purposes?
What must the message do to meet the organization's needs? What must it do to meet your needs? What do you want your audience to do? Before you draft any message, you need to be clear about what exactly the message needs to do and how you want the audience to respond. List all your purposes, major and minor, before you begin drafting your message.
Analysis Question 3
What obstacles must you overcome? •Is the audience opposed to your message? •Will it be easy to do as you ask? When the audience will oppose what you have to say, you need to: •Start your message with any areas of agreement or common ground that you share with your audience. •Make a special effort to be clear and unambiguous. Points that might be clear to a neutral audience can be misinterpreted by someone opposed to the message. •Make a special effort to avoid statements that will anger the audience. •Limit your statement or request to the smallest possible area. If parts of your message could be delivered later, postpone them. •Show that your solution is the best solution currently available, even though it isn't perfect. When your request is time-consuming, complicated, or physically or psychologically difficult, you need to: •Make the action as easy as possible. •Break down complex actions into a list, so the audience can check off each step as it is completed. This list will also help ensure complete responses. •Show that what you ask is consistent with some aspect of what the audience believes. •Show how the audience (not just you or your organization) will benefit when the action is completed.
Analysis Question 4
What positives can you emphasize? •What are the benefits for the audience? •What do you have in common with them? Examples: experiences, interests, goals, values Make the most of the good points inherent in the message you want to convey: •Put good news first. •Use audience benefits that go beyond the basic good news. A sense of solidarity with someone can be an even more powerful reason to agree than the content of the message itself. When everyone in your audience shares the same experiences, interests, goals, and values, you can: •Consider using a vivid anecdote to remind the audience of what you share. The details of the anecdote should be interesting or new; otherwise, you may seem to be lecturing the audience.
Ethical Implications of Word Choice
When words are purposely used to minimize or diminish the emotional impact. EG: 100-year flood We have the right to package our ideas attractively, but we have the responsibility to give the public or our superiors all the information they need to make decisions. When scientists refer to 100-year floods, they mean a flood so big that it has a 1% chance of happening in any given year. However, a "1% annual chance flood" is awkward and has not become standard usage. On the other hand, many nonscientists believe a 100-year flood will happen only once every hundred years. After a 100-year flood swamped the Midwest in 1993, many people moved back into flood-prone homes; some even dropped their flood insurance. Unfortunately, both actions left them devastated by a second 100-year flood in 2008.
Use Your Time Effectively
Writing should not take up all of your time 1/3 Analyze the situation 1/3 Write 1/3 Evaluate and revise To get the best results from the time you have, spend about one-third of your time actually "writing." Spend about another one-third of your time analyzing the situation and your audience, gathering information, and organizing what you have to say. Spend the final third evaluating what you've said, revising the draft(s) to meet your purposes and the needs of the audience and the organization, editing a late draft to remove any errors in grammar and mechanics, and proofreading the final copy. Do realize, however, that different writers, documents, and situations may need different time divisions to produce quality communications, especially if documents are produced by teams. Geographic distance will add even more time to the process.
Types of Channels
Written messages Oral Messages Body Language Furniture Layout Seating Position
What illustrates the demographic profiling of employees?
a tax saving plan designed for female employees earning more than $8,000 every month
Words That Are Confused
accept v. except a lot v allot among v between amount v number complement v compliment dependant v dependent fewer v less farther v further It's v its lie v lay loose v lose moral v morale objective v rationale principal v principle unique v unusual verbal v oral
Connotations/Denotations
cheap v affordable famous v notorious charity v welfare hack v tip
Ming, a communications manager at an environmental organization, recently used a certain technique to develop ideas for a campaign. She jotted down the topic name at the center of a sheet of paper and drew a circle around it. She then wrote down all the ideas that came to mind and circled them too. When this was done, she used colors to highlight and separate groups of related ideas. Which of the following techniques did Ming most likely use to generate her ideas?
clustering
Verbal Communication
communication that uses words ex) Face to face Phone conversations Informal meetings Presentations Tweets Email messages Websites
Non-verbal communication
does not use words ex) Pictures, computer graphics, and company logos are nonverbal.
Question Mark (?)
ex) Can I talk you into changing your mind?
Parallel structure
ex) Ellen likes hiking, attending the rodeo, and taking afternoon naps. Parallel structure (also called parallelism) is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. By making each compared item or idea in your sentence follow the same grammatical pattern, you create a parallel construction
Exclamation Point (!)
ex) How exciting!
Ellipsis (...)
ex) Lincoln spoke of "a new nation...dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
Commas in a series
ex) Lisa is an amazing wife, mother, teacher, gardener, and editor.
Apostrophe (')
ex) Michele's report is due tomorrow. •Contractions -It's great news that sales were up. •Possession -Mackenzie's sheep are ready to be sheared. The parents' meeting is scheduled for Thursday
Quotation Marks ("")
ex) The manager told him, "I will make sure Renée is available to help you."
hyphen (-)
ex) The question is a many-faceted one.
Comma (,)
ex) The report advised us when to sell, what to sell, and where to find buyers. •To separate 2 independent clauses joined by conjunctions -The advertising department is effective, but don't expect miracles in this business climate. - •For introductory phrases -After the summary of this year's sales, the sales department had good reason to celebrate. - •To offset nonessential clauses -The sales department, last year's winner of the most productive award, celebrated their stellar sales success of the year.
Semicolon (;)
ex) Theresa was late to the meeting; her computer had frozen and she was stuck at her desk until a tech rep came to fix it. •To separate groups of items when there are commas within the group of items. -Merchandise on order includes women's wear such as sweaters, skirts, and blouses; men's wear such as shirts, jackets, and slacks; and outwear such as coats, parkas, and hats. •To separate 2 independent clauses (especially if clauses are linked somehow). -The sales campaign was successful; without its contributions our bottom line would have been dismal indeed.
