Ch. 4,5,16, 23 Readings

One of the sections that I thought was important in chapter four is how to organize information. I currently have to communicate a lot of information to co-workers and clients and would like to organize it in a way that would be easy for them to find. Organization is also a key factor in the way readers will receive and react to my writing. I also liked the section about planning graphics. Graphics can be a very effective way to convey information and support arguments, but it is important to select the best type of graphic to make it useful.

Chapter five was useful to me because we use persuasion constantly, although the forms may vary. Once again, it is important to organize your points in a way that would elicit a favorable response from readers. It is also important to present yourself in a way that would bring the readers to believe and trust you. I also think it is important to keep in mind that, although we are trying to persuade our readers, it is wrong to mislead or manipulate them.

Chapter 16 focused on effectively communicating and working with a team. The guidelines presented in the chapter can be applied to both academic and professional teamwork. I think that many of the problems that teams encounter are due to lack of communication. AS a result, productivity is lowered significantly. Although I am used to having one designated leader, I liked the idea of sharing leadership responsibilities because then all team members assume equal responsibility.

Chapter 23 provided guidelines for writing instructions. I think one of the most important points was testing the instructions. There were several times when I had to prepare instructions for some of the processes at work. When I actually tried to follow my own instructions, I realized that I left out several steps because I thought they would be obvious and didn't need to be pointed out.