Week #3 - writing
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Chapter 6 from Business Communication for Success was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license without attribution, as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. © 2014, The Saylor Foundation.
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Chapter 6 Writing
Although I usually think I know what I’m going to be writing about, what I’m going to
say, most of the time it doesn’t happen that way at all. At some point I get misled down
a garden path, I get surprised by an idea that I hadn’t anticipated getting, which is a
little bit like being in a laboratory.
Lewis Thomas
Getting Started
I N T R O D U C T O R Y E X E R C I S E S
1. Match each statement in the left column with the most appropriate mode of
communication in the right column, and note why.
___ 1. Need the sales figures for the last month available in three days
A. Text message or instant message (IM)
___ 2. Inform department employees of face-to-face (F2F) meeting next month B. E-mail
___ 3. International client requests price quote C. Fax
___ 4. Assigned to investigate partnership with supplier to codevelop a new product D. Report
___ 5. Need to inform employee of a discrepancy in their expense report E. Proposal
___ 6. Need to facilitate meeting with two department managers from two distinct time zones.
F. Face-to-face (F2F) meeting, interpersonal interaction
___ 7. Need to follow up with customer post sale G. F2F meeting, group or team
___ 8. Need to contact new prospective customer H. Meeting (mediated), teleconference or videoconference
There are no right or wrong answers to this matching exercise, but there are strengths
and weaknesses associated with each mode. Does the information need to be received
as soon as possible? Will the document require time and preparation? Will the result be
comprehensive and require visual representation of data, trends, and their
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relationships(s)? Associate each statement with what you consider the most appropriate
model of communication and note why. Discuss your responses with your classmates.
I N T R O D U C T O R Y E X E R C I S E S ( C O N T . )
2. These sentences focus on some of the most common errors in English. Can you fill in
the blanks correctly?
1. accept orexcept
The office will _______ applications until 5 p.m. on the 31st. accept
Attendance is required for all employees _______ supervisors. except
2. affect oreffect
To _______ the growth of plants, we can regulate the water supply. affect
A lack of water has a predictable _______ on most plants. effect
3. e.g. or i.e.
Please order 2,000 imprinted giveaways (_______, pens or coffee mugs) e.g.
Charge them to my account (_______, account #98765). i.e.
4. its or it’s
The department surpassed _______ previous sales record this quarter. its
_______ my opinion that we reached peak oil in 2008. It’s
5. lay or lie
Please _______ the report on the desk. lay
The doctor asked him to _______ down on the examination table. lie
6. pressureor pressurize
We need to _______ the liquid nitrogen pressurize
It might be possible to _______ him to pressure
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tanks. resign.
7. principleor principal
It’s the basic _________ of farming: no water, no food. principle
The _______ reason for the trip is to attend the sales meeting. principal
8. regardlessorirregardless
_______ of what we do, gas prices are unlikely to go back down. Regardless
_______ of your beliefs, please try to listen with an open mind.
Regardless (irregardlessis not a standard word; see your dictionary)
9. than orthen
This year’s losses were worse _______ last year’s. than
If we can cut our costs, _______ it might be possible to break even. then
10. that orwhich
_______ type of marketing data did you need? Which
Karen misplaced the report, _______ caused a delay in making a decision. which
There are several kinds of data _______ could be useful. that
11 there their, orthey’re
The report is _________, in the top file drawer. there
__________ strategic advantage depends on a wide distribution network. Their
__________ planning to attend the sales meeting in Pittsburgh. They’re
12. to too, ortwo Customers to After sales too
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need _______ drive slower if they want to save gas.
meeting, you should visit customers in the Pittsburgh area _______.
In fact, the _______ of you should make some customer visits together. two
13.uninterestedordisinterested
He would be the best person to make a decision, since he isn’t biased and is relatively _______ in the outcome. disinterested
The sales manager tried to speak dynamically, but the sales reps were simply _______ in what he had to say. uninterested
14. who,whom,who’s, orwhose
__________ truck is that? Whose
__________ going to pay for the repairs? Who’s
__________ will go to the interview? Who
To __________ should we address the thank-you note? whom
15 your oryou’re
My office is bigger than _______ cubicle. your
_______ going to learn how to avoid making these common mistakes in English. You’re
If all the world is a stage then you, as a business writer, must be the script writer,
correct? Actually, those who employ you, specify your job duties, manage the business,
and designate which problems you are to solve are more like the script writers,
directors, and producers. So what role does that leave you as a business writer? Actor.
You may not be seen “on stage” by the suppliers you write, the departments you inform
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with your reports, or the customers you serve, but your writing represents you and your
organization. As an actor must learn his or her lines, you too must learn the role of a
business writer within the context of your business or organization. It may well be that
you are allowed a degree of improvisation and creativity when you interpret your role, or
it could be the case that many of the written documents you will produce follow a
standard template, much like a script, that designates your lines before the writing
process begins. Knowing your place on stage and how it relates to your business is an
important aspect of business writing best not ignored.
This chapter focuses on several strategies for success when it comes to the creative
process of writing, and your awareness of these skills will prove invaluable as your
responsibility increases and your ability to shape documents develops. Never lose sight
of the fact that each document exists with a universe of relationships and interaction; it
does not stand alone. Also remember that what you write today, particularly if you
“publish” it on the Internet, will be there for years to come. Always consider how your
words will represent you and your organization when you are not there to clarify,
defend, or correct them. Your audience will have expectations of you, as will your
employer, and as an effective business writer you know that one key to success is
meeting these expectations.
Creative writing for exposition, narration, and self-expression is an important part of
writing, but in the business context you have a role, job duties, and responsibilities both
internal and external to your organization. Your mastery of clear and concise writing
will directly affect the interpretation, and misinterpretation, of your message. Your goal
remains to reduce misunderstandings through the effective and efficient use of words in
business documents, and the well-known mandate to “Omit needless words” [1] stands
true. Up to this point you have been preparing to write, but now the moment has come
for performance.
[1] Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York, NY:
Macmillian.
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6.1 Organization L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
1. Understand how to develop and organize content in patterns that are appropriate for your
document and audience.
2. Demonstrate your ability to order, outline, and emphasize main points in one or more written
assignments.
3. Demonstrate how to compose logically organized paragraphs, sentences, and transitions in one
or more written assignments.
The purpose of business writing is to communicate facts and ideas. In order to
accomplish that purpose, each document has key components that need to be present in
order for your reading audience to understand the message. These elements may seem
simple to the point that you may question how any writer could neglect them. But if you
take note of how often miscommunication and misunderstanding happen, particularly
in written communications, you will realize that it happens all the time. Omission or
neglect may be intentional, but it is often unintentional; the writer assumes (wrongly)
that the reader will easily understand a concept, idea, or the meaning of the message.
From background to language, culture to education, there are many variables that come
into play and make effective communication a challenge. The degree to which you
address these basic elements will increase the effectiveness of your documents. Each
document must address the following:
• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• How
• (and sometimes) Why
If you have these elements in mind as you prepare your document, it will be easier to
decide what to write and in what order. They will also be useful when you are reviewing
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your document before delivering it. If your draft omits any one of these elements or
addresses it in an unclear fashion, you will know what you need to do to fix it.
Another way to approach organizing your document is with the classical proofs known
asethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos, or your credibility, will come through with your
choice of sources and authority on the subject(s). Your logos, or the logic of your
thoughts represented across the document, will allow the reader to come to understand
the relationships among who, what, where, when, and so forth. If your readers cannot
follow your logic they will lose interest, fail to understand your message, and possibly
not even read it at all. Finally, your pathos, or passion and enthusiasm, will be reflected
in your design and word choices. If your document fails to convey enthusiasm for the
subject, how can you expect the reader to be interested? Every document, indeed every
communication, represents aspects of these classical elements.
General Purpose and Thesis Statements No matter what your business writing project involves, it needs to convey some central
idea. To clarify the idea in your mind and make sure it comes through to your audience,
write a thesis statement. A thesis statement, or central idea, should be short, specific,
and to the point. Steven Beebe and Susan Beebe [1] recommend five guiding principles
when considering your thesis statement. The thesis statement should
1. be a declarative statement;
2. be a complete sentence;
3. use specific language, not vague generalities;
4. be a single idea;
5. reflect consideration of the audience.
This statement is key to the success of your document. If your audience has to work to
find out what exactly you are talking about, or what your stated purpose or goal is, they
will be less likely to read, be influenced, or recall what you have written. By stating your
point clearly in your introduction, and then referring back to it in the body of the
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document and at the end, you will help your readers to understand and remember your
message.
