Improve Your Communication Skills, 2nd Edition

What do you want the document to do?
Try these verbs out for size. 
I want this document to
recommend 
identify 
respond
notify 
update 
summarise 
announce 
confirm 
describe
clarify 
invite 
propose
compare 
justify 
request
explain 
argue 
suggest
highlight 
outline 
categorise
What do you want the reader to do?
Here are some suggestions. 
I want the reader to
target areas for action 
realign strategy 
attend a meeting
approve funding 
implement plan 
answer questions
provide input
complete a task 
agree with me
review my proposal 
choose from options
give me feedback 
put something right
investigate an issue 
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.

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140 Improve your Communication Skills
Formalise your objective into a 
function statement
. If necessary, 
agree this with the document’s ‘client’, the person who has asked 
for it. By agreeing the document’s functions, you will know 
exactly what is required of you. 
Readership analysis 
Your document may circulate to a wide readership. Different 
readers will have different expectations, priorities and levels of 
knowledge. Analyse the readership so that you can organise 
information in the document more effectively. 
Managing readership expectations 
Categorise your readership into
 primary
, 
secondary
and 
tertiary
readers. The primary readership must read the document. The 
document is designed for them. The secondary readership may 
look at only part of the document. It may include your manager, 
who may need to authorise it before circulation but who will not 
act on it. The tertiary readership may include people you will 
never meet but who may use the document in some unforeseen 
way. You will need to satisfy all of these readers. But you must 
design the document for the primary readership alone.