TOBACCO AND DEATH

When is a Cause Not a Cause?
-The tragedy lies in the entirely preventable nature of these deaths and in the strained resistance of the tobacco industry to acknowledging its ethical responsibilities.
-The industry knew full well, these authorities contend, that they were causing serious illness and death on a tremendous scale
-It is clear that steady smokers will in general lose from ten to twenty years from their nonsmoking life expectancy, regardless of the specific disorder from which they die
-The first reason concerns probabilities and populations rather than certanties and individual persons
-With statistical causes, the connection between cause and effect is often not immediately seen as it does in the case of smoking and cancer
-In the case of the Challenger, on the other hand, the connection between cause and effect was close in time
-The tobacco industry has engaged in an aggressive program of misinformation, obfuscation, denial, and opposition that has clouded the connection between smoking and disease in minds of the public
-For over fifty years the statistical connection between smoking and cancer and other diseases has been known and generally accepted among scientists. Each year this knowledge is reinforced as more and more studies show the same statistical connection. Heavier smoking and over a long periok correlate with greater incidences of disease and shorter life expectancy
-The technique of the sophists as traditionally represented do seem to closely resemble those of the tobacco industry, and our ethical judgement of them is similarly negative
-In the case of the tobacco industry, the knowledge of harmful effects was known with practical certainty, regardless of the industry's denial of such knowledge
-Therefore they knowingly and willfully brought certain disease and death to a portion of their consumers and did so over the course of several decades in direct defiance of the urgings of governmental and medical authorities. They were also conscious of their continuous deception as they schemed for language and arguments to avoid any public acknowledgement of what they well knew

DOCUMENTS
-The tobacco industry in 1997 negotiated some of the terms of an out-of-court settlement of gigantic magnitude, on the order of 350 billion dollars over a period of years
-The tobacco industry had never, until very recently, lost a case in the courts over the damaging effects of its products, their addictiveness, or their advertising methods. On the face of it, this fact might appear to suggest that they were in the right
-Every time a case has approached a culmination that might yield a decision unfavorable to the industry, the industry has negotiated an out-of-court settlement
-Many of the documents we have to work with are worded in obtuse, contorted ways to disguise their direct substance
-The industry has taken active steps to distance itself from the information it already had. Files were purged and potentially incriminating documents were shredded.
-The industry tried to conceal any potential "smoking guns"

1950s
-In the early 1950s several medical research reports were published linking smoking with lung cancer, other cancers, and other diseases
-The HIll and Knowlton memorandum stated the problem is not one of concern for health but for public relations. Their plan was to form a research group supposedly independent of the tobacco industry
1960s
-The the early 1960s the surgeon general appointed an advisory committee to investigate the health effects of smoking. The industry had to respond to governmental concerns from such a high level.
-Disagreement as to whether the evidence warranted using the term "cause"
-The document states that its true purpose was not disinterested science but public relations propaganda intended to oppose genuine scientific research
-No industry was going to accept that its product was toxic or even believe it to be so
1970s
-The had become highly interested in filtered cigarettes as a way to respond to increasing health concerns among the public and in government
-The tactic they settled on was to try to justify the filtering of cigarettes on the basis of only a perception among the public that smoking is linked to health problems, without actually acknowledging the reality that smoking causes health problems
1980s
-The control of information by lawyers in order to prevent disclosures that would be detrimental to the industry was tightened.
-Lawyers struggled to find a way to make the industry's activities appear defensible
-The language and the argument of a report could also be reworked by lawyers and managers to water them down, make them seem more tentative, or otherwise obfuscate the full meaning and significance of the information.
1990s
-Public and private outcries, governmental inquiries, legislative actions, and judicial suits are finally beginning to take their toll

GRAPHICAL IMAGES
-The meaning we might ascribe to an image can be strongly influenced by the context in which it appears
-We are less likely to read carefully the required fine-print notice warning us that all cigarettes, including Camels, cause terrible diseases and death.
-The industry deliberatley aimed its advertising to the age group least likely to resist their messages and least likely to be concerned with their health whether immediately or in later years

STAR WARS

Hope VS. Reality
-Much of the technical communications about the software planned for SDI have to do with the prospective future rather thatn the real, immediate present
-It might have been more ethically responsible and in keeping with standard government practice to have consulted more thoroughly with recognized technical and scientific experts on the feasibility of claims made for Star Wars
-The mission assigned to SDI changed substantially over time

Context
-Definite, objective topics such as computer software programs and the performance we can expect of them, often carry with them a heavy burden of judgment, both technical and ethical
-The question is only whether appeals to national security should be allowed to exaggerate, distort, or misrepresent realistic technical matters

Overview of SDI
-"Technical optimism" is the assumption that any problem can be solved by technological means and than this technology can be devised if onyl sufficient will, money, and talent are applied to the problem.

Congressional Office of Technology Assessment
-Four misapprehensions regarding the stated goals of the president's plan:

1. Individual, separate devices such as lasers are not the same as the total system in which they would be used together, which would extremely complex
2. SDI is unlike any prior technical program such as the Manhattan project
3. Hopes for entirely new technologies cannot be realistic. "Such breakthroughs are not impossible, but their mere possibility does not help in judging the prospects for the perfect defense"
4. Accurate predictions cannot be made about the performance of this complex system. There is, and can be, no realistic test of the system before hand; all possible outcomes cannot be anticipated

Congressional Hearing
-The debate over SDI was particularly heated and was particularly concerned about the possibility unethical misrepresentation of technical feasibility
-Its purpose was not defense per se but leverage in negotiations for arms control and reduction arguments

SDI Documents, Pro and Con

Pro
-Proponents would not, however, directly emphasize technological feasibility
-Celebration of past technological achievements generates a sort of patriotic fervor that distracts one from considering the realities of SDI
-There are many sides to the problem of preventing nuclear war

Con
-The hardware was thought to be at least remotely feasible, the vitally important software was seen as fundamentally infeasible

Parnas
-Parna's statement takes a definite ethical stance that is clearly articulated, firmly defined, and appropriate for the context
-He also takes care to explain that his conclusions are expert professional judgments from someone with military software experience
-Parna's chief point is that no software system could possibly be developed along the lines required by SDI that would be "trustworthy"

Star Wars Boycott Pledge
-No other technical and scientific issue in modern times-except for the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons themselves-has so stirred this community. This sense of ethical responsibility was coupled with a civic responsibility and burst forth dramatically in the form of the public Star Wars Boycott Pledge
-Signing the pledge was a selfless gesture that could do real damage to their reputations and livelihoods

Technical Claims about Air Operations
-GAO examined in detail the validity of claims made by various sources about the air operations during Desert Storm, particularly about the effectiveness and suitability of new weapons systems such as precision guided munitions and the F-117 stealth attack aircraft

And Now a Word (or two or three) about Ethics

-Corruption and ethical violations are everywhere (television, radio, newspaper, news)
-Business and technical writers have moral and ethical obligations
-Dorothy A. Winsor showed through her examination that a "history of miscommunication" contributed to the Challenger space shuttle accident
-Business and technical writers must meet the needs of the intended audience as well as adhere to the strictest ethical and legal standards

Communication Failures Contributing to the Challenger Accident: An Example for Technical Communicators by Dorothy A. Winsor

-Various people in the organization knew the accident was possible and how to prevent it yet not everyone in the organization was aware of this

Why wasn't the information communicated to the entire organization?

