Minutes 02/29/12

Minutes for Wednesday, Feburary 29th.

Prepared by: Remington Drake

Present: Carmen, Jacqueline, Brooke, Jordan, Leah, Casey, Remington, Robert

Jordan presented the minutes from Wednesday, the 12^th. Suzanne wished to emphasize a point Jordan mentioned, which was that we should refrain from using “however” at the beginning of a sentence. It will be something she looks for in our future assignments.

There was some confusion over the new minutes schedule. Suzanne said she would address it at some other time, so we would not take away from class time.

Topic

Everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation given by Chris. Suzanne compared him to an electrician, or some other individual devoted to a field that has become an integral part of our society. Electronic communication has become an important tool in the workplace, and people like Chris are committed to its growth and utility.

Discussion

Most everyone did well on the persuasive letter assignment. Suzanne noted our improvement in avoiding garbage and filler statements, but she felt we could improve upon our wordiness. Using wordy and redundant statements displays a lack of precision, and it only serves as a crutch to avoid refining one’s ideas. Suzanne will pay careful attention to precision in our midterm assignments.

Exercise

To help us develop an awareness of wordy statements, Suzanne asked each of us to come up with precise substitutions for redundant phrases. 

Examples include:

personal opinion
immediate vicinity
referring back
end result
continue on
first and foremost
hope and trust
each and every one of you
various and sundry
attractive in appearance
at this moment in time

Robert asked if there was a place for nuanced phrases, and Suzanne responded not to use them in workplace communication. While some wordiness is acceptable in academic writing, attempting to write nuanced phrases for workplace communication only dilutes meaning. Conciseness should be a priority.

Topic

Before we began to edit each other’s rough drafts, Suzanne addressed the tenets of good editing:

1. Conciseness:
• Cut out the wordiness
2. Clarity:
• Your writing should not dwell on obvious statements.
• Have a clear point to what you write, and work to express it.
• Don’t be vague; there is no place for ambiguity in workplace communication.
3. Grammar and punctuation:
• While our punctuation is good, we must improve our grammar.
4. Appropriateness to audience:
• The audience is our class, so write in a familiar tone.
• Be sure the topic is about you and not someone else.
• Use of first person is preferred.
5. Idea development:
• Show, don’t tell.
• Know your intent. Seek to write a blog post that is entertaining or enlightening, or one that shows a different facet of your personality.

Important points to remember:

• Each person has a voice that you cannot cut out. You can still make suggestions about how the audience receives the message, but keep the writer’s voice intact.
• If you’re going to correct grammar, be sure you know what you are doing. Uncertain advice doesn’t help.
• Use understandable proofreading marks.
• Don’t over-edit. You want to be helpful, not evil. Remember to give positive comments where they are deserved. 

Topic
The syllabus has the correct due dates for the midterm. Your blog entry must be posted no later than March 4^th, 11:59pm. You are to bring a printed copy to class March 5^th. Both the entry and the hard copy will count towards 50% of your midterm grade.

You will present your entry on March 5^th, and this will count toward the other 50% of your grade.

• It should be no longer than 8 minutes.
• You should avoid stammering, excessive use of notes, and bad comport.
• You are not restricted to what you posted, but stay on your topic. Your presentation should supplement your post.
• If you include a photo, video, hyperlink, or other type of media, you will receive extra credit. It livens the post.

Discussion

We received someone's rough draft to edit. After editing, we met with the writer to discuss corrections.