Organizing Principles Once you know the basic elements of your message, you need to decide in what order to
present them to your audience. A central organizing principle will help you determine a
logical order for your information. One common organizing principle is chronology, or
time: the writer tells what happened first, then what happened next, then what is
happening now, and, finally, what is expected to happen in the future. Another common
organizing principle is comparison: the writer describes one product, an argument on
one side of an issue, or one possible course of action; and then compares it with another
product, argument, or course of action.
As an example, let’s imagine that you are a business writer within the transportation
industry and you have been assigned to write a series of informative pieces about an
international initiative called the “TransAmerica Transportation System Study.” Just as
the First Transcontinental Railroad once unified the United States from east to west,
which was further reinforced by the Interstate Highway System, the proposed
TransAmerica Transportation System will facilitate integrating the markets of Mexico,
the United States, and Canada from north to south. Rail transportation has long been an
integral part of the transportation and distribution system for goods across the
Americas, and its role will be important in this new system.
In deciding how to organize your report, you have several challenges and many
possibilities of different organizing principles to use. Part of your introduction will
involve a historical perspective, and a discussion of the events that led from the First
Transcontinental Railroad to the TransAmerica Transportation System proposal. Other
aspects will include comparing the old railroad and highway systems to the new ones,
and the transformative effect this will have on business and industry. You will need to
acknowledge the complex relationships and challenges that collaboration has overcome,
and highlight the common benefits. You will be called on to write informative
documents as part of a public relations initiative, persuasive essays to underscore the
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benefits for those who prefer the status quo, and even write speeches for celebrations
and awards.
Table 6.1 "Organizing Principles" lists seventeen different organizing principles and how
they might be applied to various pieces you would write about the TransAmerican
Transportation System. The left column provides the name of the organizing principle.
The center column explains the process of organizing a document according to each
principle, and the third column provides an example.
Table 6.1 Organizing Principles Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
1. Time (Chronological)
Structuring your document by time shows a series of events or steps in a process, which typically has a beginning, middle, and end. “Once upon a time stories” follow a chronological pattern.
Before the First Transcontinental
Railroad, the events that led to its
construction, and its impact on early
America. Additional examples may
include the national highway projects
and the development of reliable air
freight.
Now we can consider the
TransAmerica Transportation System
and the similar and distinct events
that led us to today.
2. Comparison
Structuring your document by comparison focuses on the similarities and/or differences between points or concepts.
A comparison of pre– and post–First
Transcontinental Railroad America,
showing how health and life
expectancy improved with the
increased access to goods and
services.
Another example could be drawn from
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Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
air freight, noting that organ donation
in one part of the country can now
save a life in another state or on the
opposite coast.
In a similar way, the TransAmerica
Transportation System will improve
the lives of the citizens of Mexico, the
United States, and Canada.
3. Contrast
Structuring your document by using contrasting points highlights the differences between items and concepts.
A contrast of pre– and post–First
Transcontinental Railroad America
showing how much time it took to
communicate via letter, or how long it
took to move out West. Just in time
delivery and the modern highway
system and trucking may serve as an
example for contrast.
The TransAmerica Transportation
System will reduce customs clearing
time while increasing border security
along the distribution network.
4. Cause and Effect
Structuring your document by cause and effect structuring establishes a relationship between two events or situations, making the connection clear.
The movement of people and goods out West grew considerably from 1750 to 1850. With the availability of a new and faster way to go West, people generally supported its construction. Both the modern highway and air transportation systems may serve as examples, noting how people, goods,
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Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
and services can be delivered in drastically reduced time frames. Citizens of all three countries involved have increasingly been involved in trade, and movement across common borders through the TransAmerica Transportation System will enable the movement of goods and services with great efficiency.
5. Problem and Solution
Structuring your document by problem and solution means you state the problem and detail how it was solved. This approach is effective for persuasive speeches.
Manufacturers were producing better goods for less money at the start of the Industrial Revolution, but they lacked a fast and effective method of getting their goods to growing markets. The First Transcontinental Railroad gave them speed, economy, and access to new markets. Highways and air routes have dramatically increased this trend. In a similar way, this new system is the next evolutionary step in the integration and growth of our common marketplaces.
6. Classification (Categorical)
Structuring your document by classification establishes categories.
At the time the United States
considered the First Transcontinental
Railroad, there were three main types
of transportation: by water, by horse,
and by foot.
Now rail, road, and air transportation
are the norm across business and
industry.
7. Biographical Structuring your document by biography 1804: Lewis and Clark travel 4,000
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Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
means examining specific people as they relate to the central topic. miles in over two years across
America
1862: President Lincoln signs the
Pacific Railroad Act
1876: The Transcontinental Express
from New York arrives in San
Francisco with a record-breaking time
of 83 hours and 39 minutes
2009: President Obama can cross
America by plane in less than 5 hours
So why shouldn’t the ratio of time
from import to consumer be reduced?
8. Space (Spatial)
Structuring your document by space involves the parts of something and how they fit to form the whole.
A train uses a heat source to heat water, create steam, and turn a turbine, which moves a lever, causing a wheel to move on a track. A package picked up from an office in New York in the morning is delivered to another in Los Angeles in the afternoon. From a Pacific port in Northern Mexico to a market in Chicago or Canada, this system unifies the movement of goods and services.
9. Ascending and Descending
Structuring your document by ascending or descending order involves focusing on quantity and quality. One good story (quality) leads to the larger picture, or the reverse.
A day in the life of a traveler in 1800. Incremental developments in transportation to the present, expressed through statistics, graphs, maps, and charts. A day in the life of a traveler in 1960, 1980, or even 2000, with visual examples of changes and trends may also contribute to the
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Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
document. A day in the life of a traveler in 2009 compared to the relatively slow movement of goods and services, constrained by an antiquated transportation network that negatively impacts efficiency.
10. Psychological
It is also called “Monroe’s Motivated
Sequence.” [2]
Structuring your document on the
psychological aspects of the audience
involves focusing on their inherent needs
and wants. See Maslow[3] and
Schutz. [4] The author calls attention to
a need, then focuses on the satisfaction of
the need,visualization of the solution,
and ends with a proposed or
historical action. Useful for a persuasive
message.
When families in the year 1800 went out West, they rarely returned to see family and friends. The country as a whole was an extension of this distended family, separated by time and distance. The railroad, the highways, and air travel brought families and the country together. In the same way, common markets already exist across the three countries, but remain separated by time, distance, and an antiquated system scheduled for significant improvement.
11. Elimination
Structuring your document using the process of elimination involves outlining all the possibilities.
The First Transcontinental Railroad
helped pave the way for the
destruction of the Native American
way of life in 1870. After examining
treaties, relocation and reservations,
loss of the buffalo, disease, and war,
the railroad can be accurately
considered the catalyst for the end of
an era.
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Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
From the lessons of history we can
learn to protect and preserve our
distinct cultures, languages, and
sovereign territories as we integrate a
common transportation system for
our mutual benefit and security.
12. Example
Structuring your document by example involves providing vivid, specific examples (as opposed to abstract representations of data) to support main points.
Just as it once took weeks, even months, for a simple letter to move from coast to coast, goods and services have had a long and arduous process from importation to market. For example, the popular Christmas toy X, imported to Mexico from China in September, may well not be on store shelves by December 25 under the old system. Now it can move from importation to market in under two weeks.
13. Process and Procedure
Structuring your document by process and procedure is similar to the time (chronological) organizational pattern with the distinction of steps or phases that lead to a complete end goal. This is often referred to as the “how-to” organizational pattern.
From conception to design, manufacturing to packaging, to transportation and inspection, to sales and sales support, let’s examine how the new transportation system facilitates increased efficiency in delivery to market and product support.
14. Point Pattern
Structuring your document in a series of points allows for the presentation of diverse assertions to be aligned in a cohesive argument with clear support.
The TransAmerica Transportation System offers several advantages: security, speed, efficiency, and cost reduction.
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Organizing Principle Explanation of Process Example
15. Definition
Structuring your document with a guiding definition allows for a clear introduction of terms and concepts while reducing the likelihood of misinterpretation.
The TransAmerica Transportation System can be defined by its purpose, its integrated components, and its impact on the secure movement of goods and services across common borders.
16. Testimonial
Structuring your document around a testimony, or first person account of an experience, can be an effective way to make an abstract concept clearer to an audience.
According to Ms. X, owner of InterCountry Trading Company, it previously took 12 weeks to import, clear, and deliver a product from Mexico to the United States, and an additional four weeks to take delivery in Canada. Now the process takes less than two weeks.
17. Ceremonial (Events, Ceremonies, or Celebrations)
Structuring your document by focusing on the following:
Thanking dignitaries and representatives
The importance of the event
The relationship of the event to the
audience
Thanking the audience for participation
in the event, ceremony, or celebration
Thanking the representatives, builders, and everyone involved with the construction of the TransAmerica Transportation System. The railroad will unite America, and bring us closer in terms of trade, communication, and family. Thank you for participating in today’s dedication.
