Journal entry for week of 04/02/2009

The last couple weeks have be a little rough. work has been busier, this week I've stayed almost an hour past the time I get off every day, My brother and sister both got very sick I had to take each one to doctor appointments on different days and drop off and pick up their medications. I feel like yelling at my parents, I told them a hundred times last fall to get the kids their flu shots but did they listen no of course they didn't. They should be the ones taking my brother and sister to the doctor. I don't mind it but it's hard when I have to stay overtime at work, come to school, and complete the homework, not to mention all the errands I have to run. My parents need to quit playing the stupidity card so much.

CH. 11 mind map - Writing Strategies for Reports & Proposals

CH. 11 summary - Writing Strategies for Reports & Proposals

Let us say your boss has given you the task of completing a report or proposal in one week. How and where would you start? The first thing you would consider before putting a report together is your audience. The content of your report or proposal should be based on the audience you are trying to reach. A direct strategy is best used when you are simply delivering information and you do not need a response from your audience. On the other hand, if your report or proposal needs a response, or you’re asking for money, or asking the audience to take action, then an indirect strategy is best to use. Sometimes a combination of the two strategies maybe needed, you may have to inform the audience and at the same time persuade them. This type of strategy is referred to as an analytical strategy. Regardless of which strategy you use, there are three important rules you should always follow when writing a document. One: write clearly, two: be concise and thorough, and three: organize and format your information. Bullets and headings are great to incorporate when you want to organize your facts and information. Task plans are important to incorporate in proposals and reports because they allow the reader to see what tasks have to be performed, the amount of personnel, equipment, resources, and time needed to complete a project. The task plan section will likely contain a lot of information; because of this it is a wise idea to break up the information into separate categories to ease the reading for your audience. When creating goals for a proposal make sure your reader will understand the primary and secondary goals of the proposal. Don’t assume they will know what the goals are just because you described the project in the introduction or executive summary of the proposal. State the goals clearly, your primary goal first followed by your secondary goals. An executive summary is a concise overview of a report. In an executive summary you: identify yourself, your company, the issue which you are addressing, your objectives, your proposed activities, analysis, and/or conclusion to your reader. Your executive summary has to be written after the entire report has been completed. Your introduction of your report or proposal sets the tone for the rest of your document. Based on your purpose and the audience you can decide to use a formal, informal, or conversational tone during your introduction. Your introduction should also hook your reader and be engaging and clear. In a direct strategy application you present your context, basic topic, suggested solutions, and responses right away. In an indirect strategy application you present your context, and basic topic, but you do not specifically indicate your suggestions or responses. The background of your report or proposal can be organized in a chronological approach, situational approach, or a statistical approach. The problem statement of the report or proposal must be clearly defined. The problem or purpose statement in your introduction only provides only the general concept for the reader, but the purpose statement you write after completing the background should include more detail and clarity. Your goals and objectives should be delivered with a direct strategy approach, they should be specific and direct. During the solutions and recommendations section you should also use a direct strategy approach and also touch on major points from the background and analytical sections. Finally and most importantly always end your report on a positive note. I personally have never written a report, but when the time comes for me to write one I think the author broke it down just right to help me the reader understand how reports and proposals are created. This chapter had a lot of valuable information.

Journal entry for week # 8

I am glad our mid-term is next week instead of this week. I've had a long day. The chapter was easy, I was just in a bad mood the whole day, because I woke up with a headache. I know I should go to sleep right now but an episode of King of Queens is about to start and I'm going to watch it. If you read this Naweed your gonig to be mad at me for staying up. Hehehe.

Chapter eight mind map-Business Writing Design

Chapter eight summary-Business Writing Design

In the business world excellent writing skills are highly desirable by prospective employers. Writing in business should be concise, precise, and clear. You should try to eliminate as much communication noise as possible; such as mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, vagueness, and unfamiliar language. There is a process one should follow when designing a business message. Start by asking yourself questions such as, what is it that I am trying to communicate? Who is my audience? What is the purpose of my message? These questions will help you generate ideas and develop a starting point for your writing. Next, you can move on to Freewriting. Freewriting is the process of writing all the message ideas that come into your mind nonstop without lifting your pen or pausing at the computer. This step should be worked on for at least 15 minutes. After completion, you should go back and highlight all the useful and important ideas. During the listing step, compose a list of all the things that need to go into the document you plan to write. Clustering involves determining the relationships among the ideas of a message, such as the mind maps we make for every chapter of our book. When you have generated all the ideas needed for your message you can go on and gather information to support and explain the goal of your message. You can research, conduct surveys, and hold interviews. Presenting your audience with actual data will help them understand the message and receive it much clearer. Remember to consider the purpose of your message. Again here you would ask yourself questions such as, what am I trying to communicate? What does my audience want to know? Or what do they need to know? Business writers have two strategies they can utilize to complete the task of strategy consideration. In a direct strategy, writers state their message goal first. Or a writer can use an indirect strategy to warm up the audience with information and goodwill before delivering the message goal. Once you have decided on a strategy you can go on to the outlining and drafting step. An outline is a structured list of the information to be included in the message. Your outline will help you organize your ideas and incorporate them with your gathered information.
Now you can write the first draft of your message. Drafting is getting the text down on paper or a computer screen in its first version. Include your main points and details for message clarity. You will refine it later on. Once your first draft is complete, you then have to revise it. Look at the document as if you haven’t seen it before. Make sure you included your message goal, its explanation and development, and included enough details to make it clear to your audience. If you are not satisfied with your draft you can re-outline it. Re-outlining involves writing a new outline based on the original document you wrote. Or you can use the slash and burn method, which is a total revision strategy in which you select certain points of a document and then rewrite it using only those points from the original work. When you have finally written a draft that you are satisfied with you can go on to edit and proofread it to create your final draft. When I proofread, I have to read out loud to hear myself. Examine the language and style you have chosen. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. Replace negative words when possible with positive expressions. There are several styles when it comes to writing business messages or documents. The “You” view style is focused on the interests of the readers. This is a good strategy to use when trying to create good public relations, if the information in your message is negative then this probably isn’t the strategy you want to use. Make sure your message emphasizes what you can do instead of the things you can’t do. Keep your reader interested by using active sentence constructions and vivid language. Make sure your message is free of grammatical errors. Errors make it difficult for your audience to grasp the meaning of your message, and it’s a big turn off. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the best speller. In grade school I was eliminated from a spelling B in the first round, so I always use spell check. Memos and letters usually have the same components. Memos are an internal written channel of communication. Letters are typically an external, written channel of communication. The introduction comes first; it should include any good news and your goals. The body of the message offers supporting data, and explains the reasons for the message. The closing of the document should include a call for action and a goodwill statement. An e-mail is an internal and external written channel of communication that transmits messages over the internet. E-mails are typically short. Use bias-free language in your messages. Bias language will offend your audience and show you in a bad light. It is very important to write clearly and use the tools and formats of business writing that are suitable for your audience. Sharpening your writing skills will significantly increase your chances of moving up in the business world.

Talking with Confidence video mind map