Identifying Readers by Craig Crumbly

Identifying your audience when speaking about a topic or writing about a topic is very important. Keeping the audience in mind can help one focus on what they are writing and to specifically get their point across. For example, an army recruiter would not speak to an elementary school about how important it is to join the army. The children are too young to understand what war is and too young fight for their country. When focusing on the readers you are trying to identify use the following questions for assistance:

1. Who is your audience
2. How many audiences do you have?
3. what does your audience need? What do they want?
4. What is most important to them?
5. What are they least likely to care about?
6. What do you want your audience to think, learn, or assume about you? What impression do you want your writing or research to convey?

Asking yourself these questions while preparing your speech or paper will help target the audience you intend to inform. In business it is important to identify proper readers so a company can move foward in a positive direction

Cited:

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/audience.html

Tips for Organizing your Presentation Effectively - by Jonathan Koshko

Organizing and planning a presentation can be tricky. You have to make sure that the audience can clearly understand and comprehend what your views and ideas presented are. Here are a few tips to help you organize an effective presentation:


- Decide the purpose of your presentation. Are you trying to persuade, inform, entertain, inspire?

- Be precise, definite, and straightforward when wording your speech. Use transitions to help your audience understand your message clearly. They are also effective tools to keep your presentation flowing.

- Make sure to include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion; just like the structure of a written essay.

- Consider the points you want to make and pick the strongest points that support your purpose. Present them in an order that is unique and will allow the audience to remember the purpose of your presentation.

- Make sure to research your audience. You do not want to say something that can be taken offensively.



Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. Writing that Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006.

Tips on How to be Persuasive in One’s Professional Writing by Eusebio Moreno.

“The purpose of persuasive writing is to ask your reader to agree with your position about the subject you are writing about. In doing so, you may be requesting from them to change their present opinion, working procedure or habits. The following tips can help you be persuasive in your professional writing:

1. To be persuasive, it is of critical importance to strive to keep your reader’s needs, as well as your own, clearly in mind.

2. It is important to acknowledge that people tend to resist change and in order to overcome this natural resistance to change, you’ll have to establish the need for your recommendations and support it with convincing, objective evidence.

3. Always address your audience with a respectful and courteous tone and language.

4. When writing to persuade your audience, do not overlook opposing points of view. Try to demonstrate the advantage of your viewpoint over those of others.

5. Finally, use the appropriate medium for communicating with your audience.” (Alfred, Brusaw and Oliu, p.71, 74)


Following this tips, can help you be persuasive in your professional writing.

Bibliography:
Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Instant Messaging at Work by Chris Hudak

Preparing for a Job Search - Kyle Ramos

Tips on Writing Effective Paragraphs By Jonathan Koshko

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Citations:

Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. Writing that Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006.

Analyzing Your Audience by Zarah Boyer

When writing a work it is extremely important to consider your reader and analyze your audience. It is extremely important to consider their likes and dislikes, what motivates them, what kind of activities they enjoy and what they need or want in a work. These are just some of the thing to ask yourself when analyzing an audience. Audiences can be fickle and pleasing them can be very difficult because sometimes they don’t even know what they want. You must consider how to approach a topic, especially a sensitive one, or one that has great weight on society. It is hard to determine what they want but you can figure it out exactly what your audience wants and what points you want to get across by asking yourself a few simple questions.
· What is my purpose in writing this work?
· What action do I want my readers to take after reading it?
· Who are my readers?
· Is there a secondary audience?
· What do my readers know and how do they feel about the subject I’m addressing or the idea I’m proposing?
· Does my audience include international clients or colleagues? ( this one is EXTREMELY important because certain things in our culture may be very offensive to other cultures. For instance the color red in America may mean passion or power but in South Africa red is symbol of mourning.)

Asking yourself these questions will facilitate the analysis of your audience and further ensure the effectiveness of your writing.

Citations:

Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. Writing that Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006.

The Role of Instant Messaging By Geoffrey Hart

Using Instant Messaging or IM is a great tool when it is used properly and by the right people. Instant messaging is much like a telephone call as it is live; however you communicate through typed words instead of spoken words. It also serves as real time e-mail because it allows you to communicate on a phone through this when you don’t have access to e-mail.

