Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 1 Negative Messages Dual objectives  Transmitting bad news  Maintaining goodwill  Four steps which follow an indirect organization:  A delaying opening – carries high impact  The reasons for the upcoming bad news  The bad news itself – receives location of low emphasis  A positive ending  Preparing reader for the message can determine reader’s perception of the message

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 2 Negative Messages The Delaying Opening  Presents general topic without hinting about upcoming negative news  Must be written so that it doesn’t sound like it’s delaying the bad news  Tone must not be too positive  Writing the delaying opening is often difficult  Opening must not appear manipulative

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 3 Negative Messages The Reasons  Most crucial step in the formula  Goal of the step is to seek reader acknowledgment of the reasons  Should be logical to the reader  Do not pass the buck, blaming someone else for a decision  Each reason should build on preceding reasons

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 4 Negative Messages The Bad News  Can be short, sometimes only a part of a sentence  Short, but still important  Requires careful wording  Often follows from and can be appended to the reasons step  Avoid putting bad news in a separate paragraph  Present bad news as positively as possible  Seek an impersonal style  Avoid people’s names and personal pronouns  Avoid statements of sympathy or apology

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 5 Negative Messages The Positive Ending  Seeks to change the tone from negative to positive to maintain goodwill  Extends thanks for whatever you have rejected  Must sound sincere  Suggest that a positive answer may be extended in the future  Resist the desire to resurrect the negative message  End on a positive thought

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 6 Persuasive Messages Use only when it is necessary to change an opinion Five steps are important to writing effective persuasive messages: 1. Attention 2. Interest 3. Desire 4. Conviction 5. Action Action!

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 7 Persuasive Messages The Attention Step  If reader is less disposed to respond favorably, message should be stronger and more highly defined  If reader is more likely to act as desired, message should be less attention-getting  Goals of the attention step  To get the reader’s attention  To develop enough attention to carry reader into next step

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 8 Persuasive Messages The Interest Step  Carries reader from the attention-getting opening to the desire step  Gives some direction to the message  Encourages involvement by the reader  Relatively short  Gives information that creates interest

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 9 Persuasive Messages The Desire Step  Develops desire in reader for the ultimate good, service, or action  Goal is to make reader desire product or service The Conviction Step  Lays out counterarguments before reader has a change to organize arguments against action  Positive ways of looking at the action’s weaknesses

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 10 Persuasive Messages The Action Step  Propose only after reader is convinced of the need to take the action  Builds on earlier steps and uses selected information from them  Reemphasizes the reader’s benefit from taking the proposed action  Makes it easy for reader to do as suggested  Asks for the action

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 11 Persuasive Messages Ways to Stimulate Action  Change behavior in two ways  Threatening punishment  Offering a reward  Preferable in business settings  Long-term business relationships benefit from this approach  Emotional appeals  Seek a quick action based on limited thought and perhaps incomplete logic  Topics such as children are animals are rich with potential emotional content

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 12 Persuasive Messages Ways to Stimulate Action  Rational appeals  Seek a stronger commitment  Reader is likely to feel more comfortable with appeal for a longer time  Business topics rely more on logic than emotion

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 13 Persuasive Messages Hard Sell Versus Soft Sell  Hard sell  Uses all five steps of persuasive messages  The harder the hard-sell message, the more emphasis is needed for the attention step  Soft sell  Must make judgments about whether the goals of the early steps can be assumed  Start at the next step  Extremely soft sell letters may only have the action step

Chapter 6 - Writing Indirect Messages 14 Persuasive Messages Hints for Writing Persuasive Messages  Organize your thoughts  Seek a blending from one step to the next  Writing your action step first may guide the development of the earlier steps  Try not to let your desired action leak out until the action step