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PREVIEW: 22 March 2007
--PRESENTATIONS.  This evening Michael will be providing advice on writing federal grants.  To put yourself in a receptive frame of mind, please skim the many worthwhile grant-writing resources (including tips, model proposals, and sample applications) at Grants Information Collection (a frtequently updated site hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Madison).  Particularly useful in regard to federal grants are Developing & Writing Grant Proposals (from the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) and the Resources page of Grants.gov.
--PARTS OF A REPORT.  To guide your (re-)reading for this week and to prepare for this evening's class discussion, please use this outline of key points related to report writing and report formats. 
--EDITING. We'll examine two or three specimens of professional writing and apply some of the editing and proofreading skills that were considered in the presentations on March 8.
--RESEARCH METHODS.  Please see brief discussion below (postscript, March 8).
--ANNUAL TEXTBOOK GIVE-AWAY.  Each year at about this time, I make room on my bookshelves for review copies of new professional communication textbooks (or new editions of older texts) by giving away a modest collection of slightly older texts (or of earlier editions).  Most of these texts overlap our own course text in many ways, but the examples they include (of reports and proposals, in particular) may be useful to you.   I'll bring a box full of books to class: help yourselves.

POSTSCRIPT: 8 March 2007
--FINAL PROJECT guidelines have been posted.  Once you reach the organizing stage of your report or proposal, first follow the basic guidelines posted online, next attend to the more detailed information and the examples in Chapters 13, 14, and 15 of our textbook, and finally, examine the various examples that I'll be distributing to the class and placing on reserve in our seminar room.  Because the structure of a report or proposal is determined, in part, by the nature, purpose, and audience of the project itself, be careful not to simply select one model and then slavishly imitate it.  Also, keep an eye on the RESOURCES page: I'll be updating it regularly over the next month.
--RESEARCH METHODS.  As we prepare for our final projects, we'll be reviewing some basic research methods.  Two of the research methods outlined in the handout "Research Information Collection" (distributed this evening) are focus groups and questionnaires.  Please know the basics:
(a) FOCUS GROUPS.  Both Carter McNamara's "Basics of Conducting Focus Groups" and Judith Simon's "How to Conduct a Focus Group" provide adequate outlines of how to plan and facilitate a focus group session for research purposes, but beware: even a carefully prepared session can easily degenerate into aimless chat.  You'll need to have strong facilitation skills, a good note-taker, and luck in selecting appropriate participants.  If you have a serious interest in using focus groups for graduate-level research projects, check out Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 3rd ed., by Richard Krueger and Mary Anne Casey (Sage, 2000).  
(b) QUESTIONNAIRES & SURVEYS.  Most questionnaires are undoubtedly an enormous waste of time and paper (or, if conducted online, bandwidth), and the results of most questionnaires are wholly predictable and transparently unreliable.  Fortunately, there has been some serious research carried out on how to develop, distribute, and evaluate questionnaires and surveys--research that's all too frequently disregarded by marketers.   Still one of the most authoritative books on the subject is the 1982 text Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to Questionnaire Design, by Sudman and Bradburn (Jossey Bass).  A more up-to-date companion volume is Don Dillman's Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method (Wiley, 1999).
Don't hesitate to take advantage of our library's inter-library loan service to obtain (otherwise costly) volumes such as these.  I'll soon be providing a few handouts on preparing and administering effective surveys. 
--EDITING & PROOFREADING.  My thanks to Lee and Louis for their fine presentations.   Though they touched on a great deal of material, most of it should have been received in the spirit of review rather than revelation.  Put another way, if (1) you have a solid background in college-level writing, (2) you're in the habit when you write of using both a dictionary andThe Business Style Handbook (or any other good, up-to-date style guide), (3) you've been taking advantage of the editing resources that I've been directing you to, and (4) you recognize that the ability to write clearly, concisely, coherently, and correctly is a prime characteristic of educated professionals, you're on course to pass English 7100.  For our final exam, you will be expected to know and be able to apply all of the rules, principles, and conventions in the "Writer's Guide" at the end of World of Work (pp. 607-658).
--REVISIONS TO MINUTES.  I've reviewed your group reports and will have a few additional suggestions to offer when we next meet. When you submit reports of any kind, remember to title the reports, use appropriate headings and subheadings, and include the date of submission and the names of those who prepared the report.   

