Strategic Business Writing 5eStrategic Business Wr.docx

Strategic Business Writing 5e
Strategic Business Writing 5e
CLARK BARWICK, JEANETTE L.
HEIDEWALD, MICHAEL C. MORRONE,
AND JUDY STEINER-WILLIAMS
I N D I A N A U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
B L O O M I N G T O N
Strategic Business Writing 5e Copyright © 2018 by Trustees of
Indiana University. All
Rights Reserved.
Contents
Strategic Business Writing: Commit to Becoming a
Better Writer
1

Part I. Learn the Theory Behind Strategic Business
Writing
1. Use the Communication Model to Guide Your
Writing Strategy
9
2. Analyze Risk to Maximize Communication
Outcomes
14
3. Develop a Growth Mindset and Set Actionable
Goals to Improve Your Strategic Business Writing
Skills
17
4. Build the Strategic Business Writing Skills
Employers Value Most
19
5. Communicate Strategically Within a Crowded
Information Environment
24

Part II. Planning
6. Plan with Purpose, Audience, Content, and
Context
31
7. Plan, Draft, Revise 37
Part III. Purpose
8. Brainstorm, Narrow, and Articulate Your Working
Purpose Statement
43
9. Organize with Purpose 47
10. Revise for Audience and Context 51
11. Develop a Strong Purpose Statement 54
12. Focus Your Message with a Purpose Statement 55
13. Know the Benefits of Identifying Your Purpose 57
14. Determine Your Purpose 59
15. Understand Strategic Business Writing 60
Part IV. Audience

16. Identify Your Reader 67
17. Research Your Reader 69
18. Build a Relationship with Your Reader 71
19. Analyze Pronoun Choice and Overall Focus 75
20. Consider Secondary and Unintended Audiences 77
21. Write Your Audience-Centered Message 79
Part V. Tone
22. Apply Positive Tone Techniques to Internal and
External Messages
89
23. Emphasize Positive Tone with Additional
Strategies
92
24. Analyze the Impact of Positive Tone Wording 94
25. Consider the Tone for an Audience-Centered
Message
96

Part VI. Credible Content
26. Select Credible and Sufficient Evidence to
Persuade Your Reader
101
27. Use the Credible Content Checklist 106
28. Integrate Evidence into Your Organized Argument
to Best Meet Your Reader’s Needs, Add Credibility,
and Enhance Persuasion
108
29. Identify Your Reader’s Likely Assumptions 111
Part VII. Organization
30. Use the Indirect Approach for Persuasive
Documents
117
31. Apologize Cautiously 122
32. Delay the Purpose for Negative Messages 124
33. Consider the Indirect Approach for Negative and
Persuasive Messages

130
34. Follow the Direct Opening with Details and a
Goodwill Ending
132
35. Use the Direct Approach for Routine and Good
News Messages
139
Part VIII. Style Revision
36. Use the Document Revision Checklist 147
37. Structure Sentences for Concise and Precise
Business Style
149
38. Revise for Style to Connect Not to Impress 155
39. Revise for a Formal or Informal Business Style 158
40. Structure Paragraphs for Concise and Precise
Business Style and Meaningful Transitions
161

Part IX. Design
41. Follow the Document Format Used by Your
Employer or Industry
173
42. Combine Design Elements to Enhance Clarity,
Hierarchy, and Tone
181
43. Create Salience with Lists and Mechanical
Emphasis
184
44. Know How Readers View and Comprehend a
Document
188
45. Frame Words, Phrases, and Images 192
46. Position Content for Emphasis 197
47. Write Headings to Communicate Your Argument
and Organizational Logic
199

Part X. Visual Argument
48. View Deck Design on a Continuum: One Deck
Does Not Fit All
209
49. Use the Slide Deck Revision Checklist 214
50. Move from Storyline to Storyboard: Identify and
Align Necessary Content
215
51. Plan Your Visual Argument: Start with Your
Storyline
224
52. Use Visual Argument in Your Business Writing 228
Part XI. Complex Argument / Report Writing
53. Analyze Your Report’s Audience and Purpose 273
54. Analyze the Meaning of Your Evidence 275
55. Select the Best Report Type 284
56. Structure Your Argument with Claim + Evidence +

Source Paragraphs and Slides
293
57. Use the Complex Argument/Report Checklist 299
58. Organize Your Complex Argument into a Reader-
Centered Story
300
Part XII. Supplemental
59. Develop Successful Teams 307
60. Evaluate Meeting Guidelines 317
61. Write an Executive Summary 322
62. Prepare a Press Release 325
63. Eliminate Biased Language 328
64. Use Correct Grammar and Punctuation 330
65. Write Numbers, Fractions, and Quotes Correctly 346
66. Write Ethically and Persuasively About Statistics 349
67. Ask and Answer Questions Effectively 350
68. Refresh Your Presentation Skills 358
Author Bios 361

Search key terms of Strategic Business Writing 363
Strategic Business Writing:
Commit to Becoming a Better
Writer
Understanding strategic business writing will help you to set
actionable goals for your skill development to grow as a
thinker,
writer, speaker, teammate, and business professional.
As a strategic business writer, you will see communication as a
strategic process and learn to craft clear, concise, and
persuasive
messages by identifying and meeting the needs and values of
specific audiences in specific contexts. As a result, you will
build
stronger, more positive relationships fostered by effective
communication to drive your successful business career.
Key Values to Help Your Learning Experience
Your ability to enter into the learning process embracing several
key

values will facilitate your growth as a business writer:
• Learning—Strive to learn, applying both theory and practice
to
ensure you develop the most relevant skills and current best
practices for business communication.
• Achievement—Pursue the highest standards of excellence and
professionalism in your work to maximize your professional
growth and build your professional reputation.
• Collaboration—Promote a collaborative work environment to
draw on the unique strengths, skills, and insights of your
colleagues.
• Respecting Others—Treat everyone with respect and dignity as
you commit to the professional development of yourself and
others.
Strategic Business Writing: Commit
to Becoming a Better Writer | 1
By embracing these values you can help yourself become a
strategic
business writer and realize tangible benefits in your
professional
life. You will improve your critical thinking skills, develop an

efficient and effective writing processes, and write a range of
audience-centered professional documents—documents that will
enhance your business relationships and realize successful
communication results.
To ensure you develop your skills as you read Strategic
Business
Writing, you will work on a variety of real-world, often case-
based,
activities. Working individually and in teams, you will
demonstrate
your understanding of communication theories, strategies, and
best
practices and apply feedback from your professor, outside
professionals, and your own work teams. This
application/feedback
loop helps you develop and apply increasingly complex and
consistent knowledge about message planning, research,
persuasive
argument, revision, visual design, presentations, and working in
teams.
How to Read Strategic Business Writing

Strategic Business Writing was written with a focus on the
skills you
need to succeed in your future career. You will discover new
ways
to improve your writing.
Whether you are new to business writing or bring extensive
business writing experience, you can use Strategic Business
Writing
to achieve your skill development goals. As a new business
writer,
you can read sequentially through the text to develop a
comprehensive understanding of business writing, its guiding
principles, and specific strategies to write successful business
documents. As an experienced business writer, you can choose
the
specific topic areas you want to explore independently of the
rest
of the content.
As you read, take full advantage of the electronic-text
format of Strategic Business Writing:
2 | Strategic Business Writing: Commit to Becoming a Better
Writer
1. Focus on your own professional career and the skills you
need

to succeed.
2. Allow yourself time to process the information. You can
memorize lists and concepts, but developing your writing skills
requires internalizing those concepts as you think, practice,
analyze, get feedback, and practice more.
3. Stop to explore the examples and links. The additional
information will clarify concepts and provide additional
guidance as you grow your skill set.
4. Be curious and inquisitive. As you encounter interesting and
new concepts, meet the challenge the same way you will in
your professional career: take notes, discuss, ask questions,
and seek additional research.
Wherever you begin in your skill development, set the goal
to internalize the four key concepts of Strategic Business
Writing
as you read: audience, purpose, content, and context. You will
find
these concepts reiterated throughout the parts and chapters
of Strategic Business Writing and will apply these
concepts throughout your career to guide your professional and
persuasive communication.
Learn the Theory Behind Strategic Business Writing

Examine the ever-evolving, crowded environment of
information
and the reasons to learn impactful strategies and best practices
as
you become a strategic business writer.
The Writing Process: Planning
Learn the three-part writing process of planning, drafting, and
revising. A planning guide to help you with your own writing is
available for you to print.
Purpose
Learn the foundation of strategic business writing—knowing
your
message’s purpose, the top-level reasons you are writing to this
reader today.
Strategic Business Writing: Commit to Becoming a Better
Writer | 3
Audience
Analyze the importance of emphasizing the needs of your
audience (or reader) as you plan and revise—a helpful
complement
to the foundational purpose sections.

Tone
Practice altering the tone of your writing to become more reader
focused and positive.
Credible Content
Examine various sources of evidence and strategies to use
credible sources to strengthen arguments. Learn how to find and
cite persuasive evidence to support arguments.
Organization
Examine direct and indirect organization methods a savvy writer
can choose for many types of messages and audiences.
Style Revision
Learn to identify, measure, and revise wordiness to create a
professional and appealing writing style resulting in concise
paragraphs and sentences.
Design
Learn document design strategies, specifically for professional
letter, memo, and email formats, intended to increase focus,
readability, and persuasive appeal.
Visual Argument
Examine strategies to enhance your message’s impact through
the use of visuals driven by data.