The use of instant messaging should be limited to informal situations and to cover brief conversations. When using instant messaging it is appropriate to use abbreviations and be informal in you conversation. However you still must always consider your audience and who you are talking to, make sure that everyone you are communicating with will understand your abbreviations and what you are talking about. Also since instant messaging has limited screen space messages should be brief and get right to the point of what you are trying to say, and also remember that speed is essential.

Citations:

Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Picture:

http://www.melovillareal.com/images/instant-messenger-skills-work-at-home.jpg

Creating and Delivering and Creating Effective Presentations by Colleen O'Hara

The main purpose of any presentation is communication. It’s educating, convincing, or conveying information to one or more people. To communicate effectively, you must be simple, crisp, and interesting. People are more willing to learn and retain knowledge when the learning is supported by visualization.

Visuals can entertain, excite, and even shock your audience by the proper addition of visual images into almost any exchange of information. Appearances that may be normally considered boring can be enhanced and more enjoyable that really grabs the attention of the audience. Simple, clear, concise images, that are smartly sprinkled with attention-grabbing graphics will help support your words in a positive manner.

Visuals should be used for support your information not replace it. Concepts that are difficult to grasp can be communicated quickly and easily through the use of visuals. They allow you the freedom to communicate more complex subjects in a more efficient manner, adding support and impact to what your trying to present.
Finally, your presentation should be entertaining. Leave the audience feeling enlightened and relaxed when they leave.

Key Steps in Effective Presentation

1. Know the Subject
While this may seem obvious, it is very important that you research every degree of your subject. Read and look up information about the subject with the specific purpose of writing a presentation. Your ability to present a subject with confidence, directly affects your audience's impressions and will help keep their attention.

2. Know the Audience
Researching the makeup of your audience will help you decide on what is appropriate for them or not. Knowing who you’re presenting to will also help you better understand how this information effects them and if it actually would appeal to them.

3. Know Your Limits
We all push our limits and willingly bite off more than we may be comfortable handle from time to time-- this is how we learn and grow. Knowing a few of your limits, however, might avert disaster, or at least embarrassment. Just because someone else can present a joke or situation to be funny doesn’t mean you can.

4. Develop a Theme
All presentations, regardless of their complexity, have a single purpose. Whether that purpose is to sell, educate, or to entertain always keep the purpose in mind.

5. Have a Script
For some, simple notes on 3 x 5 file cards with key points you want to make are very helpful. Make sure not to read from them the whole time. They are just for reference and to help your presentation flow. Any presentation script, regardless of density is like any other message. It should consist of an opening, body, summary and closing.

6. Select Proper Visual Aids
With the script developed and the audience researched, this decision should be easy. When properly planned, simple, well designed graphics add professionalism and impact to virtually any presentation.

7. Prepare an Outline
An outline does not have to be complicated to prepare. Its main purpose is to give a general view of the presentation and communicate the important items you wish to cover. It should include your script, what you plan on saying, and the visuals that go along with it. This will help you see the flow of your presentation.

8. Produce the Visuals
This should be the easiest step. After you have imagined what your visuals should be, it’s time to create them. Handouts and PowerPoint are very useful tools in displaying graphs, charts, and images. PowerPoint is sometimes the best way of showing a photograph or image to a large group of people. Handouts are best when you have graphs or something dealing with numbers that you wish your audience to keep for future reference.

9. Rehearse!
Your final script and outline allow you to rehearse your presentation even before the visuals are completed. This assures that when your final images are prepared and ready, you will be as well.

10. The Big Day

On the day of the presentation, you should arrive early to allow yourself enough time to set up. Have extra copies of the handout material nearby and make sure that if you use PowerPoint that it is showing on the overhead properly.
Remember to speak clearly and authoritative. A little humor, if tastefully added, can help break the tension of a moment. There should be no surprises. Make sure that the audience’s questions have been addressed, and of course, thank everyone for attending.

Citations

"The Key Steps To An Effective Presentation" byStephen Eggleston

http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/keystep1.html

Formal Reports by Eusebio Moreno.