PREVIEW: 8 March 2007
--MINUTES.  I'm asking Pat and Kelley to please keep the minutes for this evening's class.
--PRESENTATIONS.  This evening Louis and Lee will be addressing the related topics of editing and proofreading, respectively. To help ensure that you'll be active participants, before class have a good look at the "Writer's Guide" that appears at the end of World of Work (pages 608-659).  And be sure to bring your style guides to class.
--PEER EVALUATIONS OF EXCERPTS FROM CLASS MINUTES. We'll distribute copies of your reports (A/C and B/D) and briefly review them.
--RESUME EVALUATION MEMOS.  I'll provide individual (written) responses to the memos you submitted last week.
--REPORT WRITING.  This evening we'll begin our discussion of report  writing (one of your options for the final course project).   Please be familiar with all parts of Chapters 13 and 14, including the samples at the end of each chapter.  I'll be supplementing the basic information in these chapters with additional guidelines and more advanced examples.
--PROJECT TOPIC PROPOSALS.  This evening, to guide you in your work over the next few weeks, I'll distribute an example or two of a fairly modest project topic proposal.  We'll also spend a few minutes brainstorming topic ideas.

MINUTES & POSTSCRIPT: 1 March 2007
--IN ATTENDANCE.  All.
--COMING EVENTS.  Next week (March 8) we'll begin examining reports and proposals, which will be the primary focus of our work during the last part of the term. You will deliver a topic proposal for your final project by the time we return from spring break on March 22.
--CARLA'S PRESENTATION ON COVER LETTERS. The information in Carla's presentation and handouts nicely complemented the related materials in our text and reinforced many of the key principles of effective professional writing that we have been studying (in various contexts) since the start of term.  Carla identified these useful websites:
-"Don't Make These 10 Cover Letter Mistakes," by Katharine Hansen;
-"Cover Letters," by Alison Doyle at About.com (Doyle's entire Job Searching site is exceptionally well done and useful);
-"Cover Letters from Hell," Killian & Co.;
-"Example of a Bad Cover Letter," at job-interview.questions.com.
--PAT'S PRESENTATION ON BROCHURES & NEWSLETTERS. Pat concisely and enthusiastically supplemented information in World of Work regarding the relationship of visuals to text in effective professional writing, providing numerous good examples and suggesting specific ways in which each member of the class might apply the lessons taught. To get us started, Pat referred us to mybrochuremaker.com.
--ELECTRONIC RESUMES.  Three handouts were distributed and assigned for March 8.   Alison Doyle (at About Job Searching) also provides some sound, up-to-date guidelines on preparing electronic resumes: see, in particular, Resumes 101: Electronic Resumes, along with the numerous "Related Resources" in the right-hand sidebar on that web page.
--EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK.  This handout was distributed (and also assigned for March 8) because these legal documents are "too important to be left to HR offices," regardless of the size of the company.  The excerpt "Writing an Employee Handbook," from The Small Business Encyclopedia (at Entrepreneur.com), offers a detailed list of items that should generally be included in an effective handbook.
--RESUME EVALUATION MEMOS were collected.  By our meeting on March 8, I will respond to you individually regarding these memos and the accompanying resumes. I will put most of my attention into critiquing job-search documents that reflect careful attention to all relevant work assigned over the past three weeks.  Superficial comments that disregard the actual contents of the resume will be met with comparable indifference: how much you get out of these exercises will be up to you.  See my remarks on RESUMES in the postscript to class on February 22 (below).
--PEER EVALUATIONS OF EXCERPTS FROM CLASS MINUTES. The reviews begun in class will be completed by March 8 and submitted in a hard-copy report.  See ASSIGNMENTS: Revising Class Minutes.

PREVIEW: 1 March 2007
--PRESENTATIONS.  Carla will address the subject of cover letters; Pat will discuss elements of effective design in newsletters and brochures.  Our assigned readings in World of Work should put us in a receptive frame of mind for these two presentations.   Please remember that the primary focus of all presentations should be on professional writing skills.
--MINUTES.  Instead of keping minutes this evening, we'll conduct a brief review of the minutes submitted so far (see next item).
--EDITING. We'll use selections from copies of past minutes to review some key points about format and editing.  A few things to keep in mind:
- Use Active Voice.  Don't overwork the "expletive constructions" (or "filler phrases") it is and there is (or are) as sentence openers.  And, as a general rule, use the active voice to make your writing more direct and forceful.  Please study these pages: "Use active verbs rather than passive verbs"  and "Passive Voice."  
- Prune Deadwood and Cut the Clutter.  Please study this page (with exercises) on "Writing Concise Sentences." 
- Use Bullet Points and Lists Appropriately.  Please study this page, "Using Bullet Points and Lists," and make sure that you know when to use bullets and when to use numbers in lists.
- Vary Sentence Length.  Please study this page from the Purdue OWL, "Sentence Variety."
- Emphasize Key Words and Phrases.  Please study this page from the Purdue OWL, "Adding Emphasis." 
- Put Parallel Ideas in Parallel Form.  Please study this page from the Purdue OWL, "Parallel Structure in Professional Writing."   If, after studying this page, you recognize that you would benefit from additional practice, you'll find more examples and exercises at  Parallelism Workshop (from Evergreen, by S. Fawcett & A. Sandberg).
-Proofread.
--RESUMES. This evening we'll shift our attention from conventional hard-copy resumes to electronic versions.

