Transcript Getting Started: Writing and Your Career

Writing—An Essential Job Skill
 Writing is a part of every job
– It keeps business moving
– It allows individuals working for a company
to communicate
 With one another
 With the customers and clients they must serve
if the company is to stay in business
Job-related writing is also
called occupational writing
1–1
Four Keys to Effective Writing
1. Identify your audience
• Who will read what I write?
2. Establish your purpose
• Why should they read what I write?
3. Formulate your message
• What do I have to say to them?
4. Select your style and tone
• How can I best communicate?
1–2
Identifying Your Audience
Who is my audience?
• How many people will make up my audience?
• How well does my audience understand English?
• How much does my audience know about the topic?
• What is my audience’s reason for reading my work?
• What are my audience’s expectations about my written
work?
• What is my audience’s attitude toward me and my work?
• What do I want my audience to do after reading my work?
1–3
Establishing Your Purpose
Why should they read what I write?
 To formulate your purpose you must understand
– The readers’ needs
– Your goal in communicating
 Your purpose statement should state precisely
– Why you are writing
– What you want your
readers to do or know
The most important rule in occupational writing:
Get to the point right away
1–4
Formulating Your Message
What do I have to say to them?
 A message includes the scope and
details of your communication
– Details
 Those key points you think readers should know
in order to perform their jobs
– Scope
 Refers to how much information you give the
readers about those key details
1–5
Selecting Your Style
How can I best communicate?
 Style
– How something is written
– It involves the choices you make about
 The construction of your paragraphs
 The length and pattern of your sentences
 Your choice of words
You will have to adapt your style to take into account
different messages
different purposes
and different audiences
1–6
Selecting Your Tone
 Tone
– Expresses your attitude toward
 A topic
 Your audience
– Range of tone
A scientific
report
Formal
and
Impersonal
Informal
and
Personal
Unprofessionally
sarcastic
Diplomatically
agreeable
An e-mail
to a friend
1–7
A Description of Heparin for Two
Different Audiences
Technical/Scientific Style and Tone
HEPARIN SODIUM INJECTION, USP
STERILE SILUTION
Description: Heparin Sodium Solution Injection, USP is a sterile solution of heparin
sodium derived from bovine lung tissue, standardized for anticoagulant activity.
Each ml of 1,000 and 5,000 USP units per ml preparations contains:
heparin sodium 1,000 or 5,000 USP units; 9 mg sodium chloride; 9.45 mg benzyl
alcohol added as preservative. Each ml of the 10,000 USP units per ml preparations
contains: heparin sodium 10,000 units; 9.45 mg benzyl alcohol added as
preservative…
Nontechnical Style and Tone
Your doctor has prescribed a drug called heparin for you. This drug will prevent any
new blood clots from forming in your body. Since heparin cannot be absorbed from
your stomach or intestines, you will not receive it in a capsule or tablet. Instead, it
will be given into a vein or the fatty tissue of your abdomen…
1–8
Characteristics of Job-Related Writing
 Six basic functions of job-related writing
1. Providing practical information
2. Giving facts, not impressions
3. Providing visuals to clarify and condense
information
4. Giving accurate measurements
5. Stating responsibilities precisely
6. Persuading and offering
recommendations
1–9
Providing Visuals






Tables
Charts
Photographs
Flow charts
Diagrams
Drawings
Used to
clarify and
condense
information
1–10
Using Graphic Devices
 Graphic devices may also be used to
make your writing easier for your
audience to read and follow:
 Headings
 Subheadings
 Numbers within a (1) line or
(2) paragraph
 different types of s p a c i n g
 CAPITALIZATION
 Italics







Underscoring
Boldface
Scripting
Icons
Hypertext
Asterisks*
Lists with “bullets”
1–11
Giving Accurate Measurements
 Much of your work will depend on
measurements
 Acres
 Bytes
 Calories
 Centimeters
 Degrees
 Dollars and cents
 Grams
 Percentages
 Pounds
 Square feet
 Units
Numbers are clear and convincing
1–12
Persuading and Offering
Recommendations
 Persuasion
– Determines how successful you and your company
or agency will be
 Issues you will have to write
persuasively about
– Financial
– Psychological
– Political
You may also be called upon to write convincingly to improve
or sustain your company’s image in the face of
product recalls, customer complaints, or corporate mistakes.
1–13
Ethical Writing in the Workplace
 Ethical writing means
– Doing what is right and fair
– Being honest and just with your employer,
co-workers, and customers
Can you list some significant bywords in the world of business
that reflect an ethical commitment to honesty and fairness?
accountability
fair play
public trust
full disclosure
good faith effort
truth in lending
honest advertising
social responsibility
community involvement
high professional standards
equal opportunity employer
1–14
Eight Ethical Requirements on the Job
1. Supply honest and up-to-date
information about yourself in your
résumé and job applications
2. Maintain accurate and current records at
work
3. Comply with all local, state, and federal
regulations
4. Adhere to your profession’s code or
standard of ethics
1–15
Eight Ethical Requirements on the Job
5. Follow your company’s policies and
procedures
6. Honor guarantees and warranties and
meet customer needs impartially
7. Cooperate fully and honestly with any
collaborative team of which you are a
member
8. Respect all copyright obligations and
privileges
1–16
The Ten Commandments
Computer Ethics
of
1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other
people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s
computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s
computer files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false
witness.
6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software
for which you have not paid.
Computer Ethics Institute, London.
1–17
The Ten Commandments
Computer Ethics
of
Thou shalt not use other people’s computer
resources without authorization or proper
compensation.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s
intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences
of the program you are writing or the system you
are designing.
10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that
insure consideration and respect for your fellow
humans.
7.
Computer Ethics Institute, London.
1–18
Some Ethical Guides to Help You
Reach Ethical Decisions
1. Follow your conscience and “to thine
own self be true”
2. Be suspicious of convenient (and
false) appeals that go against your
beliefs
3. Maintain good faith in meeting your
obligations to your employer, your coworkers, your customers, and your
community
1–19
Some Ethical Guides to Help You
Reach Ethical Decisions
4. Take responsibility for your actions
5. Weigh all sides before you commit to a
conclusion
6. Anticipate the consequences of your
decisions
1–20
Ethical Dilemmas
… are situations where there is no clearcut right or wrong choice,
even with regard to the six ethical
categories just described
Sometimes you may have to make concessions
and compromises to be ethical in the world of work
1–21
Writing Ethically
 In your written work,
– Strive to be careful and straightforward
– Report events and figures honestly, and without
bias or omissions
– Be fair, reliable, and accurate
 Avoid the three Ms
– Misquotation
– Misrepresentation
– Manipulation
1–22
Examples of Unethical Writing
1. Plagiarism
2. Selective misquoting
3. Arbitrary embellishment of numbers
4. Manipulation of data or content
5. Using fictitious benefits to promote a product
or service
6. Unfairly characterizing (by exaggerating or
minimizing) hiring or firing conditions
7. Misrepresenting through distorting or slanted
visuals
1–23
√ Revision Checklist
 Identified my audience
 Made it clear what I wanted my
audience to do after reading my work
 Tailored my message to my audience’s
needs and backgrounds
 Pushed to the main point right away
 Gave my audience accurate
measurements, facts, and carefully
researched material
1–24
√ Revision Checklist




Used appropriate visuals
Used persuasive reasons and data
Ensured that my writing is ethical
Followed the Ten Commandments of
Computer Ethics
 Gave full and complete credit to any
sources I used
 Avoided plagiarism and unfair or
dishonest use of copyrighted materials
1–25