Outlines Chances are you have learned the basic principles of outlining in English writing
courses: anoutline is a framework that organizes main ideas and subordinate ideas in a
hierarchical series of roman numerals and alphabetical letters. The right column
of Table 6.2 "Outline 1"presents a generic outline in a classical style. In the left column,
the three main structural elements of an informative document are tied to the outline.
Your task is to fill in the right column outline with the actual ideas and points you are
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making in your writing project. Feel free to adapt and tailor it to your needs, depending
on the specifics of your report, letter, or other document.
Table 6.2 Outline 1 Introduction Main Idea
Body
I. Main idea: Point 1
Subpoint 1
A.1 specific information 1
A.2 specific information 2
Body
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: Main points 1–3
Table 6.3 "Outline 2" presents an alternate outline form that may be more suitable for
brief documents like letters and e-mails. You can use this format as a model or modify it
as needed.
Table 6.3 Outline 2 1 Introduction General purpose, statement, or thesis statement
2 Body
Point 1:
Point 2:
Point 3:
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3 Conclusion Summarize main points
Paragraphs Paragraphs are how we package information in business communication, and the more
efficient the package, the easier the meaning can be delivered.
You may wish to think of each paragraph as a small essay within a larger information
platform, defined by a guiding thesis and an organizing principle. The standard five-
paragraph essay format used on college term papers is mirrored in individual
paragraphs. Often college essays have minimum or maximum word counts, but
paragraphs hardly ever have established limits. Each paragraph focuses on one central
idea. It can be as long or as short as it needs to be to get the message across, but
remember your audience and avoid long, drawn-out paragraphs that may lose your
reader’s attention.
Just as a document generally has an introduction, body, and conclusion, so does a
paragraph. Each paragraph has one idea, thought, or purpose that is stated in an
introductory sentence. This is followed by one or more supporting sentences and
concluded with a summary statement and transition or link to the next idea, or
paragraph. Let’s address each in turn:
• The topic sentence states the main thesis, purpose, or topic of the paragraph; it defines the
subject matter to be addressed in that paragraph.
• Body sentences support the topic sentence and relate clearly to the subject matter of the
paragraph and overall document. They may use an organizing principle similar to that of the
document itself (chronology, contrast, spatial) or introduce a related organizing principle (point
by point, process or procedure).
• The conclusion sentence brings the paragraph to a close; it may do this in any of several ways. It
may reinforce the paragraph’s main point, summarize the relationships among the body
sentences, and/or serve as a transition to the next paragraph.
Effective Sentences
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We have talked about the organization of documents and paragraphs, but what about
the organization of sentences? You have probably learned in English courses that each
sentence needs to have a subject and a verb; most sentences also have an object. There
are four basic types of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and
exclamatory. Here are some examples:
• Declarative – You are invited to join us for lunch.
• Imperative – Please join us for lunch.
• Interrogative – Would you like to join us for lunch?
• Exclamatory – I’m so glad you can join us!
Declarative sentences make a statement, whereas interrogative sentences ask a
question. Imperative sentences convey a command, and exclamatory sentencesexpress a
strong emotion. Interrogative and exclamatory sentences are easy to identify by their
final punctuation, a question mark and an exclamation point, respectively. In business
writing, declarative and imperative sentences are more frequently used.
There are also compound and complex sentences, which may use two or more of the
four basic types in combination:
1. Simple sentence. Sales have increased.
2. Compound sentence. Sales have increased and profits continue to grow.
3. Complex sentence. Sales have increased and we have the sales staff to thank for it.
4. Compound complex sentence. Although the economy has been in recession, sales have
increased, and we have sales staff to thank for it.
In our simple sentence, “sales” serves as the subject and “have increased” serves as the
verb. The sentence can stand alone because it has the two basic parts that constitute a
sentence. In our compound sentence we have two independent clauses that could stand
alone; they are joined by the conjunction “and.” In our complex sentence, we have an
independent clause, which can stand on its own, combined with a fragment (not a
sentence) or dependent clause which, if it were not joined to the independent clause,
would not make any sense. The fragment “and we have the sales staff to thank” on its
own would have us asking “for what?” as the subject is absent. Complex compound
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sentences combine a mix of independent and dependent clauses, and at least one of the
clauses must be dependent.
The ability to write complete, correct sentences is like any other skill—it comes with
practice. The more writing you do, as you make an effort to use correct grammar, the
easier it will become. Reading audiences, particularly in a business context, will not
waste their time on poor writing and will move on. Your challenge as an effective
business writer is to know what you are going to write and then to make it come across,
via words, symbols, and images, in a clear and concise manner.
Sentences should avoid being vague and focus on specific content. Each sentence should
convey a complete thought; a vague sentence fails to meet this criteria. The reader is left
wondering what the sentence was supposed to convey.
• Vague – We can facilitate solutions in pursuit of success by leveraging our core strengths.
• Specific – By using our knowledge, experience, and capabilities, we can achieve the production
targets for the coming quarter.
Effective sentences also limit the range and scope of each complete thought, avoiding
needless complexity. Sometimes writers mistakenly equate long, complex sentences
with excellence and skill. Clear, concise, and often brief sentences serve to communicate
ideas and concepts in effective and efficient ways that complex, hard-to-follow sentences
do not.
• Complex. Air transportation features speed of delivery in ways few other forms of transportation
can match, including tractor-trailer and rail, and is readily available to the individual consumer
and the corporate client alike.
• Clear. Air transportation is accessible and faster than railroad or trucking.
Effective sentences are complete, containing a subject and a verb. Incomplete
sentences—also known as sentence fragments—demonstrate a failure to pay attention to
detail. They often invite misunderstanding, which is the opposite of our goal in business
communication.
• Fragments – Although air transportation is fast. Costs more than trucking.
• Complete – Although air transportation is fast, it costs more than trucking.
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Effective business writing avoids bureaucratic language and phrase that are the
hallmark of decoration. Decoration is a reflection of ritual, and ritual has its role. If you
are the governor of a state, and want to make a resolution declaring today as HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day, you are allowed to start the document with “Whereas” because of its
ritual importance. Similarly, if you are writing a legal document, tradition calls for
certain standard phrases such as “know all men by these presents.” However, in
standard business writing, it is best to refrain from using bureaucratic phrases and
ritualistic words that decorate and distract the reader from your clear, essential
meaning. If the customer, client, or supplier does not understand the message the first
time, each follow-up attempt to clarify the meaning through interaction is a cost. Table
6.4 "Bureaucratic Phrases and Standard Alternatives" presents a few examples of
common bureaucratic phrases and standard English alternatives.
Table 6.4 Bureaucratic Phrases and Standard Alternatives Bureaucratic Phrase Standard English Alternatives
At the present time Now, today
Concerning the matter of Regarding, about
Despite the fact that Although, while, even though
Due to the fact that Because, since, as
Implement an investigation of Find out, investigate
Inasmuch as Because, since, as
It has been suggested [name of person or organization] has suggested, said, or stated
It is believed that [name of person or organization] believes, thinks, or says that
It is the opinion of the author I believe, I think, in my opinion
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Bureaucratic Phrase Standard English Alternatives
Until such time as Until, when
With the exception of Except, apart from
In oral communication, repetition can be an effective strategy to reinforce a message,
but in written communication it adds needless length to a document and impairs clarity.
• Redundant – In this day and age air transportation by air carrier is the clear winner over
alternative modes of conveyance for speed and meeting tight deadlines.
• Clear – Today air transportation is faster than other methods.
When a writer states that something is a “true fact,” a group achieved a “consensus of
opinion,” or that the “final outcome” was declared, the word choices reflect an
unnecessary redundancy. A fact, consensus, or outcome need not be qualified with
words that state similar concepts. If it is fact, it is true. A consensus, by definition, is
formed in a group from diverse opinions. An outcome is the final result, so adding the
word “final” repeats the fact unnecessarily.
In business writing we seek clear and concise writing that speaks for itself with little or
no misinterpretation. The more complex a sentence becomes, the easier it is to lose
track of its meaning. When we consider that it may read by someone for whom English
is a second language, the complex sentence becomes even more problematic. If we
consider its translation, we add another layer of complexity that can lead to
miscommunication. Finally, effective sentences follow the KISS formula for success:
Keep It Simple—Simplify!
Transitions If you were going to build a house, you would need a strong foundation. Could you put
the beams to hold your roof in place without anything to keep them in place? Of course
not; they would fall down right away. In the same way, the columns or beams are like
the main ideas of your document. They need to have connections to each other so that
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they become interdependent and stay where you want them so that your house, or your
writing, doesn’t come crashing down.
