匯豐銀行商務英語寫作教程匯總

HSBCWritingCourse-"WritingforResults"

Chapter1Planyourwriting

Chapter2Organiseyourwriting

Chapter3Draftandreviseyourwritingtomakeitcomplete

Chapter4Reviseyourwritingtomakeitcohesive

Chapter5Reviseyourwritingtomakeitclearandconcise

Chapter6Reviseyourwritingtomakeitcourteous

Chapter7Structuredifficultletters

Chapter8Edityourwriting

Introduction

Welcometo"WritingforResults",acoursethatcanhelpyouenhanceyour

Englishwritingskills.

HSBChasdesignedthiscourseforitsstaffintheAsiaPacificregion.HSBC

staffstudythiscoursetoimprovethee-mails,memos,faxesandlettersthey

writeatwork.

Ifyou'veneverwrittenbusinessdocumentsbefore,you'llfindthiscourse

extremelyuseful.Evenifyou'refamiliarwithbusinesswriting,thiscoursecan

stillhelpyou.

"WritingForResults"willhelpyouwriteinamodernstyle.Bytheendofthis

courseyou'llbeabletowritebusinessdocumentsthatare:betterorganized,

morecomplete,clearerandmoreconcise,morecourteous,morecorrect.

ThemostimportantfeatureoftheWritingProcessisitsfivestages:

plan-organize-draft-revise-edit

GoodwritersfollowthefivestagesoftheWritingProcessto

-meettheirreaders'expectations

-gettheresultstheywant.

1.Chapter1Planyourwriting

Objectives:

Bytheendofthischapter,you'llbeabletoplanyourwriting.You'lldothisby

deciding:

-whyyouarewriting

-howyouwantyourreadertorespond

-whatyouwantyourreadertoknow

Whydoyouplan?

Whatisthevalueofplanning?Thinkaboutthis...

Haveyoueversatatyourdesknotknowinghowtobegin?Veryoften,you

mayfindwritingdifficultbecauseyoustartwritingrightaway.Inotherwords,

youoverlooktheimportanceofplanningbeforeyouwrite.Unfortunately,"if

youfailtoplan,youplantofail."Soyouneedtoplanyourwriting...andthen

writeaccordingtoyourplan.Ifyouplanwell,yourwritingismorelikelytoget

theresultsyouwant.

Howcanyouplanyourwriting?

Effectivewritersuse3strategies.

WHYareyouwriting?

WHATdoyouwantthereadertodo?

WHATdoesthereaderneedtoknow?

These3questionsprovideagoodframeworkforplanning.Let'slookatthem

onebyone.

Whyareyouwriting?

Thebusinessworldisfullofbusypeople.Theydon'twanttowastetime

readingmeaninglessletters,memos,faxesande-mails.Theydon'twantto

guesswhyyou'rewritingtothem.That'swhyit'sveryimportantforyoutostate

yourpurposeforwritingveryclearlyatthebeginning.

Lookatthefollowingletter:

20September200X

MrRobertRoman

13/F151GloucesterRd

WanChai

HongKong

DearMrRoman

HSBCCREDITCARD5411800176338766

Thankyouforyourletterdated18September200X.

Wewouldadvisethatthecardfeewouldbeautomaticallybilledtoyourcard

accountannuallydespiteyourrenewedcardisremaineduncollected.

However,annualfeecanberefundedprovidedthatthecardisuncollected

withinacertainperiodandisreturnedtotheCardCentreforcancellation.

Pleasethereforepickupyourrenewedcardatyourearliestconvenience.

Wearepleasedtobeofservice.

Yourssincerely

STSE

SimonTse

CustomerServiceOfficer

CardCentre

Simon'sletterisnotaseffectiveasitcouldbe.It'sactuallyquitedifficultto

identifyhispurpose.Youmayhavehadtoguess.

Simonprobablywantedtodotwothings:

-toaskMrRomantocollecthiscreditcardand

-toexplainhowtheannualfeeforcreditcardsischarged.

So,youneedtoidentifyyourpurposeforwriting.Yourreadersneedtoknow

whyyouarewritingtothem.Therefore,youshouldstateyourpurposefor

writingveryclearlyatthebeginning.Youcandothisbywritingasentence

whichbeginswithasetphrasefollowedbyaverb.Forexample,

I'mwritingto/1wouldliketo...explain/request...

