LESSON 10.docx

1、LESSON 10Chapter 1 Introduction For the last leg of your Effective Business Writing journey, you leave the microcosm of spelling, punctuation, and grammar and pull back for a more macroscopic view. In the next three lessons, I guide you through the intricacies of finding the right tone for your busi

2、ness documents. Welcome to Part III: Take an Attitude.To lift your spirits in Lesson 10, I teach you a fourth brainstorming technique called the Unsent Letter. You learn how easy it is to make unintentional mistakes in tone. Finally, I share some strategies for catching these unconscious and self-de

3、structive errors.What Is Tone?The tone your writing conveys is typically constructed of three parts: your attitude toward your own needs, your attitude toward your subject, and your attitude toward your reader. Your feelings about your needs, subject, and reader interact to create a single tone. Fin

4、ding the right tone goes beyond eliminating overblown business phrases like enclosed herewith please find. You also need to recognize how your feelings determine the tone of your document. In this lesson, I will teach you how to achieve a natural, positive tone, one that furthers your goal in writin

5、g by making your reader feel comfortable and attended to.How Your Feelings Combine to Set the ToneImagine that you are a Cost Accountant working at a boat building plant. Your buddy Alfred in Sales asks you to review a sales proposal he wrote before he e-mails it to the client. You look over the pro

6、posal and respond: E-mail #1: Your proposal to the Smith Brothers looks great! I hate to admit it, but I even learned a few things. Look for a couple of places in the budget where I detailed how we might save the S.B.s some money. Let me know if those changes look good to you. I might be able to fin

7、d more places you can cut. Should I keep looking?Now imagine that your boss asks you to review a sales proposal before she sends it to the client. She wants your feedback, and so you send her the following short e-mail:E-mail #2: I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to review your draft propos

8、al to the Smith Brothers. As you asked, I have inserted my comments, primarily on the budget, where I believe we can lower costs to the client. I would be glad to pursue further research into cost cutting if you wish. I will wait to hear from you.In the third example, a group of external writing con

9、sultants has drafted the proposal. Your boss asks that you e-mail them any suggestions you have.E-mail #3: I reviewed your draft of the Smith Brothers proposal and, for the most part, found it complete and compelling. In the Budget section, pages 15-17, you will find my comments concerning three are

10、as where client costs can be reduced, thus increasing the attractiveness of our offer. I am pursuing two additional budget reduction items, and will contact you by Friday concerning these changes.Let me analyze these examples further to show how the interaction between your feelings about your own n

11、eeds, your subject, and your reader determines your tone.Your Feelings About Your Needs Make a DifferenceYour feelings about your own needs make a difference in all three versions. Note how you feel no need to thank your friend for the chance to read the proposal, since you are clearly doing him a f

12、avor. Your friendship with your pal Alfred makes your tone in Memo #1 quite informal. You do feel a need to thank your boss for the opportunity to read the proposal. You want to indicate that you are a team player, that you are willing to take on extra work, and that youre ready for promotion. You f

13、eel no need to thank the consultants since their presence does not influence your job. Your Feelings about the Topic Make a DifferenceThe reference to finding more savings in the budget in all three versions shows that you care about the sales proposal. Note how you vary the phrasing of the offer to

14、 include more budgetary savings, based on the different readers. In the third example, you dont even ask if they want them. You refer to specific suggestions and promise more.Your Feelings about Your Readers Make a DifferenceNote the different sense of distance and formality in each example. You are

15、 informal when writing to your friend, but far more respectful with your boss. In the third example, you deliberately create distance and even stake out a claim to dominance. The phrase for the most part takes away much of the praise you give in the phrase complete and compelling. You want to show t

16、hat you are in a position to judge their work.Such distinctions are a common part of daily business writing. You are fully equipped to make these judgments if you apply the skills you learned in this class, especially the Four Basic Questions of Why, Who, What, and How. Chapter 2 The Continuum of Fe

