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Preface | |
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Principles | |
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Characteristics of Writing at Work | |
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Writing at Work versus Writing at School | |
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Achieving job goals | |
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Addressing a variety of readers who have different perspectives | |
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Excessive paperwork and e-mails | |
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Unknown readers over an infinite time | |
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Legal liability for the writer and the organization | |
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Using a variety of documents | |
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The Foundations of Effective Writing at Work | |
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The Qualities of Good Technical Writing | |
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Exercises | |
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Writing for Your Readers | |
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Understand Your Readers-The Heart of the Planning Process | |
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Determine your readers and their perspectives | |
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Determine your purpose | |
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Understand your role as a writer | |
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Plan the content | |
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Anticipate the context in which your writing will be received | |
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Case 2-1 | |
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Case 2-2 | |
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The Basic Parts of the Composing Process | |
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Analyzing the writing situation-purpose, readers, and context | |
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Choosing/discovering content | |
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Arranging content | |
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Drafting | |
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Revising | |
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Editing | |
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Case 2-3 | |
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Planning and Revision Checklist: Audience, Purpose, and Context | |
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Exercises | |
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Writing Ethically | |
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Your Professional Obligations | |
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Codes of Conduct | |
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Recognizing Unethical Communication | |
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Plagiarism and theft of intellectual property | |
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Deliberately imprecise or ambiguous language | |
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Manipulation of numerical information | |
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Use of misleading illustrations | |
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Promotion of prejudice | |
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Managing Unethical Situations | |
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Ethics Decision Checklist | |
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Exercises | |
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Achieving a Readable Style | |
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The Paragraph | |
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Examples for study | |
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Basic Principles of Effective Style | |
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Determine your readers' knowledge of the subject | |
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Determine whether a Particular style is expected | |
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Adjust the style to the purpose, the readers, and the context | |
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Keys to Building Effective Sentences | |
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Select your level of language | |
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adjust the density of information | |
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Watch sentence length | |
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Keep subjects and verbs close together | |
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Write simple, squeaky-clean prose | |
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Avoid pompous language | |
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write to express, not to impress | |
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Avoid excessive use of is/are verb forms | |
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Use active voice for clarity | |
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Word Choice | |
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Style Checklist | |
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Exercises | |
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Designing Documents | |
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Understanding the Basics of Document Design | |
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Know what decisions are yours to make | |
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Choose a design that fits your situation | |
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Plan your design from the beginning | |
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Reveal your design to your readers | |
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Keep your design consistent | |
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Designing Effective Pages and Screens | |
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Use blank space to frame and group information | |
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Space the lines of text for easy reading | |
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Set the line length for easy reading | |
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Use a ragged right margin | |
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Helping Readers Locate Information | |
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Use frequent headings | |
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Write descriptive headings | |
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Design distinctive headings | |
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Use page numbers and headers or footers | |
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Document Design Checklist | |
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Exercises | |
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Designing Illustrations | |
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Tables | |
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Bar and Column Graphs | |
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Circle Graphs | |
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Line Graphs | |
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Organization Charts | |
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Flow Charts | |
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Diagrams | |
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Photographs | |
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Designing Illustrations Ethically | |
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Illustration Checklist | |
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Exercises | |
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Applications | |
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E-mails, Memoranda, and Letters | |
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E-mails | |
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Memos and Letters | |
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Guidelines for Ensuring Quality | |
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Appropriate Tone in E-mails, Memos, and Letters | |
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Phrases to avoid | |
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Writing that sounds phony or arrogant | |
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Writing that sounds tactless | |
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Guidelines for Creating an Appropriate Tone | |
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Planning and Writing Common Types of Memos and Letters | |
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Case 7-1: Informational memo | |
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Case 7-2: Instructional memo | |
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Case 7-3: Letter requesting information | |
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Case 7-4: Unfavorable news letter | |
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Case 7-5: Persuasive letter | |
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Case 7-6: Letter of reply | |
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Review of Principles: Questions for Planning | |
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Correspondence Checklist | |
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Exercises | |
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Technical Reports | |
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Kinds of Reports | |
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Report Heading | |
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Subject line | |
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Reference | |
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Action required | |
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Distribution List | |
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Parts of a Technical Report | |
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Introduction | |
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Summary | |
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Introduction + summary | |
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Conclusion | |
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Recommendations | |
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Attachments | |
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Developing Reports | |
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Case 8-1 | |
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Additional report examples | |
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Elements of Formal Reports | |
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Prefatory elements | |
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Abstracts and summaries | |
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Discussion, or body of the report | |
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Case 8-2 | |
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Conclusion | |
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Recommendations | |
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Appendixes | |
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Letter Reports | |
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Report for Study | |
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Checklist for Developing Proposals and Progress Reports | |
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Exercises | |
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Proposals and Progress Reports | |
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Proposals | |
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Example RFP | |
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The context of proposal development | |
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Effective argument in proposal development | |
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Standard sections of proposals | |
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Case 9-1: Research proposal | |
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Case 9-2: Project proposal | |
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Progress Reports | |
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Structure of progress reports | |
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Case 9-3 | |
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Case 9-4 | |
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Style and Tone of Proposals and Progress Reports | |
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Checklist for Developing Proposals and Progress Reports | |
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Exercises | |
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Instructions, Procedures, and Policies | |
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Instructions versus Procedures | |
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Planning Instructions and Procedures | |
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Structure and Organization | |
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Introduction | |
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Theory governing the procedure or instruction | |
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Warnings, cautions, hazards, and notes regarding safety or quality | |
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Conditions under which the task is to be performed | |
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Name of each step | |
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Case 10-1: Process instructions | |
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Case 10-2: Instructional report | |
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Case 10-3: Instructional letter | |
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Online Instructions | |
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Case 10-4 | |
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Reflections on Developing Effective Instructions | |
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Case 10-5 | |
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Checklist for Developing Instructions and Procedures | |
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Exercises | |
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Oral Reports | |
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Understanding the Speaking-Writing Relationship | |
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Analyzing the Audience | |
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Determining the Goal of Your Presentation | |
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Choosing and Shaping Content | |
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Analyzing the Context | |
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Choosing the Organization | |
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Choosing an Appropriate Speaking Style | |
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Choosing Visuals to Enhance Your Purpose and Meaning | |
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Planning Your Presentation-Questions You Need to Ask | |
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Audience | |
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Purpose | |
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Context | |
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Content | |
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Graphics | |
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Style | |
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Speaking to Multicultural Audiences | |
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Designing Each Segment | |
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Choose an interesting title | |
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Develop your presentation around three main divisions | |
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Plan the introduction carefully | |
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Design the body | |
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Design the conclusion | |
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Choosing an Effective Delivery Style | |
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Techniques to enhance audience comprehension | |
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Designing and Presenting the Written Paper | |
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Structuring the written speech | |
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Writing the speech | |
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Practicing the presentation | |
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Checklist for Preparing Oral Reports | |
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Exercises | |
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Resumes and Job Applications | |
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The Correspondence of the Job Search | |
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Letter of application | |
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The resume | |
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Follow-up letters | |
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Interviewing | |
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The interview | |
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Negotiation | |
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Before and after the interview | |
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Job Search Checklist | |
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Exercises | |
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Brief Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage | |
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Documentation Systems: MLA, CMS, and APA | |
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Index | |