Blog Posting #2: Persuasion

Part 1
A)

•  Chapter 3 focuses on envisioning our reader's response to each and every specific aspect of our communication. It talks about identifying our reader's tasks in a manner that will allow us to figure out how to make communications useful, and persuasive. One part that I found very interesting was describing the reader's cultural characteristics. Anderson talk about how cultural differences affect communication, how to gain knowledge about our intercultural readers and how to apply these cultural knowledge when we communicate in a work place. One thing that surprised me is how some images and gestures could be interpreted different across cultures. For example, some words or images that may seem normal to one culture may violate the cultural customs of another. So, we will have to develop strategies that would result in effective communication with them. All the guidelines can be very crucial at a workplace. It can be very useful to identify the relevant elements of the context for our communication. It is also important to identify our communication's stakeholders and how our communication might affect them. Helping the readers perform their tasks by learning about the reader and reader's context is the most effective way to predict the way the reader is likely to respond. The gist of the chapter is when we are defining objectives of communication, we should focus on the reader rather than ourselves

     B)

•  Purpose: Introducing the team to the client and requesting to meet with them personally by the end of next week.  Since our team came up with our own project the reader will be Prof Waters, and prospective users of the product. 
• Creating a useful communication: Explain what the product would do and why it is recommended. Show evidence that there is a problem and this product could be a possible solution to it. Our project will show if a bus service is available as soon as the student leaves the class. The reader will search for the information either by sequential reading from the beginning to the end and reading for key points.The reader will use the information by comparing alternatives and determining how it will affect our institution. 
• Creating a persuasive communication: The reader's attitude might be that the current system is good enough but I want them to see that our's is better. The reader's attitude should be positive towards the organization because it is a service for the organization itself. The reader's attitude towards me will depend on how I present myself
• Reader's profile: If the reader is Prof Waters, he is very familiar with the topic, student-teacher relationship, no cultural differences that would affect communication, identify characteristics such as ability to use the system. Other people that might read our communication is the prospective users.
• Context: Prof Waters might not use the GT bus service often, therefore might not see it as important. 
• Ethical treatment of stakeholders: Stakeholders will be all the students that use the GT bus service and it might impact them positively and they would appreciate the better service. 

Part 2
     Chapter 4 talks about planning for usefulness. It gives advice on content and organization needed to help the reader and it also provides strategies that we can use that will enable the reader to understand our meaning fast.The three helpful guidelines in the chapter was to provide the exact content that our readers need through identifying the reader's questions, organize in a way that would help our reader perform their tasks, and help readers quickly understand what we are saying. This can be done by identifying the background the reader need about the topic and the situation, and by identifying their cultural expectations. These guidelines can be used to plan communications that are highly useful

Part 3
    Chapter 5 focuses on developing our persuasive skills. Some of the helpful guidelines from this chapter are: 1) Focusing on the reader's goals and values. This can be done through active listening, identifying business and value related goals that we can help them achieve. 2) Reason soundly. When we are trying to persuade others, it is essential to sound reasonable. This can be achieved by  presenting reliable and sufficient evidences such as expert testimonies, numerical data, and examples. Responding to the reader's concerns and learning from the counterarguments can also be very useful. 3) Building an effective relationship with the readers. This is accomplished by establishing credibility, and presenting ourselves as a partner with helpful suggestions. These guidelines can be used to write persuasively in competitive and cooperative environments.