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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Part II: Chapter-by-Chapter Lecture Notes & Exercises
Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and
Medium
Teaching Suggestions
This material will mostly be covered best by lecture and discussion. But some ideas for writing exercises
involving shorter messages have been included. The longer messages are more appropriately handled in
the following chapters that review them. What is particularly important is that students understand that
good business writing is the result of careful planning, drafting, and revising. Sometimes students may be
tempted to see the brevity of many business documents as indicative of the amount of time and effort that
is needed to produce the document. Showing students the importance of planning and revising, in
particular, will serve them well throughout their careers.
Note that Presentation Capture is a good tool available in Connect for oral presentation delivery (either
online or face-to–face). McGraw-Hill’s Presentation Capture software gives instructors the ability to
evaluate presentations and allows students the freedom to practice their presentations anytime, anywhere.
Instructors can use the software’s fully customizable rubric to measure students’ uploaded presentations
against course outcomes and give students specific feedback. Peer-review functions are also available.
Learning Objectives
LO 2-1 Understand the importance of skillful writing in business.
LO 2-3 Describe the use of computer tools to facilitate planning messages.
LO 2-5 Describe the use of computer tools to facilitate revising messages.
LO 2-7 Describe the purpose and form of memorandums (memos).
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Here may be a good place to discuss the evolution of business communication genres. Email, once
considered “cutting edge,” is now considered standard. Consider asking students with workplace
experience which type of communication their company relied on the most.
Problem-Solving Challenge
Students are asked to put themselves in the role of Julie Evans, a recent college grad in her first job as an
accounts manager at a small company that manufactures windows. As students work through the chapter,
ask them to develop three communications from Julie: 1) a letter to an industry client informing them that
The Writing Process
Slide 2-5
You might ask students, before discussing this section, to reflect on (write about) their usual process of
writing. (If they have trouble doing so, ask them to think about/describe how they tackled a recent writing
task.) This exercise can help them see that this chapter contains helpful advice for them—advice that will
make their writing more effective and the process itself less stressful.
Slide 2-6
Planning the Message
You can point out that the planning stage corresponds to the problem-solving approach represented in
Chapter 1, which involved research, analysis, creativity, and judgment. What is the situation? What do
• Analyzing and organizing the information
• Choosing the form, channel, and format
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Determining Goals: In determining goals, writers should ask themselves what a reader should think, feel,
Audience Analysis: Analyzing the audience is key to any successful business message. Writers need to
break down their audience by the audience’s characteristics and then tailor a message to meet that
Gathering information: Solving a communication problem can be viewed as part of solving a larger
business problem. In other words, figuring out what to say often involves, as well, figuring out what to
Students should come up with such topics as why the employees should do this, when they should start
doing it, where they should park, any special incentive (or implied threat?!) that might encourage them to
Some activities that can help writers gather information include the following:
• Formal research (e.g., surveys, experiments, library research)
• Informal research (such as consulting with others, looking at previous messages for
Analyzing and organizing information. Once writers have collected what looks like sufficient
information (though they may find later in the process that they need more), they need to analyze it and
organize it.
Adaptation is critical as well. Which comments in which order will be likely to have the best effect on the
reader? The reader’s likely reaction will determine whether the message is written in the direct or
indirect order and will also affect the order of the rest of the contents.
Choosing a form, channel, and format: In many textbooks, discussions of form, channel, and format
are separate from the discussion about the writing process. But in reality, it is virtually impossible to plan
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
combination of these, and how one anticipates they should look, will significantly affect the planning of
the message.
Let students look at the Communication Matters feature titled “Do I Need to Write It?” Can they think of
the original message was not written, consider how the situation might have been if it had been written. If
the original message was written, consider how a different kind of communication might have been
received. What are the pros and cons of the written message in either case?
Learning Objective: 2-02
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Communication
Blooms: Understand
Slide 2-7
You Make the Call
Students will consider the scenario of a hotel manager having to communicate with guests about an
unpleasant situation.
Slide 2-8
Throughout this section, students will be discussing the different kinds of computer tools that can be
helpful in the writing process. It would be beneficial to allow them to try out or at least view examples of
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Project planning tools, such as Microsoft Visio, are a great way to visualize the scope of a project. A
Gantt chart can contain all of the steps to complete a writing project, but also can help keep track of the
progress.
