Business Communication Exercise - Positive Emphasis and You-Attitude

Group No.:
Members Name:

Focus on Positives
Revise each of the options that remain, not those that are closed off
1. Applications that are not complete will be discarded

2. You cannot walk in park A and D until they are repaved

Identifying the hidden negatives

Identify the hidden negatives in the following sentences and revise to eliminate them. In some cases, you may
need to add information to revise the sentence effectively
1. We hope that completing the course will make you a better receptionist

2. I’m guessing that you did something this year to merit a raise

Revising sentence to Improve Positive Emphasis

Revise the following sentences to improve positive emphasis. In some cases, you may need to add or omit
information to revise effectively
1. We made an error in your favour, so you’ll be getting a refund of Rs. 120.50.

2. I am terribly sorry that your order was damaged. You’ll be happy to note that a replacement is on the
way

3. If you don’t understand something in this passage, please don’t avoid letting me know

4. Just in case one of our employees is unreliable, we should prepare a back-up plan for any unfortunate
plan that might occur
 5. Don’t drop in without an appointment. Your counselor or caseworker may be unavailable

6. I am sorry you were worried. You did not miss the deadline for signing up for flexible medical spending
account.

7. We are in the process of upgrading our web-site. Please bear with us.

8. I apologize for my delay in answering your inquiry. The problem was that I had to check with our
suppliers to see whether we could provide the item in the quantity you say you want. We can.

Revise the awkward phrasing to improve the you-attitude

1. At McMahon and Associates we have more than 50 years of experience that we can offer to customers
like you

2. You will be happy to know that all of our employees are licensed and insured

3. Today, we mailed an information packet on our latest course offerings to you.

4. I hope that you understand that we are very interested in hiring you for the position

5. We know you’ll enjoy our new and improved web site

6. Starting in January our company will offer you seminars in healthy living

7. You goofed when creating a mailing list, and now 15 people did not get invitations because of your
mistake

8. I am sorry that you are unhappy with the quality of your home-repair work – we will honor our
guarantee and send someone right away.