Whenyouusethismethodtostateyourpurpose,theverbyouchooseisvery

important.Why?Becauseithelpsyourreaderunderstandwhyyouarewriting.

Herearesomeoftheverbsyoucanuse:announce,complain,confirm,explain,

inform,notify,propose,requestandsuggest.

WHATdoyouwantthereadertodo?

Afteryoudecidewhyyouarewriting,youneedtodetermineyourreader's

response.

Yourreadersneedtoknowexactlywhatyouwantthemtodo.Therefore,you

shouldbeveryspecificwhendeterminingyourreader'sresponse.Compare

thefollowingtwosentences:

1.Pleasethereforepickupyourrenewedcardatyourearliestconvenience.

2.PleasepickupyournewcardatourCentralbranchby31May.

Sentence2ismorespecificthansentence1.

Remember:whenyoudecidewhatyouwantyourreadertodo,youneedtobe

asspecificaspossible.

WHATdoesthereaderneedtoknow?

Sofar,you'velearnedhowtodetermineyourpurposeforwritingandyour

reader'sresponse.Buthowcanyoudeterminewhatyourreaderneedsto

know?Theanswerdependson:

-whyyouarewritingand

-whatyouwantthereadertodo.

Lookattheletteragain:

20September200X

MrRobertRoman

13/F151GloucesterRd

WanChai

HongKong

DearMrRoman

HSBCCREDITCARD5411800176338766

Thankyouforyourletterdated18September200X.

Wewouldadvisethatthecardfeewouldbeautomaticallybilledtoyourcard

accountannuallydespiteyourrenewedcardisremaineduncollected.

However,annualfeecanberefundedprovidedthatthecardisuncollected

withinacertainperiodandisreturnedtotheCardCentreforcancellation.

Pleasethereforepickupyourrenewedcardatyourearliestconvenience.

Wearepleasedtobeofservice.

Yourssincerely

STSE

SimonTse

CustomerServiceOfficer

CardCentre

IFSimon

-wantstoexplainthecharges(writer'spurpose)

-expectsMrRomantounderstandthecharges(reader'sresponse)

THENMrRomanneedstoknow(reader'sinformation)

-WHATthechargesare

-WHYthechargesareapplied

-WHOtotalktoifhehasquestions

IFSimon

-wantstoaskMrRomantocollecthiscreditcard(writer'spurpose)

-expectsMrRomantocollecthiscreditcard(reader'sresponse)

THENMrRomanneedstoknow(reader'sinformation)

-HOWtocollecthiscreditcard

-WHEREtocollecthiscreditcard

-WHENtocollecthiscreditcard

HeneedstoknowWHO?WHAT?WHY?WHERE?WHEN?andHOW?Some

professionalwriterscallthesethefiveW'sandtheoneH.Youcanusethe

"5WIH"questionswhenyouplanthereader'sinformation.Ifyoudothis,you

willensurethatyourreaderhasallthenecessaryinformation.

Summary

Inthischapter,you'velearnedthethreestrategiesusedinplanning.Planning

isakeytosuccessinwriting."Ifyoufailtoplan,youplantofail."

Beforeyoustarttowrite,youhavetoplanwhattowrite.Youthenwrite

accordingtoyourplan.Whenyouplan,youneedtoconsiderthefollowing:

-thewriter'spurpose

-thereader'sresponse

-thereader'sinformation.

Inotherwords,youcanhelpyourreaderbystatingveryclearlywhyyouare

writingandhowyouexpectyourreadertorespond.The5W1Hquestions(who,

what,why,where,whenandhow)helptoensureyouhaveincludedallthe

necessaryinformation.

Then,youcanprovidetheinformationyourreaderneedstoknow.

2.Chapter2.

Welcometochapter2

InChapter1youlearnedhowtoplanabusinessletter.

Inthischapter,you'regoingtolookatthesecondstageofthe

WritingProcess:

PlantoOrganise.

Organise

ThiscourseisbasedontheWritingProcess,astep-by-step

procedureforproducingeffectivecorrespondence.Therefore,HSBC

recommendsthatyoustudyeachchapterofthiscourseinorder,

beginningwiththeintroductorychapter"GettingStarted".