Dash (--)
ex) This is more difficult than it seems—buyers are scarce when credit is tight.
Colon (:)
ex) This is what I think: you need to revise your paper. •Use colons after complete sentence. •Can you replace colon with "namely"? -Or "that is to say" -Or "here's what I mean" - •"Samantha invited several friends to the meeting: Dan, Julie, and Frank." - •Don't use if it follows a verb -NO! "I want: sugar, butter, and flour."
Parentheses ()
ex) To answer it (or at least to begin addressing it) we will need more information.
Interpersonal nonverbal signals
include smiles, who sits where at a meeting, the size of an office, and how long someone keeps a visitor waiting.
When writing business documents, it is appropriate to use a long word instead of a short word when the long word...
is the only word that expresses your meaning exactly
What is an example of a positive message?
offering details to employees about the insurance benefits that a company offers
One of the marketing teams of FitGear Inc., a sporting goods company, has prepared a report on the marketing strategies for its new line of ice hockey equipment. The team is now in the process of checking the report against the originally stated objectives. In addition, the team has shared the report with the other teams to obtain feedback. In which of the following activities is FitGear Inc.'s marketing team primarily engaged?
revising
Catherine is an assistant trainer at SmartProof Inc. She is working on a training manual to help new users learn how to operate the company's editing platform. Employees will use the manual as a learning tool in training seminars. The manual will also serve as an on-the-job reference. The senior trainers and system analysts who designed the editing platform are expected to offer their comments on Catherine's draft. In this scenario, the system analysts represent the...?
secondary audience
It is not necessary to include benefits in positive and informative messages when...
shaping your audience's attitudes toward the information or toward your organization.
When you want to emphasize specific numbers to your reader, use a(n)...
table
Ghoti, a design executive, is preparing a design report for the industrial cooler to be manufactured by her department. In her report, she combines a few graphs with different scales but avoids all three-dimensional (3D) graphs. She includes breaks in the bars while using truncated scales and ensures that she differentiates between estimated and actual values. She also uses as little color as possible and limits the use of chartjunk in the visuals. Which of the following will make Ghoti's report misleading?
the combination of graphs with different scales
Mateo is a marketing executive at a firm that manufactures snack foods. He is currently working on a proposal to promote the company's new line of veggie chips. While preparing for the presentation, he keeps in mind the marketing directors of the company, who have the power to adopt the plan. He also notes that his marketing manager might approve or reject his proposal before it is presented to the directors. On the day of the presentation, Mateo notices that the sales manager, the finance manager, and the production manager are also present to offer their comments on the proposal. In this scenario, who among the following individuals is the gatekeeper for Mateo's proposal?
the marketing manager
Letter Formats
•Block Format (Figure A.1.) •Simplified Format (Figure A.2) •Both: •Salutation: How would you talk on the phone? •Hi Bob! à Dear Bob •Hi Mrs. Haimson à Dear Mrs. Haimson •"Dear"?? Not used in Simplified Format Complimentary (complementary?) Closes Sincerely Yours truly Informal: Cordially Thank you Cheers Colon after salutation, Comma after the close (KNOW THIS)
Basic Criteria for Effective Messages
•Clear—the meaning the audience gets is the meaning the communicator intended. •Complete—all of the audience's questions are answered. •Correct—all of the information in the message is accurate. •Saves the receiver's time—the style, organization, and visual or aural impact of the message help the receivers read, understand, and act on the information as quickly as possible. •Builds goodwill—the message presents a positive image of the communicator and his or her organization. Whether a message meets these five criteria depends on the interactions among the communicator, the audience, the purposes of the message, and the situation.
When to Use Passive Voice
•Emphasize the object receiving the action, not the agent • The order was shipped November 15. •Provide coherence within a paragraph. A sentence is easier to read if old information is in the beginning. •The bank made several risky loans in the late 1990s. These loans were written off as "uncollectable" in 2001. •If active voice would require the writer to specify who damaged the order. Passive is more tactful here. •The order was damaged during shipment.
More Parts of Letter
•Reference Line (RE:...) •Usually in Simplified •Letterhead •Use only on the first page Use name, date, page number on other pages •Inside Address •Spell name correctly! •Enclosures •Encl: Evaluation Form •CC: and BCC: •Computer copy, Blind CC
Subject Lines
•Specific, Concise, Appropriate •Good news: Put in subject line •Neutral news: Summarize in subject line •Bad news: Use in subject line to make person read it, otherwise, use neutral subject line •Easy request? •Put subject of request (or actual request) •Persuading reluctant reader? •Use common ground, a benefit, or a neutral subject line
More Commas
•To offset words like "however" and "therefore." -The sales department discovered, however, that the forecast for next year is challenging. •To separate more than one adjective modifying a noun. -The sales department discovered the troublesome, challenging forecast for next year. (NOT after challenging)
Ways to lose goodwill:
•Use improper courtesy titles •Employ bureaucratic language •Convey a selfish tone •Bury the main point •Make a vague request Misuse or misspell words
Faulty Comparisons
•When comparing two objects by degree, use "er" •When comparing three or more objects by degree, use "est" •Between the twins, Mackenzie is the faster of the two. •Among our three children, Mackenzie is the tallest.
Comma Problems
•Wrong: Let's eat Grandma! •Wrong: I want to thank my parents, Bill Nye and The Lord. •Oxford Comma (serial comma) - a comma used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items, before 'and' or 'or' (e.g. an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect ).
9 Grammar Pet Peeves
•should of vs. should have •specifically vs. pacifically •for all intensive purposes vs. for all intents and purposes •less vs. fewer •couldn't care less vs could care less •hone vs home •supposedly vs. supposably •regiment vs regimen -try to vs. try and