Complex Argument / Report Writing
Learn about reports and methods to use to create and structure
more complex arguments.
Supplemental
Explore critical topics related to successful Strategic Business
Writing, including teams, meetings, special documents,
grammar
and punctuation, effective questions, and presentations.
4 | Strategic Business Writing: Commit to Becoming a Better
Writer
PART I
LEARN THE THEORY
BEHIND STRATEGIC
BUSINESS WRITING
In a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers
(NACE) student survey, fewer than 40% of college students
surveyed
listed communication skills as central to their professional
development. Meanwhile in a McKinsey survey of top U.S.
companies, two-thirds of employers lament that current college
graduates lack the writing and presentation skills necessary to

succeed on the job, including writing routine emails to
supervisors
and customers, analytical reports to important clients, or
PowerPoint decks for their work teams.
What can you learn in a business communication course that
enhances the skills you developed in your English classes and
Learn the Theory Behind Strategic
Business Writing | 5
college-level research courses? In Strategic Business Writing,
you
will learn business communication as a strategic action –
writing
dependent on audience, relationship, and context. You’ll learn
best
practices for planning, drafting, and revising documents quickly
– to save you time – with an emphasis on organization, tone,
conciseness, formatting, and perfect proofreading – to preserve
your reputation and enhance your persuasive abilities.
Know the risks of ignoring strategy in Business Communication
Before developing business messages for specific readers,

consider
the low, medium, and severe risks of poor planning, writing,
and
revision:
• Low Risk: Poor business communication can at a minimum
cost you and your reader valuable time. In business, we seek to
manage our limited resources effectively – our resources of
people, time, money, and reputation. Poorly planned and
written messages can lead to the waste of valuable resources
as readers struggle to understand writer-centered,
disorganized, wordy, and imprecise messages.
• Medium Risk: With limited focus on the needs and
expectations of readers and audiences, a writer can experience
the medium risks of causing confusion, missing opportunities
for persuasion, damaging credibility, and increasing costs.
• High Risk: Failing to learn the best processes for professional
business communication can, at its worst, lead to lost jobs and
clients, long-term damage to one’s personal brand, and major
financial and legal consequences for writers and the
organizations and teams they represent.
6 | Learn the Theory Behind Strategic Business Writing

To manage the risky, complex, and ever-changing
communication environment
and to create your best messages, first analyze the elements of
the
Communication Model
To maximize your communication effectiveness, Strategic
Business
Writing will challenge you to learn a new writing process in
which
you will systematically break down each potential
communication
interaction into its key elements, resulting in best strategies to
appeal to audiences and, in turn, to maximize your possible
communication success.
Specifically, by thinking strategically about the components of
the
Communication Model as you construct business messages, you
will
learn to:
• Plan and refine your message to include a purpose statement
written to achieve your desired outcome
• Appeal specifically to your primary, secondary, and

unintended
audiences by understanding the filters through which you and
your reader will view your message
• Weigh the benefits and drawbacks of your potential channel
choices
• Minimize possible “noise” that can negatively impact the
reception of your message
• Accept and respond to possible feedback as you continue to
communicate
• Consider the impact of the context on the message and
anticipate your audiences’ reactions.
By responding to the many variables in the Communication
Model
as you develop your business messages, you will begin to view
business communication as a strategy—a strategy to achieve
what you want AND what your reader/audience wants, with
clarity,
honesty, and integrity. And by developing a strategic approach
to
communication, you’ll develop a set of critical skills in
professional

writing, presentations, and leadership grounded in credible
analysis
to achieve desired outcomes while mitigating possible risks.
Learn the Theory Behind Strategic Business Writing | 7
Learning Objectives
• Understand the importance of strategic business
writing to ensure your messages are noticed and
impactful in today’s crowded information
environment
• Develop strategic business writing skills to meet the
needs of your employer and demands of your
industry on day one of your career
• Set actionable goals and use strategic frameworks to
develop the communication skills critical for your
future success.
8 | Learn the Theory Behind Strategic Business Writing

Transactiona
l Model
1. Use the Communication
Model to Guide Your Writing
Strategy
While Strategic Business Communication will guide you
through a
systematic process for audience-centered and purpose-driven
writing, you can develop a more strategic mindset for your own
skill
development by using a Transactional Model of Communication
to
better access your choices as a business communicator.
The Transactional Model approaches communication as an
interaction between communicators—one where the meaning of
a message is co-constructed as a function of how individuals
exchange ideas. To understand how the process unfolds, we
must
accept that the model below is a dynamic process—one where
ideas
and words and images are impacted by multiple variables.
By understanding the elements of the Communication Model
below, you can better manage the complex communication
process
Use the Communication Model to
Guide Your Writing Strategy | 9

and can assess the possible risks associated with each
component.
Ultimately, you can develop strategies to maximize the
likelihood of
your success as well as enhance your ability to develop and
maintain critical business relationships.
Sender—The individual who takes his or her ideas, encodes
them
into language, and sends them in the form of a message.
Receiver—The individual who translates the sender’s message
into
meaning.
Field of Experience (Filters)—The influences on both the sender
and receiver that impact the construction or reception of the
message. These filters include personality, culture, experiences,
knowledge, and biases.
Message—The ideas (verbal and nonverbal) encoded by the
sender
into language and decoded by the receiver into meaning.
Channel—The medium used to communicate the message.
Examples include face-to-face meetings, presentations, email,
websites, and text messages, to name only a few.

Feedback—The intended and sometimes unintended response to
the message (verbal and nonverbal) sent by the receiver back to
the
sender.
Context—The underlying situation in which the communication
occurs, ultimately influencing how we send and receive
messages.
Noise—The distractions that could interfere with the clarity of
the message. Noise can be physical (music, coughing,
construction
noise, static); semantic (word choices, poor grammar, vocal
fillers);
physiological (illness, exhaustion, nervousness); or
psychological
(daydreaming, tangential thinking).
10 | Use the Communication Model to Guide Your Writing
Strategy
Your command of the distinct variables of the communication
model will push you to think strategically and critically as you
plan, draft, and revise business documents. As a business
professional, the Communication Model provides you a
framework
to develop a strategic mindset for message development, one
that

allows you to consider the opportunities provided by your
messages and the potential impact of risks on your
communication
outcomes.
Consider these questions: How can knowing yourself and your
intended audience (by analyzing your personal experiences and
filters) help you create the most persuasive message? How can
your
language and channel choices combined with your ability to
learn
from feedback help you increase the impact of your message?
How
can your sensitivity to context and ability to minimize
distractions
improve the clarity of your message and build better
relationships
with audiences?
Building from your knowledge of the Communication Model
variables, you can strategically manage and respond to
Use the Communication Model to Guide Your Writing Strategy |
11

Communicat
ion Flows
Communication Flows within your organization. While we
would
like to believe that communication between superiors and
subordinates is somewhat automatic, in truth the power
relationships and hierarchies operate with surprising ambiguity
and
will require forethought and strategy.
As you navigate your way through future workplaces, be aware
of
these business communication flow factors and terms:
The Flow of Communication spreads in all directions, not only
top down.
Upward communication represents communication traveling
from a lower level of an organization to a higher level
(subordinate
to superior).
Downward communication moves from higher to lower levels of
an organization (superior to subordinate).
Lateral communication occurs between people on the same or
similar levels of an organization.
Diagonal communication is exchanged between people at

different levels of an organization who possess no direct
reporting
relationship.
Now consider how the challenges increase with the addition of
multiple recipients, unintended audiences, multiple channels,
and
an ever-changing context! The distinct variables involved in
communication—even between only two people—highlight the
12 | Use the Communication Model to Guide Your Writing
Strategy
challenges individuals and businesses face when crafting
business
messages potentially read by numerous people over indefinite
time.
To succeed in this uncertain environment as you communicate,
you
might consider yourself a beneficial resource adding value to
the
lives, work, and results of the people in your organization. Your
focus remains on meeting your reader’s needs, values, and
benefits,
no matter if the reader is your superior, co-worker, or direct
report.
Use the Communication Model to Guide Your Writing Strategy |

13
2. Analyze Risk to Maximize
Communication Outcomes
Given how challenging the communication process may be, can
we effectively analyze risk when we are considering our
business
communication messaging in a strategic way?
By systematically analyzing your communication as strategic
actions, you can use the Communication Model to break down
the
process in an effort to identify possible risks involved and
implement potential strategies to better maximize your
communication outcomes.
If you consider every communication interaction, you hope to
achieve a desired outcome—whether explicitly stated or not.
When
you send a cold-call email to a business professional for an
informational interview, your desired outcome is your
professional
accepting the request, you completing the interview, and

receiving
valuable information from the conversation. When you meet a
client
for a sales presentation, you hope the client likes your proposal,
is
persuaded by your message, and purchases your product from
you.
Yet when you consider the communication model, you
can anticipate how possible outcomes can be impacted by
strategic
errors in your communication decision making.To maximize the
likelihood of communication success, first visualize your
desired
outcome, then develop a writing strategy to achieve it
(considering
your audience and purpose), and weigh the potential risks of
possible errors and your reader’s likely response. This equation
offers a guide:
14 | Analyze Risk to Maximize
Communication Outcomes
Communication Outcome = Desired Outcome – (Strategic Error