17、elingsClearly, your feelings have a lot to do with getting the tone right or wrong. To explore the world of feelings, I want to teach you a fourth brainstorming technique called the Unsent Letter. Remember brainstorming? Put away your preconceptions and get ready to break some rules. The Unsent Lett

18、er The first step is to think of a situation at work in which you were treated very badly. Looking over the following examples can help you think of one.Were you unfairly passed over for a promotion? Did a co-worker take credit for some of your best work? Were you the last to find out that everyone

19、blamed you for something you didnt do? Did the overnight mail service deliver a critical contract too late and cause you to lose an important client? Did the computer system go down just when you needed to access an important document? Did a vendor refuse to accept a return on an item that was broke

20、n?Pick out a specific situation that angered you on the job. You need to have one in mind for this exercise.Write an Angry Letter Once you select a vivid memory of injustice, incompetence, or impoliteness, take five minutes and write the person or persons responsible. Create a document or use a clea

21、n sheet of paper to write about your experience. Tell them how you feel about their actions, and what youd like to do to them in return. Insult them. Call them names. Exaggerate. Use bad language. Say things you would not ordinarily say. When youre done, you will tear this letter up, so dont hold ba

22、ck. This is an exercise in expressing your fury and damaged feelings, not in writing well, so there is no need for you to be courteous or correct. Practice exploring and expressing the absolute worst of how you feel about this person or situation. Indulge your rage for a full five minutes.Done? Rere

23、ad your letter, then tear up your page or erase your document. By the way, Id love to hear how you liked this exercise, so let me know in the Discussion Area. I also teach this technique to journal writers and creative writers because it lets you safely write about topics you may find it hard to dis

24、cuss, even with friends or family. Some people use it to help resolve conflicts with loved ones who have died. Many people find it helpful to express unacceptable or unresolved feelings on paper.Constructive Problem SolvingWould sending your Unsent Letter have improved the situation you wrote about?

25、 Most likely not. I use the Unsent Letter with business writers to dramatize how unedited emotion is harmful to problem solving. The Unsent Letter is useful, however, in getting rid of feelings that are not productive. If you ever find yourself frustrated and angry at work, give it a try. It only ta

26、kes a few minutes. Writing an Unsent Letter can help calm you down. Its an especially good way to avoid sending out that impulsive e-mail. A quick paragraph spouting your worst feelingswhich you then deletecan ease your feelings. Expression, even in writing, is a good way to get past unhelpful feeli

27、ngs. Now youre ready to write an e-mail, letter, or memo that is constructive, that focuses on problem solving rather than punishing, that makes a plan rather than rehashing blame and old disasters. Make the future expand with possibilities rather than contract beneath the weight of past mistakes.Un

28、intentional Mistakes in ToneConsider the continuum of feelings given below.Continuum of Feelings Cordial. Angry Warm . Cold Personal .Mechanical Cheerful . Resentful Suggesting.Commanding Helpful .Discouraging Courteous .Tactless It is no mystery that you should write most documents with an attitude

29、 from the left column. Common sense tells you not to be resentful or tactless. However, unlike the Unsent Letter exercise where you deliberately wrote down your negative feelings, documents can easily veer off into the tones on the right side of the continuum without you knowing it.An excellent stra

30、tegy for avoiding unintentional mistakes in tone is to put yourself in your readers shoes. Use one of the brainstorming strategies. Dialogue with your reader, free write about the situation, or draft an Unsent Letter. Think about the situation from your readers points of view. What do they care abou

31、t? How do you feel about them? Chapter 3 Negative Words Are a Tip-Off to Mistakes in Tone Part of the problem is that many of the letters you write at work are repetitive. It is hard to empathize with the feelings of the hundredth confused customer who brings the same billing problem to your attenti

32、on. A negative tone can easily slip into your document. It happens to everyone. Let me tell you how to catch yourself from being tactless, mechanical, and chilly just because you are weary and overworked.Look for Negative WordsHeres a list of negative words that you should avoid. Look it over carefully because you will find some surprises. Yes, policy is a negative w