Chaper 8 Questions

1. The five main goals in delivering bad news are to convey the news, to gain acceptance for it, to maintain as much goodwill as possible with your audience, to maintain a good image for you organization, and to reduce or eliminate the need for future correspondence.

2. When choosing between the direct and indirect approaches, you should ask yourself...

1. Will the news come as a shock to your audience?

2. Does the reader prefer messages that are short and get right to the point?

3. How important is the bad news to the reader?

4. Do you need to maintain a close working relationship with the reader?

5. Do you need to get the reader's attention?

6. What communication style does your organization prefer?

3. The sequence of elements in a negative message organized using the indirect approach is opening with a buffer, then providing reasons and additional information that signal the coming negative news, then providing a clear statement of the bad news, and finally closing on a positive note by building goodwill, offering a suggestion for action, or providing a look towards the future.

4. A buffer is a neutral statement that is related to the point of the message. Some people consider it to be unethical because it may be insincere, deceptive, divert attention away from the problem, or lead your reader to think there is good news coming.

5. When using the indirect approach to deliver bad news, you present your reasons before explaining the decision itself because it will help prepare and lead your reader to your decision before you actually come out and say it. Your reader will be able to follow your line of reasoning and their focus will stay on the main issue. Also, providing reasons first helps to defuse any negative emotions that may come with the bad news.