Use personal pronouns, especially 'you' and 'I'. • Avoid personal pronouns Use the sentences of ordinary conversation • Avoid brisk, natural style Use active voice • Use passive voice Colorful style Colorless Make it emotional, energetic, Use adjectives and adverbs, metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech. Be conversational or breezy Tell Stories • Avoid using adjectives adverb, and other "vivifiers." • Blend impersonal with passive styles • Use formal words and expressions to freeze out any semblance of wit, liveliness, and vigor. Pointers regarding the strong, personal “default” business style: -Don't be afraid to be friendly or personal. Remember the importance of goodwill. -Writing should sound like a living person--ok to be conversational (but not colloquial) -Contractions & personal pronouns ok -Active, action-oriented feeling -Visually formatted for easy reading Simple words, short sentences and paragraphs Make Your Sentences More Energetic 1. Use strong, active verbs -Avoid overuse of non-action or "state" verbs such as to be, have, seem. The financial advantage of owning this equipment instead of leasing it is 10% after taxes.
•When you want to emphasize the object of the action. Johnny Jensen, our shipping clerk, shipped your order on November 15. Your order was shipped November 15. •When actor is unknown or you want to deemphasize the actor You waste my time. Time is being wasted. • When you want to provide some variety to sentence structure. Word Choice: 1. Keep language simple and easy to understand. She manipulated the garment in a cogitative mode. ‘Hmm,’ she vocalized. ‘This attire is verifiably marvelous. What is it constituted from?’ ‘From the most meritorious velveteen,’ defined her interlocutor, simpering coincidentally. ‘Is it?’ iterated the party of the first part. ‘That’s felicitous.’ 2. Keep sentences Concise and •They should average fewer than twenty words. •Be concise. Watch for unnecessary wordiness. -Avoid redundancies. Past history the color blue visible to the eye in conjunction with
• Synthesis: connect the dots with summaries, conclusions, recommendations Close Response mechanism Secondary Objective. • Make specific action request. -State deadline and make it easy. Indirect Bad News Persuasive Requests Opening Top Bun •Background: •Buffer: Show consideration to promote good will. Minimize damage to the relationship. •Establish common ground: Create a receptive space. • Establish problem in general terms. Body Cheese • Develop clear reasons. -Make reader see it from your point of view. Meat • Be clear, firm, and gracious in stating the bad news. -But get in & out quickly. • Suggest alternative solutions • Dramatize negative impact of problem. -Establish urgent need to act. •Show your solution is best. -Prove that it eliminates cause of motivating problem. -Prove that it is superior to other solutions. -Build credibility--has it worked elsewhere? Testimonials, endorsements? -Discuss secondary benefits Close Bottom Bun: Goodwill gesture •Bad news does not define the relationship. Future is open. • Make specific action request. -State deadline -Make it easy Chapter 4. Informative Messages Direct Informative Messages Direct Direct Informative Opening • Set the table. -background, purpose (primary objective), preview (when using A-heads) Body •Exposition using lists, tables, charts, and other tools • Synthesis: connect the dots with summaries, conclusions, recommendations
know well, but it’s important for your audience to know it is the center of gravity, that your goal is to communicate with them. Projection: This is related to the audience focus and enhances your ability to be “out there.” The goal here is take control of the room with your personal presence. You’re not doing this if your voice can’t be heard. You’re not doing this if you’re body language is stiff and your voice monotone. You have to have an appropriate degree of intensity in order to project effectively. You need to have a sense of mission about your message. It’s the difference between a river running in spring when its fast and full or in summer when it’s dry and slow. Expressiveness: Speakers who are expressive use their voice and their body language to shape their ideas. They speak loud or soft, fast or slow in a natural spontaneous way that helps the audience to know what’s important and what’s just background information. A very important technique to learn is not to speak as if every word you say has the same value. Some ideas are more important than others, and that should be reflected by the non-verbals, such as voice intonation, facial expression, hand gesture, etc Fluency: The opposite of fluency is a choppy, halting delivery and garbled, overly convoluted syntax in the sentence you speak. You should attain an pace that gives the audience time to assimilate what you have to say and which varies according to what is appropriate in terms of the expressiveness you’re trying to achieve at any given moment in your presentation. It’s ok to stumble here and there. It’s ok to let slip an “um” or “uh” or some other filler word. But have your group give you feedback about whether you do it too frequently.
Body •Exposition lists, tables, charts, and other tools • Synthesis: connect the dots with summaries, conclusions, recommendations • Provide clear, well-developed explanation of request. highlighting & tight, coherent paragraphs Response mechanism Secondary Objective. • Make specific action request. -State deadline and make it easy. Indirect Bad News Persuasive Requests Opening Top Bun •Background: •Buffer: Show consideration to promote good will. Minimize damage to the relationship. •Establish common ground: Create a receptive space. • Establish problem in general terms. Body Cheese • Develop clear reasons. -Make reader see it from your point of view. Meat • Be clear, firm, and gracious in stating the bad news. -But get in & out quickly. • Suggest alternative solutions • Dramatize negative impact of problem. -Establish urgent need to act. •Show your solution is best. that it eliminates cause of motivating problem. -Prove that it is superior to other solutions. -Build credibility--has it worked elsewhere? Testimonials, endorsements? -Discuss secondary benefits Close Bottom Bun: Goodwill gesture •Bad news does not define the relationship. Future is open. • Make specific action request. -State deadline -Make it easy Appendix Four: Articles