Transitions involve words or visual devices that help the audience follow the author’s
ideas, connect the main points to each other, and see the relationships you’ve created in
the information you are presenting. They are often described as bridges between ideas,
thought or concepts, providing some sense of where you’ve been and where you are
going with your document. Transitions guide the audience in the progression from one
significant idea, concept, or point to the next. They can also show the relationships
between the main point and the support you are using to illustrate your point, provide
examples for it, or refer to outside sources. Table 6.5 "Types of Transitions in Writing" is
a summary of fourteen different types of transitions. Consider them as you contemplate
how to bring together your information and make notes on your outline.
Table 6.5 Types of Transitions in Writing Type Definition Examples
1. Internal Previews
An internal preview is a brief statement referring to a point you are going to make. It can forecast or foreshadow a main point in your document.
If we look ahead to, next we’ll examine, now we can focus our attention on, first we’ll look at, then we’ll examine
2. Signposts
A signpost alerts the audience you are moving from one topic to the next. Sign posts or signal words draw attention to themselves and focus the audience’s attention.
Stop and consider, we can now address, turning from/to, another, this reminds me of, I would like to emphasize
3. Internal Summaries
An internal summary briefly covers information or alludes to information introduced previously. It can remind an audience of a previous point and reinforce information covered in your document.
As I have said, as we have seen, as mentioned earlier, in any event, in conclusion, in other words, in short, on the whole, therefore, to summarize, as a result, as has been noted previously,
4. Sequence
A sequence transition outlines a hierarchical order or series of steps in your document. It can illustrate order or steps in
First…second…third, furthermore, next, last, still, also, and then, besides, finally
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Type Definition Examples
a logical process.
5. Time
A time transition focuses on the chronological aspects of your order. Particularly useful in an article utilizing a story, this transition can illustrate for the audience progression of time.
Before, earlier, immediately, in the meantime, in the past, lately, later, meanwhile, now, presently, shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon as long as, as soon as, at last, at length, at that time, then, until, afterward
6. Addition
An addition or additive transitioncontributes to a previous point. This transition can build on a previous point and extend the discussion.
Additionally, not to mention, in addition to, furthermore, either, neither, besides, on, in fact, as a matter of fact, actually, not only, but also, as well as
7. Similarity
A transition by similarity draws a parallel between two ideas, concepts or examples. It can indicate a common area between points for the audience.
In the same way, by the same token, equally, similarly, just as we have seen, in the same vein
8. Comparison
A transition by comparison draws a distinction between two ideas, concepts or examples. It can indicate a common or divergent area between points for the audience.
Like, in relation to, bigger than, the fastest, larger than, than any other, is bigger than, both, either…or, likewise
9. Contrast
A transition by contrast draws a distinction of difference, opposition, or irregularity between two ideas, concepts or examples. This transition can indicate a key distinction between points for the audience.
But, neither…nor, however on the other hand, although, despite, even though, in contrast, in spite of, on the contrary conversely, unlike, while instead, nevertheless, nonetheless, regardless, still, though, yet, although
Type Definition Examples
10. Cause and Effect, Result
A transition by cause and effect or result illustrates a relationship between two ideas, concepts or examples and may
As a result, because, consequently, for this purpose, accordingly, so, then, therefore, thereupon, thus, to this end, for this
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Type Definition Examples
focus on the outcome or result. It can illustrate a relationship between points for the audience.
reason, as a result, because , therefore, consequently, as a consequence, and the outcome was
11. Examples
A transition by exampleillustrates a connection between a point and an example or examples. You may find visual aids work well with this type of transition.
In fact, as we can see, after all, even, for example, for instance, of course, specifically, such as, in the following example, to illustrate my point
12. Place
A place transition refers to a location, often in a spatially organized essay, of one point of emphasis to another. Again, visual aids work well when discussing physical location with the reading audience.
opposite to, there, to the left, to the right, above, adjacent to, elsewhere, far, farther on, below, beyond, closer to, here, near, nearby, next to
13. Clarification
A clarification transition restates or further develops a main idea or point. It can also serve as a signal to a key point.
To clarify, that is, I mean, in other words, to put it another way that is to say, to rephrase it, in order to explain, this means
14. Concession
A concession transition indicates knowledge of contrary information. It can address a perception the audience may hold and allow for clarification.
We can see that while, although it is true that, granted that, while it may appear that, naturally, of course, I can see that, I admit that while
K E Y T A K E A W A Y
Organization is the key to clear writing. Organize your document using key elements, an
organizing principle, and an outline. Organize your paragraphs and sentences so that
your audience can understand them, and use transitions to move from one point to the
next. E X E R C I S E S
1. What functions does organization serve in a document? Can they be positive or negative?
Explain and discuss with a classmate.
2. Create an outline from a sample article or document. Do you notice an organizational pattern?
Explain and discuss with a classmate.
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3. Which of the following sentences are good examples of correct and clear business
English? For sentences needing improvement, describe what is wrong and write a
sentence that corrects the problem. Discuss your answers with your classmates.
a. Marlys has been chosen to receive a promotion next month.
b. Because her work is exemplary.
c. At such time as it becomes feasible, it is the intention of our department to facilitate a
lunch meeting to congratulate Marlys
d. As a result of budget allocation analysis and examination of our financial condition, it is
indicated that salary compensation for Marlys can be increased to a limited degree.
e. When will Marlys’s promotion be official?
f. I am so envious!
g. Among those receiving promotions, Marlys, Bob, Germaine, Terry, and Akiko.
h. The president asked all those receiving promotions come to the meeting.
i. Please attend a meeting for all employees who will be promoted next month.
j. Marlys intends to use her new position to mentor employees joining the firm, which will
encourage commitment and good work habits.
Find an example of a poor sentence or a spelling or grammar error that was published
online or in print and share your finding with the class.
[1] Beebe, S. [Steven], & Beebe, S. [Susan]. (1997). Public speaking: An audience-centered
approach(3rd ed., pp. 121–122). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[2] Ayres, J., & Miller, J. (1994). Effective public speaking (4th ed., p. 274). Madison, WI: Brown
&Benchmark.
[3] Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper & Row.
[4] Schutz, W. (1966). The interpersonal underworld. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
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6.2 Writing Style L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E
1. Demonstrate your ability to prepare and present information using a writing style that will
increase understanding, retention, and motivation to act.
You are invited to a business dinner at an expensive restaurant that has been the top-
rated dining establishment in your town for decades. You are aware of the restaurant’s
dress code, which forbids casual attire such as jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers. What will
you wear? If you want to fit in with the other guests and make a favorable impression on
your hosts, you will choose a good quality suit or dress (and appropriately dressy shoes
and accessories). You will avoid calling undue attention to yourself with clothing that is
overly formal—an evening gown or a tuxedo, for example—or that would distract from
the business purpose of the occasion by being overly revealing or provocative. You may
feel that your freedom to express yourself by dressing as you please is being restricted,
or you may appreciate the opportunity to look your best. Either way, adhering to these
style conventions will serve you well in a business context.
The same is true in business writing. Unlike some other kinds of writing such as poetry
or fiction, business writing is not an opportunity for self-expression. Instead it calls for a
fairly conservative and unadorned style. Writing style, also known as voice or tone, is
the manner in which a writer addresses the reader. It involves qualities of writing such
as vocabulary and figures of speech, phrasing, rhythm, sentence structure, and
paragraph length. Developing an appropriate business writing style will reflect well on
you and increase your success in any career.
Formal versus Informal There was a time when many business documents were written in third person to give
them the impression of objectivity. This formal style was often passive and wordy. Today
it has given way to active, clear, concise writing, sometimes known as “Plain
English.” [1] As business and industry increasingly trade across borders and languages,
writing techniques that obscure meaning or impede understanding can cause serious
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problems. Efficient writing styles have become the norm. Still, you will experience in
your own writing efforts this “old school versus new school” writing debate over
abbreviations, contractions, and the use of informal language in what was once
considered a formal business context. Consider the following comparison of informal
versus formal and bureaucratic styles.
Bureaucratic: Attached is the latest delivery data represented in topographical forms
pursuant to the directive ABC123 of the air transportation guide supplied by the Federal
Aviation Administration in September of 2008.
• Formal – Please note the attached delivery data for July 2009.
• Informal – Here’s the delivery data for last month.
While it is generally agreed that bureaucratic forms can obscure meaning, there is a
debate on the use of formal versus informal styles in business communication. Formal
styles often require more detail, adhere to rules of etiquette, and avoid shortcuts like
contractions and folksy expressions. Informal styles reflect everyday speech patterns
and may include contractions and colloquial expressions. Many managers prefer not to
see contractions in a formal business context. Others will point out that a comma
preceding the last item in a series (known as the “serial comma”) is the standard, not the
exception. Some will make a general recommendation that you should always “keep it
professional.” Here lies the heart of the debate: what is professional writing in a
business context? If you answered “it depends,” you are correct.