+ Likely
Reader Response)
Communication Outcome = Final actual result of
communication
Desired Outcome = Desired optimal result of communication
Error = Possible strategic errors of communication
Response = How reader/audience responds to strategic errors
By looking at the Communication Model, we can consider
which
risks put our communication in jeopardy. For example, consider
a
spelling error. In isolation, you know a spelling mistake is
bad—but
put into two different contexts within the Communication Model
we can see how a spelling error leads to different outcomes.
Scenario One: You write an email to colleagues you are working
with on a consulting project and ask that they attend a
conference
call with a client. In the email you misspell the client’s name.
The
Desired Outcome is that your colleagues attend the conference

call. The Error is the misspelling of the client’s name. The
likely
Response, even in the worst-case scenario, is that your
colleagues
are annoyed with the mistake. Yet despite the annoyance, your
colleagues will attend the conference call. In this scenario, the
Error
was low risk and your Communication Outcome was the same as
your Desired Outcome. (Note: Imagine, however, that your
colleague forwards your message to the client, inviting them to
the
conference call—the risk escalates substantially).
Scenario Two: You send your potential client a slide deck with
multiple misspellings of the company name. The Desired
Outcome
is to secure your client’s business. The Error is the misspelling
of the client’s name. The likely Response ranges from anger to
a
damaged reputation. The Communication Outcome? Possible
loss
of the client as a customer.
The error remains the same in both scenarios, but the shift in

audience amplifies the overall possible reader reaction in
dramatically different ways. The increased risk involved with
the
error can result in dramatically different outcomes.
Analyze Risk to Maximize Communication Outcomes | 15
Setting clear goals for communication skill development and
working within proven frameworks as you communicate will
bring short- and long-term benefits that enhance
communication,
your personal brand, your key relationships, and your career.
16 | Analyze Risk to Maximize Communication Outcomes
3. Develop a Growth Mindset
and Set Actionable Goals to
Improve Your Strategic
Business Writing Skills
Business communication is a strategic action using a set of
skills
(writing, presentation, interpersonal, social media) to craft
purposeful messages aimed at specific audiences and leveraging
the
variables in the business communication model to meet strategic

outcomes while mitigating possible risks.
How do you (and various stakeholders) measure and grow your
success as a business communicator? By embracing a growth
mindset and analyzing your current skills and desired outcomes.
You can grow your communication skills and outcomes by
examining your current communication proficiency, identifying
clear goals for improvement, and proactively working to
develop the
skills you need most. This proficiency model will be important
to
you throughout your professional career to ensure you possess
the
skills required in the job and career trajectory you desire.
Facilitate your growth as a business writer by using the SMART
goals framework to help you get from where your skills are to
where
you want to be:
Specific (well defined and concrete goals you can visualize)
Measurable (measure outcomes with targeted numbers, dates,
and times)

Attainable (challenging but realistic goals)
Relevant (directly relate your skill development to critical
writing
needs in your field)
Time bound (set deadlines for each goal)
Develop a Growth Mindset and Set
Actionable Goals to Improve Your
To make sure you achieve your goals, visualize the skills and
outcomes you want for your future self. You might select a
person
you admire to benchmark, analyzing the skills this role model
exhibits and naming clear objectives to help you reach and
possibly
exceed this person’s skill set. Put your development objectives,
actions, deadlines, obstacles, and strategies into a table with
measurable “concrete indicators of success” in the final column
so
you can track your progress.
Development
objective
Specific

well-defined
action and
deadline
Obstacles and
strategies to
overcome the
obstacles
Support
needed
Concrete
indicator
of success
EXAMPLE:
Be more
concise
Use fewer
linking
verbs.
(Note: you
could list
“be more
concise”
multiple
times with
different
well-defined
actions.)
I actually use

action verbs very
well except when
I don’t leave
enough time for
revisions.
I will write a best-
effort draft two
days before the
deadline. I will
schedule time the
day before the
deadline to revise
the message.
None
needed.
Next
writing
assignment,
I will
average 1
linking verb
per 100
words.
By identifying clear, measurable objectives you can actually
track
your improvement over time—the key is identifying precise
goals
and actions you can take to achieve them.
Setting clear goals for communication skill development and

working within proven frameworks as you communicate will
bring short- and long-term benefits that enhance
communication,
your personal brand, your key relationships, and your career.
18 | Develop a Growth Mindset and Set Actionable Goals to
Improve Your
Strategic Business Writing Skills
4. Build the Strategic Business
Writing Skills Employers
Value Most
Businesses need and want employees who write well. In the
2016
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job
Outlook,
employers identified written and oral communication skills as
two
of the top five skills they look for in potential job candidates
after
passing a company’s GPA threshold. A survey conducted by
Millennial Branding highlights the significance of previous
NACE
findings, where 98% of employers considered communication
skills essential. As Millennial Branding’s Dan Schawbel argued,
employers need employees who possess “the ability to write,
compose emails, give presentations in front of others, and [who
are]

able to have conversations with those across generations.”
Meanwhile, employers’ lower rankings of proficiency in
software
or technical skills for new hires should be no surprise. Schawbel
explains, “It takes time to master the art of communication,
especially when young people are so dependent on technology
instead of real-life communication.”
Professional-grade communication skill development
requires significant time and feedback—your future employer
will
want you to arrive with already-developed skills. Industry- and
workplace-specific technical skills surprisingly require less
time to
develop than strong communication skills, and many employers
prefer to teach you the technical skills you’ll need in your
specific
position in your industry.
Employers consistently struggle to find job candidates who
possess the communication skills necessary for available
jobs. Employers cite poor writing, listening, and presentation
skills in job candidates as a primary concern—deficiencies
often

Build the Strategic Business Writing
Skills Employers Value Most | 19
reflected in the poor interview performance of candidates. In a
2013 survey conducted by the NACE, nearly two-thirds of
employers
reported that college graduates lack the twenty-first century
communication skills required to thrive in the global economy.
More
recently, 75% of employers surveyed by the Association of
American
Colleges and Universities want colleges to put more emphasis
on
written communication skills.
What is the takeaway? Businesses want employees who already
write and speak well because strong communication skills play
a
critical role in business success.
A 2012 McKinsey Global Institute study reinforces the belief
that
understanding the communication process and developing
essential
communication skills is worth the time and effort: the average
U.S.

work week is dominated by communication-related activities.
According to the McKinsey study, employees spend at least 13
hours
per week on email, 6.4 hours communicating and collaborating
internally, and 5.2 hours communicating externally—
representing
24.6 hours of each workweek spent on communication-related
tasks.
In a 2016 study by Adobe, the time spent on email alone jumped
to an average of 20.5 hours per week. A 2015 survey of Kelley
Business School graduates reveals that 59% of business grads
spend
one to four hours each day writing emails, 50% spend one to
four
hours each day communicating one-on-one, and 50% participate
in meetings for one to four hours each day (see table below). As
these studies reveal, business communication dominates much
of a
typical work day.
20 | Build the Strategic Business Writing Skills Employers
Value Most
Not all rows

add to 100%
due to
rounding
Given the deep disconnect between what employers want in
employees and the value many students place on their
communication skills, a motivated student like you who
prioritizes
the development of your strategic communication skills can
position yourself well as an intern and business professional as
you begin your career.
Ineffective messaging strategies could cost you money and
damage your
reputation
Navigating communication challenges can prove costly—in
dollars
and reputation—if messaging isn’t managed well. In 2011, for
example, Netflix found itself in the middle of a business crisis,
after
changing its business model from a single-price strategy for
both
DVD-by-mail and streaming video services to the separation of
services with higher costs for each. The change in service and
the
price increase generated outrage among the Netflix customer
base,

and many vented their frustration online by threatening to
cancel
their Netflix service.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings complicated the problem by
mismanaging the messaging of his apology to customers, not
responding until two months later. Instead of understanding and
addressing the underlying reason for consumer frustration (i.e.,
the
Build the Strategic Business Writing Skills Employers Value
Most | 21
cost), Hastings thought he simply needed to better explain the
rationale for the lack of communication on his company blog:
In hindsight, I slid into arrogance based upon past success. We
have
done very well for a long time by steadily improving our
service,
without doing much CEO communication. Inside Netflix I say,
“Actions speak louder than words,” and we should just keep
improving our service.

But now I see that given the huge changes we have been
recently
making, I should have personally given a full justification to
our
members of why we are separating DVD and streaming, and
charging for both.
By ignoring the needs of his customers and developing a
company-focused messaging strategy, Hastings continued to
botch
his messaging and dramatically impacted the financial
performance
of his company. By the end of the third quarter of 2011, Netflix
had lost 805,000 customers and the market punished the
company
by sending its stock price down 27% in after-hours trading
following
its quarterly earnings announcement. Clearly, the
communication
failures of Netflix affected its long-term financial performance.
While Netflix offers a high-profile example, errors in strategic
judgment can have negative consequences even in routine
messages like cover letters. For example, a letter sent by an
NYU
student named “Mark” to J.P. Morgan Chase in 2012 got him

blacklisted at investment banking firms throughout New York
City.
His error? One quote caught the attention of a JPMorgan Chase
employee who decided to share the cover letter with
colleagues—and the letter went viral:
That semester I achieved a 3.93, and in the same time I managed
to
bench double my bodyweight and do 35 pull-ups.
In a matter of 24 hours, the cover letter Mark sent out
transformed him from prospective candidate to a national news
story published on Gawker.
Writing with a strategic audience focus is imperative for your
long-term career success.
22 | Build the Strategic Business Writing Skills Employers
Value Most
Build the Strategic Business Writing Skills Employers Value
Most | 23
5. Communicate Strategically
Within a Crowded
Information Environment

As you begin your professional career, you are entering a
complex business communication environment where an
abundance of messaging demands your strategic focus.
The amount of information is overwhelming—are you up for the
challenge?
Consider the sheer volume of information being communicated
across a highly saturated communication landscape. In 2016,
nearly 2 billion people connected and communicated on
Facebook.
At the end of 2016, 319 million people posted to Twitter, up 60
million users from seven months earlier.
Consider the ever-increasing number of social networks
available, including Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, and
Reddit.
People are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data being
shared.
Every minute, there are:
• More than 2.4 million Google search queries
• 400 hours of new video content uploaded to YouTube

