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Chapter 5 LECTURE NOTES
Organizing and Drafting Business Messages
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS
This chapter explains how to carry out the second phase of the writing process: researching,
organizing, and drafting. First, before writing, a businessperson collects relevant information,
which helps the writer shape the message to the receiver. Students may expect research to be
complicated. Remind them that at times researching can be informal and involve looking at the
previous correspondence, talking to your boss, or searching the company files. More formal
research might include performing tests and collecting data, interviewing people, or searching
secondary data sources. Help students grasp the many facets of the word research.
Second, the writer organizes the collected information into direct or indirect strategies,
anticipating the audience’s reaction. If the audience will be pleased, interested, or neutral, the
writer should use the direct strategy. If the audience will be uninterested, displeased, or hostile
regarding the message, the writer should use the indirect strategy. To introduce the process of
organizing, help students see its two parts—generating ideas and selecting patterns according to
their purpose. First, through brainstorming, outlining, or the like, students develop the data and
ideas needed to compose the first draft. Then, students select an appropriate strategy to use—
direct for receptive audiences or indirect for unreceptive audiences.
Finally, the writer is ready to begin drafting. The chapter concludes by reviewing ways to
compose effective sentences and paragraphs. As you present the composition process, suggest to
students that drafting and revising are two separate steps of the composing process. First, they
should get their ideas down on paper quickly (perhaps through freewriting) without worrying
whether the draft is perfect. Once they have created a substantial draft, then they can revise,
using effective sentences and paragraph patterns as explained and modeled in the chapter.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Apply Phase 2 of the 3-x-3 writing process, which begins with formal and informal research
to collect background information.
2. Explain how to generate ideas and organize information to show relationships.
3. Compose the first draft of a message using a variety of sentence types and avoiding sentence
fragments, run-on sentences, and comma splices.
4. Improve your writing techniques by emphasizing important ideas, employing the active and
passive voice effectively, using parallelism, and preventing dangling and misplaced
modifiers.
5. Draft effective paragraphs using three classic paragraph plans and techniques for achieving
paragraph coherence.
WHAT’S NEW IN THIS CHAPTER
Updated the opening scenario featuring retailing giant Gap to relate current news to pique
reader interest in chapter content.
Streamlined the coverage of brainstorming but also added new techniques from Disney to
illustrate practical procedures in generating ideas.
Simplified the examples of active and passive voice by using diagrams that help students
visualize the action of the verb.
Added a discussion of parallelism to the section on expert writing techniques so that students
learn how to use balanced constructions to improve sentence expression.
Created between 80 and 100 percent new Writing Improvement Exercises and other
end-of-chapter activities so that instructors have fresh material to reinforce student skills.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Getting Started Requires Researching Background Information (p. 151)
Before collecting data, ask these questions:
What does the receiver need to know about this topic?
What is the receiver to do?
How is the receiver to do it?
When must the receiver do it?
What will happen if the receiver doesn’t do it?
Figure 5.1 Reviewing the 3-x-3 Writing Process
PowerPoint slides 1, 2
A. Informal Research Methods
Search your company’s files.
Talk with your boss.
Interview the target audience.
Conduct an informal survey.
B. Formal Research Methods
Access electronically (Internet, databases, CD, DVDs)
Search manually (books, magazines, journals).
Investigate primary sources (interviews, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups).
Conduct scientific experiments (measure variables using control groups).
PowerPoint slides 3, 4
II. Generating Ideas and Organizing Information (p. 154)
Define the problem and create an agenda that outlines the topics to be covered.
Establish time limits, remembering that short sessions are best.
Set a quota, such as a minimum of 100 ideas.
Require every participant to contribute ideas, accept the ideas of others, or
improve on ideas.
Encourage wild thinking. Allow no one to criticize or evaluate ideas.
Write ideas on flipcharts or on sheets of paper hung around the room.
Organize and classify the ideas, retaining the best.
Figure 5.2 Brainstorming to Generate Ideas
PowerPoint slides 5, 6
A. Grouping Ideas to Show Relationships
Scratch list—a quick list of topics to cover
Outline—ideas organized into a hierarchy using the alphanumeric or decimal
system
Figure 5.3 Format for an Outline
Figure 5.4 Typical Major Components in Business Outlines
PowerPoint slides 7, 8
B. Organizing Ideas Into Strategies
Business messages follow either the direct strategy, with the main idea first, or the
indirect strategy, with the main idea following explanation and evidence.