1) Managers and engineers viewing the same facts from different perspectives
2) The general difficulty of either sending or receiving bad news, particularly when it must be passed to superiors or outsiders

-Knowledge is not just seeing the facts but interpreting them and this will vary with different people's vantage points
-Communication is not shared information but rather shared interpretation
-Managers and engineers have very much the dame background and the same facts but interpret them differently because they take different approaches
-Three organizations involved: NASA, Marshall Space Center, Morton Thiokol International (MTI)
-Information about the solid rocket booster joint that failed slowly moved its way up in NASA
-The three organizations viewed each other as outsiders which was a big problem in communicating the information

Physical Cause of the Accident

-The failure of a rubber seal in the solid rocket booster was the cause of the explosion
-This allowed hot gases to escape and burn a hole in the fuel tank
-Postflight evidence showed that the joint seals were failing to meet design expectations

Early Responses to Bad News: Disbelief and Failure to Send Upward

-When the o-ring problems first came about MTI did not communicate it to Marshall
-When Marshall communicated downward to MTI, they treated this as a serious problem
-Early signs of o-ring problems were not believed by MTI, were accepted at Marshall when they saw it was MTI’s problem, and not sent upward to NASA

Continued Bad News Rejection Despite Contradictory Evidence

-Tests showed that the cold increases o-ring erosion but this risk was viewed as “acceptable” by MTI personnel because they assumed the secondary ring would seal
-MTI’s claim that the secondary o-rings would seal is retaining previous theories in the face of contradictory evidence because the effectiveness of the secondary ring had been in question since 1982
-In July 1985, Lawrence Mulloy, project manager at Marshall said no other flights would take place until the o-ring erosion at the nozzle joint had been fixed or shown not to be a problem
-Marshall seemed to have kept this news to themselves rather than pass it up to NASA

Internal Versus External Communication of Concern From MTI Engineers

-O-ring damage in late June woke up the engineers at MTI
-MTI engineer Roger Boisjoly became more aware of the potential danger and predicted a loss of the contract or flight failure if no solution was found
-Boisjoly’s memo sent to MTI’s vice president of engineering describing that a catastrophe could result
-The memo was marked COMPANY PRIVATE at the top and bottom so he still tried to keep the bad news from outsiders
-Brian Russell, engineer for MTI wrote to Marshall’s Jim Thomas about test results on the effect of cold on the o-rings
-The memo simply communicated the facts
-Frightening facts should have been used in the memo
-Marshall officials did not interpret the facts in the same alarmed manner Boisjoly and Russel did

The Split Between Managers and Engineers

-MTI managers and engineers were disagreeing on the seriousness of the o-ring problem and engineers had a hard time communicating their view upward
-MTI engineers wrote a memo to management saying the o-ring task force was being slowed by administration and that their work was being established for more leisurely long-term development
-The task force was unable to convince Joe Kilminster, MIT’s vice president of Space Programs of the seriousness of the situation
-Marshall challenged MTI’s drawn conclusions
-Every MTI engineer argued against the launch
1) No one at MTI or Marshall wanted to believe the evidence of the o-ring problem
2) When MTI engineers saw that a problem existed, they had difficulty convincing their management
3) Engineers and managers at MTI were reluctant to communicate bad news outside the company

-It is important that engineers feel as free to communicate bad news as well as bad
-Failure to believe bad news can have disastrous consequences

How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff

The sample with the built-in basis:
- A sampling study must use a representative study or a truly random one
- Does every name in the group have an equal chance to be in the sample?
- No statistical conclusion can rise above the quality of the sample it is based upon
The truncated, or gee-whiz, graph:
- Chopping the bottom of a graph to make it more effective
- Makes rises and falls in your graph seem more significant
The souped-up graph:
- Change the proportion between the ordinate and the abscissa
The well-chosen average:
- When giving figures describe if it is a mean or median
- One isn’t better than the other, it is just misleading unless you know what kind of average it is
The insignificant difference or the elusive error:
- Don’t ignore the error in a sampling study
- Unless the difference between the figures is many times greater than the probable error of each, you have only a guess that the one appearing greater really is
The one-dimensional picture:
- Using graphics instead of simple bars can create a more visual effect
The ever-impressive decimal:
- Decimals make your data more precise and sounds as if you know precisely what you are talking about
- Without decimals it just sounds like an approximation
The semiattached figure:
- If you can’t prove what you want to prove, demonstrate something else and pretend they are the same thing
- The worse things get, the better your survey makes them look
The unwarranted assumption, or post hoc rides again:
- Statistics can be used to deceive
- Misleading statistics are not proven but can easy sway a reader’s mind

Determining the Ethics of Style by Dan Jones

What is Ethics?
-The study of right and wrong conduct
-“A set of moral principles or values” or “a theory or system of moral values”
-It is a guiding philosophy

Ethics and Technical Prose
-You must make many ethical decisions concerning what you write
-It’s not always easy to determine which writing decisions are right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or unethical

Ethics and the Professions
-Most professions and professional organizations have published ethical guidelines
-Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
-In Computer Ethics, by Tom Forester and Perry Morrison, they list many ethical questions faced by computer professionals:

Is copying software really a form of stealing? What sort of intellectual property rights should software developers have?

Is it OK for computer professionals to make false claims about the capabilities of computers when selling systems or representing computers to the general public?

STC Ethical Guidelines for Technical Communicators

Introduction: We observe the following ethical guidelines in our professional activities to help us maintain ethical practices

Legality: we observe the laws and regulations governing our professional activities in the workplace, we meet the terms and obligations of contracts

Honesty: provide truthful and accurate communications, before using another person’s work we obtain permission, advertize our services truthfully

Confidentiality : release business-sensitive information only with their consent or when legally required

Quality: we fulfill our negotiated roles in a timely and responsible manner and meet the stated expectations

Fairness: respect cultural variety and other aspects of diversity in our clients, employers, and audiences, avoid conflicts of interest in the fulfillment of our responsibilities and activities

Professionalism: provide candid evaluations of communication products and services, advance the technical communication profession through our integrity, standards, and performance
-These codes of conduct encourage members of a profession to act ethically even in the most difficult of circumstances

Legal and Ethical Issues in Editing by Carolyn D. Rude
-Codes of ethics protect the good of a society as well as protect individual rights
-They are less formal than laws but aim for the same goal

Legal issues in Editing
-Editors share responsibility with writers, researchers, and managers for protecting documents legally
-Editors verify that permissions to reprint portions of other people’s publications are obtained

Intellectual Property: Copyright, Trademarks, Patents, Trade Secrets
-Intellectual property includes original works of fiction, or nonfiction, artwork and photographs, recording, computer programs, and any other expression that is fixed in some form – printed, recorded, or posted on the web
-They are protected by copyright law
-The owner has the right to determine if the work may be reproduced or used

Copyright
-Protects authors of “original works of authorship”
-Gives the owner the right to reproduce and distribute the work

Ownership
-If the author wrote to meet responsibilities of employment, the employer owns the copyright
-Works by the U.S. government are not eligible for copyright protection, they are in the “public domain”
-Collections that contain multiple authors are generally protected by a single copyright but may be copyrighted individually

Copyright Notice, Registration, and Deposit
-Registration with the Copyright Office gives maximum legal protection
-A published work should include a notice of copyright
-Copyrightable work published in the United States is subject to mandatory deposit or use in the Library of Congress

International Copyright Protection
-Copyright in one country does not automatically extend to another
-It depends on the laws of that country
-Some countries offer little or no copyright protection for work published in other countries

Permissions and “Fair Use”
-Permission must be obtained to reproduce sections of some else’s work
-The permission ought to exist in writing
-If permission is denied, material may not be used

A request for permission should include the following:
- Title, author, and edition of the materials to be reprinted
- Exact material to be used: include page numbers and/or a photocopy
- How it will be used: nature of the document in which it will be reprinted, author, intended audience, publisher, where the material will appear

Copyright and Online Publication
-Material on the web and even e-mail messages are protected by the same copyright laws that protect print, especially when the information has commercial value
-Distributing something you found on the web to make money or to people who would otherwise read it on the web and see the advertisements that accompany it, or copy the words without citation is violating copyright law

Trademarks, Patents, and Trade Secrets
-Trademarks are brand names, phrases, graphics, or logos that identify products
-If marks are registered with the PTO (Patent and Trade Office) no one else can use those marks

Product Safety and Liability
-companies and individuals must assume responsibility for safety of the products as they are used or even misused by customers
-The products themselves must be designed to be as safe as possible

Libel, Fraud, and Misrepresentation
-Libel is a statement that shames or lowers the public reputation of an identifiable person
-Fraud and misrepresentation deceive the public
-Misrepresentation may occur in labeling products or making claims about them

Other Written Materials for a Job Search

The Basics of a Cover Letter by Steven Graber

-Effective cover letters attract an employer’s attention
-Format and content of a cover letter are just as important as with a resume

FORMAT
-A potential employer has already assessed you just by the overall appearance of your cover letter
-You must present your credentials in an effective way

The Parts of a Letter
-Print on high quality paper
-Use business style of personal style
-The elements of the letter (return address, salutation, body, etc.) begin at the left margin in the business style and they begin at the centerline in the personal style
-Return address should appear at the top margin without your name
-Don’t use abbreviations
-Make sure contact information is on both the cover letter and resume in case they get separated
-Don’t abbreviate the date
-In the address use the addressee’s full name and give the person’s full title, company’s name, and the company’s address
-Salutation should be two lines beneath the company’s address
-Should be “Dear Mr.” or “Dear Ms.” Followed by the individual’s last name and a colon
-Never use a first name in the salutation
-Three or four paragraphs on one page, any longer and it may not be read
-Enclosure lines are primarily used in a formal or official correspondence, it’s not necessary to include in a cover letter
-Use standard 81/2 by 11 inch paper
-Use quality paper and use the same paper for your resume and cover letter
-Do not use stationary paper with pictures on it
-Mail cover letter and resume in a standard business-sized envelope