Objectives

Bytheendofthischapteryou'llbeabletoorganiseyourwriting.

You'lldothisby

preparingaclearoutline

arrangingthecontentstofittheoutline.

Planning:AQuickReview

InChapter1,youlearnedabouttheplanningstageoftheWriting

Process.

Beforeyoucanorganiseyourwriting,it'simportantthatyouhave

planned.Doyourememberthethreethingsyouneedtoplanbefore

beginningtowrite?

StrategiesDescription

Writer'spurposeWhyyouarewriting

Howyouwantthereaderto

Reader'sresponse

respond

Reader's

Whatyouwantthereadertoknow

information

Organising:WhyDoIt

Awell-organisedletter,memo,faxore-mailiseasytoreadand

understand.

Ifyouorganisethecontentsofyourcorrespondencewell,youare

morelikelytogettheresultsyouwant.

So,organisingisjustasimportantasplanning.

Infact,thesecondstageoftheWritingProcessiscloselyrelatedto

thefirst.

Intheorganisingstage,youarrangewhatyou'veplannedtowrite.In

otherwords,youmakeanoutline.

Organising:HowToDoIt

Howdoyouorganisewhatyouhaveplanned?

Doyouneedtouseadifferentoutlineforeveryletter,memo,faxand

e-mailthatyouwrite?

Notatall!Forsomespecialsituations,you'llneedspecialoutlines.

You'lllookatthoseinChapter7.However,formostofyourwritten

correspondence,youcanfollowastandardoutline.You'lllearnthat

outlineinthischapter.

Butbeforeyoulearnhowtoorganisethecontentsofyour

correspondence,youshouldlookatthevarioustypesof

correspondenceyoumayhavetowrite.

Organising:Summary

Inthischapter,youlearnedhowtoorganisethecontentsofthedocumentsyou

write.

Youlearnedthat,whenwritingtocolleaguesorcustomers,youusuallycan

followasimilaroutline.

SOFARcanhelpyourememberthebasicoutline.

InthefollowingSummaryExercise,youcanuseSOFARtohelpyouarrange

thecontentsofaletter.

Organising:SummaryExercise

Thereare10sentencesand3otherpartsofaletterbelow.Pleasearrange

theminthecorrectorder(1-13).

(1)Yourssincerely

(2)MayIsuggestthatyoucontactMrOngdirectly.

(3)IamsorrythatIwasnotintheofficewhenyourang.

(4)WedohaveabranchinSingapore.

(5)Ihopethisinformationishelpful.

(6)DearMrRushford

(7)Theaddressis54LiuFangRoad,JorongTown,Singapore.

(8)AlexRibero

(9)Iampleasedtoprovidetheinformationyourequested.

(10)ThemanagerisMrDavidOng

(11)Hecanprovideyouwiththefinancialadviceyouareseeking.

(12)Thankyoufortryingtocontactmebyphoneyesterday.

(13)Histelephonenumberis+655351234.

Answer:

DearMrRushford(6)

Thankyoufortryingtocontactmebyphoneyesterday.(12)IamsorrythatI

wasnotintheofficewhenyourang.(3)

Iampleasedtoprovidetheinformationyourequested.(9)

WedohaveabranchinSingapore.(4)Theaddressis54LiuFangRoad,

JorongTown,Singapore.(7)ThemanagerisMrDavidOng(10)MayIsuggest

thatyoucontactMrOngdirectly.(2)

Histelephonenumberis+655351234.(13)Hecanprovideyouwiththe

financialadviceyouareseeking.(11)

Ihopethisinformationishelpful.(5)

Yourssincerely(l)

AlexRibero(8)

WellDone!

You'venowcompletedChapter2!

InthischapteryoucontinuedtolearnabouttheWritingProcessbylookingat

thesecondstage-Organise.

Sonowyoucanorganiseyourbusinesscorrespondenceby

preparingaclearoutline

arrangingthecontents.

Inthenextchapter,you'lllookatthethirdstage-Draft,andthebeginningof

thefourthstage-Revise.

Seeyouthere!

