CHAPTER 3 PLANNING BUSINESS MESSAGES True/False _____Analyzing the situation of your message, gathering necessary information, and selecting the right medium take place in the “writing” stage of the writing process. _____ Gathering information through formal or informal methods is usually done in the writing stage. _____ Writing is a simple two-step process. _____ The second stage of the writing process is adapting to your audience and composing the first draft.

CHAPTER 3 PLANNING BUSINESS MESSAGES True/False _____Analyzing the situation of your message, gathering necessary information, and selecting the right medium take place in the “writing” stage of the writing process. ANSWER: False. These activities take place in the planning stage. DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 48; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication _____ Gathering information through formal or informal methods is usually done in the writing stage. ANSWER: False. Gathering information takes place in the planning stage. DIFFICULTY: difficult; PAGE: 48; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication _____ Writing is a simple two-step process. ANSWER: False. Writing is a three-step process. DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGES: 48-49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication _____ The second stage of the writing process is adapting to your audience and composing the first draft. ANSWER: True. The second stage of the writing process involves adapting to your audience and composing the first draft. DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGE: 49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication

Fill-in the Blank Defining the purpose of your message, gathering necessary information, and tailoring your message to the needs and expectations of your audience takes place in the ______ stage of the writing process. The reason for writing a message is its ______. You must tailor your message to the needs and expectations of your ______.

Fill-in the Blank Defining the purpose of your message, gathering necessary information, and tailoring your message to the needs and expectations of your audience takes place in the ______ stage of the writing process. ANSWER: Planning DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 48; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication The reason for writing a message is its ______. ANSWER: Purpose DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 50; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication You must tailor your message to the needs and expectations of your ______. ANSWER: Audience DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGE: 50; OBJECTIVE: 3; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication

Short Answer/Essay Describe the three-step writing process. Briefly explain the activities involved in the planning step of the writing process.

Short Answer/Essay Describe the three-step writing process. ANSWER: The three-step writing process includes planning, writing, and completing business messages. Planning includes analyzing the situation, gathering information, selecting the right medium, and organizing the information. Writing the message includes adapting to your audience and composing your first draft. Completing the business message involves revising, producing, and proofreading. DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGES: 48-49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication Briefly explain the activities involved in the planning step of the writing process. ANSWER: The planning step involves analyzing the situation, gathering information, selecting the right medium for the message, and organizing the information.

CHAPTER 4 WRITING BUSINESS MESSAGES True/False _____ Using the “you” attitude means putting the sender’s priorities first. _____ To emphasize the positive side of your messages, focus on the solution rather than the problem. _____ If you must refer to someone’s disability, avoid terms like handicapped; put the person first and the disability second.

CHAPTER 4 WRITING BUSINESS MESSAGES True/False _____ Using the “you” attitude means putting the sender’s priorities first. ANSWER: False. “You” attitude emphasizes an audience-centered approach. DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 69; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication _____ To emphasize the positive side of your messages, focus on the solution rather than the problem. ANSWER: True. Emphasize the positive side of your messages. DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 70; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication _____ If you must refer to someone’s disability, avoid terms like handicapped; put the person first and the disability second. ANSWER: True. Avoid mentioning a disability unless it is directly relevant to the subject. DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 72; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: application; AACSB: Communication

Fill-in the blank Speaking and writing in terms of your audience’s wishes, interests, hopes and preferences is known as adopting the “______” attitude. Language that is ______ avoids unethical, embarrassing blunders in language related to gender, race, ethnicity, age, and disability. “For an older person, he knows a lot about computers” is an example of ______ bias.

Fill-in the blank Speaking and writing in terms of your audience’s wishes, interests, hopes and preferences is known as adopting the “______” attitude. ANSWER: You DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGE: 69; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication Language that is ______ avoids unethical, embarrassing blunders in language related to gender, race, ethnicity, age, and disability. ANSWER: Bias-free DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 72; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication “For an older person, he knows a lot about computers” is an example of ______ bias. ANSWER: Age DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 72; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: application; AACSB: Communication, Reflective Thinking

Short Answer/Essay List four methods of using transitions to help make paragraphs coherent. Briefly describe at least four word processing capabilities that can help business writers shape their writing.

List four methods of using transitions to help make paragraphs coherent. ANSWER: 1) Use connecting words—and, but, or, nevertheless, however, in addition. 2) Echo a word or phrase from a previous paragraph or sentence. 3) Use a pronoun that refers to a noun previously used. 4) Use words that are frequently paired. DIFFICULTY: difficult; PAGE: 82; OBJECTIVE: 7; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication Briefly describe at least four word processing capabilities that can help business writers shape their writing. ANSWER: Most word processing programs contain features that automatically handle the “housekeeping chores” often associated with business document preparation. These include (1) style sheets—master lists of predefined styles for headlines, paragraph texts, and so on; (2) templates, which provide standardization in terms of page design, available fonts, and other features; (3) autocompletion, which inserts a ready-made block of text when you type the first few characters; (4) autocorrection, which instantly corrects spelling and typing errors and converts texts to symbols; (5) file merge and mail merge—features that make it easy to combine files; (6) endnotes, footnotes, indexes, and tables of contents; (7) wizards, which guide you through the process of creating letters, résumés, and other common documents. DIFFICULTY: difficult; PAGE: 84; OBJECTIVE: 8; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication, Technology