Scheduling tools, such as electronic calendars, can help busy workers plan time for writing. Being able to
customize the calendar formats, set automated appointment reminders, and view others’ calendars are
Once you’ve gathered information, organizing tools such as databases can help you organize that data
into searchable and sortable categories. You can also organize ideas through the use of outlining or
concept-mapping programs (such as Edraw).
Presenting tools can be used in final presentations, but they can also be helpful in the planning stages.
Statistical programs (such as SPSS and SAS) and spreadsheet programs (such as Microsoft Excel) can
Slide 2-9
This can be an in-class group activity or an at-home individual assignment. If in class, give a time limit
and see what small groups can come up with in a 10- to 15-minute window. Point out that they don’t have
to create the final product, just a plan for what they are going to do with relevant information included.
Connect Assignment 2-2: Using Computer Tools That Aid the Writing Process
Learning Objectives: 2-03, 2-04, 2-05
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Understand
Slide 2-10
Drafting Tips
As they draft, writers work out the content, stylistic, organizational, and formatting details.
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Listing students’ favorite drafting/writing strategies would be appropriate at this point.
You may want to share the following points with your students:
• It is very important that you are flexible when preparing your drafts. Drafts are the first
stages of a long writing process. They are not final documents, so do not distract or slow
yourself down too much by trying to make the first draft perfect.
You may want to try the strategy discussed by writer Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones. It’s
called Keep Your Hand Moving and is good for breaking through perfectionism. You could give students
Slide 2-11
If time allows, let students view examples of some of the computer tools as you highlight them.
The built-in styles and themes in word processing software such as Microsoft Word can help to ensure
consistency in your documents and create a table of contents.
It’s helpful to be aware of how your readers will receive your document. If they are going to receive
electronic versions, you may need to adjust the save settings so that the file is able to be opened by all
readers. Saving the file as a pdf (portable document format) will allow most readers to open it without a
problem.
Encourage students to talk about what their favorite drafting process involves.
A good way to check on students’ familiarity with these tools is to give them an already-created
document (created in any relevant word-processing program) and have them perform exercises such as
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
• Change all headings to Heading style 3. Change style of each body paragraph to be different from
Slide 2-12
Revision Steps
It is probably safe to say that the most common flaw in students’ writing processes is that they do not
revise enough. Impress upon them the importance of devoting time to this stage. Even very experienced
writers and famous authors take a good bit of time to review and polish important documents.
You may want to make the following points:
• Rewriting is a very valuable aspect of the writing process. Remember to break your rewriting
down into three “levels of edit”—revision, editing, and proofreading to help you rewrite more
effectively.
Students may not realize or know how to distinguish revising and editing from proofreading. You may
bring an example or have students bring drafts and illustrate the differences among (and the necessity of)
these three steps in the process.
Slide 2-13
You Revise It
Slide 2-14
If time allows, let students view examples of some of the computer tools as you highlight them. Provide
them with a sample document so they can actually try out some of the tools in class.
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
dependent on the writer making thoughtful decisions about how to adjust the settings to deal with
repeated or common errors.
Business Message Forms
Slide 2-15
There are many different types of business messages and each has its own unique traits and purpose. As
you’ll see, every business communication situation requires analysis to determine which type of message
will be used.
Letters
Slides 2-16, 2-17
Letters are the oldest form dating from the earliest civilizations—Greek, Egyptian, Chinese.
The genre implies a certain formality, and certainly, letters are the most formal of the business writing
forms we discuss.
Early emphasis was on a stilted word choice (the “old language of business”). Now the emphasis is on
selecting an effective structure and strategy and on using wording that will build rapport between the
writer and the reader. Your audience and company culture will determine what is appropriate.
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Slide 2-18
You Write It
Memos
Slides 2-19, 2-20
Memorandums are internal company letters. Email has taken over much of their function; however, even
though students may think that everyone in a workplace has access to an email, this may not necessarily
be the case. Some employees, such as line workers in a factory, are not likely to check their email as they
work throughout the day or even regularly before or after work or on breaks.
Are memos becoming obsolete as email becomes the standard?
Slide 2-21
You Make the Call: Memo or No?
Challenge students to think of circumstances in which a memo might work better than email. For
example, if a manager wanted to circulate a printed journal for employees to review, she might attach a
Email
Slides 2-22, 2-23
The growth of email in the workplace has been phenomenal. It has several advantages:
• eliminates telephone tag
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
• provides a written record
But there are disadvantages:
• not confidential
Questions for possible discussion:
Ask students how they think email has changed the workplace. Can they think of other advantages and
disadvantages? Are there any advantages to not using email? Should email be used by employees who sit
right next to each other, in place of in-person chats or team meetings? Have they ever received a
particularly unprofessional email? How did they respond?