3.Chapter3

Overview

Inthelasttwochapters,you'velearnedandpractisedthefirsttwostagesofthe

WritingProcess:PlanandOrganise.

Inthischapter,you'lllookatthenexttwostages:DraftandRevise.Together,

thesetwostagestakethemosttime.Writingthefirstdrafttakeslesstimethan

revising.You'llfocusonwritingthefirstdraftandtakingthefirststepinrevising

yourdraft.

PlantoOrganisetoDrafttoRevise

ThiscourseisbasedontheWritingProcess,astep-by-stepprocedurefor

producingeffectivecorrespondence.Therefore,HSBCrecommendsthatyou

studyeachchapterofthiscourseinorder,beginningwiththeintroductory

chapter"GettingStarted".

Objectives

Inthischapter,you'llstartworkingonawritingproject.

Asyoudoso,you'llbeableto

draftaletterand

reviseyourletterstomakethemcomplete.

PlanningandOrganising:AQuickReview

InthefirsttwostagesoftheWritingProcess,youplanandorganisewhat

you'regoingtowrite.

Inplanning,youdecide

whyyouarewriting(writer'spurpose)

howyourreaderwillrespond(reader'sresponse)

whatyourreaderneedstoknow(reader'sinformation).

Youthenorganiseyourplanbycreatinganoutline.

Drafting:BeforeYouBegin

Inthischapter,you'llbegintowritealetter.Asyouwritethisletter,you'llwork

throughallfivestagesoftheWritingProcess.

LETTERTOMRPERRY:THESITUATION

Theletteryouwillwriteisbasedonthefollowingsituation:

Situation:

Ourcustomer,MrRobertPerry,depositedachequethrough'QuickDeposit'

intohisPremieraccount.Unfortunately,thenameonthecheque(thebearer's

name)wasnotexactlythesameasthenameontheaccount.Thenameon

thechequewasMrRobertPery(insteadofPerry).Asaresult,themoneywas

notcreditedtoMrPerry'saccount.

Solution:

MrPerryneedstoaskthedrawertowriteanothercheque,makingsurethe

nameisexactlythesameasontheaccountcard.Then,themoneycanbe

depositedintohisaccount.

LETTERTOMRPERRY:THETASK

YouareaCustomerRelationshipOfficer.Althoughthereisastandardformto

dealwiththissituation,yourmanagerhasaskedyoutowritealettertoMr

Perry,asheisavaluedcustomer.

MrPerry'sdetailsareasfollows:

Address:Flat3A,BayshoreTower,Mary'sPoint,Vancouver

Accountno:613556556888

Chequeno:60263

Payeename:MrRPery

Nameonaccountrecord:MrRPerry

Whatwillyoudonext?Thinkaboutthis...

You'renotgoingtostartwritingimmediately,areyou?

Remember:therearefivestagesintheWritingProcess.Youalwaysneedto

beginwiththefirststage.

LETTERTOMRPERRY:PLANNING

Whatshouldyoudofirst?Youshouldplanwhattowrite!

Doyourememberthe3strategiesyouusewhenplanningtowrite?

The3strategiesinplanningare

WHYareyouwritingtoMrPerry?(ietheWriter'sPurpose)

WHATdoyouwantMrPerrytodo?(ietheReader'sResponse)

WHATdoesMrPerryneedtoknow?(ietheReader'sInformation).

LETTERTOMRPERRY:PLANNING

Howdidyoudo?Hereisasuggestedplan:

SuggestedAnswer

Writer'sPurpose

-Toexplainthesituation(whythechequewasnotaccepted)

-Topropose/suggestasolution

Reader'sResponse

-Tounderstandwhythechequewasnotaccepted

-Toacceptoursuggestion

Reader'sInformation

-Thenameonthechequeneedstomatchthenameontheaccountcard

-Thewriterofthechequeneedstoissueanotherchequewiththecorrect

name

Remembertoalwayskeepyourplanwithyouasyourguide.Thiswillensure

thatyougettheresultsyouwantfromyourwriting.

LETTERTOMRPERRY:ORGANISING

Nowthatyou'vecompletedyourplan,youneedtoorganiseit.

Doyourememberthefivesectionsofaletter?

