Question

Read the following paragraph and its possible revisions. Then choose the revision that has the best paragraph coherence and that most accurately supports the original paragraph.

Communication with the public and employees should be overseen by the director of PR. The duties of the crisis team should be divided according to each member’s area of expertise. Since communicating accurate information is critical, you will need to assign specific members to interface with your own employees and public-safety agencies. If your company does not have a public relations executive, this job should be handled by the head of marketing or human resources. Furthermore, all members of your crisis team should receive training in crisis communication.

1.	Communication with the public and employees should be overseen by the director of PR. The duties of the crisis team should be divided according to each member’s area of expertise. Since communicating accurate information is critical, you will need to assign specific members to interface with your own employees and public-safety agencies. If your company does not have a public relations executive, this job should be handled by the head of marketing or human resources. Furthermore, all members of your crisis team should receive training in crisis communication.
2.	All members of your crisis team should receive training in crisis communication, and the duties of the crisis team should be divided according to each member’s area of expertise. Since communicating accurate information is critical, you will need to assign specific members to interface with your own employees and public-safety agencies. Communication with the public and employees should be overseen by the director of PR. If your company does not have a public relations executive, this job should be handled by the head of marketing or human resources.
3.	The duties of the crisis team should be divided according to each member’s area of expertise. Since communicating accurate information is critical, you will need to assign specific members to interface with your own employees and public-safety agencies. Communication with the public and employees should be overseen by the director of PR. If your company does not have a public relations executive, this job should be handled by the head of marketing or human resources. Nevertheless, all members of your crisis team should receive training in crisis communication.

The best revision of the original paragraph is:     .

Select the most appropriate transitions to promote paragraph coherence in the paragraphs that follow.

Effective business messages are well organized and context appropriate;   , your first step in crafting effective messages is appropriate planning. You should begin planning by conducting a situational analysis.   , you should gather all appropriate and relevant data or information. The amount of research you conduct will be determined by the purpose and scope of the message.

  , you should develop an outline for your message.   , you are ready to begin writing. You may have to write several drafts before you finish your message. Don’t be afraid to rewrite multiple times.   , spending a little extra time on the planning and drafting process is always wise.

Shorter paragraphs are more readable and inviting to business audiences. Answer the following question about paragraph length.

Which one of the following techniques will help you control the length of your paragraphs?

Develop shorter sentences.

Limit the use of bullets and lists.

Break large topics into smaller segments.

Answer 1

The best revision of the original paragraph is:

3. The duties of the crisis team … crisis communication.

Explanation:

The effective paragraph contains a topic sentence and support sentences. In option (3) the topic sentence (the idea of the paragraph) is written in the beginning. In other paragraphs, the topic sentence is in the middle of the paragraph, so it is difficult to comprehend.

The effective paragraph should have coherence. In option (3), the use of ‘nevertheless’ is appropriate. In option (1), ‘furthermore’ is used, which means ‘besides’. In the paragraph, the writer has written ‘If your company does not have a public relations executive, this job should be handled by the head of marketing or human resources’, which communicates something missing. So ‘furthermore’ is not the correct word to use.

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Effective business messages are well organized and context-appropriate; therefore, your first step in crafting effective messages is appropriate planning. You should begin planning by conducting a situational analysis. Following this, you should gather all appropriate and relevant data or information. The amount of research you conduct will be determined by the purpose and scope of the message.

After completing these two steps, you should develop an outline for your message. Finally, you are ready to begin writing. You may have to write several drafts before you finish your message. Don’t be afraid to rewrite multiple times. Since the most effective (successful) messages are well crafted, spending a little extra time on the planning and drafting process is always wise.

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Which one of the following techniques will help you control the length of your paragraphs?

The correct option:

Break large topics into smaller segments

Explanation:

• The short paragraph does not mean that the writer should distort the message. Developing short sentences might not convey meaning. Hence, this option is incorrect.
• Limiting the use of bullets and lists. Limiting the use of bullets and lists will increase the lengths of paragraphs. Hence, this option is incorrect.