Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Pg. 216 Questions

1. When gauging the audience's needs, it is helpful to ask questions about demographics and psychographics.

2. Demographics and psychographics are important because they help take into account cultural expectations and practices, allowing you to use the appropriate appeals.

3. Emotional appeals attempt to connect with the reader's feelings or sympathies. Logical appeals are based on the reader's notions of reason; these appeals can be analogy, induction, or deduction.

4. You can use analogy, induction, or deduction.

5. The AIDA model stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. One limitation is this model talks at audiences, not with audiences. Another limitation is this model focuses on a single event, not a relationship.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Pg. 188 Questions

1. The 5 main goals of negative messages are: (1) give the bad news, (2) ensure its acceptance, (3) maintain reader's goodwill, (4) maintain organization's good image, and (5) reduce future correspondence on the matter.

2. The questions to ask when deciding between direct and indirect are: (1) will the bad news come as a shock, (2) does the reader prefer short messages that get right to the point, (3) how important is this news to the reader, (4) do you need to maintain a close working relationship with the reader, (5) do you need to get the reader's attention, and (6) what is the organization's preferred style?

3. The sequence of steps involved in the indirect approach are: (1) opening with a buffer, (2) providing reasons and additional information, (3) continuing with a clear statement of the bad news, and (4) closing on a positive note.

4. A buffer is a neutral statement that establishes common ground with the reader. Some critics consider it unethical if the message is insincere or deceptive.

5. The purpose of using the indirect approach is to ease the blow and help readers accept the bad news.