Tohelpyourecallthesesections:

Salutation

Opening(Background&Purpose)

Facts(Reader'sInformation)

Action(Reader'sResponse)

Remarks

LETTERTOMRPERRY:ORGANISING

Howdidyoudo?

SuggestedOutline

Salutation:

DearMrPerry

Opening:

referto"QuickDeposit"cheque

apologisethatchequecannotbeaccepted

writingtoexplainsituationandsuggestsolution

Facts:

explainthatnamewasmisspelled

explainthatnameonchequeneedstomatchnameonaccountcard

Action:

askthewriterofthechequetoissueanotherone

Remarks:

hopeinformationisuseful

Nowthatyouhavecompletedyouroutline,you'rereadytomoveontothenext

stageintheWritingProcess.

4.Chapter4

Overview

WelcometoChapter4.

InChapter3,youlearnedhowto

draftadocumentand

reviseadocumenttomakesureitiscomplete.

Inthischapteryou'llcontinuetolearnhowtorevisewhatyouwrite.You'll

concentrateontheparagraphsofyourwrittendocuments.Inotherwords,

you'lllearnhowtomakeyourparagraphscohesive.

Plan

Organise

Draft

Revise

Objectives

Bytheendofthischapter,you'llbeabletoreviseyourparagraphsandmake

themcohesive.

Doyouknowwhatcohesivemeans?

Cohesive:whenallthepartsarerelatedtoformawhole.

You'llmakeyourparagraphscohesivebylearningtwothings:

1)defineacohesiveparagraphand

2)writeacohesiveparagraphusing

atopicsentence

supportingsentencesand

transitions.

BeingCohesive:WhatIsAParagraph?

Lookatthefollowingletter.InChapter3,yourevisedittomakeitcomplete.

Butsomethingisstillwrong.Doyouknowwhatitis?

22April200X

MsFionaGreen

100ClearwaterBayRoad

SaiKungNT

DearMsGreen

PPS

Irefertoyourrecentcommunication,andforyourinformationpleasebe

advisedthatthePPSdetailsandapplicationformweresenttoyouatan

earlierdate.Ifyoucompleteandreturntheformtous,wecanprocessyour

applicationimmediately.Thankyouforyourkindattention.

Yourssincerely

CleverMan

Answer:

CleverMan

Manager

SmartBranch

What'swrongwiththisletter?

Canyouseethat

itonlyhasoneparagraph?

theparagraphisverylong?

thereareseveralunrelatedideasintheparagraph?

Asaresult,theparagraphinthisletterisnotcohesive.

Youneedtoreviseparagraphslikethis.

Toachievethis,youneedtoknowtheanswertothefollowingquestion:

Whatisacohesiveparagraph?

Beforeyoucanwriteacohesiveparagraph,youneedtoknowwhatacohesive

paragraphis.

Doyouknowwhatacohesiveparagraphis?

Choosetheoptionthatyouthinkbestdescribesacohesiveparagraph.

1.Acohesiveparagraphisonelongsentencecontainingmanyunrelated

ideasorsubjects.

2.Acohesiveparagraphisagroupofunrelatedsentencescontainingmany

unrelatedideasorsubjects.

3.Acohesiveparagraphisagroupofsentencesrelatedtooneanotherbya

singleideaorsubject.

4.Acohesiveparagraphisonelongsentencecontainingoneideaorsubject.

LearningPoint1

Aparagraphisagroupofsentencesrelatedtooneanotherbyasinglesubject

oridea.

Allthesentencesinaparagraphshouldberelatedtothatoneidea.

Ifthey'rerelated,thentheparagraphwillbecohesive.

Remember:oneparagraph,oneidea.Beginanewparagrapheachtimeyou

introduceanewidea.

NowtakeablanksheetofpaperandtrytorevisetheletterfromCleverManto

MsGreen.

22April200X

MsFionaGreen

100ClearwaterBayRoad

SaiKungNT

DearMsGreen

PPS

Irefertoyourrecentcommunication,andforyourinformationpleasebe

advisedthatthePPSdetailsandapplicationformweresenttoyouatan

earlierdate.Ifyoucompleteandreturntheformtous,wecanprocess

yourapplicationimmediately.Thankyouforyourkindattention.

