Business Communication 8th Edition by Amy Newman,Scot Ober

Exercise 17

Practice writing buffers.
For the situations in Exercise 1 for which you chose the indirect plan, write a buffer statement. Then compare your buffers with those of two other students. Which work best and why?
Exercise 1
Organize a bad-news message.
For the following situations, would you use the direct or indirect organizational plan for a written message? When you choose an organizational plan, you're making assumptions about your readers and how they might react. Discuss your ideas in small groups.
• After three on-site job interviews, you decline an offer for a summer internship with an alumnus of your college.
• After meeting a CEO at an on-campus job fair, you decline an interview with the company because it is not in your hometown.
• You decline a lunch invitation from a college friend who works for a competitor.
• You decline an employee's vacation request because he wants to be away during your busy season.
• You inform a supplier that you do not plan to renew your contract.
• You inform customers that a product has been discontinued.