You may also want to bring “bad” work emails in and have students evaluate them.
Discuss the typical parts of an email message and the different ways they can be used. Highlight the tips
and tricks of usage of the email form that can help your communications stand out and be received well.
Slides 2-24, 2-25, 2-26
These three slides provide practical tips to students about how to construct and use emails well (as well as
how not to use them).
Ask students to add items to the Email Wall of Shame. Discuss, briefly, “hot button” words or styles that
may show emotion/attitude. Ask students to brainstorm some examples of these email mistakes, either
ones that they made or times when they were on the receiving end of these issues. Here are some other
possible email mistakes to add:
1. Sending long emails
3. Not avoiding emotion
5. Forgetting that email is a permanent record
Business email messages, no matter what the approach, are more effective when kept short, simple, and
constructed in a top-down order (most important to least important). This way, if the reader is scanning
for information, he or she does not need to scroll to find your most important information.
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Note that informal language shows up in many of the examples used in Chapters 8–10. Formal style is
illustrated in the examples of formal reports in Chapters 11 and 12. Chapter 5 has advice about writing
clear, courteous messages, and guides in Reference Chapter A speak to expressing messages correctly.
Slide 2-27
You Send It
Divide the class into two groups and give each group the assigned task as shown in the slide. Let the
Group A members either write individual emails or work together to write the email. Then they should
send their product(s) to the Group B members and let them respond via email as well.
After the exercise, discuss what factors influenced the drafting of this message? How was email helpful in
this particular circumstance? How might it have been unhelpful?
Texts and IM
Slide 2-28
Many individuals use text and instant messaging in the workplace as a quick and efficient means of
communication. When using such short messages, writers must be especially careful to ensure messages
are not only concise but clear. A helpful activity may be to have students write one message in two ways:
once as an email and once as an instant message.
Slide 2-29
Ask students which text is best and why. The scenario is that your boss is in an important meeting and
cannot be interrupted, but you’ve learned that a visiting customer’s (Marina Smith) dietary needs will
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Social Media and Future Technology
Slides 2-30, 2-31
Exhibit 2-24 is also featured in the textbook. Discuss which social media sites, apps, or blogs students see
businesses using successfully. Ask students to volunteer to show their social media pages. Or find profiles
of anonymous people on Facebook or show anonymous Twitter posts and ask the students for critique.
To discuss usage of social media, consider asking students what activities they’ve used Facebook and
other social media sites for in the workplace.
Companies may have official pages or accounts from which they post approved product promotions,
giveaways, and information. They may also use social media to connect with other businesses and to
evaluate potential employees or monitor the behavior of current employees.
Consider asking your students to talk about the difference between posting a negative statement about a
company on social media and making that same statement by a) taking out a full-page ad in a newspaper;
b) calling the local television news station with an anonymous tip; or c) calling several friends to
complain. What is the difference between these kinds of communication? Which one might have more
influence on potential customers or potential and current employees?
In what industries might an employee’s personal social media presence play a greater role or pose more of
a risk? (Consider occupations such as a teacher, doctor, police officer, etc.)
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Learning Objective: 2-09
Difficulty: Medium
AACSB: Technology
Blooms: Understand
Slides 2-32
Social Media Warnings
Students may be interested in discussing ethical issues involved when employers use social networking
pages to screen applicants.
Slide 2-33
You Make the Call
Encourage students to share their own experiences with using social media in the context of work—either
as a tool for work or as a distraction from their work. What are the problems—for either the company or
the employee—with using social media at work for personal use? What might be the possible benefits?
Slide 2-34
Innovative social media sites are continually being developed and reaching out to attract new audiences.
Where will Pinterest, Snapchat, and Instagram be in five years? In what ways will these sites shape how
we communicate with one another, either for personal use or for business use?
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Storing things “in the cloud” has become a familiar term for both businesses and individuals. What are
some of the benefits to working in the cloud? What are some of the disadvantages? How do you think
cloud computing has affected communication?
Note that Chapter 12 discusses more thoroughly how technology has increasingly facilitated collaborative
writing in the workplace.
2-4a
Learning Objective: 2-02
2-4b, 2-4c
Learning Objective: 2-02
2-4d, 2-4e, 2-4f, 2-4g, 2-4h, 2-4i, 2-4j
Learning Objective: 2-02
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Power Charge Your Professionalism: Use the Right Word
1. Ling is conducting the training sessions to (ensure/insure) all employees know how to use the new
intranet portal.