Keep in mind that audiences have expectations and your job is to meet them. Some
business audiences prefer a fairly formal tone. If you include contractions or use a style
that is too casual, you may lose their interest and attention; you may also give them a
negative impression of your level of expertise. If, however, you are writing for an
audience that expects informal language, you may lose their interest and attention by
writing too formally; your writing may also come across as arrogant or pompous. It is
not that one style is better than the other, but simply that styles of writing vary across a
range of options. Business writing may need to meet legal standards and include
references, as we see in the bureaucratic example above, but that is generally not the
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norm for communications within an organization. The skilled business writer will know
his or her audience and will adapt the message to best facilitate communication.
Choosing the right style can make a significant impact on how your writing is received.
You may hear reference to a conversational tone in writing as one option in business
communication. A conversational tone, as the name implies, resembles oral
communication in style, tone, and word choice. It can be appropriate for some
audiences, and may serve you well in specific contexts, but it can easily come across as
less than professional.
If you use expressions that imply a relationship or a special awareness of information
such as “you know,” or “as we discussed,” without explaining the necessary background,
your writing may be seen as overly familiar, intimate, or even secretive. Trust is the
foundation for all communication interactions and a careless word or phrase can impair
trust.
If you want to use humor, think carefully about how your audience will interpret it.
Humor is a fragile form of communication that requires an awareness of irony, of
juxtaposition, or a shared sense of attitudes, beliefs, and values. Different people find
humor in different situations, and what is funny to one person may be dull, or even
hurtful, to someone else.
Although there are business situations such as an interview or a performance self-
evaluation where you need to state your accomplishments, in general business writing it
is best to avoid self-referential comments that allude to your previous successes. These
can come across as selfish or arrogant. Instead, be generous in giving credit where credit
is due. Take every opportunity to thank your colleagues for their efforts and to
acknowledge those who contributed good ideas.
Jargon is a vocabulary that has been developed by people in a particular group,
discipline, or industry, and it can be a useful shorthand as long as the audience knows
its meaning. For example, when writing for bank customers, you could refer to “ATM
transactions” and feel confident that your readers would know what you meant. It would
be unnecessary and inappropriate to write “Automated Teller Machine transactions.”
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Similarly, if you were working in a hospital, you would probably use many medical
terms in your interactions with other medical professionals. However, if you were a
hospital employee writing to a patient, using medical jargon would be inappropriate, as
it would not contribute to the patient’s understanding.
Finally, in a business context, remember that conversational style is not an excuse to use
poor grammar, disrespectful or offensive slang, or profanity. Communication serves as
the bridge between minds and your written words will represent you in your absence.
One strategy when trying to use a conversation tone is to ask yourself, “Would I say it in
this way to their face?” A follow-up question to consider is, “Would I say it in this way in
front of everyone?” Your professional use of language is one the hallmark skills in
business, and the degree to which you master its use will reflect itself in your success.
Take care, take time, and make sure what you write communicates a professional tone
that positively represents you and your organization.
Introductions: Direct and Indirect Sometimes the first sentence is the hardest to write. When you know the two main
opening strategies it may not make it any easier, but it will give a plan and form a
framework. Business documents often incorporate one of two opening strategies
regardless of their organizational pattern. The direct pattern states the main purpose
directly, at the beginning, and leaves little room for misinterpretation. The indirect
pattern, where you introduce your main idea after the opening paragraph, can be useful
if you need a strong opening to get the attention of what you perceive may be an
uninterested audience. Normally, if you expect a positive response from the reader you
will choose a direct opening, being clear from the first sentence about your purpose and
goal. If you do not expect a positive reception, or have to deliver bad news, you may
want to be less direct. Each style has its purpose and use; the skilled business writer will
learn to be direct and be able to present bad news with a positive opening paragraph.
Adding Emphasis
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There are times when you will want to add emphasis to a word, phrase, or statistic so
that it stands out from the surrounding text. The use of visual aids in your writing can be
an excellent option, and can reinforce the written discussion. For example, if you write
that sales are up 4 percent over this time last year, the number alone may not get the
attention it deserves. If, however, near the text section you feature a bar graph
demonstrating the sales growth figures, the representation of the information in textual
and graphical way may reinforce its importance.
As you look across the top of your word processing program you may
notice bold, italics, underline, highlights, your choice of colors, and a host of interesting
fonts. Although it can be entertaining to experiment with these visual effects, do not use
them just for the sake of decoration. Consistency and branding are important features of
your firm’s public image, so you will want the visual aspects of your writing to support
that image. Still, when you need to highlight an important fact or emphasize a key
question in a report, your readers will appreciate your use of visual effects to draw their
attention. Consider the following examples:
• Bullets can be effective when used with discretion.
Take care when using the following:
i. Numbers
ii. With subheadings
iii. In serial lists
iv. As they can get
v. A bit overwhelming to the point where
vi. The reader loses his or her interest
Emphasis can be influenced by your choice of font. Serif fonts, such as Times New
Roman and Garamond, have decorative ends that make the font easy to read. Sans serif
fonts, like Arial, lack these visual cues and often serve better as headers.
You can also vary the emphasis according to where you place information within a
sentence:
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• Maximum emphasis. Sales have increased across the United States because of our latest
promotion efforts in our largest and most successful market.
• Medium emphasis. Because of our latest promotion efforts in our largest and most successful
market, sales have increased across the United States.
• Minimum emphasis. The United States, which has experienced a sales increase, is our largest
and most successful market.
The information at end of the sentence is what people often recall, and is therefore
normally considered the location of maximum emphasis. The second best position for
recall is the beginning of the sentence, while the middle of the sentence is the area with
the least recall. If you want to highlight a point, place it at the beginning or end of the
sentence, and if you want to deemphasize a point, the middle is your best option. [2]
Active versus Passive Voice You want your writing to be engaging. Which sentence would you rather read?
• A – All sales orders are processed daily by Mackenzie.
• B – Mackenzie processes all sales orders daily.
Most readers prefer sentence B, but why? You’ll recall that all sentences have a subject
and a verb, but you may not have paid much attention to their functions. Let’s look at
how the subject and verb function in these two sentences. In sentence A, the subject is
“Mackenzie,” and the subject is the doer of the action expressed by the verb (processes).
In sentence A, the subject is “sales orders,” and the subject is the receiver of the action
expressed by the verb (are processed). Sentence A is written in active voice—a sentence
structure in which the subject carries out the action. Sentence B is written
in passive voice—a sentence structure in which the subject receives the action.
Active sentences tend to be shorter, more precise, and easier to understand. This is
especially true because passive sentences can be written in ways that do not tell the
reader who the doer of the action is. For example, “All sales orders are processed daily”
is a complete and correct sentence in passive voice.
Active voice is the clear choice for a variety of contexts, but not all. When you want to
deemphasize the doer of the action, you may write, “Ten late arrivals were recorded this
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month” and not even mention who was late. The passive form doesn’t place blame or
credit, so it can be more diplomatic in some contexts. Passive voice allows the writer to
avoid personal references or personal pronouns (he, she, they) to create a more
objective tone. There are also situations where the doer of the action is unknown, as in
“graffiti was painted on the side of our building last night.”
Overall, business communication resources tend to recommend active voice as the
preferred style. Still, the styles themselves are not the problem or challenge, but it is
how we use them that matters. A skilled business writer will see both styles as options
within a range of choices and learn to distinguish when each style is most appropriate to
facilitate communication.
Commonly Confused Words The sentences in Table 6.6 "Common Errors in English" focus on some of the most
common errors in English. You may recall this exercise from the introduction of this
chapter. How did you do? Visit the “Additional Resources” section at the end of the
chapter for some resources on English grammar and usage.
Table 6.6 Common Errors in English
1. accept orexcept
The office will _______ applications until 5 p.m. on the 31st. accept
Attendance is required for all employees _______ supervisors. except
2. affect oreffect
To _______ the growth of plants, we can regulate the water supply. affect
A lack of water has a predictable _______ on most plants. effect
3. e.g. or i.e.
Please order 2,000 imprinted giveaways (_______, pens or coffee mugs) e.g.
Charge them to my account (_______, account #98765). i.e.
