The task for this project is to write to a person who uses business communication on his or her job requesting the person's assistance with the Business Communication Analysis Project, which is a project that you'll complete later in the semester. So, there are two aspects to Project 4 that you need to understand:

• The project is a persuasive letter.
• The purpose of the letter is to persuade the recipient to help you with a project in this class.

You will find basic details of the project for which are requesting assistance in the description of Project 7. In particular, though, you will be requesting that the person be available for at least one interview at which you will ask the person questions regarding his or her use of business communication. In the past, students have had to interview the person a second time in order to clarify information gathered at the first interview. In sum, you're persuading the person to make a rather significant time commitment, somewhere on the order of an hour or so. (It's probably more than coffee, but maybe not more than lunch.)

The project is a persuasive letter in which request the assistance of a person who uses business communication on his or her job. You will ask them to help you with Project 7, a report in which you analyze this person's use of business communication. Project 7 will be the final project of the semester. You will request that the person make himself or herself available to you for at least one interview session. During that session you will ask questions regarding the person's use of business communication. The first interview session should take place within the next three weeks or so.

Your persuasive letter should use a combination of the three-part structure that we used in Project 3 (1. context and tone; 2. explanation; 3. goodwill), and the structure that is described in your textbook--that is, gaining attention, creating interest, justifying the request, addressing obstacles, and motivating the reader to action. (This format might be familiar to those who have studied advertising.)

As with the letter in Project 3, format is very important in this exercise. Not only is Project 4 a formal letter, but a reader should also be able to discern the basic thematic organization of the letter by simply looking at it. In other words, we're trying to write a document in which the appearance reinforces the content.

The first step, then, is to decide on someone to write to. This should be a person who uses business communication on a regular basis. The person doesn't have to use only or primarily business writing per se. It could be someone who produces and/or delivers sales presentations, or someone who coordinates events, and so on. Typically, this would be someone you know pretty well, such as a colleague, friend, or relative.

Once you have decided on the recipient of your request, you can begin reading the material in your book, working on your APS, and drafting your letter.

I'll also post a discussion prompt to the class discussion forum so that we can work as a group on any issues related to the project. Post your questions there, and answer others' questions if you can.

Project Due Dates

• Online discussion conference (unscored): TBA
• Audience Profile Sheet: TBA 2007
(Use APS Form)
• Rough Draft: TBA 2007 (E-mail to Kurt Neumann as file attachment. Submit attachment in Rich Text Format.
• Revised Draft: TBA 2007 (E-mail to Kurt Neumann as file attachment. Submit attachment in Rich Text Format.)

Project Format

Formal Letter