• 150 million new email messages sent (65% of which are spam)
• 3.3 million Facebook posts
• 348,000 new tweets over Twitter
• Over $200,000 spent on Amazon
24 | Communicate Strategically
Within a Crowded Information
Communicate Strategically Within a Crowded Information
Environment | 25
Business leaders are embracing this speed in every aspect of
their business—including strategies for product development,
manufacturing, agility, and business investment. In a letter to
his
shareholders in late 2015, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt
wrote,
“We are putting a premium on speed,” while IBM’s CEO Ginni
Rometty calls speed “the silver bullet” to business success.
Current
strategies for product development, manufacturing agility, and
even

investment prioritize speed.
The desire for speed extends to our communication practices
as well. A recent study by Adobe highlighted how an “always
on”
culture has shifted our expectations of business email.
Smartphones
are the preferred reading device for 90% of millennial business
26 | Communicate Strategically Within a Crowded Information
Environment
professionals between the ages of 18 to 34. Most prefer email as
their primary form of communication for the immediacy of
responses, with older millennials (25 to 34) believing response
times
to business emails should be minutes from the time an email is
received.
While speed can be thrilling, your effectiveness as a business
communicator is placed under increasing pressure to develop
clear,
concise, and effective messaging. Employers value these skills,
seeking employees like you—strategic business writers who can
analyze data, identify critical arguments, get your messages

noticed among an overwhelming amount of information, and
write your messages strategically—and quickly!
Communicate Strategically Within a Crowded Information
Environment | 27
PART II
PLANNING
Strategic business communication is about meeting human
needs
Business involves the ethical exchange of goods, services, and
ideas
to the benefit of both parties. As an effective business writer,
your
goal is to ethically persuade a specific reader to think or act in
the
way you want, while also helping your reader fulfill their own
needs.
Therefore, you must approach business writing strategically—
how
can you appeal to your reader’s values, wants, and needs to
compel
them to think or act as you desire? Your strategy begins by

understanding business writing as a unique field of
communication
involving a three-step process: plan, draft, and revise.
Planning requires you to identify your purpose, audience,
channel, approach (direct or indirect), organization, content,
tone,
style, language, document design, delivery,timing, and
audience’s
reception. When you plan before you write, you can tailor your
Planning | 29
message to your reader’s needs and significantly increase your
chances for persuasion. Drafting executes your writing plan.
Because you have prepared thoroughly, your drafting process
will
be much more efficient, saving your company time and money.
Revising demands that you revisit your draft with a critical eye
for
organization, conciseness, language, and design.
When you separate these three key actions of the writing
process,
planning, drafting, and revising will guarantee you pay close
attention to each of the critical stages of writing, resulting in
the
most audience-centered, clear, credible, and ultimately,

persuasive
document possible. As you learn this efficient pattern of
business
writing, your speed and accuracy will increase, resulting in less
time
spent writing and more time available for living your life.
Learning Objectives
• Introduce strategic business writing as a unique field
of communication designed to persuade a specific
audience
• Explain the three-step process of planning, drafting,
and revising
• Begin to plan persuasive messages by identifying
purpose, audience, content, and context
30 | Planning
6. Plan with Purpose,
Audience, Content, and
Context
In our digital age, we are constantly inundated with demands for
our attention. By one New York Times estimate, the average
U.S.

corporate employee now writes and receives 122 emails per day.
How then, when we have an important message to communicate,
do we have any chance to cut through this noise, connect with
our
audience, and ultimately inspire action?
No cookie-cutter approach exists. Instead, we must be flexible
as writers, and each message we craft, no matter how significant
(a major sales pitch) or routine (a request to park in a different
lot
during construction), has to be its own unique project. We must
write to a specific person with a specific purpose, and in doing
so, we must appeal to this person’s needs and interests in order
to persuade them to act. A “mass” email or letter, conversely, is
probably bound for the trash.
So how do we do this? We need a plan. Before we can begin to
write, we must answer a series of key questions that will shape
our
message and give us the best chance to accomplish whatever it
is
that we seek to accomplish. We will start with four areas of
inquiry:

Purpose, Audience, Content, and Context.
Purpose: What Are You Trying to Accomplish?
What is your primary purpose for writing your message?
What are your secondary purposes?
What is the ultimate goal or intended outcome of the
message?
Audience: Who Are You Attempting to Persuade?
Plan with Purpose, Audience,
Content, and Context | 31
Who is your primary audience?
What is your relationship to your primary audience (or
smallest shared community)?
What does your primary audience stand to gain (if anything)
from this message?
What benefits or advantages should you stress to appeal to
your reader?
How is your primary audience likely to react and respond?
Who are your secondary audiences? How are they likely to

react and respond?
Who might be your unintended readers or future readers?
How are they likely to react and respond?
Content: How Are You Attempting to Persuade?
Once you have determined your purpose and audience, you
can begin to strategize how to develop your content to have
the best chance to persuade your reader. Plan your content
and delivery in this order:
Channel
What is the best channel (e.g., email, letter, memo) for
reaching and persuading your reader?
Will you need to communicate through a second or
third channel? Should this communication be
simultaneous with or subsequent to the initial message?
Is this message solicited or unsolicited? (If this
message is a response, consider using the same channel
as the original writer.)
Is your message part of a chain of messages taking
place with your audience via a particular channel?

What is the likelihood your message will be broadcast
beyond your intended audience?
Approach
Is your reader likely to find your message to be
positive, neutral, or negative?
Does your message require a direct (positive or neutral
32 | Plan with Purpose, Audience, Content, and Context
message) or indirect approach (negative or persuasive
message)?
Organization
Based on your purpose, audience, and approach, how
will you order your information? What is the hierarchy of
your content?
Does your document have a title (if needed)? (Your title
may be a subject line.)
How do you properly address your reader at the
beginning? Where and how will you build rapport /
establish a connection with your reader?

Where should you place your purpose statement?
What are your subtopics related to your purpose
statement? (These might be your headings and/or topic
sentences.)
Where do you need transitions (or logical breaks)
between sections to reveal the connections and overall
storyline of your ideas?
How should you conclude your document to enhance
the likelihood for action?
How long should your document be?
Content
What information does your audience need to know in
order to be persuaded?
What content responds to your audience’s needs and
values?
What information is your audience likely to already
know about your subject?
Which claims will you make to support your argument?
What content is self-centered (and therefore should be

shifted in focus or eliminated)?
What kind of evidence will you use to support these
claims and build your credibility? Testimonial evidence?
Factual evidence?
Plan with Purpose, Audience, Content, and Context | 33
Will you use primary sources? Secondary sources?
Quantitative information? Qualitative information?
What are the questions that your audience is likely
to have about your content? What are their likely
counterarguments?
Tone, Style, and Language
Is your communication upward, downward or
horizontal (peer)? How will this relationship impact your
tone and style?
Is your audience internal or external? How will this
relationship impact your tone and style?
Is your communication cross-cultural? How will this

relationship impact your tone and style?
Does your message require a specific or technical
vocabulary? Or should your language be accessible to a
wide or non-specialized audience?
How can you make your language audience-centered
(“you-focused”) versus self-centered? What language
makes your message self-centered?
What words does your audience use in the context?
Should you use those words?
Design
How can use you use design to advance your
argument? Emphasize important content?
How can design make your structure clear at a glance?
Headings? Framing? Spacing? Bullet points? Lists?
Which colors and fonts will appeal to your reader?
Which charts, graphs, or images should you include?
How can you ensure that your design is consistent with
your company or brand?
Delivery and Timing

When would be the best time to send your message?
When do you need a reply by? What deadlines do you
or your reader need to meet?
How (i.e., through what channel) do you want your
reader to respond? Does your reader have your proper
contact information?
Context: How, When, and Where Will Your Message Be
Received?
As you plan, you should also consider the context in which
your reader will receive your message. For instance, is your
reader likely to read your message as a certified letter
delivered during normal work hours? Or have you planned a
message that could be opened on her phone at the airport
as she boards a connecting flight? There are advantages to
each scenario. Yet, as a writer, you must think through these
possibilities to give yourself the best chance to persuade and
bring about action.

