Chapter 5: The Message: Structure 18 Chapter Outline Thinking versus Structuring Thinking

• Be Aware of your assumptions • Draw valid conclusions • Avoid logical defects

Structuring

• Provide a hierarchy for your ideas • Put your ideas in order

Thinking Vs Structuring

• Thinking and structuring communications are two different things. • When you think, all different kinds of ideas occur to you some good,

some bad, some complete and some fragmented. • The result of thinking process is your conclusion.

THOUGHT PROCESS (Thinking) ends with conclusion

TIME

Bad ideas

Assumptions

Good ideas

Facts

Data

Reach conclusion

last

STRATEGIC PROCESS (Structuring) emphasizes the conclusion

State conclusion first (usually)

Organized ideas

Organized ideas

Organized ideas

Organized ideas

Thinking Process Q# Explain Thinking with all its components in detail.

1. Be Aware of your assumptions 2. Draw valid conclusions 3. Avoid logical defects

1. Be Aware of your assumptions

• Assumptions are basis for all the rest of your thinking. • In business communication you make assumptions. Here are

three cases:

Case 1: “This program will increase our profits.” Case 2: “I better finish this report tonight or I will get fired” Case 3: “In this letter, I am going to try to calm down this, irate customer”

2. Draw Valid Conclusion:

• Assumptions and facts are what you start out with when you are

thinking; conclusion is what you end up with. • There are two valid methods to draw conclusion:

I. Deduction

II. Induction

I. Deduction: Deduction is starting with a main principle or assumption, applying it to a specific case, and drawing a conclusion. Example: Start with a main principle, such as “Business Communication is important”.

Apply a specific case, such as “writing is a part of communication”; and come up with a conclusion, “Therefore, writing is important”.

II. Induction: This only other valid way to draw conclusion is by induction. Induction means starting with specifics and generalizing to the main principle. Example: Start with a series of specific such as: “I will be spending a lot of time in business meetings” “I will be spending a lot of time writing business letters” “I will be spending a lot of time writing memos to the people within the organization” Then Draw a generalization: “Therefore, I will be spending a lot of time communicating”. Note: n induction, it’s crucial that your specifics be reliable relevant and representative.

3. Avoid Logical Defects You can avoid these defects sometimes called logical misconceptions by remembering three main rules: Rule No.1: Hasty Generalization (or jumping to the conclusion based on too little evidence). Example: “The woman we hired in the Engineering department quit, so let’s stick to hiring men” Rule No.2: Do not Hide (Do not hide your ideas themselves and do not hide behind illogical false ideas)

Example 1: “We are marketing product X in trade journals because we marketed product Y in trade Journals.” Example 2: “The overseas workers allege that the managers require them to work in unsafe weather conditions. Perhaps we should increase their pay to mollify them. (Skirting the issue). Example 3: “The more floors in the skyscraper, the more likely is to be hit by the lightening.” (False Analogy). Rule No.3: Don’t oversimplify:

a) Avoid either/or defect: this occurs when you setup two alternatives and do not allow any other.

Example: “if you don’t like your boss, than quit!”(ignores other alternatives such as changing the situation).

b) Avoid the catchall explanation: This oversimplification occurs when you isolate one factor and treat it as if it were the sole cause.

Example: “The Edsel failed because consumers weren’t ready for push – button gear shift.” (This idea ignores other possible reasons or combination of reasons for the Edsel’s failure).

Structuring of Ideas When you think, naturally, all different kinds of ideas occur to you some good, some bad, some complete, and some fragmented. The result of thinking process is your conclusion. When you communicate you don’t want your audience to wade through; instead, you want to structure your ideas, to make your conclusion clear. An effective structure is based on:

1. Providing a hierarchy for your ideas 2. Choosing the appropriate order for those ideas.

1. Providing a hierarchy for your ideas

An effective structure is based on your providing the hierarchy of ideas for your audience dividing ideas into groups and differentiating among these groups as follow:

I. Stress your conclusion (for first level idea) II. Divide you writing or speaking into main points (or second level

ideas) III. Subdivide into supporting points (or third level idea).

I. Stress your Conclusion (first level idea)

• You conclusion is the most important idea of your

communication. • It is the result of all your time, effort analysis, and thinking. • Since your conclusion is the top level idea, you need to stress it in

your message structure at the beginning. • Never bury your conclusion in the middle and your audience is

likely to miss it, skip it, or – at best – have to work hard to find it.

II. Divide into Second Level Points (Second Level idea)

• If you think of your conclusion as the top level idea, then next level down is made up of your second level idea.

• In two or three sentences in a nutshell try to lay out the whole substance of your communication.

• The purpose of nut-shelling is to help you get your points to the listeners.

III. Subdivide into Lower Level Points (Third level idea)

• Your second level idea is, in turn, supported by your lower level points.

2. Put Your Idea in Order

Putting ideas in order depend on objective of communication. There are two possible objectives:

A. Explain your idea to your audience B. Persuade your audience for action

A. For Explanatory Ideas

Once your top level idea is placed first, you can chose to order your ideas in any of the three ways:

a) Ordering idea by TIME This is an effective ordering to use for historical background or for steps in a process.

b) Ordering idea by COMPONENTS This order is most useful if you are describing existing classification.

For example if you were explaining the layout of your office building you might order by describing what they would find on the (1) first floor, (2) second floor, (3) third floor, and so on.

c) Ordering by IMPORTANCE Ordering by importance is more difficult than ordering by time or components. When you order importance, however, you must make a value judgment. For example you might analyze the cause of problem in your current inventory system: 1) the most important cause; 2) the second most important cause; 3) the third most important cause and so for.

B. For action ideas:

• Action ideas are trickier to put in order.

• If you recommending a change, you need to consider not only the topic, but also your own credibility, and your audience attitude.

• Basically you make your decision based on your audience likely hood to agree or to disagree.

Direct Approach: If your audience is likely to agree with your proposed action, you should structure your message.

• With your top level idea first, where they can see it easily and

• With your strongest evidence first, where they are more likely to see to hear or see it.

Advantages of Direct Approach

• People can take your ideas and understand you more easily when they know the top level idea first.

• The direct approach saves the time of your audience since business readers do not want to waste time with mysterious ending and suspense.

Indirect Approach: If you audience is likely to disagree with your proposed action, you need to structure you message to convince them. There are three ways to convince them:

i. State you’re least controversial points first. If people agree with the first thing read or hear, they are more likely to agree with the rest.

ii. Present rejected alternatives first; state your recommendation last. You may be perceived more fair minded if you state all options first.

iii. Use your strongest evidence last. Use the beginning to arouse audience interest. Get them “buy in “on ideas you know they believe or problems you know they need to solve.

• Use indirect approach cautiously, since it waste audience time. • Use it only if your audience is likely to disagree with your ideas or if

your audience is interested in your analytic process.