Words, Sentences, Paragraphs

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Words, Sentences, Paragraphs
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What style of writing works best for industry or
business?
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• Verbs
• Clutter
• Market-speak
• Pronouns
• Transitions
• Parallelism
• Jargon

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Verbs

• Use strong verbs.
• Avoid passive.
• Avoid overusing to be.
• Vary verbs.
• Keep same tense throughout.

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Weak Verbiage

• Being that you are an employee, the form must be
  submitted at two oclock.

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Active Voice

• Active
• The employee found the stapler.
• Passive
• The stapler was found by the employee.
• Use active voice unless you want to
• Add variety.
• Emphasize the object.
• Leave out the subject.

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Good Uses for Passive

• The orders were not prepared in time for the
  delivery.
• The President was honored today in a special
  ceremony by the U.S. Navy.

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Reword

• After the report has been completed and
  submitted, the card must be inserted into the
  clock.
• The task was completed by Tim.
• The homework was done by someone other than the
  person whom it was supposed to be done by.

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Phrases to Avoid

• Through the use of
• In order to/for
• On the part of
• As to whether
• In the case of
• For the purpose of
• Being that

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Sentence Makeover

• For a good grade to occur, you will need to make
  good use of your study time.
• There is widespread abuse of alcohol on this
  college campus by students.
• If you hear the alarm, you will leave the
  building immediately.
• Quickly, douse that flame through the use of a
  fire extinguisher!

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Avoid Marketspeak
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• Install the nutritious and delicious Pop-It Toast
  Supreme into your primary toasting mechanismits
  a no brainer!
• Our team will facilitate a seamless knowledge
  transfer to the client-base, improve workflow,
  and do some heavy lifting towards generating
  buzz.
• Pursuant to the operational procedure, you are
  expected to outflow a minimum content generation
  of 1,000 word units.

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Cut the Fluff

• Due to the fact that some students have not been
  in the habit of paying attention, I have little
  choice but to give a pop quiz.
• This report should provide some clarification of
  the issue.
• In order to secure a more accurate inspection of
  the specimen, I used the high-power lens in spite
  of my supervisors request not to make use of it.
  

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Official Style

• Passive/impersonal
• Complex verb constructions
• Latin diction (-shun, -zed)
• Long windups
• Long strings of prepositional phrases
• Difficult/tedious to read aloud
• Euphemistic (buzzwords)

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What is Solutionize?

• Solutionize is a breakthrough knowledge and
  services platform for Technology Solutions that
  dramatically reduces costs, exposes new revenue
  opportunities, facilitates and simplifies partner
  collaboration, and knowledge enables a vendor's
  sales force. It provides a solution dimension
  that simplifies collaborative e-commerce between
  partners selling combined solutions.

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Pronouns

• Make sure the pronoun fits the antecedent.
• Number
• Gender
• Case
• Consider using plural nouns or specific words to
  avoid the he/she problem.

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• Every student will need to bring their books to
  every class.
• Them and me will send our recommendation to he
  and she.
• An electrician must wear his rubber-soled boots
  at all times.

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When to use you?

• When writing instructions or guides, use you and
  imperative verbs.
• After you have installed the software, click the
  green button to proceed to the next step.
• Make sure the you is referring to the actual
  reader.
• You must wear a jockstrap while sparring.

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That and Which

• Place a comma before which.
• I bought these bulb at Menards, which was
  offering a discount on them.
• Do not place a comma before that.
• I have assembled all of the ingredients that are
  called for by the recipe.

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Commonly Confused Words

• Effect is a noun affect is a verb.
• I loved the special effects in that film.
• I was not affected by the change in policy.
• All ready/Already
• We were all ready for the party.
• We were already late for it.
• Accept/Except
• Lose/loose

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Sentences

• Write short to medium sentences (less than 30
  words).
• Avoid repetition.
• Dont put more than one idea in a single
  sentence.
• Use lists when appropriate.

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• The homework should be completed in a timely and
  orderly fashion in order for the student who is
  assigned the homework to earn a good grade on the
  homework.
• School is not actually boring, and I have found
  that coffee is not good for me to drink before
  having breakfast.

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Lists

• Maintain parallelism
• Make sure order is appropriate
• Consider mentioning of items beforehand.
• Be wary of bulleting unimportant lists.
• If the items are longer than a phrase or short
  sentence, put them in paragraph form.

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Lists

• Geometry students should bring three tools to
  each class
• Graphing Calculator
• Protractor
• Compass.
• Today we will discuss six types of pronouns
  personal, demonstrative, indefinite, reflexive,
  reciprocal, and relative.

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• Notify your doctor if you experience any of the
  following symptoms
• Sudden dizziness.
• You discover that your finger or toes are turning
  blue.
• Temporary loss of hearing.

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Transitions

• I have never had a problem earning an A in any of
  my classes. I earned a C in Chemistry.
• Ted was one of the luckiest guys I know.
  Yesterday, his car exploded into flame, and he
  died in the fire.

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Paragraphs

• Vary the length of your paragraphs.
• Place transitions between paragraphs.

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• I voted in the last election. I voted for John
  Smith. John Smith was the only Whig candidate
  running for the office. The office was mayor.
  John Smith would have made a good mayor. I am
  certain. John Smith did not win the election.
  That is unfortunate.

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Sections

• Divide up long documents into sections.
• Begin each section with a proper header.
• Dont go more than three levels deep.
• Dont treat section names as body text.

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What should you consider when using expert
terminology?
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• After the flop, youll have a better idea of the
  strength of your hand.
• If you have PC, search the vehicle.
• Please do not install any cracks or keygens on
  university computers.

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Problems?

• Please submit your TPS Report (Test Procedure
  Specialization) as soon as you arrive for work.
  Submit your TPS Form (Training Personnel
  Schedule) before leaving for the day.

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Helpful Section Headings

• Selecting a rod.
• Wood vs. Fiberglass
• Long vs. Short Rods
• Selecting a reel.
• Open Face Reels
• Spin Cast Reels

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Bad Section Headings

• Section 1
• Part One
• Part Two
• Fishing Guidebook
• Anglers
• Stuff to Know
• What to Do