You must also take into account your reader’s corporate
context. Is her company looking to grow, or has it recently
experienced a crisis? Is this a particularly busy time of the
year? Does your reader work on a team? Will she use your
document to persuade someone else internally? The answers
to each of these questions—as well as others that you will
brainstorm—will definitely impact how your reader is likely to
respond.
Reception:
Where and how is your reader likely to receive your
message? How will this context impact the likelihood of
persuasion?
In what context is your reader likely to use this information?
Is your reader likely to keep this message for future use
and/or forward it to others?
Do you need to provide anything additional to ensure that
this document is easy to read and use?
Planning Guide
Now you can begin to plan your message. Open and print the

Strategic Business Writing Planning Guide in order to start your
Plan with Purpose, Audience, Content, and Context | 35
planning process. You should complete this guide every time
you
need to write a business document. Keep in mind: planning is
parallel and recursive in nature. As you draft and revise, you
should
continue to consult and adjust your plan as needed.
References
Davis, Kenneth. Business Writing and Communication. Second
Edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010: 20.
Wayne, Teddy. “A Eulogy for the Long, Intimate Email.” New
York
Times 11 July 2015.
7. Plan, Draft, Revise
For many college writers, the process of drafting a paper is
simple:

sit down, write a document as quickly as possible, print it, and
turn it in. Sound familiar? In strategic business writing,
however,
you simply cannot get away with such a “one shot” approach
and
still hope to persuade your audience. Rather, the most
successful
business writers understand that writing involves a three-step
process: plan, draft, and revise.
So how does this model work? In his book Business Writing and
Communication, Kenneth Davis explains that effective business
writers spend about 40% of their time planning, 20% drafting,
and
then the remaining 40% revising. At first, this breakdown may
surprise you. Just 20% of your time actually writing? Yet, as
Strategic Business Writing will demonstrate, when you
effectively
plan and revise, your writing process becomes far more
efficient.
As a result, you eliminate the time that you would otherwise
waste
staring at a computer screen either waiting to be inspired or
cutting
and pasting to try to finish with a coherent document. By

separating
out the key actions of the writing process, the three-step process
ensures that you pay adequate attention to each of the critical
stages of writing that will produce the most audience-centered,
clear, credible, and ultimately, persuasive document possible.
Here is a brief overview:
Step One: Plan
The strategy in strategic business writing begins here.
Before you can write, you must answer a series of important
questions that will guide your decision-making process. Why
are you writing? What is the specific purpose of your message,
and what do you wish to achieve? Who is your intended
audience? What is your relationship with this person (or
people), and what are their needs? Once you have identified
the what and the who, you will then be able to make informed
Plan, Draft, Revise | 37
decisions about the best channel of communication (e.g.,
email, letter, memo, text), the best approach (direct versus
indirect), the best structure and organization, the best
content and evidence, the best tone, style, and language, and
the best document design to effectively achieve your purpose.

During the planning process, you will also consider the
delivery and timing of your message and the context of its
reception.
Step Two: Draft
With much of the strategic “heavy lifting” out of the way,
you can draft your message quickly and with clear direction.
Because you will later invest ample time in revision, you are
free to get your content out on paper (or up on screen) without
the interruption of having to immediately edit yourself for
sentence structure, concision, grammar, spelling, or even
typos.
Step Three: Revise
Once you’ve executed your writing plan and you’ve
completed your first draft, you are ready to revise. Many
amateur writers underappreciate (and often ignore) the
revision stage of the writing process. Yet, this third phase of
the writing process entails so much more than simply running
spell-check or glancing over your document one last time for
typos. As you will learn in Strategic Business Writing, effective
revision involves a systematic review of your document’s
structure, language, and visual design choices. When you
revise well, you ensure clarity, credibility, and

professionalism—qualities essential to your primary goal:
persuasion.
38 | Plan, Draft, Revise
PART III
PURPOSE
Throughout your academic life, you wrote numerous papers for
teachers, learning to explain topics to generic one-time readers
without a personal stake in your documents. With word counts
and
good grades as your goals, you often wrote wordy sentences in
double-spaced format and included all the information you knew
about topics, hoping to earn As and high GPAs. The reader
(your
teacher) read each paper to determine if you could write well
and
knew the material. Your teacher then gave you a grade (and
hopefully good feedback). At that point, the paper’s life
basically
ended.

How will your business writing be different from your
academic writing? As you already noticed in Strategic Business
Writing, your business writing will be quite different from the
writing you did in school. In contrast to your high school and
college
Purpose | 39
papers, your business writing—the writing you’ll use
throughout
your career—will be driven by purpose, audience, content, and
context. You will write to real decision makers to try to
influence
their beliefs and actions. Your documents will continue to exist
through time and be forwarded to secondary and unintended
readers. You’ll plan your business documents well to include
only
the information your reader needs (not all the information you
know) and organize the information with careful attention to the
reader’s needs and your desired outcomes. You’ll revise your
various
business documents for conciseness, tone, and appealing,
skimmable design.

Determining your purpose, or your reason for writing, is the
first
step in planning a persuasive, audience-centered message.
Before
you can appeal to your reader, you must first know why you are
writing and what you need to accomplish. When you identify
your
purpose, your planning, drafting, and revising gain focus, and
you,
your team, and your reader benefit from this clarity.
In order to help you determine and hone your purpose, you will
develop a purpose statement, or a declarative sentence (or group
of sentences) that clearly, accurately, and concisely expresses
your
primary reason for writing and your intended outcomes, while
also accounting for your audience’s needs and their context.
Your
purpose statement will develop from a process of brainstorming,
narrowing, and articulating a working purpose statement.
Once devised, your purpose statement will give your document
direction and allow you to effectively organize your message.
40 | Purpose
Learning Objectives

• Understand the value of determining your
document’s purpose
• Learn how to develop a purpose statement to focus
and organize your message
Purpose | 41
8. Brainstorm, Narrow, and
Articulate Your Working
Purpose Statement
Brainstorm
To focus your core idea, begin by answering two key questions:
1. What are my reasons for drafting this document?
2. What are my ideal or intended outcomes for drafting this
document?
A good strategy is to try to answer these questions in an initial
brainstorming session. Open a word processing document on
your
computer, and take five minutes to generate a list of answers for
both questions. At this point, don’t worry about editing yourself

for “bad” responses. Instead, keep your fingers moving until
your
timer expires or you feel like you’ve truly exhausted your
possible
responses.
Most likely, your brainstorming will produce far more content
than you can include in one or two sentences. At this point,
that’s
okay, and actually ideal—what you cut or eliminate from your
core
statement will likely become useful later in the process when
you
identify your secondary purposes and begin to determine your
message’s organizing principle.
Let’s take a look at a sample brainstorm. Here’s the scenario:
Carl Salazar, the Vice President of Marketing for Great Lakes
Health, leads a strategic planning task force that recently met
to discuss his company’s future. During the meeting, the task
force updated the company’s Mission and Vision statements,
developed new Goals and Values statements, and made major
rebranding recommendations involving updating the

company’s signage and logo and changing the common usage
of the company’s name. The task force now needs input on
Brainstorm, Narrow, and Articulate
Your Working Purpose
these actions from the Board of Directors, and Carl is tasked
with emailing this audience. With so much information to
communicate—and so many different readers to persuade,
including some who are likely to be resistant to any
change—Carl must develop a purpose statement that will
focus and organize his message. He begins by brainstorming
all of the possible purposes for his message.
This brainstorm produced good content. Now Carl’s job is to
mine
this list for his core purpose and outcome(s), which will allow
him to
develop a working purpose statement that he can test and revise.
Narrow
As you review your brainstorm, separate your purposes and
outcomes into four lists:

1. Primary purpose (the most essential reason for
writing)
2. Primary outcome (the highest-priority outcome)
3. Secondary purposes
44 | Brainstorm, Narrow, and Articulate Your Working Purpose
Statement
4. Secondary outcomes (may be supportive, long-term,
or contextual)
As you categorize your purposes and outcomes, you are
encouraged to combine or cut your content as needed to improve
clarity and focus.
Now, let’s return to Carl’s brainstorm. He has identified his
primary purpose and primary outcome as well his secondary
purposes and secondary outcomes.
Articulate Your Working Purpose Statement
When you have determined your primary purpose and primary
outcome, you are ready to articulate a working purpose
statement.
A working purpose statement will allow you to state your
purpose
while still revising for audience and situation.

At this point, you may want to use this straightforward
template:
The core purpose of my document is
____________________. When successful, this
Brainstorm, Narrow, and Articulate Your Working Purpose
Statement | 45
message will lead my reader(s) to
____________________.
In Carl’s example, his working purpose statement might look
like
this:
The core purpose of my document is to update the Board
of Directors about the recent work of the Strategic Planning
Taskforce and request input about the strategic plan and
proposed rebranding of the signage / logo and the company
name. When successful, this message will lead my readers to
provide feedback on the recommendations by the upcoming
deadline.

46 | Brainstorm, Narrow, and Articulate Your Working Purpose
Statement
9. Organize with Purpose
Once you have established your purpose statement, you now can
use this statement to organize the rest of your document. Often,
your purpose statement will appear near the beginning of a
document (or in a prominent place of emphasis), and the
remainder
of your content will serve to support or explain the “why,”
“how,” and
“when” of your purpose. Your document’s subheadings,
governing
questions, and topic sentences will directly connect back to
your
core purpose.
In order to demonstrate how a purpose statement can organize
and lend clarity to your message, let’s return to Carl’s example.
In
this first document, imagine if Carl had just written his message
without developing a purpose statement. His document might
look
like this:

Organize with Purpose | 47
The basic content here is good—Carl summarizes the
accomplishments of the recent meeting, informs his readers
about
proposed company changes, and provides a good level of detail.
However, Carl is ultimately seeking action. With this email,
he’s
really asking for the Board of Directors to provide input on the
strategic plan, the updated logo, and the rebranding of the
company’s name. Yet, this request is buried in the email and
does
not appear until the fourth paragraph. That’s too late.
Now let’s look at a revised version of this message. Here you
will
48 | Organize with Purpose
notice that Carl presents his purpose statement (Reason +
Intended
Outcome, Revised for Audience and Context) in the very first
sentence of the email. He uses questions throughout the email to

direct the readers towards his desired action, and he uses
spacing
and bullet points to emphasize his main points and make the
document more reader-friendly. Carl concludes by reiterating
his
request at the end of the email. Overall, this is a much more
effective
document.
Organize with Purpose | 49
50 | Organize with Purpose
10. Revise for Audience and
Context
Before you can proceed to plan your document around your
purpose statement, you must take into account your audience’s
values, wants, and needs and the context in which your reader
will
encounter your purpose statement. To this point, developing
your
purpose statement has been about your needs—understanding
your

reasons for writing and what you need to accomplish. In order
to
have the best chance to persuade, you must shift focus and
consider
your reader’s needs by asking the following:
Is your purpose statement as audience-centered as
possible?
Is your purpose statement as clear and direct as
possible?
How is your audience likely to respond to your purpose
statement? If negatively, should you delay introducing
bad news?
Do you give clear direction about how the audience
should think or act?
When, where, and how is your audience likely to read
your message?
Now, let’s revisit Carl’s working purpose statement for
audience
and context. Here is his original working purpose statement:
The core purpose of my document is to update the Board
of Directors about the recent work of the Strategic Planning

