Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

182 Understanding Rational Decision Making


information. The revision adds a heading to the fi rst paragraph that allows an audience who might


be searching the plan for the 2015 fi nancial results to quickly fi nd them. The vague qualitative


terms used in the original— increase signifi cantly and maintaining strong earnings —have been replaced


with specifi c numbers. In addition, the revised version includes comparative values for 2015’s net


income, earnings per share, and ROE, slot values missing in the original.


AIDS TO AUDIENCE DECISION MAKING: IMPLICATIONS FOR


COMMUNICATORS



  • The main takeaway for communicators in Chapter 4 is that all six of the cognitive pro-
    cesses audiences use to make decisions can be enhanced by a set of process-specific
    stylistic techniques. Thus, stylistic techniques are useful not only for enhancing audience
    comprehension, but also for enhancing the other major cognitive processes that make
    informed decision making possible.

  • Use the information presented in the chapter to choose specific stylistic techniques that
    make it easy for your audience to complete each step in the decision-making process.

  • Why use the information? To save yourself time. To improve your accuracy in predicting
    the techniques and organizational structures that will aid audience decision making. To
    combat “groupthink.”

  • To apply a technique presented in the chapter, refer to the appropriate chapter section
    for an example.


Notes


1 Felsenfeld, C. (1991). The plain English experience in New York. In E. R. Steinberg (Ed.), Plain language:
Principles and practice (pp. 13–18). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Felsenfeld, C., & Siegel, A. (1981). Writing contracts in plain English. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.

Original First Paragraphs
of an MBA Team’s Strategic Plan

Revised First Paragraphs
of an MBA Team’s Strategic Plan

Coming off an outstanding year that saw our
stock price increase signifi cantly, Chronos
Watch Company is poised to maintain earnings
levels again in 2016. Chronos, the world’s
second largest producer of watches, posted a net
income of $3.0M and had an average earnings
per share of $2.98, generating a net return on
equity of 9%. These results handily beat our
peer group average of $2.54 EPS and 7% ROE.


Financial Results for 2015
2015 was an outstanding year for Chronos Watch
Company. Since last year, our stock price increased from
$83 per share to $107 and our net income rose from
$2.7M to $3.0M. Today, Chronos Watch Company is
the world’s second largest producer of watches.
Although our average earnings per share dropped from
$3.40 to $2.98 and our ROE dropped from 12% to
9%, our results handily beat our peer group average of
$2.54 EPS and 7% ROE.

Objectives
For 2016, Chronos’s executive management has set
certain concrete goals. In addition to maintaining
strong earnings, Chronos expects to:



  • Generate a Return on Equity of 15%

  • Reduce Debt to Equity Ratio to from 32% to 12%


Financial Objectives for 2016
For the year 2016, our executive management has set
the following goals:


  • Increase net income from $3 M to $4 M

  • Increase return on equity from 9% to 15%

  • Reduce debt to equity from 32% to 12%


TABLE 4.5 Headings and Comparative Numbers Aid Information Acquisition and Integration
Free download pdf