Where We Are Headed

• Project 1: Business Correspondence Project• Planning for Communication Situations

• Appealing to Audiences (Goodwill, “You-Attitude”)

• Conventions of Business & Professional Genres

• Tenants of Good Professional Writing: Clarity & Conciseness

Today’s Objectives

• Planning for communication situations

– Why it’s important

– Overview of 3213 PAGOS Plan Method

• (purpose, audience, genre, organization, and style)

– Detail: Purpose, Audience

– May get to Genre, Organization, and Style

You live in a nearby campus apartment with two roommates, Jen and Eddie.

The landline phone rings at about 8pm. It’s Sylvia, Eddie’s mother – she wants to talk to Eddie, but Eddie isn’t home.

You take a message. Sylvia wants Eddie to call her back as soon as possible. It’s important. You agree to communicate that message to Eddie.

Additional Details:• You don’t know Eddie’s class schedule and aren’t sure where he is. • You’re planning to go to bed at 10pm to get up early for class.

PURPOSE

Purpose = The reason for writing, the thing you want to happen.

To plan, ask yourself…– What do I want to happen as a result of this

communication situation?– What else do I need to do to accomplish my purpose? – What information do I need to include to accomplish my

purpose?

Who has the power to help you (or deny you)

in achieving your purpose?

Speaker

Audience

text

Aristotle’s Communication Model

How much is this worth to you?

What’s it worth?

What’s it worthto you?

Semiotic Communication Model (Saussure) “Symbol System”

SIGN = Signified + Signifier (concept) (sound-image)

Language is a system of symbolsHow do we know if a symbol means the same thing to the speaker and

audience?

• Knowledge – frame of reference, background, experiences

• Demographics – age, economic status, gender, race, religion, etc.

• Personality (skeptical? believing?)

• Values, beliefs (saving money? having a good time?)

• Past Behavior (likely to buy it again?)

• Communication climate – setting, context, etc. (“I can’t hear you. Literally.” OR attitude, reception, etc.)

We don’t… but we can try.

Planning - Types of Audiences

Primary Audience ( most important)•Decides whether to accept your recommendation •Acts on the basis of your message

Secondary Audiences (less important)•Advise the primary audience whether to accept•your recommendation•Implement your recommendation•Are affected by your recommendation•May examine your message years after it was •written for research or legal purposes

Initial Audience•First audience to see message•May assign message

Gatekeeper•Has the power to stop the message rather than sending it on to other audiences

Watchdog Audiences•Have political, social, or economic power and may base future actions on their evaluations of your message

Types of Secondary Audiences

PAGOS Plan (Planning for Audience)

– Who is primary audience? Additional Audiences?– What is their background? (demographic, experiential)– What do they know/need to know?– What are the benefits to them? Objections? (how are

they likely to respond)– What is the context in which they might read the

document?

• Genre– What genres might be appropriate?– What are the conventions of the genre(s)?

• Organization– How to organize?– Broad narrow, narrow broad, frontloading, parts of

a whole, chronological– Buffer bad news? Straight to the point?

• Style– Writing style – cordial, sympathetic, informative, concise– Lists? Headings? Paragraphs? – Non-textual concerns – visual aids, non-textual elements,

graphical elements, visual interest