CONTENT

Personalize Each Letter
-If you are not responding to a specific contact name send it to the most appropriate person, the more influential the better
-Try to contact the head of the department
-Use your contact’s name and title on both the cover letter and envelope

Mapping It Out

-Cover letter should not be longer than 3 or 4 paragraphs
-Don’t repeat what’s in the resume
-Give an overview of your capabilities
-Show interest in the company
First Paragraph
-State the position you are applying for
-Name your source if responding to an ad or listing

Second Paragraph
-What can you contribute to the company?
-Don’t talk about what you can’t do and keep it brief

Third Paragraph
-Show how you exceed the requirements
-List any accomplishments, awards, or when you went above the call of duty

Fourth Paragraph
-Close by saying you look forward to hearing from them and thank them for their consideration
-Don’t ask for an interview

Complimentary Close
-Two lines beneath the body of the letter
-“Sincerely” and three lines underneath put your full name as it appears on the resume
-Sign the letter

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL COVER LETTERS

What Writing Style is Appropriate?

-Keep your style clear, objective, and persuasive instead of narrative

Tone: Reserved Confidence is Always in Style

-Display confidence in your abilities
-Sell your qualifications like you would in an interview
-Sound enthusiastic but don’t overdue it

Emphasize Concrete Examples

-Your cover letter should emphasize your most significant accomplishments
-Avoid using “etc.”

Use Powerful Language

-Your language should be easy to understand
-Get your message across using the fewest words possible
-Use simple, common language and avoid abbreviations


Avoid Catchphrases

-List actual projects and goals instead of general phrases
-Concrete experiences are more valuable than these vague phrases

Mention Personal Preferences?

-Refrain from offering salary information unless the advertisement you are responding to requires it
-If you must give salary requirements use a range instead of a number
-Indicate a willingness to relocate if applying out of state

Proof with Care

-Proofread your letter as carefully as possible
-Read your letter aloud to someone and have them read it to you
-Mistakes on your resume or cover letter could remove you from consideration

COVER LETTER BLUNDERS TO AVOID

Unrelated Career Goals

-Tailor your cover letter to the position you’re applying for
-Express a genuine interest in the position

Comparisons and Clichés

-These expressions detract from the purpose of your letter
Examples:
“I am as smart as a whip”
“Team work is my middle name”

Wasted Space

-Cover letters are generally four paragraphs long
-Include only those skills and experiences applicable to the field you are applying to
-Any other information will weaken your case

Form Letters

-Mass mailings where you send a form letter to a large number of employees is not recommended
-Every cover letter should demonstrate your commitment to a specific industry and familiarity with each employer


Inappropriate Stationery

-White and ivory colored paper are acceptable
-Don’t rely on graphics to improve your cover letter

“Amusing” Anecdotes

-When writing, remain polite and professional
-You wouldn’t joke with him or her until you determined it was appropriate

Erroneous Company Information

-Verify the accuracy of any company information you mention in your cover letter
-Broad statements like “I know something about your company,” or “I am familiar with your products,” indicates that you haven’t done your homework

Desperation

-Sound determined, not desperate
-Do not use statements like these: “Please call today! I’ll be waiting by the phone”
“I am very badly in need of money”

Personal Photos

-It is inappropriate to send a photograph of yourself unless you are pursuing a job in modeling, acting, or performing acts

Confessed Shortcomings

-Do not call attention to your weaknesses in your cover letter
-This will make the letter emphasize your flaws instead of your strengths

Misrepresentation

-Never misrepresent yourself, stick to the facts
-Don’t exaggerate when selling your skills but don’t hold back either

Demanding Statements

-Your letter should demonstrate what you can do for an employer
-Do not include personal preferences or demands in your letter

Missing Resume

-Don’t forget to enclose all the materials you refer to in your cover letter
-Employers will just move on to the next application
Personal Information

-Do not include your age, health, physical characteristics, marital status, race, religion, or any other personal information
-List your interests and hobbies only if they are relevant to the type of job your applying for
-When in doubt leave it out

Choice of Pronouns

-Writing in first person is preferable
-Employers find the third person approach disconcerting

Tone Trouble

-Tone problems can be subtle and hard to detect
-Have someone else review your letter
-If the wording is questionable rewrite the letter
-Try to sound genuine

Gimmicks

-No matter how creative you get, the majority of employers will be more impressed with a simple, well crafted letter
-Hiring decisions are based on qualifications, not gimmicks

Typographical Errors

-A hiring manager will reject any letter that contains errors
Some common technical mistakes:
-Misspelling the hiring contact’s name or title
-Forgetting to change the name of the organization you’re applying to
-Indicating application for one position and mentioning a different position in the body of the letter

Messy Corrections

-If you forget to include something in your letter, retype it
-Including a supplementary note will be viewed as unprofessional
-Avoid using correction fluid or penning in any corrections

Omitted Signature

-Don’t forget to sign your name neatly in blue or black ink
-Don’t use script font or a draw program on your word processor, actually sign it

COVER LETTERS FOR SPECIAL SITUATIONS

-The key to improving your cover letter in special situations is to emphasize your strengths
-If you’re an older candidate, emphasize the depth of your experience

RESPONSE TO A “BLIND” ADVERTISEMENT

-“Blind” advertisements do not list employer information and direct responses to a post office box rather than a company’s address
-This letter should sharply define your knowledge of the industry
-Target everything in your response but avoid longwinded passages

COLD LETTERS

-With a “cold” cover letter you can directly contact potential employers without a referral or previous correspondence
-Job-seekers most commonly use this type of letter to advertise their availability to hiring managers or personnel departments

BROADCAST LETTERS

-Well-qualified candidates can advertise their availability to top-level professionals in a particular field
-Its tone should reflect the candidate’s experience, knowledge, and confidence in his or her capabilities
-Broadcast letters are not recommended for those candidates conducting widespread job searches

LETTER TO AN EMPLOYMENT AGENCY

-Many candidates rely on the help of employment agencies when searching for a job
-Letters sent to an agency should focus on who you are, type of position, what specific industry, and your strongest skills related to that field.

LETTER TO AN EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM

-A well-crafted cover letter can alert an otherwise unknowing recruiter to your availability
-Highlight your most impressive accomplishments and attributes and briefly summarize all relevant experience

NETWORKING LETTERS

-Refers to a third-party industry contact to garner the reader’s attention and induce him or her to assist you in your job search
-Word your letter in a businesslike manner
-If your letter is politely persuasive, people will be interested in talking to you

THANK YOU LETTERS

-It is acceptable to handwrite your thank you letter on a generic blank note card
-Make sure it is neat and legible
-Keep the letters short, proofread, and send them promptly

Your Resume on the Internet by Margaret Riley Dikel and Frances E. Roehm

-Compared to networking, researching and targeting employers, or reviewing job leads, distributing a resume is not very effective
-A great resume can help you win the position you want and a bad one will knock you out of consideration

THE MYTH ABOUT THE INTERNET RESUME

-You need only one resume but have it in several formats

A designed or hard-copy version
A scannable version
A plain-text version
An e-mail version
-You may want to consider an HTML version of your resume that can be posted on a website
-The main problem with these resumes is that they include too much information
-Keep it entirely professional

RULES FOR RESPONDING ONLINE

-The fastest way to respond to internet job listings is by e-mailing your cover letter and resume
-Format your resume correctly for e-mail
-Send your resume in the body of the e-mail message and not as an attachment so the reader doesn’t have to find it and open it
-Always include a cover letter and make sure it is specific the person organization you are contacting and make it interesting
-Use the advertised job title or job code in the subject line of your e-mail message
-Read the application instructions included in the job announcement and follow them exactly.

E-RESUMES ARE NOT JUST FOR E-MAIL

-Good for all the places online where you can post your resume
-Expert Susan Ireland doesn’t recommend using these forms for the following reasons:
It’s very easy to have typos if you type directly into the site’s form
The form may force you to use a resume format you don’t like
You cannot easily save your resume for other uses because the resume bank is on a website
-The best way to post your resume online is to copy and paste it from a prepared copy you have already formatted

PREPARING A PERFECT PLAIN-TEXT RESUME

-Anyone creating a resume should take the extra time to generate a plain-text version for posting online

WHERE, OH, WHERE SHOULD THAT RESUME GO?