“Formal reports are written accounts of major projects. Formal reports contain various components that make up the parts of the report.

1. Title Page. It includes the following information: (1) Full title of the report; (2) name (s) of the writers, (3) the date the report was issued, (4) the name of the organization for which the writer works, and (5) the name of the organization or person to which the report is submitted.

2. Table of Contents. Lists all the headings of the report in their order of appearance, along with their page number.

3. Abstract. Is a condensed version of a longer work that summarizes and highlights the major points.

4. Foreword. Is an optional introductory statement written by someone other than the author that generally provides background information about the publication’s significance and places it in the context of other works in the field.

5. Preface. Is an optional statement used to announce the purpose, background, or scope of the report.

6. Body. Is the section of the report that describes in detail the methods and procedures used to generate the report, demonstrates how results were obtained, describes the results, draws conclusions, and, if appropriate, makes recommendations. It includes the following:
a. An executive summary, that provides a more-complete overview of the report’s primary points.
b. An introduction, that provides your audience with any general information required to understand the details of the rest of the report.
c. The text (including headings, tables, illustrations, and references), it presents the details of how the topic was investigated, how the problem was solved, how the best choice from among alternatives was selected, or whatever else the report covers.
d. Conclusions, this section pulls together the results or findings presented in the report and interprets them in the light of its purpose and methods.
e. Recommendations, they suggest a course of action that should be taken based on the results of the study.

7. Works Cited (or References), this section cites the sources used to create the report.

Remember that the purpose, scope, and complexity of the project will determine which components will be included and how they are organized.” (Alfred, Brusaw and Oliu, p.372-397)

Bibliography:

Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Tips for Writing Effective Meeting Minutes By Craig Crumbly

Meetings in the workplace are a part of everyday life. Although meetings are not exciting, there are ways to making sure meetings are more efficient, which includes writing meeting minutes, or notes. When proper meeting minutes are not recorded, business associates tend to be lost and sometimes reschedule meetings with the same purpose which gets less accomplished. Make sure the minutes writting answer the following ten questions:

1. When was the meeting?
2. Who attended?
3. Who did not attend?
4. What topics were discussed?
5. What was decided?
6. What actions were agreed upon?
7. Who is to complete these actions?
8. Were materials distributed at the meeting?
9. Is there anything else the minute reader should do?
10. Is a follow-up meeting scheduled? if so, when?

By following these ten steps, confusion will be avoided and more productive and effective meetings will be produced.

Cited:

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/01/tips_for_writin.html

Use of Graphics and Imaging Software in Professional Writing

A picture paints a thousand words- we've all heard it before and as cliche' as it sounds, it's true.  Professional writing is not just words and numbers, it's also graphics and images.  Graphics and images help demonstrate information.   Graphics should be used whenever information calls for it.  They can help illustrate a point or an idea.  A graphic may be used to show you the blue prints to a house or they can even be the instructions to building a model car.  Some graphics help show numerical data in the form of a plot.  These types of graphs would be used to show financial growth or decline in a business.  

Images can be incredibly powerful and compelling tools of communication.  They can convey not only information but also moods and emotions.  A few carefully chosen images can go a long way.  An image can can make or break the understanding of the reader of the message you're trying to share with them.  Basically, graphics and images simplify a situation so the reader can focus on the details.  

Citations:

"The use of graphics and imaging software ub professional writing" 

March 30, 2009 by Ryan Lee

Professional Writing Conferences 2009-2010 by Zarah Boyer

One of the great things about being involved in something is the ability to gather with your peers and discuss your common interest. The Council of Writing Program administrators allow professional writers to do this with a multitude of conferences and seminars throughout the year wear professional writing is discussed. They offer conferences throughout the year on different topics to provide a place where writing professional can share their knowledge with fellow writers and novice writers. One of the conferences they are holding this year is the 2009 Minneapolis Workshop and Conference Sneak Peak in which they will provide a workshop for writers and preview their upcoming events and conferences.

Some other conferences held by the CWPA are:

• The 2009 WPA Breakfast in San Fransisco


• The Quality Enhancement Plan in which discusses the Writing Solution.