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4. its or it’s
The department surpassed _______ previous sales record this quarter. its
_______ my opinion that we reached peak oil in 2008. It’s
5. lay or lie
Please _______ the report on the desk. lay
The doctor asked him to _______ down on the examination table. lie
6. pressureor pressurize
We need to _______ the liquid nitrogen tanks. pressurize
It might be possible to _______ him to resign. pressure
7. principleor principal
It’s the basic _________ of farming: no water, no food. principle
The _______ reason for the trip is to attend the sales meeting. principal
8. regardlessorirregardless
_______ of what we do, gas prices are unlikely to go back down. Regardless
_______ of your beliefs, please try to listen with an open mind.
Regardless (Irregardlessis not a standard word; see your dictionary)
9. than orthen
This year’s losses were worse _______ last year’s. than
If we can cut our costs, _______ it might be possible to break even. then
10. that orwhich
_______ type of marketing data did you need? Which
Karen misplaced the report, _______ caused a delay in making a decision. which
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There are several kinds of data _______ could be useful. that
11 there their, orthey’re
The report is _________, in the top file drawer. there
__________ strategic advantage depends on a wide distribution network. Their
__________ planning to attend the sales meeting in Pittsburgh. They’re
12. to, too, or two
Customers need _______ drive slower if they want to save gas. to
After sales meeting, you should visit customers in the Pittsburgh area _______. too
In fact, the _______ of you should make some customer visits together. two
13.uninterestedordisinterested
He would be the best person to make a decision, since he isn’t biased and is relatively _______ in the outcome. disinterested
The sales manager tried to speak dynamically, but the sales reps were simply _______ in what he had to say. uninterested
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14. who,whom,who’s, orwhose
__________ truck is that? Whose
__________ going to pay for the repairs? Who’s
__________ will go to the interview? Who
To __________ should we address the thank-you note? whom
15 your oryou’re
My office is bigger than _______ cubicle. your
_______ going to learn how to avoid making these common mistakes in English. You’re
Making Errors at the Speed of Light In business and industry there is increasing pressure to produce under deadlines that in
some respects have been artificially accelerated by the immediacy inherent in
technological communication devices. If you receive an e-mail or text message while you
are in the middle of studying a complex problem, you may be tempted to “get it out of
the way” by typing out a quick reply, but in your haste you may fail to qualify, include
important information, or even check to make sure you have hit “Reply” and not “Reply
to All” or even “Delete.” Take care to pause and review your text message, e-mail, or
document before you consider it complete. Here is a quick electronic communication
do/don’t list to keep in mind before you click “send.”
Do remember the following:
• Everything you access via an employer’s system is subject to inspection.
• Everything you write or record reflects you and your business or organization, even if it is stored
in a Google or Yahoo! account.
• Respect personal space by not forwarding every e-mail you think is funny.
• Use a concise but relevant and informative phrase for the subject line.
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• E-mail the receiver before sending large attachments, as they may exceed the limit of the
receiver’s in-box.
• Attach your intended attachments. K E Y T A K E A W A Y
An appropriate business writing style can be formal or informal, depending on the
context, but it should always reflect favorably on the writer and the organization. E X E R C I S E S
1. Select at least three examples of writing from different kinds of sources, such as a government
Web site, a textbook, a popular magazine, and a novel. According to the style characteristics
discussed in this section, how would you characterize the style of each? Select a paragraph to
rewrite in a different style—for example, if the style is formal, make it informal; if the selection is
written in active voice, make it passive. Discuss your results with your classmates.
2. What are some qualities of a good business writing style? What makes certain styles more
appropriate for business than others? Discuss your thoughts with a classmate.
3. Find an example of formal writing and write an informal version. Please share with your
classmates.
4. Find an example of informal writing and write a formal version. Please share with your
classmates
5. You are assigned to a work team that has to come up with a formal declaration and an informal
explanation for the declaration. The declaration could be a memo indicating that your business
will be observing a holiday (each team should have a different holiday).
6. How would you characterize your writing style? Do you need to make modifications to make
your style suitable for business writing? Write a one- to two-page essay on this subject.
[1] Bailey, E. P. (2008). Plain English at work: A guide to business writing and speaking. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
[2] McLean, S. (2003). The basics of speech communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
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6.3 Making an Argument L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
1. Demonstrate how to form a clear argument with appropriate support to persuade your
audience.
2. Recognize and understand inherent weaknesses in fallacies.
According to the famous satirist Jonathan Swift, “Argument is the worst sort of
conversation.” You may be inclined to agree. When people argue, they are engaged in
conflict and it’s usually not pretty. It sometimes appears that way because people resort
to fallacious arguments or false statements, or they simply do not treat each other with
respect. They get defensive, try to prove their own points, and fail to listen to each other.
But this should not be what happens in written argument. Instead, when you make an
argument in your writing, you will want to present your position with logical points,
supporting each point with appropriate sources. You will want to give your audience
every reason to perceive you as ethical and trustworthy. Your audience will expect you to
treat them with respect, and to present your argument in a way that does not make them
defensive. Contribute to your credibility by building sound arguments and using
strategic arguments with skill and planning.
In this section we will briefly discuss the classic form of an argument, a more modern
interpretation, and finally seven basic arguments you may choose to use. Imagine that
these are tools in your toolbox and that you want to know how each is effectively used.
Know that the people who try to persuade you—from telemarketers to politicians—
usually have these tools at hand.
Let’s start with a classical rhetorical strategy. It asks the rhetorician, speaker, or author
to frame arguments in the following steps:
Table 6.7 Classical Rhetorical Strategy 1. Exordium Prepares the audience to consider your argument
2. Narration Provides the audience with the necessary background or context for your argument
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3. Proposition Introduces your claim being argued in the document
4. Confirmation Offers the audience evidence to support your argument
5. Refutation Introduces to the audience and then discounts or refutes the counterarguments or objections
6. Peroration Your conclusion of your argument
This is a standard pattern in rhetoric and you will probably see it in both speech and
English courses. The pattern is useful to guide you in preparing your document and can
serve as a valuable checklist to insure you are prepared. While this formal pattern has
distinct advantages, you may not see it used exactly as indicated here on a daily basis.
What may be more familiar to you is Stephen Toulmin’s rhetorical strategy, which
focuses on three main elements (see Table 6.8 "Toulmin’s Three-Part Rhetorical
Strategy"). [1]
Table 6.8 Toulmin’s Three-Part Rhetorical Strategy Element Description Example
1. Claim Your statement of belief or truth It is important to spay or neuter your pet.
2. Data Your supporting reasons for the claim Millions of unwanted pets are euthanized every year.
3. Warrant
You create the connection between the claim and the supporting reasons
Pets that are spayed or neutered do not reproduce, preventing the production of unwanted animals.
Toulmin’s rhetorical strategy is useful in that it makes the claim explicit, clearly
illustrates the relationship between the claim and the data, and allows the reader to
follow the writer’s reasoning. You may have a good idea or point, but your audience will
want to know how you arrived at that claim or viewpoint. The warrant addresses the
inherent and often unsaid question, “Why is this data so important to your topic?” In so
doing, it helps you to illustrate relationships between information for your audience.
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Effective Argumentation Strategies: GASCAP/T Here is a useful way of organizing and remembering seven key argumentative strategies:
1. Argument by Generalization
2. Argument by Analogy
3. Argument by Sign
4. Argument by Consequence
5. Argument by Authority
6. Argument by Principle
7. Argument by Testimony
Richard Fulkerson notes that a single strategy is sufficient to make an argument some of
the time, but it is often better to combine several strategies to make an effective
argument. [2] He organized the argumentative strategies in this way to compare the
differences, highlight the similarities, and allow for their discussion. This model, often
called by its acronym GASCAP, is a useful strategy to summarize six key arguments and
is easy to remember. Here we have adapted it, adding one argument that is often used in
today’s speeches and presentations, the argument by testimony. Table 6.9 "GASCAP/T
Strategies" presents each argument, provides a definition of the strategy and an
example, and examines ways to evaluate each approach.
Table 6.9 GASCAP/T Strategies Argument by Claim Example Evaluation
G Generalization
Whatever is true of a good example or sample will be true of everything like it or the population it came from.
If you can vote, drive, and die for your country, you should also be allowed to buy alcohol.
STAR System: For it to be reliable, we need a (S) sufficient number of (T) typical, (A) accurate, and (R) reliable examples.
A Analogy Two situations, things or ideas
Alcohol is a drug. So is tobacco. They alter
Watch for adverbs that end in “ly,” as they qualify, or lessen
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Argument by Claim Example Evaluation
are alike in observable ways and will tend to be alike in many other ways
perceptions, have an impact physiological and psychological systems, and are federally regulated substances.
the relationship between the examples. Words like “probably,” “maybe,” “could, “may,” or “usually” all weaken the relationship.
S Sign
Statistics, facts, or cases indicate meaning, much like a stop sign means “stop.”
Motor vehicle accidents involving alcohol occur at significant rates among adults of all ages in the United States.
