Organizing and Drafting Business Messages

The direct communication strategy would be most appropriate when

• delivering bad news

• presenting ideas requiring persuasion

• expecting the audience to be pleased, mildly interested, or neutral

• revealing sensitive news

Which of the following business messages would not use the direct strategy?

• An e-mail message to a staff introducing a new employee

• An oral presentation detailing the specifics of a new company wellness initiative

• A letter to a coworker congratulating him or her on a recent promotion

• A letter to a customer denying his or her request for credit

The indirect strategy is most appropriate for what kind of messages?

• Bad-news messages

• Sensitive messages

• Persuasive messages

• All of them

What kind of sentence contains an independent clause and a dependent clause?

• Simple sentence

• Compound sentence

• Complex sentence

• Compound- Complex sentence

"Technology has changed the working environments of employees, that is why employees are telecommuting more than ever" is an example of a 

• complete sentence

• run-on

• comma splice

• fragment

Which of the following sentences is most effective in de-emphasizing the bad news?

• Although cash refunds are not offered, you can exchange resalable merchandise.

• Although you can exchange returned merchandise, cash refunds are not available.

• Because we only exchange merchandise, it is impossible for you to receive a cash refund.

• Because of our exchange policy, you may not receive a cash refund.

Which of the following uses parallel structure?

• Our new paralegal must be smart, efficient, and have flexibility.

• The accident shattered her pelvis, dislocated her foot, and her spinal column was broken in three places.

• Big business demands superior forecasting, reporting, and analyzing.

• A good financial planner must be certified, competent, and must possess ethical standards.

Which of the following transitions would help to clarify an idea?

• Next

• as a result

• for example

• instead

To avoid dangling modifiers, you can ask which of the following questions after writing an introductory phrase?  

• Why?

• Who or What?

• When?

• How many?

A(n) ________ modifier occurs when the word or phrase it describes is not close in the sentence enough to be clear.  

• parallel

• misplaced

• dangling

• run-on