-You don’t want to post your resume on every possible site because recruiters notice this and will start to ignore you and refuse any consideration
-Post it on only one or two of the large online databases, preferably ones attached to popular job sites
-Post it on one or two targeted resume databases specific to your industry, occupational group, or geographic location.

Protect Yourself Online

-Carefully evaluate the job sites you use because you may risk a total loss of privacy

1. Does the site have a comprehensive privacy policy?
2. Do you have to register a profile or resume before you can search through the jobs?
3. Are most of the jobs posted by employers or by agencies acting on behalf of employers?
4. Can you set up one or more “e-mail agents” that will send matching jobs to you when you are not at the site?
5. Who has access to the database of resumes?
6. Can you limit access to your personal contact information?
7. Can you store more than one version of your resume so that you can customize it for different types of opportunities?
8. Will you be able to edit your resume once you have posted it?
9. Will you be able to delete your resume after you have found a job?

Before You Post, Something to Think About

Do you want your resume public? No matter where you post it, consider your resume to be public
Are you prepared for the consequences should an electronic resume come back to haunt you? Some people find there resumes posted in places they never put them.

RESUME BLASTERS: THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE OR A NEW FORM OF SPAM

-Wide distribution or your resume by resume “broadcasters” gives you no control of where your resume could end up
-A lot of people that end up on the list for these services never requested they be on it
-Resumes get sent out without any regard as to whether or not the employer requested it

Resumes and Other Written Materials for a Job Search

Resumes and Other Written Materials for a Job Search

-There is no one way to write a resume or cover letter
-In the end, let common sense be your ultimate guide
-Consider the person who will be reading your resume

Writing Resumes and Letters in the Language of Employers by John L. Munschauer

-Your resume should display to the employer, “What can the candidate do for us?”

Why Use a Resume?
-To get a job or interview
-Should never be longer than a page and your experience should be listed chronologically
-Remember that the main purpose is to send a message and don’t get caught up in making it pretty and eye catching
-Imagine yourself as the employer looking at yourself seeing what you have to offer
-Don’t confuse customers by flaunting things that don’t speak to their needs

Giving your Message
-Employment “I want”
-Employer “I need”
-Perfect resumes that arrive in the mail won’t even be read if the cover letter doesn’t impress the employer
-Refrain from “I have done this...” and “I have done that”
-The example letter proved to the employer that the writer was a problem solver

The Importance of Knowing What the Job Is All About
-Understand there is a need for people who can get things done
-When employers advertise and list the qualifications they seek, the best way to respond is to send a resume outlining the qualifications.

Letters of Application
-To figure out how to make the letter of application more effective imagine being on the receiving end
-Cute tricks and cleverness don’t work at big corporations

Good letters contain:
Business letter appearance – neat and printed on 8 1/2” X 11” paper
They were succinct
No misspellings or grammatical letters
-All good letters have one thing in common – they’re simple

The most effective letters reviewed followed a similar pattern:
The first paragraph stated who the writer was and what he wanted
The second paragraph indicated the purpose of the letter and information relative to the qualifications
Final paragraph suggested a course of action

Hard Work and Attention to Detail Make for a Good Letter
-Most people won’t write effective letters so see it as a chance to set yourself apart
-Write it and rewrite it
-Get a teacher or someone in the word business to proofread your letter

Don’t Delegate the Job of Letter Writing
-The thought process used in writing letters and resumes is more important than style
-Don’t delegate your thinking to someone else or the letter will sound phony
-Think about the employer’s needs and then think about what you offer and relate that to what you would like to do
-Prepare a resume even if you don’t use it – it is valuable in preparation

Resume Preparation
-The resume should look sufficiently attractive to get an employer to read it
-These resumes get about a 20 second scan to see what they’re worth

Nancy Jones - A Good Resume Made Better
-Do not sound long winded
-Offer information and skills relative to the job objective
-List all your credentials that testify your ability to do the work

Janet Smith – The Proper Use of Headlines
-A resume should be able to be skimmed to pick up important information
-Headlines can help the reader select specific things of interest
-When planning headlines ask yourself, “What words will catch the reader’s eye?” and “Does this say something to the employer?”

Mark Meyers – The Functional Resume
-Creating a resume based on functions
-Wrote his resume in a conventional form in which he listed education then experiences in chronological order and finally his activities and interest
-A better way to do this is to feature the functions of the job he wanted and then describe things he has done that relates to it

Preparing a Resume for a Specific Job
-Try to tie in as many experiences as possible that correlate with the job description
-In a functional resume, different functions can be highlighted and specific experiences can be rearranged under different headings to make it more effective

Bruce Gregory Robertson – A Resume Reflecting an Active Mind and Body
-Employers look for candidates that are able to learn and not so much for what they know
-List traits about yourself that show you could move up in the company


Michelle Trio – The Curriculum Vitae
-Resume for academic positions – does not need a statement of goals or interest
-List many achievements
-In an academic resume, not only does the employer look at the person’s publications and research they are also interested in the prestige that person can bring to the department

The Job Objective
-A resume should open with an objective but it should be stated a certain way
-Use the headline CAREER INTEREST
-The employer shouldn’t have to study the resume to know what you want

One Page or Two
-Better to keep it at one page but length depends on the message
-A resume needs white space and headings that stand out so don’t cram everything in one page if it’s going to appear very crowded and hard to read

Additional Advice About Resumes
-Get your friends to critique your resume especially if they are in a related job field
-Look at the resume from a few feet back and check its appearance, does it look neat? It is easy to read?
-Ask your critics, “What message to you get about me?”

Nazi Records

Nazi Records- The origin and use of information

-Understanding the ethical issues about how technical information is obtained helps us consider whether or how we should be communicating the information we deal with

The following questions will be addressed:
Should it make any difference to us as communicators how a particular body of information that we might communicate was obtained?

How are ethics and values reflected in our language and in the format of our technical documents?

Should the uses to which our information will likely be put influence our ethical judgment about the communication of that information?

-We will look at how similar issues surround recent revelations about U.S. research on the effects of radiation on humans in the decades just after World War II
-We will also look at how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently dealt with these types of issues
-Technical communication deals with two distinguishing figures of mankind: language and the sense of ethical responsibility
-The “scientific” research on prisoners is widely understood as completely lacking genuine scientific purpose or validity
-The point of the examples is to show that some of the values embedded in the scientific frame of mind can be carried to extremes-with terrible consequences
-Emotional disengagement of the researcher from the research subject, the power and control that differentiate between them, and the superiority of the researcher in which the subject is purposefully kept in the dark about what is going on-we should be careful not to carry these values to extremes
-Technical communicators and the technical documents we produce are not as ethically neutral as we might think-thinking of information as factual knowledge that exists apart form values, politics, and ethics is not accurate, the information has to be accurate and obtained correctly.
-Nazi “medical” research was not science for the sake of science but as a means to accomplish the end of racial persecution and extermination, it was not scientific and technological values at work but racism instead
-Examining how information originated allows us to fully understand all its ethical dimensions

Origination, Dissemination, and Use of Information
-This section briefly reviews the Nazi regime in its racism, its relation to science and medicine, and its trial for crimes against humanity
-The purpose of this is to show that ethical considerations apply not only to the content of the document but also to how the content was obtained and how it will be used
-Objectivism (the excessive and inappropriate treatment of people as objects), impersonalness, and emotional disengagement are the key values in Nazi medical science
-Critics consider these values problematic and cause for serious concern

Nazi Past
-Most of the so-called scientific research was intended to support the Nazi war effort by showing the limits of human endurance (concentration and death camps)
-In our universities today, all scientific research involving people as research subjects has to be reviewed by “human subjects” panels to prevent anything like the Nazi research from happening again

Controversy in the Present
-In recent years, an outcry about Nazi “scientific” information and other information collected unethically has arisen about medical specimens of human organs
-Scandals have arisen over human anatomical samples used in medical education
-Tissue specimens, and skeletons used at several prominent German medical schools came from Nazi prison and death camps
-These specimens likely came from the bodies of deceased Jews who didn’t say whether their bodies could be used or not
-Israelis protested on the circumstances under which the specimens were obtained saying there was no informed consent, no possibility of choosing otherwise, no legitimate reason for the execution, no possibility of protest-nothing we consider basic human rights applied in these cases
-The means by which the samples were obtained should prevent them from being used for any purpose