3. Even though the instructions did not (implicitly/explicitly) provide a deadline, everyone assumed the
forms were due at the end of the month.
4. Did Rick’s email (imply/infer) that we would all be getting a raise this year?
6. Business letters are usually sent on company letterhead, but personal letters are usually sent on
(plane/plain) paper.
8. Even though we send most of our messages electronically, we still use (stationary/stationery) for our
printed messages.
Critical-Thinking Questions
1. Explain why writing can be more difficult than other forms of communication. (LO1)
In written communication, the words must do the whole job of transmitting the message of the
2. Describe ways in which the writing process might be recursive. (LO2)
The stages of crafting a written message are interconnected. You may begin drafting parts of your
3. Explain how technology can help the writer with both creative and tedious writing tasks.
(LO2–LO5)
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Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
4. Identify specific software tools that assist with constructing written messages. Explain what
each does. (LO3)
Project planning tools, such as Microsoft Visio, give a writer the ability to identify all the tasks
needed to complete a project and to determine how much time a task will take. They can also help
track your progress and your project budget.
Electronic calendars can help you plan time for your writing and allow you to coordinate your
schedule with other project collaborators by viewing shared calendars, scheduling meetings,
setting appointment or deadline reminders, and so forth.
Databases will give you a place to organize the facts and other pieces of information that you’ve
gathered for your project. If the database is customized well for your project, you can search and
sort the data by various relevant categories.
As you consider how your final message will be presented, you might use multimedia
presentations such as PowerPoint or Camtasia. These programs allow you to incorporate video,
images, music, and audio narration into your presentation.
5. Word processing programs are the writer’s primary tool. Identify five basic features and
two advanced features useful to business writers. (LO3–LO5)
Each student’s answer should be evaluated on its own merit, as there are many possible features
they might choose to use as examples. Here are some possible responses: Five basic features that
can help you craft business messages are help, find and replace, auto correct, spell check, and
grammar and style check. The help feature can show you how to adjust formatting settings or
learn any other part of the program you are not clear about. Find and replace will assist you in
6. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of spelling checkers and grammar and style
checkers. (LO5)
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
These checkers are very helpful in catching many incorrect spellings and structure problems.
They each usually offer suggestions for corrections or give you the option of adding to the
7. Brainstorm some practices or policies that businesses might develop for using the
information rights management (IRM) tool effectively. (LO5)
Evaluate each student’s answer on its merits. An answer should show an understanding of the
benefits offered through the use of IRM tools, such as setting reader permissions and controls,
8. How have text messaging or other technologies affected your writing? (LO2, LO9)
Some would argue that text and IM-speak are causing a breakdown of the English language. But
9. How will technology continue to affect business writing? (LO10)
Evaluate each student’s answer on its merits. A typical answer might include such elements as
shown here.
As email, text, IM, and social media become more and more widely used, many more messages
that used to be delivered in formal, hard copy forms may convert to these new technologies. For
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Chapter 2: Writing Effectively for Your Audience, Purpose, and Medium
Skills-Building Exercises
1. Investigate your school and/or local libraries to determine what current (or future)
computer sources will help you find information about businesses. Report your findings to
the class. (LO2, LO3)
Individual answers will vary.
2. Compile an annotated list of at least 10 websites with good links to sources of business
information (e.g., labor statistics, stock market trends). Three of these links should be for
local business information. (LO2, LO3)
Individual answers will vary.
3. Select a multimedia technology, and as your instructor directs, write a memo discussing
considerations for accommodating audiences with special needs (e.g., those with visual,
hearing, or mobility impairments). (LO3, LO7)
Individual answers will vary.
4. Choose a feature from your word processor (such as index, table of contents, templates, or
citation manager) that you have not used much. Learn how to use it and create an example
of its use in a business document. Write a brief description of its application and then teach
your classmates to use the feature. (LO2, LO4)
Individual answers will vary.
5. From a current business magazine, find an article that relates to communication in
business. As your instructor directs, write a one-paragraph reaction to it and post it to a
blog, post it to the “Comments” section of an online article, or submit your reaction in
memo format. (LO2, LO7, LO9)
6. Find a recent news article about a company’s unsuccessful use of social media. As your
instructor directs, write a memo or email in which you describe the situation, analyze what
led to the failure of the message, and offer suggestions for what the company should have
done differently. (LO2, LO7, LO8, LO9)