Assignments

Reading the Nobel

Prize winning novel
‘The Prophet’
by Khalil Gibran
 Paragraphs for
Contextual
Grammar Practice
Excellent (Synonyms)
FORMAL: very good, superb, outstanding,
magnificent, of high quality, of the highest
quality, of the highest standard, exceptional,
marvellous, wonderful, sublime, perfect,
eminent, pre-eminent, matchless, peerless,
supreme, first-rate, first-class, superior,
superlative, splendid, admirable, worthy,
sterling, fine, applaudable, magnificent,
glorious, lovely, delightful
 Excellent (Synonyms)
INFORMAL: super, A1, ace, great, terrific, tremendous,
fantastic, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, top-notch, tip-top,
class, awesome, magic, out of this world, too good to be true,
mind-blowing, mind-boggling, brilliant, brill, smashing,
champion, bosting, super, great, amazing, amazeballs,
fantastic, terrific, tremendous, sensational, incredible,
heavenly, gorgeous, dreamy, grand, fabulous, fab, fabby,
fantabulous, mega, crucial, far out, sound, marvy, spanking,
peachy, dandy, jim-dandy, neat, boss, radical, rad, boffo, bully,
bitching, bodacious, beaut, bonzer, kif, lank, dope, def, phat,
groovy, divine, capital, champion, wizard, corking, cracking,
ripping, spiffing, top-hole, topping, beezer, swell, keen
literary wondrous archaic goodly
Because of (Synonyms)
on account of, as a result of, as a
consequence of, owing to, by reason of, on
grounds of, by dint of, due to;
thanks to, by virtue of, on the strength of;
through, after, following, in the wake of
 Faulty (Synonyms)
FORMAL: substandard, poor, inferior, second-rate, second-
class, unsatisfactory, inadequate, unacceptable, not up to
scratch, not up to par, deficient, imperfect, defective, faulty,
shoddy, amateurish, careless, negligent;
dreadful, awful, terrible, abominable, frightful, atrocious,
disgraceful, deplorable, hopeless, worthless, laughable,
lamentable, miserable, sorry, third-rate, diabolical, execrable;
incompetent, inept, inexpert, ineffectual
INFORMAL: crummy, rotten, pathetic, useless, woeful, bum,
lousy, ropy, appalling, abysmal, pitiful, God-awful, dire, poxy,
not up to snuff, the pits, duff, chronic, rubbish
rare egregious
 Consideration
• Effective communication must take audience into
consideration by knowing their viewpoints, background,
mindset, educational level, etc.

• Consideration implies ‘stepping into the shoes of

others’.

• Consider the needs and requirements of the audience to

achieve effective communication.

• Consideration ensures that the self-respect of the

audience is maintained and their emotions are not
harmed.
 Consideration
Consideration means preparing every message with receivers in
mind
Try to put yourself in their place and you must be aware of their
desires, emotions and probable reactions to your request.
Examples from Book
Focus on You instead of I
This thoughtful consideration is also called “you attitude”, or
understanding of human nature.
Show Audience Benefit in the Receiver
To create considerate, audience-oriented messages, focus on how
message receivers will benefit, what they will receive and what
they want or need to know.
Emphasize positive, pleasant facts
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 FOCUS ON “YOU” INSTEAD OF
“I” AND “WE”
EXAMPLE
We-Attitude: I am delighted to announce that we will
be extending our hours to make shopping more
convenient.
You-Attitude: You will be able to shop evenings with
extended hours.
 Continued
Using “we” can be receiver-oriented if ‘we’ includes
the recipients of the message. But messages that use
“you” can be insensitive in negative situations.
EXAMPLE
Insensitive: You failed to enclose your cheque in the
envelope.
Considerate: The cheque was not enclosed.

MORE EXAMPLEs: EBC, Chapter 2, page 41

Refresher: ½ min. break and food for thought
“Never take decision in anger.”
 SHOW AUDIENCE BENEFIT OR
INTEREST IN THE RECEIVER
Show how your receivers will benefit from the
message.
Benefits must meet recipients’ needs, address their
concerns and offer them rewards, i.e. they must be
perceived as benefits by the receivers.
Tell legitimate benefits of your policy and products
and put yourself in receiver’s place to assess their
perspectives.
 EXAMPLE
Only inserting word “you” does not ensure “You-
attitude” As;
“You will be glad to know that we now have a walk-up
window open 7-9 am and 3-8 pm every weekday”.
Some readers wonder, “so what?”
So, it should be like:
“You can now take care of your banking needs at our new
Walk-up Window. It is open with a capable teller to
serve you 7-9 am and 3-8 pm, Monday through Friday”.
 Reader Benefits

Shape your statements to involve the reader.

Strive to develop the “you” attitude.
Instead of this: Try this:
We are promoting a new plan You will enjoy total peace of
that we believe has many mind with our affordable
outstanding benefits. hospitalization plan that
meets all your needs.
 Reader Benefits

Shape your statements to involve the reader.

