|
Answer to #1
Answer: As a first step in the evaluating process, reread the entire document from the audience's perspective. Think about the analysis stage of the ACE process and the purpose and outcome you identified for the communication. Ask yourself if the document has the right information and the right approach to achieve your goal:
Are your purpose and your main point clear? Underline your purpose and main point. If you cannot find explicit statements to underline, you need to revise your draft.
Have you provided all the information you need to support your purpose? Consider all the pieces of information you believe your audience will need to know and mark each of them in your draft. If any information is missing, revise. If you cannot imagine what your audience will need to know, ask friends or colleagues to provide feedback.
Will the organization of that information make sense to the audience? Read the topic sentences of each paragraph. Does each topic sentence identify the main idea of the para-graph? Do the details of the paragraph relate to the topic sentence? Does the progression from one topic sentence to the next seem logical?
Is the message persuasive enough to be successful? If your message is intended to be persuasive, identify key objections your audience may have. Also identify audience benefits.
Answer to #2
Answer: The active voice should dominate in business writing, as it leads to clear and lively writing. The passive voice is usually wordier and leads to a weaker style. However, there are special circumstances where the passive voice can come in handy. Stating, The deadline was missed, instead of, You missed the deadline, avoids placing blame on an individual. The passive voice deemphasizes the role of the participant, and focuses instead on the issue of the deadline itself. Saying A great new website was designed, instead of Our tech department designed a great new website, again deemphasizes the participants' role. In this case the situation is positive, and wording it in the passive voice does not single out an individual or group for praise. Depending on whether you want to focus on praising the people responsible or on drawing attention to the completed project, you could use either passive or active voice. So while the active voice is preferred in business writing, the passive voice can be useful when you don't want to assign blame, or when you want to emphasize the action instead of the actor.
Answer to #3
Answer: Inexperienced communicators often make the mistake of looking for content that supports their own point of view, rather than looking for content that provides a complete picture of the issue. As an ethical business communicator, you have the responsibility to provide information that al-lows your audience to make good business decisionseven if that information conflicts with your own ideas.
For example, assume you found positive information about flexible work hours from a non-profit workforce newsletter and two independent news agencies. You select information from each source to prepare a short email report intended to persuade your supervisor to adopt flexible summer hours. However, suppose you also find a source that suggests that some employees take advantage of the flexibility by arriving to work late and leaving early. If you fail to analyze and address relevant information that contradicts your point of view, you are committing an ethical error of omission. Decide how to deal with that information. Is it strong enough to make you modify your point of view? Is it weak enough that you can argue against it? Does it bring up a problem that you can solve? To be ethical, report the information, cite the source, and then argue against it or provide a solution to the problem the source raises. For example, you could suggest that the company implement a reporting process that documents employees' actual work hours. By addressing potentially negative information, you demonstrate your integrity as a business communicator as well as your ability to think critically and solve problems.
Answer to #4
Answer: Switching between drafting and revising is inefficient because the two activities require very different mental processes. In contrast to the creative process of drafting, revising is a logical process that involves evaluating the effectiveness of your message in relation to your audience and purpose, and then making changes in content, organization, or wording as necessary. You can be more creative in your drafting and more logical in your revising if you separate the activities.
Answer to #5
Answer: If a writer lacks confidence in his skills, he may be too hard on himself and evaluate each piece of language as he goes along. Thinking that each word must be perfect before moving forward will seriously slow down the writing process and will hamper creativity. How can you take any risks if you are afraid of making a mistake? Remember, this is the drafting process and you will have the opportunity to create a second and even third draft if necessary. This obsessive behavior is referred to as the perfectionist syndrome. A lack of confidence may also cause writer's block. If a writer doesn't feel secure in his ideas, or in how he expresses them, he may find himself staring at a blank screen, paralyzed from putting words on paper. The drafting process is just that, a process, and a draft doesn't need to be perfect the first time. Getting all your ideas down on paper will give you the chance to really express yourself, and you can refine language and style later.
|
Quick Reply
