Jane's Homework 4

HOMEWORK IV

Specific Purpose

1. I want to inform you that there are some outdated items in the warehouse and we should dispose them properly and instantly. Otherwise, there would be no rooms for new stock.

3. I'd like to encourage you to settle your payment in ten days, and I wish to keep our partnership intimate. Otherwise, I have to seek the help from judiciary.

5. I call for checking if my orders are all shipped to me, and I expect to get them in three days. In addition, I wish we could collaborate next time.

Exploring the Web on Your Own

I find four tips for "you" view. The first one is to give recipients a reason to read your message in the first paragraph. This one is crucial. In business, the addressee might have to read hundreds of letters everyday. If the specific goal is put in the first paragraph, the addressee could get the point soon, and will not waste time in reading a lengthy article. The second one is to grab your readers' attention in longer email messages, open with an overview. For example, "This update includes a review of our recent projects, current priorities, and info about next week's meeting." This one is quite similar to the first one. Both are useful to help the reader get the point. Another tip is to use the "So what?" prompt to turn information into communication. In other words, this tip suggests us try to empathize with readers. When writing a document, imagine the readers ask "So what?" and give the answer. It will be helpful to complete a document. The last one is to recommend actions rather than refer to individual mental states. For example, avoid "believe", "think" or "imagine", instead, using "recommend" would make readers feel pleasant. Using referring expression may be regarded as a command and that might upset readers. Actually, I find many tips are so common that I often overlook, such as the plural and singular forms of verbs, collective nouns and "Try getting rid of the word 'very'." This site would be helpful in improving my business letter writing skill, and also in reminding me of grammar.