Taskforce and request input about the strategic plan and
proposed rebranding of the signage/logo and the company
name. When successful, this message will lead my readers to
provide feedback on the recommendations by the upcoming
deadline.
Revise for Audience and Context | 51
Understandably, Carl’s purpose statement is still writer
centered.
Let’s refine his statement by asking the aforementioned
questions:
Is his purpose statement as audience-centered as
possible?
No. Carl should appeal to his readers’ expertise by
acknowledging how important their feedback will be. He
can achieve a “you-focus” directly addressing his readers
with “you” pronouns.
Is his purpose statement as clear and direct as
possible?
No. Carl’s purpose statement is still formulaic (“The
core purpose of my document”) and wordy. He should

focus on style and conciseness in order to condense his
writing and achieve greater “per word” impact.
How is his audience likely to respond to his purpose
statement? If negatively, should he delay introducing
bad news?
Since Carl’s task force is suggesting major changes to
his company’s strategic planning and branding, he should
anticipate resistance from some of his readers.
Therefore, Carl should delay identifying specific
changes—especially concerning adjustments to the
signage/logo and company name—until he has the
opportunity to contextualize these recommendations
later in the message.
Does he give clear direction about how the audience
should think or act?
Carl can be more direct by using a “you” address, which
will also make his request more personal and immediate.
When, where, and how is his audience likely to read
his message?
Carl will send his message by email to make it easier

for his readers to provide timely feedback (his primary
outcome). However, Carl understands that his readers
may read this message in any number of locations—e.g.
52 | Revise for Audience and Context
the office, the car—and at any time. Therefore, Carl will
re emphasize his purpose throughout his email with
headings and bullet points, which will allow his readers
to understand his core reason for writing even if they are
scanning the message on their phone.
Here is Carl’s revised purpose statement:
I would like to update you on the Great Lakes Health Strategic
Planning Taskforce’s recent work, including major
recommendations for our company’s strategic planning and
rebranding efforts. Your input is critical, and I am requesting
your time-sensitive feedback on these changes.
In the following “Organize with Purpose” section of this
chapter,
we will consider Carl’s purpose statement-driven message in its
entirety.

Once you have made necessary adjustments for audience and
context, you should have a strong purpose statement that will
direct
your reader throughout your document. However, if your
purpose
statement is not as strong as you’d like, you should return to
these
questions as many times as you need to in order produce the
most
clear, accurate, and compact statement possible.
Revise for Audience and Context | 53
11. Develop a Strong Purpose
Statement
Developing a strong purpose statement is a process that
involves
first determining your own motives and objectives and then
adapting these to your reader and the situation. Another way to
state this would be:
Purpose = Your Reason + Intended Outcome(s), Revised for
Audience and
Context
Therefore, before you can begin to figure out how to best

persuade
your audience, you must first have a clear idea about the goals
you want to accomplish. In order to get this process started, you
will identify and hone your idea through three initial steps:
brainstorming, narrowing, and articulating a working purpose
statement.
54 | Develop a Strong Purpose
Statement
12. Focus Your Message with a
Purpose Statement
Determining your purpose, however, can be deceptively
challenging. Most likely, you’re beginning with a general idea
about
why you need to write. But how do you shape this initial
thought
or impulse into the kind of succinct, audience-centered, and
persuasive statement that can drive and sustain a document?
Fortunately, there’s a process for getting to this point.
In the chapter that follows, you will learn how to identify and
refine your purpose through the development of a purpose

statement.
A purpose statement is a declarative sentence (or group of
sentences) that clearly, accurately, and compactly expresses
your
primary reason for writing. When your reader encounters your
purpose statement, which often appears near the beginning of a
document, he or she will know your precise intentions. Purpose
statements are necessary for shorter and longer documents, and
they are useful across various channels of business writing.
Sample Purpose Statements in Routine Documents
Here are some routine document purpose statements from
writers
introducing themselves to new work teams:
I want to tell you more about myself and the skills I will
contribute to our work team.
My internship experience transformed my perspective on
teamwork; I’d like to highlight the impact these insights could
have on our team.
Before we start working together, I would like to tell you a
Focus Your Message with a Purpose
Statement | 55

little about my relevant business communication experiences
that I believe will add value to our team.
Since we will likely spend months on this project together, I
want to share how I plan to contribute to the success and well-
being of our team.
Because we’re going to spend a lot of time together on our
fast-paced project, I want to send you information about my
previous writing and team experience to help you get to know
me and better utilize my skill set.
Here are a few routine document purpose statements from
writers requesting informational interviews:
I am reaching out to you because I would appreciate a brief
conversation with you about your career in accounting.
I wish to talk to you more about real estate and the impact it
has had in your life.
I’d like to schedule a conversation to get to know you and
receive your feedback and advice as I prepare for a career on

Wall Street.
I look forward to scheduling a 15-minute phone call to
discuss how your college experiences led you to your career as
a strategic consultant.
I would appreciate twenty minutes of your time to discuss
the most critical experiences that led to your current role as
project manager, if you’re available.
I’m interested to learn what led you to choose non profit
consulting and hear about your responsibilities as Managing
Director at Excel Group.
56 | Focus Your Message with a Purpose Statement
13. Know the Benefits of
Identifying Your Purpose
Although your purpose is the most essential component of your
document—how can you proceed if you don’t know exactly why
you’re writing in the first place?—it is astounding how little
forethought some writers put into defining their objective.
Some move forward with only a vague idea of what they want

to accomplish, or with the attitude of “I’ll figure it out as I go.”
Others may begin with a pretty strong sense of what they want
to accomplish, but never clearly articulate their purpose, which
overlooks the fact that other critical stakeholders—namely,
their
team members and their intended audience—may not have the
same
understanding about the reasons and goals behind a given
message.
Therefore, when you consciously identify, revise, and then state
your purpose, you bring substantial value to many parties,
including yourself, your team, and your reader.
When your purpose is clear, you benefit by shaping your
message’s focus and direction. Your purpose will dictate every
subsequent aspect of your message, including:
• Audience: Your purpose will give you direction about the
reader to whom your message should be addressed.
• Channel: Your purpose will determine which channel (email,
letter, memo, tweet, ) will best allow you to reach and persuade
your intended audience.
• Approach: Your purpose (i.e., delivering good news or bad
news) will dictate whether you should use a direct or indirect

approach.
• Organization: Your purpose will drive your organization and
structure—i.e., how, where, and when you introduce your
content. Your purpose (and secondary purposes) will also help
Know the Benefits of Identifying Your
Purpose | 57
you devise headings and topic sentences.
• Content: Your purpose will determine the
information—including claims and evidence—to include in the
body of your document.
• Tone and Language: Your purpose will give you a sense of
what
kind of tone and language will be appropriate for your
message.
• Design: Your purpose will inform your visual design, even
determining such aspects as color schemes, fonts, and the use
of images and data.
• Timing: Your purpose will determine when you send your
message and if you need to send a second message or
communicate through a second (or third) channel.

As a result, writing your message will be far more efficient,
saving
you and your organization time and money. Internally, this
clarity of
purpose will also benefit your team members. If anyone ever
feels
confused about the goal or objective of your project, they need
only
consult your purpose statement in order to realign the writing
and
argument with the overall goal of the document.
As for the reader, they will benefit by having a clear sense of
what you are proposing. This clarity eliminates the chance for
misinterpretation and gives the reader the best opportunity to
decide how to act. Your clarity of purpose will also generate
goodwill. Your reader will appreciate your directness (which
respects their time) and your level of preparation, which will
enhance your credibility and professionalism. Moreover, with
this
clarity of purpose, your document can be circulated among
secondary audiences (e.g., your primary reader’s supervisors or
financial partners) without additional explanation.
58 | Know the Benefits of Identifying Your Purpose

14. Determine Your Purpose
In strategic business writing, we always have a purpose or
reason
for writing. Whether your document will have large-scale,
global
implications—to propose a merger between two multinational
corporations—or will be more everyday in nature—to ask your
employees to restart their computers after a recent overnight
software update—you can begin to draft an effective message
only
after you first understand why you need to write and what
you’re
attempting to accomplish. After all, if you’re not clear about
your
purpose, then there’s little chance that your audience will
understand it.
Once you’ve determined your purpose, which involves a
complex
process of honing your objective to its core and taking into
account your audience’s needs, you can begin to write with
direction and clarity. You will then have the best chance to
persuade
your reader to think or act in the way that you desire.

Determine Your Purpose | 59
15. Understand Strategic
Business Writing
Although you’ve likely been a writer for most of your academic
life,
you probably have little or no experience with business writing.
Business writing actually differs in key ways from expository
writing. Even though you may have succeeded as a writer in
your
high school English class or as a journalist for the school
newspaper,
writing for the corporate world is a unique field of
communication
with its own strategies, approaches, and demands. Therefore, as
you
begin, you need to understand exactly what business writing
entails
and how it differs from the various types of writing that you’ve
experienced so far.
There are two key principles of business writing:
1. All business communication is designed to persuade.

