ch 6 business comm

Which statement about ease of navigation is true?
You should avoid using headings in information-rich and complex messages.

Visual appeal should be the first consideration for all written business communications.
Documents with too much text and not enough white space look daunting or cluttered.
Readers are likely to be distracted by bullets and numberings in a document.
In general, you should use special formatting as much as you can so your ideas stand out.

Documents with too much text and not enough white space look daunting or cluttered.

Glen is writing a memo to suggest that his company hire someone to act on its behalf in a foreign market. If he wants to improve the ease of reading of his message, which term should he use to describe that person?
fiduciary
executor
agent
procurator
envoy

agent

People reading a business message are most likely to be confused by a sentence that
uses action verbs rather than passive verbs.
uses active voice rather than passive voice.
has parallel structure.
contains redundancies to drive home the point.
does not mention the subject.

does not mention the subject.

Which statement about active voice and passive voice is true?
The active voice diverts attention from the doer.
People tend to think in a doer-action-object pattern.
The active voice is best when you do not want to attribute blame.
People tend to sound bossy when using the passive voice.
The passive voice places the object first.

People tend to think in a doer-action-object pattern.

In order to ensure the completeness of a business message, one should
be specific.
avoid empty phrases.
avoid redundancies.
control paragraph length.
use action verbs.

be specific.

As a rule of thumb, for routine messages, the sentence length should be no more than
8 words.
15 words.
20 words.
25 words.
30 words.

15 words.

People are most likely to process information quickly when writers use
prepositional phrases.
action verbs.
the passive voice.
complex words.
long sentences.

action verbs.

Which task are you most likely to do during the first pass of proofreading?
Check for grammatical errors.
Look for typographical mistakes.
Imagine how the audience will respond.
Check for problems with the writing style.
Look for issues with language mechanics.

Imagine how the audience will respond.

Which of the following is most likely to improve the ease of navigation in information-rich and complex messages?
using headings to convey the contents of sections
avoiding the use of numbered or bulleted lists
using several different font styles in the document
using a new style of formatting for each section
avoiding the use of too much white space

using headings to convey the contents of sections

Your readers will form an immediate impression about your document based on how much

white space (areas without text) it has. Documents with too much text and not enough white space look daunting or cluttered. On the other hand, documents with too much white space may look insufficient.

To keep your writing natural and engaging

remember that people generally process simple, short, familiar words more quickly than long, complex or unfamiliar ones.

readers may become confused.

When the subject or doer is missing from a sentence

Accuracy

is a basic objective of all business communications because your colleagues, customers, and clients base important decisions on your communications.

People tend to think in a doer-action-object pattern

so using this pattern in your writing enhances comprehension.

You can achieve completeness with three basic strategies

providing all relevant information; being accurate; and being specific.

Most sentences that begin with "it is" or "there are" fail to provide a specific subject and generally contain more words than necessary.

Readers naturally want to know precisely who or what the subject of a sentence is, particularly in business writing, where specificity is so important.

The reviewing process includes three interrelated components

conducting the FAIR test, proofreading, and getting feedback (generally not needed for routine messages

Proofreading involves

rereading your entire document to make sure it is influential and accurate. You might consider rereading each sentence several times, each time with a different focus. On your first pass, place yourself in the position of your audience members. On your second pass, check for problems with writing style and language mechanics.

Typically, accurate information is
concise.
exact.
wordy.
redundant.
general.

exact

Which task are you most likely to do during the final pass of proofreading?
Check for grammatical errors.
Look for typographical mistakes.
Imagine how the audience will respond.
Ask yourself if you are confident in your facts.
See if you have made logical errors.

Look for typographical mistakes

Typically, the maximum length for a paragraph in a business message is
75 words.
100 words.
150 words.
200 words.
300 words.

150 words.

stages of proofreading

On your first pass, place yourself in the position of your audience members. On your second pass, check for problems with writing style and language mechanics. You should check for typographical errors only after all your other corrections have been made.

what are buzzwords

which are workplace terms that become trite because of overuse, can stir negative feelings among some readers. Using the buzzword "downsizing" as a term for layoffs is likely to annoy employees.

