Communicating for Distance Education

Anthony’s Dilemma Digital Story Transcript

This text provides the script of the Anthony’s Dilemma digital story. Use this text as an alternative or supplement to viewing the digital story itself.

Script

“Here’s the deal: Yesterday I answered a Discussion Question about business etiquette. No problem, right? Well, apparently I didn’t pay close enough attention to how I phrased my answer because supposedly I really offended a classmate. I was running off to a dinner with friends and had to get it done, so it’s not poetry by any means.

Maybe if I read it to you, you could give me a few suggestions?

Here’s what I wrote:”

Hi guys,

At a company conference I saw this business lady give a presentation on etiquette. I was surprised because she had a lot of good things to say…I figured business etiquette would be really corny but believe it or not she actually had some good pointers. So I used some of her tips at the company picnic later that month that all the managers and their wives attended. I’m not a manager, but want to be one, so I figured I’d better polish up on my etiquette while talking to some of the good old boys at the top. I was up for promotion and needed to do a little networking. Well, it worked! I used some of the tips and before I knew it, my boss was telling me how impressed the guys at the picnic were with me and that it was about time I got a raise. I recommend that any man who wants to advance in the business world should seriously consider brushing up on his etiquette, just like I did. It really works!

Sincerely,

Anthony

“So that’s what I wrote. As far as I could tell my email sounded just fine. But then I got an email from a classmate saying I should think twice how I phrase things because my post came off sounding sexist. I wrote back to say I didn’t mean to offend her but that’s just how I write and I don’t know how to write it any differently.

It really bugs me because I don’t know what to do. When you’re face-to-face with someone you can just laugh off your mistakes. But it’s not that simple when you’re writing back-and-forth with your classmates. Now I’m worried about offending the rest of the class. I figured you could help me out—got any tips on what I could do better?”