Strive to develop the “you” attitude.
Instead of this: Try this:
Before we can allow you to You may begin making
purchase items on this new purchases on your new
account, we must wait two account in two weeks.
weeks to verify your credit.
 Reader Benefits

Shape your statements to involve the reader.

Strive to develop the “you” attitude.
Instead of this: Try this:
I need your response Your quick response means
immediately so that I can your vacation schedules will
make the employee vacation be ready next week.
schedule by next week.
 EMPHASIZE POSITIVE,
PLEASANT FACTS
A third way to show consideration for your receiver is to
accent the positive. This means stressing what can be
done instead of what cannot be done, and focusing on
words your recipient can consider favorably.
Negative-Unpleasant:
It is impossible to open an account for you today.
 Positive-Pleasant:
As soon as your signature card reaches us, we will gladly
open an account for you.

MORE EXAMPLEs: EBC, Chapter 2, page 42

 CHECKLIST FOR
CONSIDERATION
See your material from your readers point of view.
“You” is more desirable than “I” and “We”.
Readers like to see benefits. Be sure benefits are a
prominent part of the message.
Consciously use positive words; readers will react
more favorably.
Refresher: ½ min. break and food for thought
“You at least are aware of what you are.”
 Concreteness
• Concrete communication implies being particular and
clear rather being fuzzy and general.
• Concrete communication shows good level of
confidence.
• Concrete information helps to strengthen the
reputation of the organization.
• Concrete information cannot be misinterpreted.
• Use denotative words (dictionary based, direct)
rather than connotative words (ideas, notions
suggested by or associated with a word).
 Concreteness
Communicating concretely means being specific,
definite, and vivid rather than vague and general.
The benefits to business professionals of using
concrete facts and figures are obvious
Your receiver knows exactly what is required or
desired.
Using concrete language has some additional
advantages. Concrete messages are more richly
textured than general or vague messages. Examples.

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 BENEFITS

Receivers know exactly what is required or desired.

Increase the chances that the message will be
interpreted the way sender intended.
More vivid and interesting.
SPECIFIC WAYS TO INDICATE
CONCRETENESS

Use specific facts and figures

Put action in your verbs
Choose vivid, image building words.
USE SPECIFIC FACTS AND FIGURES
Use exact and precise statement or a figure instead of a
general word to make your message more concrete.
EXAMPLE
Vague, General, Indefinite:
Student GMAT scores are higher.
Concrete, Precise:
In 1996 the GMAT scores averaged 600; by 1997 they had
risen to 610.

MORE EXAMPLEs: EBC, Chapter 2, page 44

WHEN NOT TO USE SPECIFIC DETAILS
When it is not possible to be specific: you may not
have the precise figures or facts.
When you wish to be diplomatic: “You have missed
three invitations to my office” is harsh; you may be
more tactful in saying, “I’ve sent you several reminders
to see me in my office”.
 When exact figures are unimportant as in; “ more
than half the committee was present.”
 PUT ACTION IN YOUR
VERBS
Use active rather than passive voice because it shows life
in a sentence when a subject acts.
Active verbs are;
 More specific as “ A dean decided” than “ a decision has
been made by”
 Personal as “You will note” rather than “it will be noted”
 Concise as “Figures show” rather than “it is shown by
figures”
 Emphatic as “Students held a contest” rather than “ A
contest was held by the students”.
USE PASSIVE VOICE WHEN
 When you want to avoid personal comments as in “
The October cheque was not included” is better than “
you failed to include the October cheque” OR
“Attendance at the meeting is required” is less harsh
than “You must attend the meeting”.
When you want to stress the object of action. As
“You are invited” is more suitable than , “ We invite you”.
When the doer is not important. As “ Three
announcements were made before the meeting started”
the announcer is not important.

MORE EXAMPLEs: EBC, Chapter 2, page 45-46

 CHOOSE VIVID IMAGE BUILDING
WORDS
Use sensory words, comparisons, figurative language,
concrete nouns, well chosen adjectives and adverbs.

BUT…
With caution as business writing uses fewer descriptors than
does a magazine article or fiction writing.
 SENSORY APPEAL
words which appeal the senses…
EXAMPLE
Instead of: “It was hot in the factory”

Use: “Sweat trickled down the arms of the line workers”

 COMPARISONS

Comparisons can make an idea more clear and vivid.

Unclear Image:
“This is a long letter.”

Clear Image:
“This letter is three times as long as you said it would be”.
 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Use figures of speech with caution as they do make an
idea more clear.
Example
Literal: Her work in groups was exemplary.

Figurative: She could be called “ the spark plug” of the

group.
 CHECKLIST FOR
CONCRETENESS
Precise in presenting facts and figures.
Use active voice more than the passive.
Use action verbs to make an idea clear.
Use of image building words where necessary.
Refresher: ½ min. break and food for thought
“Everybody is a genius.”