Whether you’re selling something, informing someone, or
attempting to generate goodwill, you’re communicating to get
something that you need or want. In many instances, you’re
requesting action.
2. The best business communication is audience-centered.
Before you can write, you must know who your audience is and
what they value, want, need, and expect.
Although some forms of writing—essays, poems, blog
entries—involve self-expression, business writing is rarely, if
ever,
about just you. Instead, business communication is relationship-
based. You are attempting to connect with a specific person to
achieve a specific outcome, and your task is to determine the
best
way to persuade readers to think or act as you wish while
helping
them achieve their own goals, too. Although this kind of writing
may feel much different from what you’re used to, you will
likely
come to appreciate its directness and clarity. Your new ability
to
write strategically for a business audience will bring value to
your

60 | Understand Strategic Business
Writing
company and will be a major advantage to you as you start your
career. And best of all, Strategic Business Writing follows a
process
that’s easy to learn and to begin to use.
Understand Strategic Business Writing | 61
PART IV
AUDIENCE
In strategic business writing, your audience impacts every
decision you will make. Each message you write must be
tailored
to a specific audience, and in order to persuade, you must know
precisely who you want to influence and what they value and
need.
After all, would you be inclined to respond to an email or letter
that
didn’t mention your name or address your specific needs?
Thinking about the reader—your customer, your client, your

supervisor, your subordinates—can be difficult because we are
all,
at least sometimes, self-centered. When you enter a store, for
example, you want that business to have what you want, when
you want it, where you can easily find it. . . at a competitive
price!
You want knowledgeable, polite salespeople, clean aisles, and a
good
selection. So, as a writer planning a business document, you
Audience | 63
must ask yourself what your reader wants, needs, and expects so
you can appeal to your intended audience.
Once you’ve determined your purpose, ask yourself:
1. Who specifically can or will act on my request? Who can
make the decisions leading to the outcomes I desire? Who will
be most receptive to my idea or plan?
2. What do I already know about this reader? What
relationship do we have? What more do I need to know about
this reader?

3. How can I appeal to this reader’s values, wants, and needs?
In the following chapter, you will learn how to identify and
research your primary, secondary, and unintended audiences.
Once you know who your specific audiences are, you will be
able to
build a relationship with your readers by appealing to their
values,
wants, needs, and expectations with a “you-focused” strategy
and
strategic pronoun choices. After this thorough preparation, you
will
be ready to organize and write an audience-centered message
that
persuades your reader to think or act as you want, which is the
goal
of all strategic business writing.
Learning Objectives
• Learn to identify your specific primary, secondary,
and unintended audiences
• Learn to research your reader’s background to
understand their values, needs, and expectations
• Learn to build a relationship with and persuade your
reader by determining your smallest shared
community

• Learn to shift from a writer-focused “I” perspective to
a reader-focused “you” perspective
64 | Audience
• Learn to use language (sentence structure and
pronouns) to develop a relationship with your reader
and appeal to them
• Learn to write an audience-centered message
through the example of an informational interview
Audience | 65
16. Identify Your Reader
Your most immediate intended reader is called your primary
audience, and in many instances, the name of this person (or
people) will be readily apparent. Perhaps you’re writing to a
client
you’ve worked with for many years or you’re reaching out to a
product representative whom you’ve just met at an industry
convention. Excellent—you now have the foundational

information
necessary to begin to plan an effective audience-centered
message.
However, what if you’re not so sure about the specific name of
your primary audience? Maybe you know only the general
position
within a company of the person you wish to contact. Or perhaps
you’ve been tasked with messaging a large or nebulous
audience.
Whenever possible, avoid writing a broad or generic message
(e.g.,
“To Whom This May Concern,” “Dear CEO,” “Dear Applicant,”
“Dear
Everyone,”). At best, this kind of message can be easily
misdirected.
At worst, it will be immediately deleted.
Find a Specific Name for a Position
If you know where (the company) to write but not who (the
specific
person) to address, invest the extra energy to locate your
intended
reader’s specific name. With today’s technology, finding your
contact’s information may simply be a matter of:

• Searching keywords (“EY,” “Senior Tax Manager,”
“Chicago”) in
your favorite search engine. Most likely a profile will quickly
appear
• Calling the company’s headquarters to ask for the name of
your preferred recipient (Be prepared, however, to possibly
end up on the phone with this person!)
• Asking those within your own organization or network if they
Identify Your Reader | 67
know the name of the appropriate contact at the company
Whichever route you take, your additional effort will be
worthwhile.
When you directly address a reader by name, you create a
personalized interaction that demonstrates investment, initiative
(especially when your use of the contact’s name was
unexpected),
and attention to detail. As a result, you significantly increase
your
chances for a response. Also, once your have a specific name,
your

job as a writer becomes far easier because you now have a
particular
person to tailor your message to and a direction for further
research.
Be Specific with a Group
If you have the challenge of communicating with a large,
possibly
unfamiliar group of people (a common scenario, especially in
crisis
contexts), avoid sending a single “mass” email or memo,
whenever
possible. If you have the time and the resources, write multiple
messages, each one tailored to smaller constituent groups (if not
individuals). Include relevant details to make your message feel
personalized or community oriented, and be sure to include your
contact information (or the contact information of an actual
person,
not an “[email protected]” address) in order for your reader to
be
able to respond.
68 | Identify Your Reader

17. Research Your Reader
You have already identified your primary audience, so you’re
off to
a good start. However, what else do you know about this
person? In
order to appeal to your reader, you need to know their
perspective
and what they need. Yet, if this person is new to you, where do
you
begin to find this critical background information?
You could start by searching for this person’s professional
internet presence. Often, your intended audience will have a
corporate profile, either on a company website or on a platform
such as LinkedIn.
This information will provide valuable clues about this person’s
identity and perspective. For instance, you may learn how long
this
person has worked for their company and their level of
experience.
You may gain insight into their fields of expertise and company
responsibilities. You may also be introduced to the kinds of
projects

they worked on in the past and their current projects. Each of
these details will give you a clearer understanding of who
you’re
communicating with and a better chance to speak to their needs
and values.
As you research your audience, you should ask:
Where is this person from?
What is their title, job description, and area(s) of expertise?
How long has this person worked at their company?
Where was he or she educated? (Possibly your university?)
What projects has this person worked on? What is their
current project?
Does this person seem to prominently identify their
national, religious, political, family, sexual, or cultural
background? If so, this information will give you insight into
which aspects of your message you may want to emphasize or
be sensitive towards.
How does this person seem to communicate? Do they

Research Your Reader | 69
provide only their email address or list all of their social media
usernames? (And if so, you should definitely examine these
profiles!).
Before proceeding, you should run an internet search on your
audience’s organization. Basic details will be helpful to know—
What
size is this company? Is this company located in the Midwest?—
and
more importantly, you will want to know about any recent
developments, positive or negative, that might influence how
your
reader will likely react.
70 | Research Your Reader
18. Build a Relationship with
Your Reader
Now that you have a good sense of your primary audience and
their
values, next you can determine how you can use this
background

information to appeal to and ultimately persuade your reader.
Strategic business writing is relationship based: when you
develop a meaningful, personal connection with your audience,
you
greatly enhance the chances that your reader will carefully
consider
your content and act in the manner in which you desire.
Conversely,
if you come off as a stranger, as self-absorbed, or as someone
who
put little time or effort into understanding your reader’s
situation,
your chances for a successful outcome are significantly
diminished.
So how do you forge a sincere working relationship with your
reader? Begin by determining your smallest shared community.
Then focus on the reader’s needs, wants, and benefits.
Determine Your Smallest Shared Community
Ask yourself what you know about your reader: Have you met
before? Are you already friends? Your smallest shared
community
will be your own relationship.

In other instances, especially when you’ve never met your
reader,
your shared community might still seem rather broad. Perhaps
you
both work in the same industry. Maybe you belong to the same
professional organization. Or perhaps you live in the same
region or
state.
In other situations, your shared community will be much more
narrow or local. You may work at the same company. You might
have attended the same university or even have been in the same
business fraternity. You may have a shared experience—e.g.,
you’re
both from Shanghai and are now working as accountants in the
United States. You may share a personal passion—you might
both be
runners. Or in many cases, you may know the same person.
Build a Relationship with Your
Reader | 71
Whatever your smallest shared community, this connection will

offer you a starting point to introduce yourself, capture your
reader’s attention, make your message personal and engaging,
and
ultimately, present your request or proposal.
Focus on the Reader’s Needs, Wants, and Benefits
Because human nature leads us to think about our own needs
and
wants, focusing on the reader’s needs, wants, and benefits
instead
of our own can be challenging. Your reader will ask “What’s In
It
For Me?” (WIIFM), which means you as the writer need to ask
about
your reader “What’s In It For You?” (WIIFY). As you plan,
write, and
revise your documents, use a “you-focused” strategy to address
your reader’s needs.
Your readers want to know what they will receive, what they
should do, and why they should do it. In most cases, telling the
readers what their emotions should be or sharing your own
emotions does not achieve a reader-focused document. Using
pronouns referring to your reader (you, your, yours) rather than

pronouns referring to you the writer (I, me, my) can help you
achieve the “you viewpoint.” More important than counting the
number of first- and second-person pronouns used, however, is
analyzing how your readers will react. Will your readers think
that
you care about them and their wants and needs? That’s your
primary goal.
Think of WIIFY (What’s in it for you) and WIIFM (What’s in it
for
me) as two sides of the same coin. As you plan and write
documents,
you have to answer the question “What’s in it for you,” your
reader,
because your reader will certainly be asking “what’s in it for
me.”
• We are giving you a $10 discount.
• You will receive a $10 discount.
Changing from writer focus (we are giving) to reader focus (you
will
receive) may seem like a minor change of words, but the impact
makes a big difference in the reader’s reaction.

