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Writing Skills

For the MSM

Guiding Philosophy

Skills Refresher and Review Individual Talents and Glitches Rigorous Evaluation and Professional

Standards Positive Atmosphere of Respect and

Teamwork

Writing to Get Ahead

Survey of Florida Businesses West Virginia Study of Graduates

Why Study Writing Now?

Harvard Study of Writing Skills in Freshmen and Seniors

Quantitative Research on Writing and Learning Contexts

Business writing is shaped by three important factors: Profit Time Hierarchy

An Effective (Read Profitable) Business Style

Style Quiz

An Effective (Read Profitable) Business Style Be Brief Be Simple Be Clear

Brevity and Efficiency

Brevity is the soul of wit.

--Shakespeare (Hamlet II,ii)

Buy it low, stack it high, sell it cheap.

--Sam Walton

Brevity and Efficiency

Research at the Naval Postgraduate School Edit as if every word costs money . . . Because it

does. Eliminate every sentence or word that adds nothing

new.

Trimmable Words and Phrases

Redundancies• at this point in time• true and accurate• eight A.M. in the morning• each individual• past history• popular with the people

Trimmable Words and Phrases

Wordiness• in spite of the fact that• due the fact that• in order to• concerning the nature of• the possibility exists for• during the time that

Trimmable Words and Phrases

Space Fillers• please be advised• in this day and age• aforementioned• in accordance with your request• to all intents and purposes

Trimmable Words and Phrases

Excess Qualifiers and Intensifiers• actually• basically• ultimately• very• somewhat• sort of • quite

More on Efficiency

Omit unneeded whiches or thats– The company, which was successful, . . .

» (The successful company)

– The meeting, which had been brief, . . .» (The brief meeting)

– He told her that he was lunching with Smith.

» (He told her he was lunching. . .)

More on Efficiency

Eliminate Surplus Prepositions– Procedures of accounting . . .

» (Accounting procedures)

– The Mann company, based in New York. . .» (The New York-based Mann company)

Prose Workout 1

Be Clear

Sentences– Use one idea per sentence.– Subordinate minor ideas.– Use (but don’t overuse) and or but as a

transition

Be Clear

Sentences– Use one idea per sentence.

Our company’s final decision not to purchase the thus far unimproved Johnson property with its access to the highway and its view of the river, despite our substantial preliminary investment in it in time and money, was based on the surveyor’s negative report emphasizing a public sewer located underground in the central portion of the property, where it cannot escape interfering with our building plans.

Be Clear

Sentences– Subordinate minor ideas.

• Limit each sentence to a single major idea.• Add only secondary concepts that are closely

related to that idea.• For any sentence, severely limit the number of

secondary concepts.

Be Clear

Sentences– Subordinate minor ideas.

Major idea: This month’s sales are necessary for projecting this quarter’s profit.

Minor idea: We do not yet know this month’s sales.

Together: When we know this month’s sales, we will be better able to project this quarter’s profit.

Prose Workout 2

Be Clear

Paragraphs– Keep paragraphs short.– Use topic sentences.– Use transitions between sentences

Be Clear

ParagraphsThere are good reasons for keeping business paragraphs brief. A brief paragraph is more easily read and understood because the reader’s mind processes content in small “packets” of information. Short paragraphs will supply those ready-made packets. Occasionally, for emphasis, you may even wish to include a paragraph of only a sentence or two--as many effective business writers do. A very brief paragraph, among those of ordinary length, calls the reader’s attention to its contents.

Be Clear

Prefer Active, Personal SentencesPassive: Our office in Japan was communicated with

by letter.

Active: We wrote a letter to our office in Japan.

Passive: A question is raised whether. . .

Active: I question whether. . .

Passive: It was recommended by the committee that. . .

Active: The committee recommended

Be Clear

Prefer Active, Personal Sentences

Try to edit this sentence:

The suggestion is made that the utilization of company money to pay for executive vacations in Hawaii could be construed as suspicious to the Internal Revenue Service and make them think that an improper accountancy of these items may have been made.

Be Clear

The suggestion is made that the utilization of company money to pay for executive vacations in Hawaii could be construed as suspicious to the Internal Revenue Service and make them think that an improper accountancy of these items may have been made.

Revised:

We suggest that if the company uses its money to pay for executive vacations in Hawaii the IRS might suspect that the company has accounted improperly for its expenses.

