Exam 6: Improving Readability With Style and Design

Akram recently learned that his manager believes he was trying to hide the truth about his department's expenses in his last report. How can Akram revise his report to avoid giving that impression?

What is the impact of using the active voice in business messages?

Salim has written a proposal advocating that his company should implement a schedule in which employees work four 10-hour days, with half of the employees having Monday off and the other half having Friday off. He claims that productivity will increase because fewer people will take days off to go to medical appointments, which they can schedule on their off day. Which of the following people has the correct expertise to give Salim helpful feedback about his proposal?

The management at Lavender garment manufacturing company conducted a survey with the intention of standardizing their employees' productivity to increase company profits. Based on their findings, they set their standards and circulated the following instructions, "Every employee should manufacture as many shirts as possible." However, this failed to clearly deliver the intended message of standardization. Which of the following would correct the problem?

For most written business communications, the first consideration should be to

Sentences that begin with "it is" or "there are" generally contain more words than necessary.

Julio has a long paragraph that describes the two main causes of employee absenteeism and gives a suggestion to address each cause. Ideally, how many paragraphs does Julio need to cover this material?

Documents with a lot of text and not much white space look daunting or cluttered.

Hugo includes the following sentence in his memo: "The increase in profits is greater than any I have seen during my career." What is the flaw in this sentence?

What techniques can a business writer use to make series and lists easier for readers to comprehend?

People are most likely to process information quickly when writers use

Providing too much information can distract readers and weigh a business document down.

Which of the following is most likely to positively influence your readers' perceptions of your credibility?

Consider the statement: "In order to build a sustainable organization, it is important to hire employees with sustainable qualities." One way to make this statement more concise is by

Discuss two ways by which you can reduce the overall word count in business messages. Give specific examples of each.

Typically, accurate information is

List three ways by which you can ensure the completeness of business messages.

One primary cause of overly long paragraphs is placing more than one main idea or topic in a paragraph.

Kwame has written a memo expressing his concern that the company has opened itself up to a discrimination suit because it sponsors a men's softball team but not a women's sports team. Which of the following people should Kwame ask to give feedback about the wording of his memo before he sends it to the executive committee?

The closer you match your writing style to the way your readers think and talk, the easier it is for them to process the information you present.