Evaluate the relationship between the sign and look for correlation, where the presenter says what the facts “mean.” Does the sign say that? Does it say more? What is not said? Is it relevant?
C Cause
If two conditions always appear together, they are causally related.
The U.S. insurance industry has been significantly involved in state and national legislation requiring proof of insurance, changes in graduated driver’s licenses, and the national change in the drinking age from age 18 to age 21.
Watch out for “after the fact, therefore because of the fact” (post hoc, ergo propter hoc) thinking. There might not be a clear connection, and it might not be the whole picture. Mothers Against Drunk Driving might have also been involved with each example of legislation.
A Authority
What a credible source indicates is probably true.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, older drivers are increasingly involved in motor vehicle accidents.
Is the source legitimate and is their information trustworthy? Institutes, boards, and people often have agendas and distinct points of view.
P Principle An accepted or proper truth
The change in the drinking age was never put to a vote. It’s not about alcohol, it’s about our freedom of speech in a democratic society.
Is the principle being invoked generally accepted? Is the claim, data or warrant actually related to the principle stated? Are there common exceptions to the principle? What are the practical consequences of following the
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Argument by Claim Example Evaluation
principle in this case?
T Testimony Personal experience
I’ve lost friends from age 18 to 67 to alcohol. It impacts all ages, and its effects are cumulative. Let me tell you about two friends in particular.
Is the testimony authentic? Is it relevant? Is it representative of other’s experiences? Use the STAR system to help evaluate the use of testimony.
Evidence Now that we’ve clearly outlined several argument strategies, how do you support your
position with evidence or warrants? If your premise or the background from which you
start is valid, and your claim is clear and clearly related, the audience will naturally turn
their attention to “prove it.” This is where the relevance of evidence becomes
particularly important. Here are three guidelines to consider in order to insure your
evidence passes the “so what?” test of relevance in relation to your claim. Make sure
your evidence has the following traits:
1. Supportive. Examples are clearly representative, statistics are accurate, testimony is
authoritative, and information is reliable.
2. Relevant. Examples clearly relate to the claim or topic, and you are not comparing “apples to
oranges.”
3. Effective. Examples are clearly the best available to support the claim, quality is preferred to
quantity, there are only a few well-chosen statistics, facts, or data.
Appealing to Emotions While we’ve highlighted several points to consider when selecting information to
support your claim, know that Aristotle strongly preferred an argument based in logic
over emotion. Can the same be said for your audience, and to what degree is emotion
and your appeal to it in your audience a part of modern life?
Emotions are a psychological and physical reaction, such as fear or anger, to stimuli that
we experience as a feeling. Our feelings or emotions directly impact our own point of
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view and readiness to communicate, but also influence how, why, and when we say
things. Emotions influence not only how you say or what you say, but also how you hear
or what you hear. At times, emotions can be challenging to control. Emotions will move
your audience, and possibly even move you, to change or act in certain ways.
Aristotle thought the best and most preferable way to persuade an audience was through
the use of logic, free of emotion. He also recognized that people are often motivated,
even manipulated, by the exploitation of their emotions. In a business context, we still
engage in this debate, demanding to know the facts separate from personal opinion or
agenda, but see the use of emotional appeal to sell products.
Marketing experts are famous for creating a need or associating an emotion with a
brand or label in order to sell it. You will speak the language of your audience in your
document, and may choose to appeal to emotion, but you need to consider how the
strategy works, as it may be considered a tool that has two edges.
If we think of the appeal to emotion as a knife, we can see it has two edges. One edge can
cut your audience, and the other can cut you. If you advance an appeal to emotion in
your document on spaying and neutering pets, and discuss the millions of unwanted
pets that are killed each year, you may elicit an emotional response. If you use this
approach repeatedly, your audience may grow weary of this approach, and it will lose its
effectiveness. If you change your topic to the use of animals in research, the same
strategy may apply, but repeated attempts to elicit an emotional response may backfire
(i.e., in essence “cutting” you) and produce a negative response called “emotional
resistance.”
Emotional resistance involves getting tired, often to the point of rejection, of hearing
messages that attempt to elicit an emotional response. Emotional appeals can wear out
the audience’s capacity to receive the message. As Aristotle outlined, ethos (credibility),
logos (logic), and pathos (passion, enthusiasm, and emotional response) constitute the
building blocks of any document. It’s up to you to create a balanced document, where
you may appeal to emotion, but choose to use it judiciously.
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On a related point, the use of an emotional appeal may also impair your ability to write
persuasively or effectively. For example, if you choose to present an article about suicide
to persuade people against committing it and you start showing a photo of your brother
or sister that you lost to suicide, your emotional response may cloud your judgment and
get in the way of your thinking. Never use a personal story, or even a story of someone
you do not know, if the inclusion of that story causes you to lose control. While it’s
important to discuss relevant topics, you need to assess your relationship to the
message. Your documents should not be an exercise in therapy. Otherwise, you will
sacrifice ethos and credibility, even your effectiveness, if you “lose it” because you are
really not ready to discuss the issue.
Recognizing Fallacies “Fallacy” is another way of saying false logic. Fallacies or rhetorical tricks deceive your
audience with their style, drama, or pattern, but add little to your document in terms of
substance. They are best avoided because they can actually detract from your
effectiveness. There are several techniques or “tricks” that allow the writer to rely on
style without offering substantive argument, to obscure the central message, or twist the
facts to their own gain. Table 6.10 "Fallacies" examines the eight classical fallacies.
Learn to recognize them so they can’t be used against you, and learn to avoid using them
with your audience.
Table 6.10 Fallacies Fallacy Definition Example
1. Red Herring
Any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue, particularly by relating the issue to a common fear.
It’s not just about the death penalty; it’s about the victims and their rights. You wouldn’t want to be a victim, but if you were, you’d want justice.
2. Straw Man
A weak argument set up to easily refute and distract attention from stronger arguments.
Look at the idea that criminals who commit murder should be released after a few years of rehabilitation. Think of how unsafe our streets
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Fallacy Definition Example
would be then!
3. Begging the Question
Claiming the truth of the very matter in question, as if it were already an obvious conclusion.
We know that they will be released and unleashed on society to repeat their crimes again and again.
4. Circular Argument
The proposition is used to prove itself. Assumes the very thing it aims to prove. Related to begging the question. Once a killer, always a killer.
5. Ad Populum
Appeals to a common belief of some people, often prejudicial, and states everyone holds this belief. Also called the bandwagon fallacy, as people “jump on the bandwagon” of a perceived popular view.
Most people would prefer to get rid of a few “bad apples” and keep our streets safe.
6. Ad Hominem or “Argument against the Man”
Argument against the man instead of his message. Stating that someone’s argument is wrong solely because of something about the person rather than about the argument itself.
Our representative is a drunk and philanderer. How can we trust him on the issues of safety and family?
7. Non Sequitur or “It Does Not Follow”
The conclusion does not follow from the premises. They are not related.
Since the liberal 1960s, we’ve seen an increase in convicts who got let off death row.
8. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc or “After This, Therefore because of This” It is also called a coincidental correlation.
Violent death rates went down once they started publicizing executions.
Ethical Considerations in Persuasion In his book Ethics in Human Communication, Richard Johannesen offers eleven points
to consider when communicating. Although they are related to public speaking, they are
also useful in business writing. You may note that many of his cautions are clearly
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related to the fallacies we’ve discussed. His main points reiterate many of the points
across this chapter and should be kept in mind as you prepare, and present, your
persuasive message. [3]
Do not
• use false, fabricated, misrepresented, distorted, or irrelevant evidence to support arguments or
claims;
• intentionally use unsupported, misleading, or illogical reasoning;
• represent yourself as informed or an “expert” on a subject when you are not;
• use irrelevant appeals to divert attention from the issue at hand;
• ask your audience to link your idea or proposal to emotion-laden values, motives, or goals to
which it is actually not related;
• deceive your audience by concealing your real purpose, your self-interest, the group you
represent, or your position as an advocate of a viewpoint;
• distort, hide, or misrepresent the number, scope, intensity, or undesirable features of
consequences or effects;
• use emotional appeals that lack a supporting basis of evidence or reasoning;
• oversimplify complex, gradation-laden situations into simplistic, two-valued, either-or, polar
views or choices;
• pretend certainty where tentativeness and degrees of probability would be more accurate;
• advocate something that you yourself do not believe in.
Aristotle said the mark of a good person, well spoken, was a clear command of the
faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. He discussed
the idea of perceiving the various points of view related to a topic and their thoughtful
consideration. While it’s important to be able to perceive the complexity of a case, you
are not asked to be a lawyer and defend a client.
