CHAPTER 3
PLANNING BUSINESS MESSAGES
True/False
1. _____Analyzing the situation of your message,
gathering necessary information, and selecting
the right medium take place in the “writing”
stage of the writing process.
2. _____ Gathering information through formal or
informal methods is usually done in the writing
stage.
3. _____ Writing is a simple two-step process.
4. _____ The second stage of the writing process
is adapting to your audience and composing
the first draft.
CHAPTER 3
PLANNING BUSINESS MESSAGES
True/False
_____Analyzing the situation of your message, gathering necessary information, and
selecting the right medium take place in the “writing” stage of the writing process.
ANSWER: False. These activities take place in the planning stage.
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 48; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication
_____ Gathering information through formal or informal methods is usually done in the
writing stage.
ANSWER: False. Gathering information takes place in the planning stage.
DIFFICULTY: difficult; PAGE: 48; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication
_____ Writing is a simple two-step process.
ANSWER: False. Writing is a three-step process.
DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGES: 48-49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication
_____ The second stage of the writing process is adapting to your audience and
composing the first draft.
ANSWER: True. The second stage of the writing process involves adapting to your
audience and composing the first draft.
DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGE: 49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept; AACSB: Communication
Fill-in the Blank
Defining the purpose of your message,
gathering necessary information, and
tailoring your message to the needs and
expectations of your audience takes place
in the ______ stage of the writing process.
The reason for writing a message is its ______.
You must tailor your message to the needs and
expectations of your ______.
Fill-in the Blank
Defining the purpose of your message, gathering necessary
information, and tailoring your message to the needs and
expectations of your audience takes place in the ______
stage of the writing process.
ANSWER: Planning
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 48; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept;
AACSB: Communication
The reason for writing a message is its ______.
ANSWER: Purpose
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 50; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept;
AACSB: Communication
You must tailor your message to the needs and expectations of
your ______.
ANSWER: Audience
DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGE: 50; OBJECTIVE: 3; TYPE: concept;
AACSB: Communication
Short Answer/Essay
1. Describe the three-step writing process.
2. Briefly explain the activities involved in
the planning step of the writing process.
Short Answer/Essay
Describe the three-step writing process.
ANSWER: The three-step writing process includes planning,
writing, and completing business messages. Planning
includes analyzing the situation, gathering information,
selecting the right medium, and organizing the information.
Writing the message includes adapting to your audience and
composing your first draft. Completing the business
message involves revising, producing, and proofreading.
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGES: 48-49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE:
concept; AACSB: Communication
Briefly explain the activities involved in the planning step of the writing
process.
ANSWER: The planning step involves analyzing the situation,
gathering information, selecting the right medium for the
message, and organizing the information.
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGES: 48-49; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE:
concept; AACSB: Communication
CHAPTER 4
WRITING BUSINESS MESSAGES
True/False
_____ Using the “you” attitude means
putting the sender’s priorities first.
_____ To emphasize the positive side of
your messages, focus on the solution
rather than the problem.
_____ If you must refer to someone’s
disability, avoid terms like handicapped;
put the person first and the disability
second.
CHAPTER 4
WRITING BUSINESS MESSAGES
True/False
_____ Using the “you” attitude means putting the sender’s priorities first.
ANSWER: False. “You” attitude emphasizes an audience-centered
approach.
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 69; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication
_____ To emphasize the positive side of your messages, focus on the solution
rather than the problem.
ANSWER: True. Emphasize the positive side of your messages.
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 70; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication
_____ If you must refer to someone’s disability, avoid terms like handicapped;
put the person first and the disability second.
ANSWER: True. Avoid mentioning a disability unless it is directly
relevant to the subject.
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 72; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: application;
AACSB: Communication
Fill-in the blank
Speaking and writing in terms of your audience’s
wishes, interests, hopes and preferences is
known as adopting the “______” attitude.
Language that is ______ avoids unethical,
embarrassing blunders in language related to
gender, race, ethnicity, age, and disability.
“For an older person, he knows a lot about
computers” is an example of ______ bias.
Fill-in the blank
Speaking and writing in terms of your audience’s wishes, interests,
hopes and preferences is known as adopting the “______”
attitude.
ANSWER: You
DIFFICULTY: easy; PAGE: 69; OBJECTIVE: 2; TYPE: concept;
AACSB: Communication
Language that is ______ avoids unethical, embarrassing blunders in
language related to gender, race, ethnicity, age, and disability.
ANSWER: Bias-free
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 72; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: concept;
AACSB: Communication
“For an older person, he knows a lot about computers” is an example of
______ bias.
ANSWER: Age
DIFFICULTY: moderate; PAGE: 72; OBJECTIVE: 1; TYPE: application;
AACSB: Communication, Reflective Thinking
Short Answer/Essay
List four methods of using transitions to help
make paragraphs coherent.
Briefly describe at least four word
processing capabilities that can help
business writers shape their writing.
List four methods of using transitions to help make paragraphs coherent.
ANSWER: 1) Use connecting words—and, but, or, nevertheless, however, in
addition.
2) Echo a word or phrase from a previous paragraph or sentence. 3) Use a
pronoun that refers to a noun previously used. 4) Use words that are
frequently paired.
DIFFICULTY: difficult; PAGE: 82; OBJECTIVE: 7; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication
Briefly describe at least four word processing capabilities that can help business writers
shape their writing.
ANSWER: Most word processing programs contain features that automatically
handle the “housekeeping chores” often associated with business
document preparation. These include (1) style sheets—master lists of
predefined styles for headlines, paragraph texts, and so on; (2) templates,
which provide standardization in terms of page design, available fonts, and
other features; (3) autocompletion, which inserts a ready-made block of text
when you type the first few characters; (4) autocorrection, which instantly
corrects spelling and typing errors and converts texts to symbols; (5) file
merge and mail merge—features that make it easy to combine files; (6)
endnotes, footnotes, indexes, and tables of contents; (7) wizards, which
guide you through the process of creating letters, résumés, and other
common documents.
DIFFICULTY: difficult; PAGE: 84; OBJECTIVE: 8; TYPE: concept; AACSB:
Communication, Technology