Be Clear

Pronouns– Avoid ambiguous reference.– Limit sentences begun with there and it.

Example: It was the understanding of Burnet’s group that the price of Widgets had declined.

Prose Workout 3 or 4

Be Clear

Simplify Inflated Diction– directionality– scrutinization– utilize– transmit– impact on– render operative– prioritize

Avoid Jargon– feedback– input– interface

Be Clear

A. Murphy tends to obfuscate the significance of his conceptualizations by utilizing unintelligible encoding.

B. Murphy tends to blur the meaning of his thoughts by using language difficult to understand.

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

Punctuation Sentence Structure and Organization

Everything You Wanted to Know About Punctuation But Were Embarrassed to Ask. Everything.

Punctuation

SVO

Punctuation

SVO Joe writes his report.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

Joe writes his report.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

Joe writes his report.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

Joe writes his report.

Joe writes a memo and a report.

Joe writes a report and goes to the pub.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

S, . . . ,VO

Joe writes his report.

Joe writes a memo and a report.

Joe writes a report and goes to the pub.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

S, . . . ,VO

SV, . . . ,O

Joe writes his report.

Joe writes a memo and a report.

Joe writes a report and goes to the pub.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

S, . . . ,VO

SV, . . . ,O

Joe writes his report.

Joe writes a memo and a report.

Joe writes a report and goes to the pub.

Joe, tired from his meeting, goes to the pub.

Joe goes, dragging his feet, to the pub.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

S, . . . ,VO

SV, . . . ,O

. . . , SVO

SVO, . . .

Joe writes his report.

Joe writes a memo and a report.

Joe writes a report and goes to the pub.

Joe, tired from his meeting, goes to the pub.

Joe goes, dragging his feet, to the pub.

Punctuation

SVO

SVOO

SVOVO

S, . . . ,VO

SV, . . . ,O

. . . , SVO

SVO, . . .

Joe writes his report.

Joe writes a memo and a report.

Joe writes a report and goes to the pub.

Joe, tired from his meeting, goes to the pub.

Joe goes, dragging his feet, to the pub.

Tired from his meeting, Joe goes to the pub.

Punctuation

When the intervening word or phrase has to be there for the sentence to maintain its essential meaning, you may not use commas.

When the intervening word or phrase does not have to be there for the sentence to maintain its essential meaning, you must use commas.

Punctuation

Quiz: How should the following sentences be punctuated?

Swimmers who dive in shallow water risk their lives.

An office manager for a corporation, that had government contracts, asked her supervisor whether she could reprimand her co-workers for smoking.

Punctuation

Joining Sentences:

S V O S V O

Two errors:

•Joe goes home Betsy writes the report.

•Joe goes home, Betsy writes the report.

Punctuation

Joining Sentences:

S V O ? S V O

, and

:

;

( )

--

Punctuation

Joining Sentences:

S V O ? S V O

, and

S V O : S V O / list

;

( )

--

Punctuation

Joining Sentences:

S V O ? S V O

, and

S V O : S V O / list

S V O ; S V O

( )

--

Executive Summaries

Executive Summaries

Assignment:

Write an executive summary of the report provided. This summary should be no longer than a single page or a maximum of 380 words.

Executive Summaries

Length: approximately 1/10 of report Goal:

– To make your case in as short a space as possible

– May be your only chance Audience:

– Management, not technical experts– Avoid technical jargon

Executive Summaries

Format– Generally, follow the form of the report itself:

For Business Plans:– Company Organization and Product Description – Market Analysis – Revenue Distribution

For Feasibility Studies:– Purpose– Analysis– Recommendations

– May subdivide or bullet for clarity

Executive Summaries

Brevity, Clarity, and Simplicity are essential.

Statement of Purpose is especially important.

Executive SummaryPurpose of the Report The purposes of this report are to (1) determine the Sun Coast University campus community’s awareness of the campus recycling program and (2) recommend ways to increase participation. Sun Coast’s recycling program was intended to respond to the increasing problem of waste disposal, to fulfill its social responsibility as an educational institution, and to meet the demands of legislation requiring individuals and organizations to recycle. A questionnaire survey was conducted to learn about the campus community’s recycling habits and to assess participation in the current recycling program. A total of 220 individuals responded to the survey. Since Sun Coast University’s recycling program includes only aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic at this time, these were the only materials considered in this study.

Writing Skills

For the MSM