Now that you’ve organized your paragraphs, it’s time to structure your writing to make it easier for the reader to read. The old standby is appropriate here: Tell them what you want to tell them; tell them; then tell them what you told them. It boils your paper down into three sections: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

Objectives

1.    To organize a paper that the reader can easily comprehend.

2.    To master the principles of a basic rhetorical structure.

Activities

STEP 1

Choose an appropriate grabber for your paper. Now provide a statement about why your topic is important to the reader. Next, insert the thesis statement you developed earlier—it will give the reader some direction. Finally, tell the reader what aspects of the thesis you’ll cover. Specifically, state the direction the paper will take.

STEP 2

Divide the body of the paper into three or four main points, each of which relate directly to the thesis. Organize the paragraphs and data from previous drafts and exercises to support each of these main points. It’s like a pyramid: sentences support main points, and main points support the thesis.

STEP 3

Finally, restate your thesis. Don’t repeat it—restate it. Briefly summarize the main points. Finally, end your writing with a good closing. Look to the grabber techniques for ideas. Just make sure you bring the paper to a definite end.

Writing Illustration

NOTE: Since this is a persuasive document, I am going to use a strong “need to know” grabber so the reader gets interested early on.

STEP 1: DEVELOPING THE INTRODUCTION

According to a survey by American Instructors International, after one year of computerized training, most in-house training offices experience a 75 percent increase in the effectiveness of their instructors and efficiency of instruction. Computers are having a strong impact on every facet of American life, and training is no exception.

I believe this percentage of effectiveness and efficiency could be even higher in our Training Office because we have been plagued by a high turnover of instructors. Because of our antiquated office system, our instructors need between six months and a year to become fully effective. Worse, three former instructors who were interviewed for this study said they left the office primarily because they were frustrated by its inefficient systems. Turnover expenses have cost us approximately 25 percent of the budget each year.

Computer expert Mary Jane Byte agrees that the solution to this problem is computerization. In fact, computerization of our training operation would increase both the effectiveness and efficiency of our training unit—two qualities that are looked at strongly by evaluators and auditors every two years.

How can this be done? The plan is simple: Through a computer system that includes different software applications, we can streamline the office system through an indexing and full-text retrieval system, through a database scheduling system, and through computer-based training (CBT) instruction.

STEP 2: WRITING THE BODY OF THE DRAFT

Retrieval System—New instructors must be able to access information and lesson plans on file quickly. Our current word-of-mouth retrieval program—where a new instructor goes to each person in the office for information—is hopelessly obsolete and inefficient. Consequently, new instructors need an inordinate amount of time, oftentimes up to a year, to find out what is available, and even then they are only partially informed. To correct this problem, I suggest a fulltext retrieval computer system. Such systems are available for under $1,000 and will not only produce an indexing system for all items in the file, but will also allow a full-text retrieval through key words. According to Byte, a package called “Quick-Find,” which costs approximately $900, will suit our operation perfectly. Quick-Find produces full-text retrieval when words are entered that are contained in the text. Thus, if we entered the term nonverbal, we would get all the terms in all the lesson plans that refer to nonverbal; however, if we entered nonverbal and hand gestures, it would sufficiently limit the retrieval to only those references and lesson plans that include both those delineators. This capability would allow new instructors—and old ones—to focus closely on whatever issues are of interest to them.

Scheduling System—As you know, our office works under complicated scheduling loads. Our six instructors are scheduled both on-site and off-site to suit the convenience of our executives. Also, we receive approximately 35 pieces of mail per day that need to be answered, dated, and time-recorded. Currently, we file incoming mail into a particular file with a notation as to the data of the outgoing communication, but we have no way to retrieve this information by name or by date. According to Computer Match magazine (June 1995), the software package “Schedule Master” can streamline our office system. This program, which sells for approximately $600, produces an easy-to-use, integrated retrieval system and scheduling system. Byte demonstrated that our secretary could be trained in three days to use this system. We expect its use will improve the efficiency of our office by 40 percent within the first year and by 50 percent within the next year. The savings would be up to $100,000 a year.

Computer-Based Training (CBT)—The teaching of communications breaks down into two general areas: writing communications skills and public speaking communications skills. Both these skills are “doing skills.” They require hands-on training as well as drill and practice training.

Hardware—We would need to buy approximately five PCs: one for my office; one at the secretary’s desk; two to be shared in the instructors’ office area, and one to be used as a server. All terminals would be used for entry and retrieval. A survey conducted by Computer Match magazine indicates that the most widely used computer in the training field is the ABC computer system. This computer hardware would cost $20,000.

Software—The three packages necessary are (1) the indexing and full-text retrieval package, Quick-Find ($900); (2) the scheduling/office management system, Schedule Master ($600); (3) and the computer-based training packages ($1,000). The total software costs would be $2,500.

With regard to hands-on training, a variety of exercises, particularly writing exercises, will be enhanced by a computer. According to Stallback (1997), drill-and-practice exercises using a computer in the classroom increase the efficiency of the trainer by at least 25 percent. Thus, by using drill-and-practice packages from ATM Software Inc., the trainer is relieved of purely mechanical responsibilities and can devote his or her time to more vital training. Also, more students can, at the same time, be trained to write well.

With respect to public speaking, two packages are available that review the fundamentals of speech as well as provide diagrams and drill-and-practice. Both packages are put out by the Real-Time Computer Software Company. They cost $500 apiece, but they can save approximately 10 to 15 percent of the teaching time in this course, because they will transmit basic knowledge to executives before they ever enter the classroom. One caveat mentioned by J. Sperling (“Enhancing the Effect of Training,” Communications Hotline magazine) is that computer training must be integrated with teacher contact. Training exclusively with computers will not be nearly as efficient as integrating it with instructor contact. Therefore, all computer instruction, even at the pre-presentation stage, would be integrated with teacher contact. Students would always be allowed to work solely on their own but not without some supervision and feedback from an instructor.

STEP 3: WRITING THE CONCLUSION

My message is clear: Efficiency and effectiveness can be improved by enhanced computer technology. This effectiveness has been achieved and verified in other companies. I spoke with representatives of four: the Jones and Jones Training Corporation, the Smith and Smith Training Corporation, the XYZ Training Corporation, and the ABC Training Corporation. Each of these companies achieved 30 to 40 percent efficiency improvement as a result of its training, and each sees greater prospects on the horizon. To quote from Computer Match magazine, “The training operation that does not use computers effectively to assist it is using a 19^th-century approach to a 21^st-century problem.”