Yourssincerely

CleverMan

CleverMan

Manager

SmartBranch

22April200X

MsFionaGreen

100ClearwaterBayRoad

SaiKungNT

DearMsGreen

PPS

Irefertoyourrecentcommunication.

ForyourinformationpleasebeadvisedthatthePPSdetailsand

applicationformweresenttoyouatanearlierdate.

Ifyoucompleteandreturntheformtous,wecanprocessyour

applicationimmediately.

Thankyouforyourkindattention.

Yourssincerely

CleverMan

CleverMan

Manager

SmartBranch

Nowtherearefourparagraphsinsteadofone.Eachoftheseparagraphs,

though,containsjustonesentence.Youcanhaveonlyonesentenceina

paragraph.However,aparagraphusuallycontainsmorethanonesentence.

Theruleis:Newidea,newparagraph

Youcanpractisethisruleinthefollowingexercise.

Thetensentencesbelowalldescribeamarket.Lookatthesentencesand

thenanswerthequestionsinboxesAandB.

ThebuildingbetweenHenesseyRoadandLockhartRoadisthemarket.

Itwasbuiltin1875.

Themarketsellsfreshfood,likefish.

Italsosellsfruit.

Italsosellsvegetables.

Itusedtosellmeat.

Meatisnowsoldinthesupermarket.

Themarketisopensevendaysaweek.

Itisopenfrom7amto1pmandthenagainfrom4pmto8pm.

ItisclosedduringtheNewYearHoliday.

A:B:

IfyouwerewritinganessayontheWhatwouldbethemainideasof

subjectofthemarketusingtheseeachoftheseparagraphs?

sentences,howmanyparagraphsdoHenesseyRoad

youthinkyouwouldneed?Thebuilding

Thefood

1,2,3,4Openingtimes

Thethreeparagraphsbelowcontainthetensentencesfromtheabove

exercise.

1.ThebuildingThebuildingbetweenHenesseyRoadandLockhartRoadis

themarket.Itwasbuiltin1875.

2.ThefoodThemarketsellsfreshfood,likefish.Italsosellsfruit.Italsosells

vegetables.Itusedtosellmeat.Meatisnowsoldinthesupermarket.

3.OpeningtimesThemarketisopensevendaysaweek.Itisopenfrom7am

to1pmandthenagainfrom4pmto8pm.ItisclosedduringtheNewYear

Holiday.

Eachoftheseparagraphscontainsagroupofsentencesthatarerelatedtoa

singleidea.Canyouidentifytheideaineachparagraph?

Answers:

Paragraph1talksaboutthebuilding:whereit'slocatedandwhenitwasbuilt.It

doesn'ttalkaboutanythingelse.

Paragraph2talksaboutthedifferentkindsoffoodthatweresoldandaresold

now.Itdoesn'ttalkaboutanythingelse.

Paragraph3talksabouttheopeningtimes.Itdoesn'ttalkaboutanything

else.

BeingCohesive:WhatisaCohesiveParagraph?

You'vejustlearnedhowtodefineacohesiveparagraph:

Acohesiveparagraphisagroupofsentencesallrelatedtooneidea.

You'renowgoingtolearnhowtowriteacohesiveparagraph.

Doyourememberthethreethingsthatcanhelpmakeeachparagraphyou

writecohesive?

atopicsentence

supportingsentences

transitions

BeingCohesive:WhatIsATopicSentence?

Inthissection,you'regoingtodiscovertwothings:

whatatopicsentenceisand

whatatopicsentencedoes.

Inbusinesswriting,thetopicsentenceis

usuallythefirstsentenceoftheparagraph

short,withonly7to10words

themostgeneralsentenceintheparagraph.

Lookatthefollowingexampleofatopicsentence.ItdescribestheHSBC

HomeMortgageLoan.

OurHomeMortgageLoaneasesthestressofbuyingproperty.Ourterms

areverycompetitive.Theflexiblerepaymentscheduleenablesyouto

budgetyourexpenses.Inaddition,itgivesyouaclearpictureofyour

financialcommitmentforthewholeperiod.

Noticethatthetopicsentence

isthefirstsentenceoftheparagraph

hasonlytenwords

containsgeneralinformation;theothersentencescontainspecific

information.

BeingCohesive:WhatDoesATopicSentenceDo?