“Research” Information
-Recently there was interest that a case about Nazi hypothermia experiments could be used to improve survival equipment but others opposed the use of this information because of the suffering and persecution through which it was obtained.
-One side obviously argues that the information should never be used but the other side argues that the information should be used precisely in order to give some purpose to the victim’s suffering as well as to relieve the suffering of those who might benefit from the information
-the hypothermia research was totally unscientific
-The New England Journal of Medicine has taken the position that it will not publish reports of unethical research, regardless of their scientific merit

Values in Nazi Medical “Science”

Traditional View
-Many of these historical treatments take a sociological perspective
-The underemployment of medical school graduates, the depressed economy, and the need for the Nazi regime to legitimate it racial policies were all important factors at work to medicalize the mistreatment of prisoners and patients.
-The healer became the killer and healing became killing
-Rather than accept technical facts and factual statements as absolutely true, we should be aware of how readily they can be transformed by social circumstances
-In the Nazi regime, euthanasia was reinterpreted as putting someone to death in a way that was perceived as human and on the basis of his or her unworthiness to live
-Euthanasia is a “happy death” because it isn’t violent
-“Special Treatment” referred to medical killing, special in the sense of lying outside the mainstream of medicine

Nazi Antiscience

-These horrible activities done in the name of medical science are explained on the basis of the inhumaneness and unethicalness of science itself
-As a result the actions described show science to be essentially unethical and an enemy of basic human values
-Jacques Ellul and Langdon Winner – ethical critics concerned about the apparent indifference of science and technology to traditional values
-When speaking of the Nazi pseudoresearch, science and technology are at best indifferent or oppose conventional human values
-Harrington states that the Nazi regime operated in a state of mind that amounted to not science but antiscience
-The new “holistic” science would yield a new world order in which mankind would be purer, stronger, better, and happier.
-The sick should die, and the strong and healthy should prevail and flourish, according to this perspective, and it was the duty of the new “science” to make the strong, healthy, and dominant even more so.

Research in the United States

-The means by which information and knowledge is obtained can greatly affect its validity and usability
-Scientific knowledge is valuable in its own right for its own sake
-Scientific knowledge can be tainted by the means by which it is obtained even when human suffering is not involved-suffering of animals
-Kant believed that the categorical imperative of ethics applies not only to humans but also to any and all beings capable of reasoned thought

Nazi Technical Memorandum

-Steven Katz – our modern society is heavily influenced by science and technology
-Technological values such as expediency and efficiency have come to completely dominate our society and reshape its entire value system
-As a result, instead of being only a means to pursue worthwhile social goals, technology becomes a goal or end in itself
-We need to consider the social, political, and cultural context in which a document appears.
-For Nazis, the distinction between means and ends became so blurred that what was technically possible came to be sought almost for its own sake – doing something just because you can
Graphical Images

-Another way that underlying values found expression in technical and scientific information and documents was through Nazi race laws
-Aimed at ensuing the purity of the “Aryan” race
-One of the motives behind anti-semitic laws that created the hatred of Jews was the science of superiority of one race over all others
-Led to social problems in society
-Science was then made to serve politics
-Education and research in biological and medical areas came to be controlled by political leaders who would allow only politically correct theories to be taught and practiced and who would not tolerate opposition

Ethical Appraisal

Aristotle – his perspective based on virtue and cultivated attitudes would ethically condemn the Nazi regime
Kant – we should treat all other people as we would wish they would treat us under the same universal ethical rules so the persecution and execution of any other people, such as the Nazi regime would be unethical
Utilitarianism – A Utilitarian theorist would not likely approve of the Nazi regime but would be in favor of communicating and using the information
Feminist and Ethics of Care – would find the Nazi regime and its activities completely unethical, they disapprove of Authoritarianism, the Nazis didn’t care about their victims and treated them as objects but a caring concern for those now living would require us to communicate and use this information

-The manner in which information is communicated has significant ethical implications that includes not only the language but also the absence of language
-As you can see scientific investigations can at times be carried to extremes with devastating consequences.

The Ethics Tradition

The Ethics Tradition

-The four principal perspectives represent the most highly regarded ethical approaches throughout European American history, giving us the concepts and vocabulary we commonly use today

-Aristotle’s perspective deals with virtue and personal character

-It defines and explains basic notions such as goodness, truth, justice, and rightness as principles for guiding our conduct.

-It is a fairly pragmatic approach but with a philosophical cast

-Something should be done just because it is “good”

-Kant’s perspective deals with duty or obligation based on a fundamental universal principle

-An action should be performed just because it is the right thing to do regardless of its costs or benefits to us individually

-Strives for fairness and equality

-The perspective of utilitarianism weighs the consequences of costs of an action against benefits in order to calculate the most socially desirable course of action

-In other words it strives to be fair

-Doesn’t deal with the interests or feelings of individuals

-The perspective of an ethic of care presents a new, nontraditional way of understanding ethics

-Developed for the sake of people gender-sensitive

-Urges other standards for making ethical decisions, such as caring concern and the quality of relationships

-Urges flexibility and sensitivity to the particulars of a given situation, deals with individuals

-Confucian ethics is Chinese and represents a culture other than European-American

-Levinas espoused a very learned phenomenological and existential approach with strong theological undertones that is difficult to articulate because it is entirely opposed to the idea of systematizing- confusing (very wordy)

-Gert is an ethical theorist who deliberately does not diverge from the mainstream, instead reinterpreting traditional ethical concepts in contemporary terms

Aristotle
-Aristotle’s notion of ethical conduct deals with reflective reasoning, prudent judgment, deliberate choice, conscious application of the will, and practical action

-Practical and concrete thinker

-Later Christian ethical thinking was shaped more by Aristotle’s practical ethical theory that aimed at achieving the best conduct in our temporal lives in the here and now

-Metaphysics still plays an indirect role in Aristotle’s ethics

-Thought ethics was the study of what is involved in good actions

-Believed ethics simply does not allow hard and fast answers

-Ethics deals with doing something just because it is the right thing to do

-Humans are compound creatures having aspects of both a lower, animal nature and a higher, divine nature

-We should seek and act out in a divine nature even though our lives are mundane and imperfect

-It is the person and not the action that is virtuous

-Each person is responsible for his or her character which determines the goals the individual desires and wants to achieve

-Ethical behavior must be reasoned behavior (it is thought out), it is not automatic or unreflective

-A person is not ethical or virtuous because of a single action but instead their character is reflected in their behavior over time

-No one is ethical or virtuous instinctively but achieve it through their actions

-Focuses on the mean between two extremes as the guide for our actions (pragmatic imperfect world)

-Moral wisdom must meet practical wisdom in order to be ethical

-Ethics cannot be reduced to politics or the law because it must guide us when the law or political rules are silent or in error

How can ethics be the “ultimate” guide when sometimes our political figures themselves don’t do the most ethical things?

-Many modern thinkers differ from Aristotle’s view that specialized knowledge such as in technology and science is separable from ethics.

-They believe that the true, right, and good are highly operative in technology and science.

-They don’t believe in relying on unconfirmed personal opinion (AIDS example)

-Thomas M. Lessl pg. 47 “calling scientists the religious priests and philosophical oracles of our day”

KANT
-One of the most important European philosophers of the period from classical Greece to the twentieth century, his ethical theory is based on a sense of duty

-Self-interest, material gain, and the greatest good for the greatest number don’t matter and the ethical system is based on obligation and duty

-Has nothing to do with purposes results or feelings or emotions, as well as any sense of “moral feeling”

-All humans are endowed with a sense of moral reason so it is our duty to use it

-Ethics can only be understood and derived from abstract reasoning; our senses alone cannot derive knowledge or our morals

-Kant’s ethics are entirely based on one’s feely chosen decisions to act in good will out of a sense of duty

-Kant believed our ability to reason should serve as a basis for judging ethics

-It is our duty to act in good will just because it is the right thing to do

-We must be disinterested in any rewards or feeling of self-satisfaction

-Kant thought of everyone as a rational being, to be a fundamentally self-legislator, making, willing, and enforcing laws for oneself about how one will behave

Kant’s Ethical Theory
· Emphasizes a sense of duty, doing what is right regardless of outcome
· Conceptualizes ethics as both an individual and a social matter
· Amounts for all practical purposes to the golden rule, he assumes nothing except that we are all rational beings

-Our rational nature exists for itself so people are not taken as a means to an end
Ex: lying is unethical because you are using another person as a means to your own end.

