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The Business Writing Process

Subjects : writing-skills, business-skills

Instructions:

Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. What is Direct Order?
Write Correctly so others will not think you are stupid or lack credibility
Subordination
Cautiously i.e. BTW: by the way
Information the reader will want - put it first.

2. Condenses writing by omitting articles - pronouns - conjunctions - and transitions - e.g. ' Per 5/21 email 12 copies of instruction needed asap'
Ethics in Business Writing
Repetition
Instructions
Telegraphic Style

3. Using short and long sentences strategically
Sentence Length
Four keys to effective writing
Eliminates phone tag - saves time - facilitates fast decisions - cheap - provides written record
Define the Problem - Consider the Audience and their Individual Contexts - Consider your own Contexts - Best Way to Achieve message;

4. What is important in the Revising stage?
Guidelines for effective business e-mail messages
Get Feedback From Others!
Write Correctly so others will not think you are stupid or lack credibility
Short report

5. How do you present information in long messages?
Attractive and Readable Format
Use Direct Pattern if positive - Use Indirect Pattern if neutral or negative; State Objective - ALWAYS Consider Audience and Purpose
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order
Gathering and Collecting Information - Analyzing and Organizing Information - Choosing the Form - Channel - and Format of the Message

6. How is formatting important?
Cautiously i.e. BTW: by the way
Use Direct Pattern if positive - Use Indirect Pattern if neutral or negative; State Objective - ALWAYS Consider Audience and Purpose
It is integral in how your audience will receive and accept the information.
Your Name - Closing Statement such as Thanks - Regards in more formal messages

7. Honesty - attractive - carefully organized - concise accurate - current information - relevance
Characteristics do employers like to see in a resume
Stress Brevity - uses abbreviations - Convey ideas completely - minimal need for response - Telephone message - but in writing.
Concrete Words
Guidelines for effective business e-mail messages

8. Why Avoid Perfectionism in Drafting?
Helps include all important information; Makes you more willing to revise
Characteristics do employers like to see in a resume
Repetition
Write Correctly so others will not think you are stupid or lack credibility

9. How much time should a student spend in each writing stage?
One-third
Put it Last - using the opening to prepare the audience
Instructions
Cautiously i.e. BTW: by the way

10. General considerations with Email Messages
Not Confidential - Doesn't Communicate Emotions - Tone of Voice - or Unspoken Communications - Can be Ignored or Delayed
Conciseness - Clarity - Etiquette - Correctness
Long Dashes
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications

11. Introduction - list of materials - actual steps - warnings - cautions - and notes - conclusion when necessary
Main parts of instructions
Use Direct Pattern if positive - Use Indirect Pattern if neutral or negative; State Objective - ALWAYS Consider Audience and Purpose
Long - Complicated - Requires Negotiation - Questions/Info need clarification/discussion - Info Confidential/Sensitive - Requires Security - Could be Misinterpreted - Emotionally Charged - Requires Tone of Voice - Sent to Avoid - Contains Sensitive I
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order

12. Purpose - findings - conclusion - and recommendations
Conciseness - Clarity - Etiquette - Correctness
Information needed for short report
Euphemismss
Information the reader will want - put it first.

13. The skeleton of the document you are going to write--structures your writing by ensuring that it has a beginning - middle - and end.Types: topic outlines - sentence outlines etc.
Long Dashes
Short report
Outlining
Information needed for short report

14. To emphasize the performer of an action: make the performer the subject of the verb
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order
Active Voice
Position
What do you want to say - Say It - Say it Better

15. Use to call attention to a particular word or statement --
Affectation
Represent writer and topic formally to recipient. Correspondence with People Outside the your organization.
Coherent writing
Long Dashes

16. What should you know about a Letter?
Proper Conversation - Personal Pronouns/Contractions - Sentences are Short - Organized - Well Structured;
'You Viewpoint'
Purpose - Format - Composition
Your audience is the best guide for What and How

17. Informal
Helps include all important information; Makes you more willing to revise
Proper Conversation - Personal Pronouns/Contractions - Sentences are Short - Organized - Well Structured;
Sentence Variety
Examples of medium s of business communication

18. Am I giving the reader too much or too little info? - does this point belong here? - is this point relevant? - am I repeating or contradicting myself? - have I ended appropriately?
Concrete Words
Represent writer and topic formally to recipient. Correspondence with People Outside the your organization.
Key draft questions
Connotation

19. Concern policies and regulations found in employee handbooks and other internal corporate communications
'You Viewpoint'
Your audience is the best guide for What and How
Procedures
Tone

20. Provide practical information - give facts not impressions - provide visuals to clarify and condense information - give accurate measurements - state responsibilities precisely - persuade and offer recommendations -
Tone
Put it Last - using the opening to prepare the audience
Outlining
Characteristics of job-related writing

21. What is format of most Memos?
One-third
Garbled Sentences
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications
Date - To - From - Subject Headings

22. Understand and agree on the important goals - organization - and deadlines for the report - Establish group rules early on and stick to them - Put the good of the group ahead of individual egos - Agree on the group's organization - Identify each mem
Abstract words
Biased Language
Guidelines for successful group writing
Denotaion

23. What techniques can be used for gathering information?
Long Dashes
Stress Brevity - uses abbreviations - Convey ideas completely - minimal need for response - Telephone message - but in writing.
Tone
Visualize Readers - Keep their interests in mind - List Pertinent Facts - Brainstorming - Diagrams