Doyouknowwhatatopicsentencedoes?

Inbusinesswriting,thetopicsentence:

summarisesthemainideaoftheparagraph

helpsthereaderpredictwhattheparagraphisabout.

Lookagainattheexampleofthetopicsentencedescribingamortgageloan.

Notethatthetopicsentence:

summarisesthemainidea,iethataHomeMortgageLoaneasesthe

stressofbuyingproperty

suggeststherestoftheparagraphwilldescribehowtheLoaneases

thestress.

LearningPoint2

Thetopicsentencesummarisesthemainideaoftheparagraph.

Itisthemostgeneralsentenceintheparagraph.

Formaximumimpact,thetopicsentenceshouldbeshort,withonly7-10

words.

Inbusinesswriting,thetopicsentenceisusuallythefirstsentenceofthe

paragraph.Thetopicsentencehelpsthereaderpredictwhattheparagraphis

about.

Intheexercisebelow,eachgroupofsentencescouldformaparagraphifthey

werere-organised.

Trytoidentifythetopicsentenceineachgroup,iethesentencethatshouldgo

first.

1.

a.Yourstaffneedtofeelthatyouvaluetheirwork.

b.Asateamleader,youfaceseveralchallenges.

c.Staffalsowanttobetreatedasindividuals.

d.Inaddition,youneedtomakethemawareoftheteam'swork.

e.Throughyouractions,youmustearntheirrespect.

Bintroducestheideaofateamleader'schallenges,theothersentenceslist

someofthesechallenges.

2.

a.Everyonealsoknowsinwhatareastheyneedtoimprove.

b.Finally,everyoneknowswhatisexpectedoftheminthefuture.

c.Inaddition,everyoneknowshowtheycanimprove.

d.Agoodappraisalsystemproducesfourresults.

e.Everyoneisawareoftheirachievements.

Dintroducestheideaofagoodappraisalsystemsayingtherearefourresults.

Theothersentenseslistthefourresults.

3.

a.Inflationseemstobeontherise.

b.Everydaythenewspaperbringsmorebadnews.

c.Olderpeopleareworriedabouttheirpensionschemes.

d.Majordepartmentstoresareclosingdown.

e.Theunemploymentfiguresarerising.

Bintroducesthestatementthatnewspapersbringbadnews.Theother

sentenseslistsomeexamplesofthisbadnews.

BeingCohesive:TopicSentence

Inthisexercise,thetopicsentenceismissing.Writeatopicsentencethat

introducesthesubjectoftheparagraphand

summarisesthemainideaoftheparagraph.

1.Problemsinservice.

a.First,phonesareansweredtooslowly.

b.Second,customersareputonholdtoofrequently.

c.Third,messagesarenottakendownaccurately.

2.Wecannotagreeonyourrequist.

a.Ourrecordsshowthatyourincomehasbeenirregular.

b.Wealsonotethatyouroverdraftlimithasbeenreached.

c.Moreover,yourotherpersonalloanhasnotbeenfullyrepaid

Answer:

1.Thereisnomodelanswer.However,you'redoingwellifyoursentence

containsanexpressionsimilartothis:"Therearethreemajorproblemswith

ourtelephoneansweringservice."

Thissentenceintroducestheideathatisexpandeduponintheother

sentences.

2.Thereisnomodelanswer.However,you'redoingwellifyoursentence

containsanexpressionsimilartothis:"Unfortunately,weareunabletogrant

youanotherloan."

Thissentenceintroducestheideathatisexpandeduponintheother

sentences.

BeingCohesive:WhatDoesASupportingSentenceDo?

Now,you'regoingtolearnanotherfeatureofcohesiveparagraphs:supporting

sentences.

Doyouknowwhatasupportingsentencedoes?

Inbusinesswriting,supportingsentencessupportthemainideaby

expandingordevelopingthemainidea

explaining,egidentifyingcauses,effects,reasonsetc

providingspecificdetails.

Remembereachsupportingsentencemustberelatedtothemainidea(topic

sentence).

Lookattheexampleparagraphagain.

OurHomeMortgageLoaneasesthestressofbuyingproperty.Ourterms

areverycompetitive.Theflexiblerepaymentscheduleenablesyouto