Writing for Business Success/Effective business writing/Video signpost ProsWrite3
View video series – The three ProsWrite.com writing tutorial videos in this topic address Organization in Professional Writing in Format [13.28 min.], Graphics [8:54 min.], and Placement of the Bottom Line [14:41 min.]
The first video presents three simple formatting guidelines to make it easier for audiences to understand your business messages. These are: 1) page layout in use of white space, line spacing, and justification; 2) typography in use of sans/serif, boldface, and italics; and 3) lists in use of characters, and stacked versus integrated formats. A key message is that the best way to learn good writing is by thoughtful reading and observant analysis of various business documents.
The second video discusses three main criteria for graphics choices in relation to your communication purpose and rhetorical context. First, you need to decide whether prose (words) or graphic (visual) representation will be more effective. Next, you need to decide on the best type of graphic to communicate your information clearly, and describes best uses of image, line drawing, table, pie chart, bar graph, and line graph options to meet specific audience needs. The speaker points out that accuracy and consistency in visual representation of data are vital to avoid misleading audiences, which is an important business ethics concern. The speaker also notes the larger the audience, the more difficult it is to meet everyone’s needs. What similarities and differences do you notice in recommended visual emphasis strategies between the Chapter 2.5 reading on message emphasis strategies and this ProsWrite tutorial? How can you use the information in these resources to improve the effectiveness of your own business messages?
The third video describes where to best place your bottom line, or key point, in business documents to increase audience readiness to accept your message. First, you need to identify your bottom line and assess your audience level of sensitivity. For Western audiences, who value efficiency in communication, the default choice is to state your key message directly in your message beginning. Western audiences only prefer indirect placement of information later in a message if the content is personal and/or negative, such as ‘you’re fired!’ The speaker points out that, aside from tone, no other aspect of writing is more highly influenced by culture than placement of the bottom line message. Once again, the key message is know your audience and adapt your message to their needs and sensitivity levels.