Utilitarianism
-Weigh ethical judgments on the basis of accomplishing the greatest useful goodness for the greatest number of people

-Utilitarianism allows a quantitative calculation of what to do ethically, it presumably yields the best course of action in that situation

-Medical ethics are a good example in some situations

Feminist and Care Perspectives
-Postmodernism is a movement where traditional authorities and knowledge long taken for granted are challenged

-Several important new perspectives on ethics have arisen from feminist critical thinking and from postmodernism


Feminist Perspectives on Science as a Value System
-Feminist critical thinking has expanded the meaning of ethics

-Believe both science and technology constitute value systems in themselves

-Historically women have been discouraged from science because of emotions, analysis is a masculinist way of arriving at knowledge

-Critics also point out some potential difficulties in characterizing logic as a characteristically male way of thinking. To do so seems to assume that women are inclined to be illogical, that is, unreasonable or incapable of reasoning clearly and correctly

-A Darwinian industrial environment is one which only the fittest survive but feminist critics as well as other ethical critics, point out the need to rethink our society and economy to create a win-win environment in which we all can thrive.

-Hierarchical organization in corporations are giving way to more horizontally stratified structures

-Women’s typical ways of knowing and interacting, which stress harmony and conciliation rather than confrontation or decisive action.

-Feminism amounts to a system of values

-Reveals the bias against women and women’s work in a variety of ways in technical communication

Ethics of Care
-Some refer to it as a feminine or “feminist” ethic

-Tthe relationship, caring concern, and the other person are valued more in women’s moral judgment and ethical decision making than in men’s

-Men base ethical decisions on justice and think of ethics impersonally

-Women generally emphasize caring concern on the particular person or circumstance and men emphasize justice based on abstract principle regardless of the person or situation

-Mary Jeanne Larrabee, editor of An Ethic of Care examines that one of the dangers of trying to develop a system of ethics specific to women is that it can seem to confirm stereotypes

Confucian Ethics
-Its ethics are grounded in immediate realities rather than in immutable, timeless absolutes. Confucius discouraged speculation of the spiritual realm because the real world is where morality is truly played out.

-Human responsibilities are constituted in relationships and not in the individual.

-Social relations and the needs of social harmony are more important that individual egos

-Fundamental importance of several key principles and the practice of these fundamentals by people constitute morality and ethical conduct

-Attitude without action is meaningless, one’s behavior in relation to real circumstances are valued more than principles

-The most important Confucian principles are ren, li, and yi, which together constitute a general ethical virtuousness called te, which the good person must cultivate carefully

-Involves thoroughly understanding the nature of virtue by learning the ethical traditions and the interpretations of exemplary lives from worthy teachers.

-One is bound by relationships to everyone in society but not all to the same degree or in the same way

Tao – way of virtue
Li – traditional rituals
Yi – sense of rightness or appropriateness
Ren – virtue of humaneness or humanity, the love of all people

The virtue of Yi has a sense of justice that maintains social hierarchy and traditional relationships

-Confucianism holds males as primarily responsible for most ethical activities, with females having responsibilities derived from relationships with males.

-We are all equally obliged to behave ethically but the way we carry this out depends on the relationships we live in

-The particulars of ethical behavior are determined mainly by social context

-From a Confucian perspective we should not expect everyone to behave the same to all people everywhere

-Each member of society has duties and obligations defined by their relationships

-There is a traditional Confucian thought explaining the need for subordinates to rectify or reprove their leaders and remove them if necessary

-Businesses are expected to enhance the common good

-At times, profit was considered a threat to social well-being

-It does not make sense to hold the same standards of loyalty, deference, honesty, integrity, or other virtues in our business dealings as we do in our close relationships with family and friends.

Levinas
-Levinas sees the root of ethics and finds it

-Ethics result from our human nature in relation to others and our encounters with other people

-This makes us aware that some other thinking and feeling human being exists, whose wants, values, feelings, thoughts, and responses are unknown to us and we must understand what that person needs and wants from the relationship with us

-The “other” is ethically more important that “I”

-Only the “other” can make us aware of the impact of our behavior so we can adjust accordingly

Gert
-Focused on the topic of morality and explored what it means, how it is known, how it relates individuals to society, and how it is carried out

-Relates morality to rational thinking

Definition of morality: Morality is a public system applying to all rational persons governing behavior which affects others and which has the minimization of evil as its end, and which includes what are commonly known as the moral rules as its core

-Gert’s idea of morality involves action(not feelings), social relations with others, and avoiding evil instead of the pursuit of good.

-Avoiding evil is more definite than the pursuit of good

Ten primary moral rules:
1. Don’t kill
2. Don’t cause pain
3. Don’t disable
4. Don’t deprive of freedom
5. Don’t deprive of pleasure
6. Don’t lie
7. Keep your promises
8. Don’t cheat
9. Don’t commit adultery
10. Don’t steal

There is a list of eight questions that Gert offers to determine the morally relevant features of a given situation:
1. What moral rules are being violated?
2. What evils are being avoided? Prevented? Caused?
3. What are the relevant desires of the people affected by the violation?
4. What are the relevant rational beliefs of the people affected by the violation?
5. Does one have a duty to violate moral rules with regard to the person, and is one in a unique position in this regard?
6. What goods are being promoted?
7. Is an unjustified or weakly justified violation of a moral rule being prevented?
8. Is an unjustified or weakly justified violation of a moral rule being punished?

Creating Visuals

Designing and Integrating Visuals with Text Oliu, Brusaw, Alred


-Plan your visuals such as tables, graphs, drawings, charts, maps, before you start writing to make them the most effective

There are some guidelines to help you use graphics as effectively as possible:

• Why include your visual?
  Explain your audience why you used it, they may require an explanation of what it is if they are not familiar with the subject
  
  Is the information in your visual accurate?
  
  Is the lettering readable?
  
  Is there a figure or table number?
  If using more than five illustrations make sure they are labeled with a figure or table number
  
  Do visuals stand out from surrounding text?
  
  
  Tables
  
  -Able to show large amounts of related data in a small space
  
  Tables should contain:
  
  Number



• Title- describes what the table represents



• Boxhead - contains column headings



• Stub - left hand column lists the items in the body of table



• Body



• Rules - use of lines to separate various parts of the table



• Source Line - list data sources below the table



• Footnotes - used to explain an item in the table



• Continuing Tables

Graphs

-Present numerical data in a visual form but are considered less accurate than tables
-Are often accompanie by tables for this reason

Line Graphs

-Shows the relationship between two or more sets of figures

-Make sure the vertical and horizontal scales are proportional so the graph is not distorted

Bar Graphs

-Horizontal or vertical bars representing some quantity

-Labeling the top of the bars with quantities eliminates the need for a table.

Do not omit or distort the data in your visuals because it is unethical and can question the credibility of your organization

Pie Graphs

-The circle equals 100 percent or the whole of a quantity and the wedges represent various parts

-The information displayed is very general and the wedges should be displayed largest to smallest in a clockwise direction

-Pie graphs have a strong visual impact

Picture graphs

-Modified bar graphs that use picture symbols instead of bars to represent their data

-Work well for nonexpert audiences since it makes the data easier to understand and remember, they also add some entertainment value to the presentation

-Increase the number of symbols instead of making the symbols larger

Dimensional-Column Graphs

-Uses columns as three-dimensional pillars to display data but sometimes obscure the information

-The three-dimensional appearance can confuse the reader not knowing where they line up with the axes.

-The more complicated a graph looks the harder it is to read so simpler is better

Drawings

-Drawings are mainly used when you need to focus on details a photograph cannot provide

-Drawings can emphasize an object's appearance and its function such as internal parts of a piece of equipment

-When illustrating part of a system, show its relationship to the larger system of which it is a part

-Label important parts of each drawing

Flowcharts

-Diagram that shows the stages of a process from beginning to end and typically flow left to right or top to bottom

-Use arrows to show the direction of flow expecially if it is different from the normal direction

-Label each step in the process and leave adequate white space so the steps are not crowded.

Maps

-Can show geographic features of an area (roads, mountains, rivers) or it can show information according to geographic distribution (population, housing)

-Identify all boundaries within the map and include a scale of miles or kilometers, and also label which direction is north.

Photographs

-Can be used to show the surface appearance of an object or to record an event

-Make sure to capture the relative size of the object in the photo and make sure it fills your picture frame

-Readers sometimes need to know exactly what an object looks like so color reproduction is a must

-Can sometimes sacrifice contrast and vividness and is more expensive then black-and-white reproduction

Strategies of Persuasion David W. Ewing

-What choice of ideas should be used, the emphasis on pro and con arguments, and the establishment of credibility

-Good writers vary their approaches in response to their readings of different situations

1. Consider whether your views will make problems for readers

If your views turn out to be bad news for the reader, report them but use empathy and put yourself in their shoes.