• The Better Writers, Not Just Better Writing: Online Strategies to Support Writers in all Disciplines

Another group that is to hold professional writing conferences in 2009 and 2010 is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. The AWP holds conferences from Boston to Denver to celebrate the years outstanding writing professionals and literary authorities.

These conferences provide a forum where writers can come together and discuss their craft and learn from other professionals in the field, which I believe is an important part of growing in your work.

Citations:

Council of Writing Program Administrators. 08 Apr. 2009 http://www.wpacouncil.org/frontpage.

"AWP- Conference." The Association of Writers & Writing Programs -- Serving Writers Since 1967. 08 Apr. 2009 .

Cover Letter Writing By Geoffrey Hart

Cover letter writing serves the purpose of identifying what you are sending in a short brief message. Cover letters are sent with formal reports, proposals, brochures, and other similar types of written work. A cover letter is also referred to as a transmittal letter as it provides you the writer with a record of when and who you sent the written work to.
In the cover letter you should include a short opening paragraph including what you are sending and what it is being sent for. If you include a second paragraph a short summary can be included as well as you can point out particular sections of concern to the reader. In the closing paragraph you should include acknowledgments and contact information for questions or concerns and convey that the material fulfill its purpose.
Examples of cover letters can be in many different forms of communication. An e-mail message included with an e-mailed attachment serves as a cover letter. A memo also serves as a cover letter within an organization. Cover letters are just for what they sound like, to cover the material included with it.

Works Cited:

Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Writing Effective Complaint Letters

Complaint letters are important because they bring an issue to the surface that is either bothering the employer or the employee. However, getting your point across in a precise and professional manner is crucial. Usually by the time you write the complaint letter you are already very upset and angry. You cannot let your emotions effect your letter. Three effective steps include:

1. Identifying the problem and including relevant information such as names, copies of receipts, and invoice numbers.

2. Explain clearly what went wrong.

3. Explain what you expect the reader to do to solve the problem.

Be Specific

One of the most important tips when writing an effective complaint letter is being specific. The more details you can provide about the situation the sooner the problem can be resolved. The more details you provide, the sooner the problem is likely to be resloved.

Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Finding and Attaining the Right Job

Finding the right job can be difficult and stressful. You'll need to be careful and thorough while searching for the right job. Begin your search by assessing your abilities and skills. For example, deciding whether you are a people person or not, is a skill you would question. Also, considering your morals and values and your career goals would be a good decider of which job you would be competent in. After taking into consideration all of the things that can play a factor in your job search, creating an effective resume is your next step. An effective resume is one that summarizes and highlights your skills, like whether you know how to use Microsoft Word or Power Point, your experience and the qualifications you have attained at other jobs, and by informing the employers of extracurricular activities and volunteer events that you participate in. After creating a perfect resume, there are a number of sources that can help you find the job you are looking for; web resources such as monster.com, advertisements, newspapers, networking, campus career services, and government employment agencies. After finding a couple of jobs that you are interested in, all you have to do is execute a striking and efficient interview. Interviews are used by employers in order to learn some facts about a possible employee. An interview can also be used for your benefit. You can ask the interviewer questions about the company and the job so that you can gain insight about what the job would be like if you were to get hired.

http://blog.networkingexcellence.com/2008/10/turn-multiple-job-interviews-i.html

Leading A Team by Chris Hudak

Leading a team or group of individuals can be a very difficult but great and rewarding experience. Being a team leader can range from a small group project at school or leading and managing a large group of colleagues in your career field. There is a lot of pressure put on the leader to make sure the team works in an effective and efficient manner and to make the right decisions at spur of the moment when necessary.
When it comes to assigning tasks for each individual member be sure to determine everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. If you assign someone a mathematical portion when their strength is technical writing, the results will most likely be less than desirable. One very important thing to avoid is placing blame on others. This can really demoralize a team and cause unsatisfactory results. This sounds very cliché but there is no I in team. When you are working with a team you are just that, a group of individuals working collaboratively to achieve an individual goal.
Overall, leading a team brings on great responsibility but can have an even greater reward when performing successful. It is important to be respectful of all members and work effective and efficiently as individuals and as a group.

