Readings for Chapters 1, 20 and 22

I found reading chapters 1, 20 and 22 interesting and educational since I have no experience in business writing procedures. One writing guideline that stuck out at me is developing a "You-Attitude", mentioned in chapter 20. I agree that individuals need to center there writing on the individual who is going to interpret the message (reader) to create a positive environment. Writers with no experience in creating professional documents tend to focus on the issue alone without regard to how the audience will react to their message. The text mentioned writing should be useful and persuasive. This supports the idea of the "You-Attitude" that writers need to be sensitive to the issue and to the audience to enable their message to be useful and persuasive. By following these guidelines, you then create an atmosphere where both the communicator and the receiver can agree to situations or solve problems professionally and efficiently. This creates a win-win situation.

Chapter 20 focuses on explaining how to generate letters, memos and emails professionally. I can relate to this chapter in part because I have experience creating official memorandums and email correspondences in the military profession. The text states that memo's and email traffic are often used as communication devises in a professional environment. This is a true statement in the military world. Present society lives in a dominant technological cyber world and electronic mail is one convenience that we use to convey information fast and reliable. On average, I've had at least 2-4 official memorandums and 50 emails per week. This amount was nothing compared to my supervisors and managers in leadership positions who received triple or quadruple the amount I would receive. In this situation, several emails are going to be unread unless reading emails is a full time job, which is not common in today's multi-tasking world. With this email convenience comes abuse also. I've seen that people could abuse the system simply because of the fact that it is convenient send information or contact individuals by a simple click on "send". Through experiences, I would receive an email from my supervisor that would be sitting 5 feet away from me. I always thought to myself, "why couldn't you just verbally instruct me to do so".

My Writing

Let me begin by saying that the last english course I took was about four years ago as a general requirement. Since then, I have not done any major writing assignments for educational purposes. However, I am a business major and technical and professional writing is necessary to succeed in the business profession.

I recently separated from the Air Force after serving almost six years as an enlisted Airman to pursue a Bachelor's degree and obtain a commission through the Air Force's Reserve Officer's Training Corps. Once graduated, I'll re-enter active duty as an AF officer. Hopefully this course on technical and professional writing will enhance my skills necessary to effectively prepare professional documents. After a brief browse through the text and comments mentioned in class, I can attest that the Air Force in general has their specific writing guidelines. In order to be proficient in preparing official AF documents, individuals must be introduced to specific document generation requirements and practice writing in these formats. Although similar in structure to business writing, official AF documents have different formats based upon the purpose of the document. There are also specific guidelines for electronic documents and email which could serve as official documents.

My goal in this class is be introduced to the writing in the private and public sectors of the business world and to further develop my writing skills.