72 | Build a Relationship with Your Reader
WIIFY:
1. Focuses on the reader’s actions and benefits, not the writer’s
We have expanded our inventory to give you a larger selection
of flooring options. (writer focus)
You may now choose from a larger selection of flooring
options. (reader focus)
2. Emphasizes what the reader wants to know rather than what
you, the writer/company, think is important
We shipped your flooring order today. (writer focus)
You may track your flooring order with #25601. Your order
will arrive by March 14. (reader focus)
3. Avoids talking about the writer’s feelings, unless the reader
wants to know them
We are pleased to announce our new company exercise
facility. (writer focus)
You now have the opportunity to exercise before work, at
lunch, or after work—at the new completely equipped company

exercise facility. (reader focus)
4. Avoids telling the readers the emotions they should feel
You will be happy to learn that all your receipts have been
filed, and we will reimburse you by September 14. (writer
focus)
You will receive your reimbursement by September 14. All your
receipts have been filed. (reader focus)
5. Highlights the positive result if the reader takes a requested
action
Company policy requires that to receive credit you must send
a copy of the signed delivery receipt for all returned
merchandise. (writer focus)
To receive credit for the merchandise you returned, please
send a copy of the signed delivery receipt. (reader focus)
6. Stresses “you” more often than “I/we”
I want you to know that we appreciate your business, so we
are sending you a coupon worth $10. (writer focus)
Enclosed is a $10 coupon to show you that your business is
appreciated! (reader focus)
Build a Relationship with Your Reader | 73

Focusing on your reader’s needs and values can help achieve a
stronger working relationship and a more positive impression of
you
and your company.
EXAMPLE
When your subordinate wants to know if she can attend
a seminar and wants your company to pay for it, you will
want to know what the company gets from it—possibly a more
knowledgeable, better-trained employee, an employee who
contributes positively to the company’s morale, and an
employee willing to add value to the company.
If your employee writes, “Please approve my request to allow
me to attend the upcoming conference ‘The Impact of Office
Politics’ in Boston and have all expenses paid by the company.
I
will learn a lot,” no benefit to the company is offered, and you
may deny the request.
On the other hand, this version of the request includes the
reader’s benefits and may be approved:

Please approve my request to allow me to attend the upcoming
conference in Boston with expenses paid by the company. “The
Impact of Office Politics” conference is being held in Boston
on March 18-20. The agenda includes sessions on conflict
resolution, time management, and team dynamics (complete
agenda attached). At our last department meeting, these topics
were discussed as areas that our company needs to improve.
I could conduct small group discussions with our staff teams
sharing what I learned at the conference when I return.
Now you know the possible benefits your company could
receive
from paying the expenses for one person to attend the
conference.
This employee could disseminate the information to help others
in the company with issues already identified as areas needing
improvement. Including this reader benefit will increase the
chance
of your approving your subordinate’s request.
74 | Build a Relationship with Your Reader

19. Analyze Pronoun Choice
and Overall Focus
Using second-person pronouns can help you focus on your
reader.
However, achieving a complete reader focus is not as simple as
counting the number of writer pronouns (I, me, my) and the
number
of reader pronouns (you, your, yours). Avoid thinking that if
more
reader pronouns are used that you have automatically achieved
reader focus. Rather, read aloud and listen—who receives more
emphasis? It should be your reader.
In this example, nine “we/our,” writer-focused words, and nine
“you/your,” reader-focused words are used.
We received your message, and we are glad to inform you that
we
considered your request. Therefore, we are enclosing a list of
the
benefits to which you are entitled. We hope you will sign up for
numbers 2, 7, and 9. We know that you will want to have access
to
our company-provided educational benefits and to our special
reward program for perfect attendance. We are available to
answer
any of your questions. You may call your manager or HR

representative for answers.
However, the message’s focus remains on the writer.
The score in the revised example is four reader-focused words,
and
one writer-focused word but more important than counting
words
is that the reader’s needs and actions are emphasized.
Analyze Pronoun Choice and Overall
Focus | 75
You are entitled to three of the benefits you asked about: 2, 7,
and 9.
Those items include company-provided educational benefits and
a
special reward program for perfect attendance. You may sign up
for
the benefits until June 1. Let us know if you need more
information.
A reader-focused strategy will help your readers feel as though
you
understand and care about their needs.
76 | Analyze Pronoun Choice and Overall Focus

20. Consider Secondary and
Unintended Audiences
As you research and build a relationship with your primary
audience, you should be aware of the multitude of other
audiences
who may encounter your document.
In many instances, your secondary audience(s), or your
nonprimary readership, will be predictable. Common secondary
audiences include your colleagues, management (both at your
company and at the recipient’s), shareholders, lenders, lawyers,
auditors, and the media. Often, you will actually grant these
readers
access to your documents as part of your responsibility to keep
these interested parties informed. Over time, your secondary
audiences may change or you may gain additional secondary
readers (e.g., new management following a merger or a new set
of
investors).
If you identify potential concerns your secondary audiences are
likely to have with your message, you have two courses of
action.

You may find it necessary to go back and revise your original
message to account for these concerns. Or you may decide to
leave
your original message “as is,” but make sure that you provide
your
secondary readers with additional context for understanding
your
message’s content. For example, you might include a letter of
explanation or additional language to accompany your message.
You should also be aware of unintended audience(s) who may
one
day become privy to your message. In today’s digital age,
anyone can
easily share “private” content with hundreds of millions of
people,
and once information is posted on the internet, it becomes
universal
and enduring. Therefore, before you send your message, ask
yourself:
Is anything in this document so sensitive that it would
Consider Secondary and Unintended
Audiences | 77

embarrass or cause irreparable damage to my company or
others if it became public?
Is there any information in this message that would be
catastrophic if it landed in the hands of my company’s
competition?
Could this message potentially harm or demoralize our
company’s workforce if its contents became public
knowledge?
If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, you might
choose
to rethink your channel and perhaps select a method of delivery
(such as a certified letter or phone call) that would be more
secure
and less likely to be shared with others. In instances when you
are
communicating with the media, you may want to request that
your
conversation remain “off the record.”
78 | Consider Secondary and Unintended Audiences

21. Write Your
Audience-Centered Message
The payoff for your thorough preparation is that when you begin
to write, you now have the necessary information to devise an
audience-centered framework for your message. As you will see
below in the sample structure for an informational interview
request, an effective audience-centered message will engage
your
intended reader and only include content relevant to your
reader’s
values, needs, and interests.
Audience-Centered Scenario: Requesting an Informational
Interview
As you begin your business career, you will need to network
and
use your strategic business writing skills to connect with people
in positions to help you. An informational interview can provide
an
important opportunity to meet someone who is accomplished in
your desired field or who works at a company where you would
like to work someday. However, requesting an interview can
often

require an unsolicited correspondence in which the reader has
no
idea who you are. Therefore, to have any chance of receiving a
positive response, you will need to plan and draft the most
audience-centered, persuasive email possible. Your request must
establish a relationship with your reader and appeal to their
needs,
thereby motivating them to want to speak with you.
Let’s first look at the audience-centered structure for an
interview request, and then we’ll consider some examples.
Subject Line: Inspire your audience to actually open the
email by including specific details that pertain to your shared
community and illuminate your reason for writing. Avoid
writing a subject line that is too brief and generic (“Interview”),
too wordy (“I’d like a chance to talk with you sometime this
month about your career”), or too creative, confusing, or
Write Your Audience-Centered
Message | 79
literary (“From College Student to Career: The Best

Trajectory”).
Opening: Immediately engage your reader by using their
first name (or last name with Mr. or Ms.) in your greeting.
In the first lines of your message, establish rapport (“make
friends”) by emphasizing what you and your reader share in
common. If appropriate, identify any shared acquaintances,
especially if they have put you in contact with the reader.
Mention how you became aware of this person and
demonstrate that you are familiar with their background or
accomplishments. Your first paragraph should explicitly state
your purpose: a direct request for a conversation. When you
make this request, be clear about your purpose, and be
respectful of the interviewee’s time. When possible, articulate
what the reader stands to gain from this interaction.
As you write, include only information about yourself that is
necessary and relevant to the reader. Your language and tone
should reflect what you’ve learned about the reader during
your research.

Body: Make your body paragraphs audience-centered by
providing your reader with the primary reason for the
conversation and a preview of a few open questions you plan
to ask during your interview. This “agenda” will give your
recipient time to formulate detailed and helpful responses.
However, do not overwhelm your reader with too many
questions or insult your reader with questions that have
obvious answers. Respect your reader’s time by keeping your
writing concise, your body paragraphs brief, and your
questions interesting.
Closing: Provide your reader with logistical information for
the potential interview, while again being respectful of their
schedule. Also include your contact information unless it is
included in your signature block. Express enthusiasm and
gratitude, and conclude with a cordial and professional closing
(“Sincerely,” “Thank you,”) that includes the name you would
80 | Write Your Audience-Centered Message
like your reader to call you. End your message with a

persuasive signature block including your full name, your best
credibility, and your contact information (your cell number
and email address and possibly your LinkedIn profile link).
Write Your Audience-Centered Message | 81
Now consider the scenario where Todd researches Ms.
Pineda and learns she receives many similar requests and is
known for impatience with long messages. Todd might send
her this more brief yet still complete email:
82 | Write Your Audience-Centered Message
Write Your Audience-Centered Message | 83
PART V
TONE
A strategic business writer understands that effectively planning
a document means considering the audience, the purpose, the

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