POSTSCRIPT: 22 February 2007
--WRITING PERFORMANCE REVIEWS.  As a follow-up to Pam's presentation, please keep in mind the S.M.A.R.T. principle when writing goals:

• Be Specific
• Make sure goals are Measurable
• Ensure goals are realistic and Attainable
• Make goals Results-oriented
• Make goals Time specific

And please read the following articles:
-"How to Write Clear Job Expectations" (U. of Wisconsin at Stevens Point):  write specific, measurable, realistic expectations tailored to fit the individual.  
-"360 Degree Feedback: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," by Susan M. Heathfield.
You don't need to know the various kinds of review systems or the inadequacies of each, but you should be able to (1) write an effective review of an employee, (2) know how to write your own performance review (and know why you should do so), (3) be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a sample review, and (4) know how a 360-degree instrument (such as the Leadership Practices Inventory) differs from a conventional performance review.
--WRITING RECOMMENDATION LETTERS.  In addition to knowing how to request a letter and how to follow up with a thank you (pages 271-273 in World of Work), you should know how to (1) choose your references wisely, (2) how to compose an effective letter of recommendation for someone else, and (3) how to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a sample letter. Please read the following short articles:
-"Recommendation Letter: Tips, Tricks, and Advice," by Melvin Luthy and Alice Feathers.
-"How to Write a Perfect Reference Letter," by Larry Barkdull.

--PERIODICALS.  Most of us probably try to keep up with magazines and periodicals in our current professional fields. It might also be a good idea to keep an eye on publications that target professionals in our next field of work--even if we're a few years away from making that career transition.  For instance, if you hope one day to go into business for yourself, now would be a fine time to start reading a magazine such as Entrepreneur (copies available in my office).  There's a magazine, it seems, for every professional field.

--CAREER DEVELOPMENT eMANUAL. Once again, the URL for this self-inventory program is http://www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca/index.asp.

--PROFESSIONAL WRITING HANDOUTS & RESOURCES.  One of the best professional writing reources on the web is the Purdue University Online Writing Lab, with information, examples, and self-tests on resumes, memos, reports, letters, proposals--and an entire department of editing skills.  If you recognize that you could benefit from any of these materials, please take advantage of them.

--RESUMES.  Next week we'll shift our attention from the conventional hard-copy resume to electronic versions.  Keep in mind that revising your resume in time for next week's memo assignment is purely optional (though if you do decide to revise, please attach your revised resume to the memo).  You may prefer to wait until after I've responded to your self-evaluation before you start to revise. After next week's class, I'll work with each of you individually to help you develop a strong, effective, and persuasive contemporary resume (or, in some cases, resumes).  I won't be slapping a grade on your resume until the end of term--after you have had plenty of opportunities to revise, get additional feedback, study various models--and then revise and edit again. It will be up to you to take advantage of those opportunities--or not.   My attitude (toward all written communication) is that, "We can always make it better--up until the deadline strikes."

--MIDTERM REVIEW.  As we approach the midpoint of the semester, please use this week to review all work that has been assigned to date in our texts, handouts, class meetings, and online materials.  Use the SYLLABUS, ASSIGNMENTS, MINUTES, and NOTES pages to guide your review.   The work covered so far will serve as the foundation for the more challenging work that lies ahead, and of course you will be responsible for knowing (and being able to apply) all of this information on the final exam. If you have questions or concerns about anything that has been assigned to date, please shoot me an e-mail before next Thursday's class.
_________

NOTES ARCHIVE C: previews and postscripts from February 22 to March 22, 2007
NOTES ARCHIVE B: previews and postscripts from February 1 to February 22, 2007
NOTES ARCHIVE A: previews and postscripts from January 11 to February 1, 2007.

27 March 2007