NOTES TO ANDERSON, CHAPTER 4

PROFESSIONAL WRITING

DEFINING YOUR COMMUNICATION’S OBJECTIVES

A communication’s objective is to lead readers to respond in a specific way.Three factors that influence a reader’s response:•The reader’s purpose (in reading your communication)•The reader’s characteristics•The context in which he or she will read

DEFINING YOUR COMMUNICATION’S OBJECTIVES

Purpose•Describe the task your communication will help the reader perform•Describe the way you want your communication to alter your reader’s attitudes

Reader•Describe your reader’s professional characteristics•Describe your reader’s cultural characteristics•Learn who all your readers will be

Context•Describe the context in which your reader will read•Identify any constraints on the way you write

PLANNING FOR USABILITY

Describe the task your communication will help your reader perform•What is your reader’s purpose for reading?•What information does your reader want? (What questions might your reader ask?)•How will your reader use the information while reading?•How will your reader search for information?

WHAT INFORMATION DOES YOUR READER WANT?

• Identify the information your readers need• What do they know?• What do they not know?• What do they need to know?• How much background information do I need to provide?• Are there special terms and/or procedures that I need to

explain?• How can I avoid boring or confusing my reader with

distracting and unnecessary information?

HOW WILL YOUR READER USE THE INFORMATION WHILE READING?

• Organize your communication around your readers’ tasks• In other words, focus on how they will use your information• A trivial example: creating a flyer for an event

• Some common approaches• Organize using hierarchies or groups• Being explicit about the organizational structure• Use headings and subheadings (perhaps with numbers)• Use verbal cues to signal transitions between subsections (“While cost is

a key factor, a second factor, usability, is nearly as important . . .”)• Being explicit about the main point (the “bottom line”)• In academic writing we call this the “thesis” and usually “require” that it

appear early in a piece of writing • Readers want to know why they are reading (what’s in it for them)• Readers use this initial focus to make sense of their reading (“why is she

telling me this?” “why is this part here?” and so on)

HOW WILL YOUR READER SEARCH FOR INFORMATION?

• Identify ways to help readers quickly find what they want• Table of contents, index, headings, subheadings • Typographical conventions (different font sizes for

different level headings, boldface for new terms, and so on)

• Graphic elements as simple as lines, arrows, and boxes and as complex as tables, pictures, and page design

• Verbal cues (transitions, topic sentences, parallelism, and so on)

MAKE USE OF EXISTING TEMPLATES

• Technical and business communicators often use templates or “superstructures” as a starting point.• Templates, or superstructures, exist for many

common document types. You might be familiar with these academic “superstructures”:• The “English-class” essay• The five-paragraph essay• The lab report• The case study• The lesson plan

MAKE USE OF EXISTING TEMPLATES

• In the work world, common “superstructures” include• Project proposals• Audit reports• Research reports• Feasibility studies• Policies and procedures• User instructions

CONSIDER USING GRAPHICS

• Graphics can be a better choice for communicating certain kinds of information• For example• A picture can show how something looks• A flowchart can be used to describe a process• A diagram can show how something is assembled• A table can organize complex information making specific

information easy to find• A chart or graph can visually represent the relationship

between data and show trends

CONSIDER USING DESIGN ELEMENTS

• Design elements can help your reader use your document• For example,• Boxes, lines, and shading can create visually distinct

areas for related information• Type styles and sizes can communicate organization and

groups

GETTING STARTED?

• Some writers outline; others do not• Some thought, reflection, planning, and research, though,

are always necessary• Here are some strategies for getting started that you

probably already know:• Assessing the Rhetorical Situation—audience, purpose, genre

and conventions (this has been our main focus)• Brainstorming—thinking out loud in a group• Listing—free association of ideas in point form• Clustering—a visual form of listing• Double-entry notebook—summary/response journal• Freewriting—an attempt to tap unconscious knowledge• Journalist’s Questions—who?, what?, when?, where?, why?, how?• Outlining—informal or formal listing of ideas• Scratch Outlines—like “listing” but with some attention paid to

sequence and subordination

GETTING STARTED?

• Here are some strategies for getting started that you probably haven’t heard of yet:• Classical• ethos, logos, pathos (types of appeals)• topoi (topics of invention)• stasis (determining the issue)• dissoi logoi (arguing both sides)

• Cubing—describe it, compare it, associate it, analyze it, apply it, argue for or against it

• Dramatism (Burke’s Pentad)—heuristics to determine motive: • Act (What is happening?)• Agent (Who is doing it?)• Agency (What method?)• Purpose (What is the intent?)• Scene (Where?)

CHECK YOUR PLANS WITH YOUR READERS

• Get feedback• Incorporate user responses into your planning

and/or revision• If possible, repeat the loop (i.e. get feedback

again and respond to it)