Describes an assignment for a business writing course which helps students learn to focus on the reader in persuasive writing. (SR)

Discusses the problem of asking students to write for the teacher, an authoritative, superior reader. Asserts that a better approach is to ask the students to first address their papers to a small group, and second to choose a specific value system to characterize the attitudes and beliefs of the group selected. (PRA)

Discusses the importance in business communication classes of the "You Attitude" (focusing messages on the interests and needs of the receiver rather than the sender) and "Naturalness" (using everyday wording). Studies their use in actual business correspondence. Finds only 27 percent of the correspondents making satisfactory use of the "You…

Advocates asking business communications students to compose entries into role-playing journals as a means of practicing the concepts of audience analysis and appropriateness of language to speaker and context. Describes the assignment, the way it can be analyzed, and the benefits of the approach. (HB)

Discusses the difficulties with anticipating reader needs and evaluating a text's effectiveness. Reviews current methods of evaluating audience needs such as peer review and audience testing. Describes a reader-focused assignment detailing the class preparation, peer review, reader testing, reader response, and student response to reader…

Discusses collaborative planning as a heuristic for dealing with the rhetorical elements often considered by experienced writers when they plan and prepare documents. Defines collaborative planning, identifies its benefits, discusses its implementation in upper-level business communication courses, and presents a series of examples of students…

Describes a project in which engineering students wrote science books for children as part of a technical writing course focusing on how writers adapt to the audience. Discusses children's positive reactions to the books, and notes the engineering students' enthusiasm for the project. (MM)