PowerPoint slide 9
C. Direct Strategy for Receptive Audiences
Places the main idea in the first or second sentence of your message followed
by details and explanations
Saves the reader’s time
Sets a proper frame of mind
Reduces frustration
D. Indirect Strategy for Unreceptive Audiences
Explanation precedes main idea
Respects the feelings of the audience
Facilitates a fair hearing
Minimizes a negative reaction
Figure 5.5 Audience Response Determines Direct or Indirect Strategy
III. Composing the First Draft With Effective Sentences (p. 159)
PowerPoint slide 10
A. Achieving Variety With Four Sentence Types
Simple sentence – contains one complete thought (an independent clause) with a
subject and predicate verb
Compound sentence – contains two complete but related thoughts. May be joined
by (a) a conjunction such as and, but, or or; (b) a semicolon; or (c) a conjunctive
adverb such as however, consequently, and therefore
Complex sentence – contains an independent clause (a complete thought) and a
dependent clause (a thought that cannot stand by itself)
Compound-complex sentence – contains at least two independent clauses and one
dependent clause
PowerPoint slide 11
B. Avoiding Three Common Sentence Faults
Fragment – a broken-off part of a complex sentence
Run-on (fused) sentence – a sentence containing two independent clauses without
a conjunction or a semicolon
Comma-splice sentence – two independent clauses joined by a comma
PowerPoint slides 12-14
C. Favoring Short Sentences
Strive for sentences that average 20 words.
Reader comprehension drops as sentences become longer.
PowerPoint slide 15
IV. Improving Writing Techniques (p. 161)
A. Stressing Important Ideas
Use vivid words.
Label the main idea.
Place the important idea first or last in the sentence.
Place the important idea in a simple sentence or in an independent clause.
Make sure the important idea is the sentence subject.
PowerPoint slides 16-19
B. Using the Active and Passive Voice Effectively
Active voice: subject is the doer of the action
Example: Staples shipped our order for office supplies today.
Passive voice: subject is acted upon
Example: The office supplies were shipped by Staples today.
Use the active voice for most business writing.
Use the passive voice to emphasize an action or the recipient of the action.
Use the passive voice to de-emphasize negative news.
Use the passive voice to conceal the doer of an action.
PowerPoint slides 20-22
C. Using Parallelism
Use similar structures to express similar ideas.
Avoid mixing active-voice verbs with passive-voice verbs.
Keep the wording balanced in expressing similar ideas.
PowerPoint slides 23, 24
D. Escaping Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
A modifier dangles when the word or phrase it describes is missing.
Example: By advertising extensively, all open jobs were filled quickly.
A modifier is misplaced when the word or phrase it describes is not close enough
to be clear.
Example: Any student has full online privileges who is enrolled in the college.
PowerPoint slides 25, 26
V. Checklist for Drafting Effective Sentences
Use a variety of sentence types.
Avoid common sentence faults.
Control sentence length.
Emphasize important ideas.
Apply active- and passive-voice verbs strategically.
Employ parallelism.
Eliminate misplaced modifiers.
VI. Building Well-Organized Paragraphs (p. 153)
Well-constructed paragraphs discuss one topic.
Paragraphs may be composed of three different types of sentences: main, supporting,
and limiting.
Paragraphs may be organized into three plans: direct, pivoting, and indirect.
PowerPoint slides 27, 28
A. Using the Direct Paragraph Plan to Define, Classify, Illustrate, or Describe
Most business messages use this paragraph plan because it clarifies the subject
immediately.
Use the direct paragraph plan to define, classify, illustrate, or describe.
B. Using the Pivoting Paragraph Plan to Compare and Contrast
The pivotal plan is useful in comparing and contrasting ideas.
Notify the reader in the turn in direction by using but or however.
C. Using the Indirect Paragraph Plan to Explain and Persuade
The indirect paragraph plan is appropriate for delivering bad news.
The paragraph starts with the supporting sentences and concludes with the main
sentence.
D. Developing Paragraph Coherence
1. Sustaining the key idea (repeating a key expression or using a similar one)
2. Dovetailing sentences (linking the idea at the end of one sentence to an idea at the
beginning of the next)
3. Including pronouns (using familiar pronouns such as this, that, these, and those)
4. Employing transitional expressions (using verbal road signs to help the receiver
anticipate what’s coming, reduce uncertainty, and speed up comprehension)
Figure 5.6 Transitional Expressions That Build Coherence
PowerPoint slides 29-33
E. Checklist for Preparing Meaningful Paragraphs
Develop one idea.
Use the direct plan.
Use the pivoting plan.
Use the indirect plan.
Build coherence with linking techniques.
Provide road signs with transitional expressions.
Limit paragraph length.