2. Don't offer new ideas, directives, or recommendations for change until your readers are prepared for them.

Where in your report you should present new findings depends on your audience's resisitance to change and the amount of change you are asking for. It also depends on the "perceived threat" which is how much it will upset the values and interests of the readers.

-If a new promotion scheme is not very personal and important to the boss then you can be more straight forward about raising questions.

-In your writing you must be more explicit and thorough because a piece of writing lacks the expressiveness you used when you speak.

3. Your credibility with readers affects your strategy

-Credibility is a variable and can be influenced by the words of the communicator

-Given credibility may result from your position in an organization. A boss giving directions to someone under them has high credibility.

-Acquired credibility is earned by thoughts and facts in the written message. Someone higher up in the company may not know you different from another person but through your writings to them you can gain credibility.

-Cite ideas or evidence that are parallel with the reader's views, "my idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me."

-Cite authorities that rate highly in the mind of the reader

4. If your audience disagrees with your ideas or is uncertain about them, present both sides of the argument

-A one-sided presentation of a controversial questino is most effective.

-If your reader has not made up their mind or disagrees with you then use a two-sided presentation. By stating the pros and cons it helps the reader remember your view

5. Win respect by making your opinion or recommendation clear

-The two-sided approach is a means to an end and means you have definite views and seek to persuade your audience.

6. Put your strongest points last if the audience is very interested in the argument, first if it is not so interested

-Argument presented first has primacy and the argument presented last has recency.

-When you put weaker points first it creates rising reader expectations and end with your strongest argument that way you do not let your readers down. This mainly works when the audience is deeply interested in your topic.

-If your audience is not very interested in your topic use an opposite approach by grabbing thier attention right at the beginning.

7. Don't count on changing attitudes by offering information alone

-With people wo already agree with the persuader, information alone may be enough to reassure them on their position with the argument

8. "Testimonials" are most likely to be persuasive if drawn from people with whom readers associate

-A person's attitudes and opinions are strongly influenced by the groups to which he or she belongs

-Study at a boy's camp with shooting and canoeing

-Same as been done with celebrities through media

-The more attached your readers are to a group the more that group is going to influence them

9. Be wary of using extreme or "sensational" claims and facts

- Write in terms of the real world how you and the reader will percieve it and not like a flashy journalist

-You want to grab the reader's attention but in the right way

-Believable, realistic statements carry more weight than any other kind

10. Tailor your presentation to the reasons for reader's attitudes, if you know them

-You will have a better chance of persuading your audience if you plan your argument to meet the feelings, prejudices, and reasons for their beliefs.

11. Never mention other people without considering their possible effect on the reader

-The use of names may affect the power of your message

-A reference to the actions of another person could alter your relationship with the reader

Sizing up your readers

-Think of yourself as the intended reader so you can decide intelligently what information and ideas to emphasize

-Write as if you are talking with your reader, not talking to them

Poposals Phillip C. Kolin

Guidelines for writing a successful proposal:

1. 
   
   Approach writing a proposal as a problem-solving activity - your goal is to solve a problem that affects the reader


2. 
   
   Regard your audience as skeptical readers - examine your proposal from the reader's point of view


3. 
   
   Research your proposal carefully - use concrete examples and don't base your proposal off of a few well-meaning , general suggestions


4. 
   
   Prove that your proposal is workable - analyze and test each part of your proposal in advance if possible, should be well thought out, "Will this plan work?"


5. 
   
   Be sure that your proposal is financially realistic - "Is it worth the money?"


6. 
   
   Package your proposal attractively- make sure your proposal is inviting and easy to read, the appearance can determine if it is rejected or accepted

Internal Proposals

-Offers a realistic and constructive plan to help your company run its business more efficiently and economically.

-An informal, in-house message such as a brief memo

-Should be sensitive to office politics and written with the needs of the audience in mind, you do not want the reader to feel threatened by the plan

-A change for your department or offic may have negative effects on another department in the company

The Introduction
A brief statement on why you are writing to your boss

Background of the Problem
-The more you show how the problem affects the boss's work the more likely you are to persuade him or her to act

The Solution of Plan
-Describe the change you want approved
-The reader will expect to find factual evidence
-Raise alternative solutions and discuss their disadvantages

The Conclusion
- Remind the reader that the problem is serious and the reason for change is justified with a paragraph or two at the most

Sales Proposals

-Most common type of external proposal and its purpose is to sell your company's products or services for a set fee

-Readers of a sales proposal will evaluate your work according to how well is meets their needs and how well it compares with the proposals submitted by your competitors

-You must convince readers that your company is more reliable and efficient that any other firm

Writing proposals with style Richard Johnson-Sheehan

-Setting an appropriate tone and weaving themes into your work that appeal to your reader's emotions and values.

-Plain style is for instruction and demonstration, middle style is for persuading people to take action and grand style is for motivating people to do something they already know they should do

Writing Plain Sentences

-Plain style needs to be used when the writer is trying to instruct the reader

-Writing plainly is a skill that requires practice

Guidelines to write plainer sentences:

1. The subject should be what the sentence is about - the sentence needs a clear subject stating in one word what it is about
2. Make the "doer" the subject
3. State the action in the verb - the active person or thing usually makes the best subject of the sentence
4. Put the subject early in the sentence - with the subject early in the sentence the readers immediately know how to connect the sentence with the subject, longer introductory phrases should be moved to the end of the sentence
5. Eliminate nominalizations - nominalizations are perfectly good verbs and adjectives that have been turned into awkward nouns.
6. Avoid excessive prepositional phrases - look for places where prepositional phrases are chained together and try turning some of them into adjectives.
7. Eliminate redundancy - using two words to do the work of one
8. Make sentences "breathing length" - sentences shouldn't be too long to say in one breath, if it is too long readers are more concerned getting through it than understanding it

Writing Plain Paragraphs

Transition Sentence - makes a smooth bridge from the previous paragraph to the present paragraph

Topic Sentence - claim or statement that the rest of the paragraph is going to prove or support

Support Sentences - sentences that contain reasoning and examples and prove the claim made in the topic sentence

Point Sentences - restates the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph, should only be used when a particular claim needs to be reinforced

Aligning Sentence Subjects in a Paragraph

-Line up the subjects so that each sentence in the paragraph stresses the same things

The Given/New Method

-Based on the assumption that readers will always try to fit new information into what they already know

-The given information should appear early in the sentence and the new information should appear later in the sentence so that the given information provides a familiar anchor.

Reports and Other Longer Documents

-Reports can be purley informative, persuasive, or argumentative
-Formal reports (multi-part format primarily used to present results, contains an abstract, table of contents, glossary, intro, detailed discussion, set of conclusion and recommendations)
-Informal reports (format is less complex, has introduction, discussion, set of conclusions, tends to be shorter)
-Reports should be approached like any other business or technical document and should be planned out carefully
-Lengthy reports can intimidate readers
-Every audience has a different background that must be taken into account
Internal proposals - changes policies and procedures within an organization
External proposals - aimed at seeking grants or funding, more complex

Audience Analysis: The Problem and a Solution J.C. Mathes and Dwight W. Stevenson
-Writer, a message, and an audience
-Inexperienced reports writers often fail to design their reports effectively, the writer should stop and analyze the audience component
-Reports have value only to the extent that is useful to the organization
-A report is often useful over an extended period of time so the writer must design his report for a dynamic situation
-The reader wants the useful information clear and succinct-most of the time they will not read the whole thing the first time
-The writer finds it easier to concentrate on their own concerns than the needs of the reader
Audience Components and Problems They Pose
-Determine who your audiences are as related to the purpose and content of your report
Audiences - Horizontal, Vertical, and External
-Horizontal audiences exist on each level
-Vertical audiences exist between levels
-External audiences exist when any unit interacts with a separate organization
-Important reports usually have complex audiences, vertical and horizontal, sometimes external
-There are differences between the audience and the writer (training, background, politics, personality)
-The report will have audiences in addition to the person addressed
-The writer should not assume that his audience has technical competence in the field
-Differences between the writer and the audience are magnified when addressing vertical audiences
-Reports directed at vertical audiences have horizontal audience components as well.
External audiences=complex vertical audiences
-Audiences in different divisions of the same company may be "external"audiences

A Method For Systematic Audience Analysis
-The writer does not view from outside the total communication system modeled by the company organization chart
-Each bloc on the organization chart represents one or several human beings with distinctive roles, backgrounds, and personal characteristics
-The outsider's view does not help much to clarify the specific routes of communication
-The conventional concept of report audiences derived from organization charts so a more effective method for audience analysis is needed
Prepare an Egocentric Organization Chart
There are four different degrees of distance

• Audiences in own group (office or project group)
• Audiences in close proximity to your group
• Audiences elsewhere in the organization
• Audiences outside the organization

-Using the egocentric organization chart, the report writer is able to see himself and his potential audiences from a useful perspective

-The writer sees himself as a center from which communication radiates throughout an organization

-Examining the audience with an egocentric organization chart, a report writer can see that audiences have functionally different interests, but also the nature of those functional differences

-The writer can then classify the audiences for each particular report

Characterize the Individual Report Readers

-When you think of your audiences as individuals you consider things such as reader's age, academic degrees, and background in the organization

-Then you can characterize each person identified in the egocentric organization chart

-If you can further identify someone's past professional experiences and roles, you can anticipate their first hand knowledge of your role and tecnical activites

-Differences in age can inhibit communication

-Also note personal concerns that could influence reactions to your report

-The best way to conduct the audience analysis and to store the information it yields is to use an analysis form

Classify Audiences in Terms of How They Will Use Your Report

-Think through the total impacts of your report on the organization

These impacts define your actual communication

• Why was the investigation made?
• What is the significance of the problem it addresses?
• What will it cost?