In your message to persuade, consider honesty and integrity as you assemble your
arguments. Your audience will appreciate your thoughtful consideration of more than
one view and your understanding of the complexity of the issue, thus building your
ethos, or credibility, as you present your document. Be careful not to stretch the facts, or
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assemble them only to prove your point; instead, prove the argument on its own merits.
Deception, coercion, intentional bias, manipulation and bribery should have no place in
your message to persuade. K E Y T A K E A W A Y
The art of argument in writing involves presenting supportive, relevant, effective
evidence for each point and doing it in a respectful and ethical manner. E X E R C I S E S
1. Select a piece of persuasive writing such as a newspaper op-ed essay, a magazine article, or a
blog post. Examine the argument, the main points, and how the writer supports them. Which
strategies from the foregoing section does the writer use? Does the writer use any fallacies or
violate any ethical principles? Discuss your results with your classmates.
2. Find one slogan or logo that you perceive as persuasive and share it with your classmates.
3. Find an example of a piece of writing that appears to want to be persuasive, but doesn’t get the
job done. Write a brief review and share it with classmates.
4. In what ways might the choice of how to organize a document involve ethics? Explain your
response and discuss it with your class.
[1] Toulmin, S. (1958). The uses of argument. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Fulkerson, R. (1996). The Toulmin model of argument and the teaching of composition. In E.
Barbara, P. Resch, & D. Tenney (Eds.), Argument revisited: argument redefined: negotiating
meaning the composition classroom (pp. 45–72). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[3] Johannesen, R. (1996). Ethics in human communication (4th ed.). Prospect Heights, IL:
Waveland Press.
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6.4 Paraphrase and Summary versus Plagiarism L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
1. Understand the difference between paraphrasing or summarizing and plagiarism.
2. Demonstrate how to give proper credit to sources that are quoted verbatim, and sources whose
ideas are paraphrased or summarized.
3. Demonstrate your ability to paraphrase in one or more written assignments.
Even if you are writing on a subject you know well, you will usually get additional information from
other sources. How you represent others’ ideas, concepts, and words is critical to your credibility and
the effectiveness of your document. Let’s say you are reading a section of a document and find a
point that relates well to your current writing assignment. How do you represent what you have read
in your work? You have several choices.
One choice is simply to reproduce the quote verbatim, or word for word, making sure that you have
copied all words and punctuation accurately. In this case, you will put quotation marks around the
quoted passage (or, if it is more than about fifty words long, inset it with wider margins than the
body of your document) and give credit to the source. The format you use for your source citation
will vary according to the discipline or industry of your audience; common formats include APA
(American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and CMS (Chicago
Manual of Style).
Another common strategy in business writing is to paraphrase, or rewrite the information in your
own words. You will relate the main point, but need to take care not to copy the original. You will
give credit where credit is due, but your citation will be more informal, such as “A Wall Street
Journal article dated July 8, 2009, described some of the disagreements among G-8 nations about
climate change.” Here are several steps that can help you paraphrase a passage while respecting its
original author:
1. Read the passage out loud, paying attention to the complete thought rather than the individual
words.
2. Explain the concept in your own words to a friend or colleague, out loud, face-to-face.
3. Write the concept in your own words, and add one or more illustrative examples of the concept
that are meaningful to you.
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4. Reread the original passage and see how your version compares with it in terms of grammar,
word choice, example, and conveyance of meaning.
5. If your writing parrots the original passage or merely substitutes synonyms for words in the
original, return to step one and start over, remembering that your goal is to express the central
concepts, not to “translate” one word into another.
6. When you are satisfied that your expression of the concept can stand on its own merit, include it
in your document and cite the original author as the source of the idea.
Summarizing information is another common way of integrating information into your original work
that requires care and attention to detail. To summarize is to reduce a concept, idea, or data set to
its most basic point or element. You may have a literature survey to summarize related information
in the field under consideration, or a section on background to serve a similar purpose. Suppose you
are reporting on a business situation and it occurs to you that one of Shakespeare’s plays has a plot
that resembles your situation. You may wish to summarize the Shakespeare play in a few sentences
before drawing parallels between it and your current situation. This may help readers to remember
and understand your report. Regardless of how or where you incorporate a summary within your
document, give attention to its original context and retain its essential meaning free of distortion in
the new context of your writing.
Because summarizing is an act of reductionism, some of the original richness in detail that surrounds
the original will be necessarily lost. Think of a photograph you have taken in the past that featured
several people you know. Using a software program that allows you to modify and manipulate the
image, draw a box around only one face. Delete the rest of the contents of the photo so only the
information in the box remains. Part of the photo is intact, and one person has become the focal
point for the image, but the context has been lost. In the same way, if you focus on one statistic, one
quote, or one idea and fail to capture its background you will take the information out of context.
Context is one of the eight components of communication, and without it, the process breaks down.
While you cannot retain all the definition and detail of the original context in a brief summary, effort
to represent the essential point within its context is essential or you risk distortion of the original
meaning.
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Unlike quoting or paraphrasing, summarizing is something you can—and will—also do to the
material you have written. You may start your document with a summary of the background that
gives the document purpose. Formal business reports often begin with an executive summary, and
scientific articles usually begin with an abstract; both of these serve as a brief preview of the
information in the full document. You may write a brief internal summary after each main discussion
point in a lengthy document; this will serve to remind your reader of the discussion to date and to
establish the context for the upcoming point. Finally, a summary is a very common, and often
effective, way to conclude a document. Ending your writing with a summary helps your reader to
remember your main points.
Plagiarism is neither paraphrasing nor summarizing information from other works.Plagiarism is
representing another’s work as your own. Professional standards, which are upheld in all fields from
architecture to banking to zoology, all involve the elements of authenticity and credibility. Credit is
given where credit is due, authorities in the field are appropriately cited or referenced, and original
writing is expected to be exactly that.Patch writing, or the verbatim cut-and-paste insertion of
fragments, snippets, or small sections of other publications into your own writing without crediting
the sources, is plagiarism. Wholesale copying of other works is also plagiarism. Both destroy your
professional credibility, and fail to uphold common professional standards.
Colleges and universities have policies against plagiarism, and within business and industry, the
negative impact on credibility and careers often exceeds any academic punishment. There is no
shame in quoting someone else’s work while giving credit, nor in paraphrasing a point correctly or
summarizing the research results of a study you did not perform; but there are significant
consequences to representing other’s ideas as your own.
Aside from the fear of punishment, a skilled business writer should recognize that intellectual theft is
wrong. You may be tempted to borrow a sentence; however, know your document will be represented
in many ways across time, and more than one career has been destroyed by plagiarism discovered
years after the fact. The accomplished business writer should take as a compliment the correct
citation and reference of their work. The novice business writer should learn by example but refrain
from cut and paste strategies to complete a document.
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In a world where most modern documents are accessible in some form online, the ability to cross-
reference information with a couple of key strokes makes plagiarism a self-defeating solution when
better alternatives exist. Quote and give credit, link to related documents with permission,
paraphrase and summarize with citation, but do not plagiarize.
K E Y T A K E A W A Y
There is nothing wrong with quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing with credit to your
original source, but presenting someone else’s work as if it were your own is plagiarism. E X E R C I S E S
1. Select a piece of writing such as an essay from a Web site, a book chapter, or a newspaper or
magazine article. Write a paraphrase of a portion of it. Write a brief summary of the entire piece.
Note the difference between the two techniques. Giving credit to the original piece, discuss your
paraphrase and summary with your classmates.
2. Find an example of an advertisement you perceive as particularly effective and write a one-
sentence summary. Share the advertisement and your one-sentence summary with the class.
3. Find an example of an advertisement you perceive as particularly ineffective and write a one-
sentence summary. Share the advertisement and your one sentence review with the class.
4. Find a case where plagiarism or misrepresentation had consequences in the business world.
Share your findings and discuss with classmates.
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6.5 Additional Resources Read an informative article about outlines and get a sample outline
template.http://www.essaywritinghelp.com/outline.htm
This Writing Tutorials site from John Jay College of Criminal Justice offers a menu of tools for
composing a thesis statement, an outline, well-constructed paragraphs, and
more.http://resources.jjay.cuny.edu/erc/writing/index.php.
This RefDesk.com page offers a compendium of different resources for English grammar and
usage. http://www.refdesk.com/factgram.html
Read an article on avoiding bureaucratic language by marketing strategist David Meerman
Scott. http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=14538&ContextSubtype
ID=12
Garbl’s Wordy Phrases presents a list of bureaucratic phrases to avoid and their standard English
alternatives. http://home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/phrases.htm
This University of North Carolina site provides a handout on writing
arguments.http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/argument.html
Read about logic in argumentative writing on Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab
(OWL). http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/01
The College Board Web site provides a robust guide for how to avoid
plagiarism.http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/10314.html