24. Are these stages recursive or linear?
Long Dashes
Recursive
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications
NO offensive or abusive emails should be sent - and no upper case - as that is considered SCREAMING

25. When to use Instant Messaging?
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order
Long Dashes
Stress Brevity - uses abbreviations - Convey ideas completely - minimal need for response - Telephone message - but in writing.
Gathering and Collecting Information - Analyzing and Organizing Information - Choosing the Form - Channel - and Format of the Message

26. Etiquette
Key draft questions
Connotation
Sentence Type
NO offensive or abusive emails should be sent - and no upper case - as that is considered SCREAMING

27. Formality Considerations
Main parts of a set of instructions
Organizational - Professional - Personal
Represent writer and topic formally to recipient. Correspondence with People Outside the your organization.
Casual - Informal - or Formal

28. How do you present information in message?
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order
Cliches
Your audience is the best guide for What and How
Connotation

29. Correctness
Business Writing Style
Write Correctly so others will not think you are stupid or lack credibility
Main parts of a set of instructions
Connotation

30. Where you put the idea - The first & last words of a sentence - paragraph - doc - stand out in readers' minds.
Things to think through when planning a website
Position
Slang; Colloquialisms - Contractions - Short Sentences - for close friends only
Revision - Editing - Proofreading

31. Words or phrases that suddenly become popular and - because of an intense period of overuse - lose their freshness and precisness - E.g. interface (as a verb) - impact (as a verb) - skill sets - deliverables - slam dunk - bleeding edge - cash cow - 2
Key draft questions
Recursive
Long Dashes
Buzz Words

32. Modifiers that repeat an idea implicit or present in the word being modified contribute to wordiness by being redundant (basic essentials - final outcome) - Coordinated synonyms (each and every - first and foremost.) - Expletives - relative pronouns
Mechanical Devices
Your audience is the best guide for What and How
Wordiness
'You Viewpoint'

33. Avoid language that attempts to evade responsibility - Avoid deceptive language - Do not deemphasize or suppress important information - Do not emphasize misleading or incorrect information - Avoid using language that is biased - racist - or sexist o
Ethics in Business Writing
Key draft questions
Proper Conversation - Personal Pronouns/Contractions - Sentences are Short - Organized - Well Structured;
Rules for writing instructions

34. What are Individual Contexts
Procedures
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications
Organizational - Professional - Personal
similar

35. Conciseness
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications
One-third
'You Viewpoint'
Your audience is the best guide for What and How

36. Audience's preferences - personal work style - how widely info needs to be distributed etc.
Recipient's Name and Introduce Yourself
Procedures
Slang; Colloquialisms - Contractions - Short Sentences - for close friends only
Selecting the proper medium

37. Casual
Be Flexible - Avoid Perfectionism - Keep Going - Keep making progress
Slang; Colloquialisms - Contractions - Short Sentences - for close friends only
Abstract words
Guidelines for effective business e-mail messages

38. Iitalics - bold type - underlining etc.
One-third
Mechanical Devices
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications

39. What are Pros of Email?
Information needed for short report
Eliminates phone tag - saves time - facilitates fast decisions - cheap - provides written record
Cautiously i.e. BTW: by the way
Procedures

40. What is critical to a message's success?
Characteristics do employers like to see in a resume
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications
Attractive and Readable Format
Organizational - Professional - Personal

41. The ___________ of a word are its meanings and associations beyond its literal definitions - words often have particular connotations for audiences within professional groups and organizations
Connotation
Represent writer and topic formally to recipient. Correspondence with People Outside the your organization.
Information the reader will want - put it first.
Write Correctly so others will not think you are stupid or lack credibility

42. Means that extraneous words - phrases - clauses - and sentences have been removed from writing without sacrificing clarity or appropriate detail.
Conciseness
Key draft questions
What do you want to say - Say It - Say it Better
Attractive and Readable Format

43. Letters - memos - email - instant messages - telephone calls - Faxes - Face-to-face meetings - video conferences - web sites
Examples of medium s of business communication
Most Important Information First - and then Descending Order
Connotation
Cut out nonessentials - Minimize references to Previous Communications

44. They dentify things that can be perceived by the 5 senses - such as diploma - manager - or keyboard
Rules for writing instructions
Characteristics of job-related writing
Mechanical Devices
Concrete Words

45. A group of words that has a special meaning apart from its literal meaning. Someone who 'runs for office'
Idioms
Abstract words
Main parts of instructions
Tone

46. What types of research is done in gathering information?
Goal of a letter of application
Past Correspondence - Employees - Records - Warranties - Product Descriptions - Survey - Interviews
Concrete Words
Examples of medium s of business communication

47. A sentence that is so tangled with structural and grammatical problems that it cannot be repaired - often result from trying to include too many ideas in one sentence.
Conciseness - Clarity - Etiquette - Correctness
Garbled Sentences
Ethics in Business Writing
Cliches

48. Put instructions is correct order - right amount of information only - group closely related items into 1 step - give reader hints on how to best accomplish task - state when 1 step affects another - insert graphics where needed
Idioms
Rules for writing instructions
Define the Problem - Consider the Audience and their Individual Contexts - Consider your own Contexts - Best Way to Achieve message;
Subordination

49. What is current emphasis on for a Letter?
Business Writing Style
Strategy and Humanness
Connotation
Date - To - From - Subject Headings

50. Plan what you are going to say - polish what you wrote before you sent it - proofread everything

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