Accuracy is the process of

is a basic objective of all business communications because your colleagues, customers, and clients base important decisions on your communications.2 In short, accurate information is true, correct, and exact. You should aim for accuracy in facts, figures, statistics, and word choice. -strongly impacts your readers’ perceptions of your credibility.

Be Specific

Being specific also affects the judgments your readers make about your credibility. Specific statements lead your readers to believe that you know what you’re talking about (competence); that you are not hiding anything (character); and that you want your readers to be informed (caring). Being vague, on the other hand, detracts from your credibility. See Table 6.2 for examples of less specific and more specific writing

Typically, paragraphs should contain

Typically, paragraphs should contain

One primary cause of overly lengthy paragraph

is placing more than one main idea or topic in the paragraph. Your readers can process the information in your message far more easily if you create unified paragraphs in which each paragraph focuses on one idea or topic. Paragraphs with more than one idea often confuse readers

One way to reduce word count and make your messages easier to read is to avoid redundancies,

which are words or phrases that repeat the same meaning.

Eliminating extra words allows you to get your ideas across as efficiently as possible

You will often find that you can reduce word count by 30 to 40 percent simply by converting many of your prepositional phrases into single-word verbs. Like other elements of style we have discussed already, prepositional phrases are not bad in themselves. In many cases, they are perfectly appropriate.

You will often find that you can reduce word count by 30 to 40 percent simply by converting many of your prepositional phrases into single-word verbs. Like other elements of style we have discussed already, prepositional phrases are not bad in themselves. In many cases, they are perfectly appropriate.

the easier it is for them to process the information you present. Ease of processing means your readers need less mental effort to understand your message, which is especially important for readers who are busy and preoccu-pied with other work challenges.

First, people can generally process information more quickly when writers use

action verbs. Second, people tend to think in a doer-action-object pattern, so using this pattern in your writing enhances comprehension

Use Action Verbs When Possible

Using action verbs focuses on the goal of coordinating action in the workplace and livens up your writing. Also, it usually reduces word count.

One way to immediately improve your writing is use active rather than passive voice in most sentences.

In active voice, this sentence immediately identifies the doer (Sunrise). It then uses a strong verb (provides) and proceeds to the object (free training). In passive voice, this sentence begins with the object of the action (free training), proceeds to a weak verb (is), then employs a strong verb (provided), and leaves out the doer, thus lacking the clarity of active voice

In active voice, this sentence immediately identifies the doer (Sunrise). It then uses a strong verb (provides) and proceeds to the object (free training). In passive voice, this sentence begins with the object of the action (free training), proceeds to a weak verb (is), then employs a strong verb (provided), and leaves out the doer, thus lacking the clarity of active voice

It also emphasizes the business orientation of action. Perhaps most important, it specifies the doer.

when to use active and passive

While active voice is the preferred writing style for most business writing, passive voice is sometimes better when attempting to avoid blaming others or sounding bossy. Some research reports also use passive voice to emphasize neutrality

Use Parallel Language

Using parallel language means that you apply a consistent grammatical pattern across a sentence or paragraph. Parallelism is most important when you use series or lists -For example, when you describe a product with three characteristics, use the same grammatical pattern for each-that is, for example, choose adjectives or nouns or verbs for all of them. When you use consistent grammatical patterns for items in lists and series, readers can process the information far more naturally and quickly (

Avoid Buzzwords and Figures of Speech

To keep your writing natural and engaging, make sure you don’t distract your readers with overused or out-of-place words or phrases. Buzzwords, which are workplace terms that become trite because of overuse, can stir negative feelings among some readers Figures of speech, such as idioms and metaphors, which contain nonliteral meanings, are generally out of place or inappropriate in business writing.

Avoid It Is/There Are

Most sentences that begin with it is or there are fail to provide a specific subject and generally contain more words than necessary. A message can be particularly awkward when many of the sentences begin with it is or there are. By rewording it is/there are statements, you generally liven up your writing.

Use Headings

In information-rich and complex messages, headings can help your readers identify key ideas and navigate the document to areas of intere – One way to be consistent with your headings is to apply formatting features available in most word processing programs – make sure you concisely and accurately convey the contents of a section