-These questions must be considered when writing a report

-Classify audiences in terms of how they will use your report

Primary audiences - who make decisions or act on the basis of the information a report contains

secondary audiences - who are affected by the decisions and actions

immediate audiences - who route the report or transmit the information it contains

-The report overall should meet the needs of the primary audiences

-Secondary audiences activities are affected when a primary audience makes a decision

-The immediate audience might be a supervisor or other management person

What to Report Richard W. Dodge

-Technical reports can be a useful tool for management as well as a valuable aid to decision making

-The question on audience has received little attenton in terms of ways to achieve better reports

-When a manager reads a report, he looks for pertinent facts and competent opinions that will aid him in decision making

-Summaries should be placed at beginning of report

-The kind of information a manager wants in a report is determined by his management responsibilities

Subject Matter Interest

Manager interested in five broad technological areas:

1. Technical problems
2. New projects and products
3. Experiments and Tests
4. Materials and Processes
5. Field Troubles

Level of Presentation

-Managment readers are interested in the significant material and general concepts, there is little justification for a highly technical and detailed presentation

Management Responsibilities

-An engineering report has to be designed to fill a particular need and to achieve a particular purpose within the specific situation

Four conferences at selected times can help a manager get the report he wants:

1. At the beginning of the project
2. At the completion of the investigation
3. After the report is outlined
4. After the report is written

The Writing of Abstracts Christian K. Arnold

-Most important section of the report

-Creates the first impression of your report

-The abstract must summarize the results and conclusions and give enough background information to make the results understandable

-The abstract is a complete report in itself and must include specific information about the project or study

-Must be short, fluent, and easy to read

Ten Report Writing Pitfalls: How to Avoid Them? Vincent Vinci

1. Ignoring your Audience - answer who, why, and how on your audience, clearly define these answers
2. Writing to Impress - turns off the reader, it can hinder communication, fancy vocabulary is often misused so remember the goal is for your reader to conprehend your thoughts
3. Having more than one aim - it can prevent you from knowing where the report is heading
4. Being Inconsistent - be consistent in terms, numbers, abbreviations, etc. to smooth the path toward understanding and appreciating the content of the report
5. Overqualifying - eliminate excessive modifiers, avoid obscuring facts and ideas
6. Not defining - determine what to define and how to define, consider audience so you know which terms to choose
7. Misintroducing - write intro after the body of the report, intro should state subject, purpose, scope, and plan of the report
8. Dazzling with Data - know what to put in the report and what to leave out, remove what you can without destroying the meaning
9. NOT Highlighting - attention should be called to key elements needed for the understanding of your material
10. NOT rewriting - once you have written first draft, you can analyze and refine the report as a whole and focus on your purpose. Rewrite until you are satisfied with flow and cohesion

Proposal

Executive Summary

The topic and land trusts and conservation easements have grown in popularity in the recent years in the preservation of green space competing with increasing urban sprawl. American Forest Management Inc. is a forestry consulting and real estate brokerage firm. I will be working through them to write a report informing South Carolina landowners of the benefits of land trusts by describing what a land trust is and how they work. This will in turn be of the company’s advantage by hopefully convincing the landowner to sell or donate conservations easements to American Forest Management Inc. Selling a conservation easement means that American Forest Management Inc. will have to rights to manage the timber on that specific property.

Land Trusts and the Landowner

By defining what a land trust is to the landowner in a non-intimidating way using simple language will help prevent them from turning away the idea. Since land trusts may be something a lot of landowners don’t know about they will be inclined to turn it down in the first place. It is important to get a sufficient amount of information across but not introduce a massive amount of small details at this point. This would only confuse the reader in the beginning.

Why Choose Land Trusts?

This section is devoted to most of the convincing of the landowner to why a land trust would be worth their while. It will include the many benefits that landowners will receive from a land trust with financial benefits and land management being the main two. An example or two a “land trust success story” if you will may be included. They will include what the landowner achieved from it and why they are glad they did it.

How they work and how to start one?

The final step is to explain how these land trusts will physically work and the necessary steps to starting one. The steps will include first going through American Forest Management Inc. and getting their ultimate guidance from them on what to do. It will explain what the company will do to assist them and what the landowner needs to do on their own.

Business and Technical Correspondence

Business and technical writing has taken on two different forms: the letter and the memo
-More recently the ever so popular e-mail has made the list
-Although tempting, it is important not to take shortcuts in your writing
-Letters and memos are good for their intended purpose but they are often misused.
Sometimes a structured letter or memo isn't sufficient and you must be original when required
Emails are abused with sloppy writing creating a bad image for the writer.
-Jobs have been loss over cases like these, no matter what form the writing is in it should be approached with equal importance.

Making Your Correspondence Get Results David V. Lewis

-Letters reflect your company’s attitude and shape the personality of the company
-Write about the benefits of the recipient and not the benefits of the company
-A good sales letter should persuade your reader that it is worth their while
-The most powerful letters appeal to basic needs and emotion as well and clear and to-the-point. Basically, it should be written in conversational language.

Mastering Tone
-When writing a “rejection letter,” let the reader down gently, leaving the door open for future business
-Don’t make it a negatively phrased letter pg. 123
-It doesn’t take much to offend your reader when using negative language

How to write the way you talk
-Communicate in plain English using technical terms when absolutely necessary
-Contractions will make your writing sound more conversational and make it appear more natural.

“I Have Some Bad News for You” Allan A. Glatthorn

-Letters containing bad news are among the most difficult to write
There are a couple guidelines to follow:
1) The successful manager is able to empathize with others
2) Bad news is best delivered face to face
-People value honesty and forthrightness

Indirect Bad News Message
-Surround the bad news with positive expressions and appreciation

Direct Message of Bad News
-No non-sense statement that gets right to the point
-Could be used to discourage any more communication from that individual

How To Write Better Memos Harold K. Mintz

-Memos are informal and very versatile
-They can simply inform, set responsibilities and deadlines, or establish a file record of decisions, agreements, and policies.
Organization:
· What are the facts?
· What do they mean?
· What do we do now?

-Memos longer than a page need an introduction preventing the reader from searching the entire memo to find the purpose of the writer
-A good memo is clear, brief, and relevant with clarity being the most important

How to use bottom-line writing in corporate communication
-DO NOT write “wordy” memos and reports
-Be brief!

-The problem in corporate writing is not the length of writing but the lack of efficiency.
Comprehension is the Key
-You will read a memo containing general information differently from one that requires you to make some sort of decision.
-Managers in information industries spend 60% of their time reading and writing.
-A waste of productivity caused by inefficient communication
-Taught people to use a direct organizational pattern and stay away form a circular pattern
-People’s inefficiency in writing is sometimes because of their social upbringing and educational programming
-A young person entering a large company will have a hard time writing in a blunt and direct way to their superiors

Email: Presenting a Professional Image Janis Fisher Chan

-Extremely wordy emails and short sloppy emails that abbreviate every word are equally as bad and makes a poor impression.
-The emails you send say a lot about yourself and whether or not you will be taken seriously.
-Use active language that is energetic and clear
-Active language gets the message across clearly, passive language weakens your writing
-Emails should be easy to read and free from inflated language
-Don’t use too many words since people like to read their emails quickly
-Avoid repetition-goes back to wordiness and use gender neutral language
-Use short, simple, focused sentences and good grammar