Use special organizational patterns for some messages
State a conclusion and explain or support it.
The first organization is the one you will use for nearly all of your business writing, the deductive pattern. It begins with the conclusion or point of the writing and then explains or supports it. Below is an example in which the organization pattern is not used. The result is that the reader has to read most of the text before knowing what it is all about.
State a problem and provide solutions.
This organization guides the reader through the explanation of a problem and the solution the writer is advancing.
Present study methodology and conclusions.
Use this organization when you are summarizing the findings of a study or assessment. Usually, the reader just wants the conclusions. The introduction describing the problem and the methodology simply help advance the reader to the conclusions.
Write bad news to a customer or client.
Use this organization when you have to write a letter, e‑mail, or memo to a customer or client that he or she may react badly to.
Respond to the reader's correspondence.
Use this organization when you are responding to a letter, e‑mail, or memo the reader sent.
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