http://www.builderau.com.au/strategy/projectmanagement/soa/10-tips-for-leading-your-team-to-peak-performance/0,339028292,339278390,00.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-on-Leading-A-Team&id=647331

Business Writing by Eusebio Moreno

As we know by now; communication is key in the workplace. Business Writing should communicate formality, respect, and authority. Choosing the right medium and form to communicate your message, is key to successful communication and the first step in business writing. Among the various mediums available for business communications are:

1. Letters on your organization’s stationary. This form of communication is used to represent a commitment to the recipient and/or to formalize a business relationship.

2. Memos: printed or electronic. This form of communication is used to communicate and circulate information within your organization.

3. E-mail and instant messages. This form of communication is used to communicate quickly within your organization and with customers and others outside your organization. It can also be use to transmit text and graphics files electronically. (Alfred, Brusaw and Oliu, p.306)

After determining which medium will work best for your business writing, the following tips can help you to clearly and effectively communicate your message:

1. Establish your purpose, your reader’s needs, and your scope. Explain what you mean explicitly to avoid people misinterpreting your writing. You can put your reader’s needs and interests first by writing from the reader’s point of view. Often, but not always, doing so means using the words you and your rather than t he words we, our, I and mine. Stay focus on your subject as you write. For international correspondence, be aware of how cultural differences may affect the reader’s interpretation of your message.

2. Outline key points. For a short letter, a memo, or an e-mail, jot down the points you wish to make and the order in which you wish to make them.

3. Write a rough draft from the outline. You should consider whether a formal (somewhat restrained) or an informal style would be more appropriate for your purpose and your audience. Remember that an attempt to sound casual or friendly can instead seem insincere.

4. Take a break. Allow for a cooling period, especially when a letter or an e-mail responds to a problem. Don’t vent emotions. Maintain a cordial and professional tone.

5. Revise the rough draft. Even when writing to a close associate, always be considerate of your reader and check for sense as well as for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

6. Adjust the format. Especially the arrangement and spacing of letter parts, and print a copy for review and proofing before signing it.

7. Assume final responsibility: as the author of a letter or a memo, you are responsible for its appearance and accuracy. (Alfred, Brusaw and Oliu, p.262- 263)

If you follow these tips, your business writing will be both, concise and adequately developed.


Bibliography:

Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Writing Technical Instructions By Kyle Ramos

When writing instructions there are a few things you have to take into perspective. Before you start you have to keep in mind the average audience and the audience’s average technical knowledge. Then you have to avoid technical jargon, because most average people will not understand the same lingo. Also avoid undefined acronyms and do not use 2 different words for the same thing.
Now I will tell you how to write technical instruction. When writing instruction you want to use the simplest language possible. You also want to write in the form of commands. From one command to another addressing each step clearly to your audience this makes instructions less wordy and easier to follow. Be careful that when you are trying to be simple that you don’t cut out necessary item which will then make your instructions unclear. Like when it is necessary to let glue dry, do not say “Let the glue dry” but instead say “Let the glue dry for 30 minutes at room temperature” this is more precise. If you follow these simple guidelines you will be able to write great instructions that anyone can follow.

Team Projects Writing By Geoffrey Hart

Team Projects often require us to be able to write collaboratively. As my teammate mentioned in an earlier post much insightful information about collaborative writing I will discuss the advantages of collaborative writing in a little more detail. The first thing that comes to mind is that many minds are better than one. This is true due to the fact that when working with many people will encourage more thoughts and ideas to be contributed to the writing and these thoughts and ideas will be different and have different perspectives which leads to a better product. Feedback also is crucial to collaborative writing because it allows the team to review and edit the writing much faster and much better than with only one person. When writing with a team there is a lot less stress involved which is also a great advantage for your writing. Also team writing allows for the team members to write more confidently knowing that their team will provide constructive criticism to help make the end product better. There are disadvantages of collaborative writing as it is not perfect, however it outweighs the disadvantages.

Citation:

Alfred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Writing That Works Communicating Effectively on the Job. 3rd ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.