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Communication is an essential tool for the twenty-first century Air Force

BY ORDER OF THE AIR FORCE HANDBOOK 33-337

SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE 1 AUGUST 2004

Communications and Information

THE TONGUE AND QUILL

Supersedes AFH 33-337, 30 June 1997. Certified by: ACSC/DEO (Lt Col Bart Kessler)

COMMUNICATING IS A

POWERFUL TOOL FOR THE

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

AIR FORCE

The Tongue and Quill is dedicated to every man and woman in today’s Air Force who will ever sling ink at paper, pound a keyboard, give a briefing, or staff a package to support the mission.

Currently, The Tongue and Quill is widely used by Air Force military and civilian members, professional military school educators and students, and civilian corporations around the United States.

As United States Air Force employees, it is important we communicate clearly and effectively to carry out our mission. This handbook together with AFMAN 33-326, Preparing Official Communications, will provide the necessary information to ensure clear communications— written or spoken. The use of the name or mark of any specific manufacturer, commercial product, commodity, or service in this publication does not imply endorsement by the Air Force

To all you enthusiastic users worldwide, keep up the good fight!

SUMMARY OF REVISIONS

This revision improved organization; rearranged layout; updated quotes, art and word lists; and added material on preparing to write and speak, writing with focus, communicating to persuade, research, meetings, briefings and listening; updated information on electronic communication and e-mail, and added information on Air Force writing products such as awards, decorations and performance reports.

OPR: ACSC/DEOP (Mrs. Sharon McBride) Pages: 378 /Distribution F

Acknowledgements

The Tongue and Quill has been a valued Air Force resource for decades, and many people have contributed their talents to various editions over the years. I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of several personnel who overhauled chapters in this edition, including Lt Colonel Kimberly Demoret (Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, and 11), Lt Colonel Janelle Costa (Chapter 7), Major Jane Palmisano (Chapters 3, 6, 8, 10, and 13), Major Keith Tonnies (Chapter 9), Major Marci Watkins (Appendix 2), and Major Kathy Dowdy (Appendix 3). Ms. Stephanie Rollins provided technical inputs for Chapter 4 and compiled its extensive list of Internet sources. Also, MSgt Douglas McCarty who provided the accomplishment-impact bullets for the Bullet Background Paper and the Performance Report. I would also like to thank Lt Col Demoret for her support during the planning, integration and editing processes.

– Sharon McBride, Tongue and Quill OPR

THE

CONTENTS

PART I: COMMUNICATON BASICS

Chapter 1: A Basic Philosophy of Communication

Chapter 2: Seven Steps to Effective Communication: An Overview

PART II: PREPARING TO WRITE AND SPEAK

Chapter 3: Analyzing Purpose and Audience

Chapter 4: Researching Your Topic

Chapter 5: Supporting Your Ideas

Chapter 6: Organizing and Outlining Your Thoughts

PART III: WRITING WITH FOCUS

Chapter 7: Writing Your Draft

Chapter 8: Editing Your Draft

Chapter 9: Fighting for Feedback and Getting Approval

PART IV: FACE-TO-FACE: SPEAKING AND LISTENING

Chapter 10: Air Force Speaking

Chapter 11: Effective Listening Strategies

PART V: WORKPLACE CHALLENGES

Chapter 12: Electronic Communication

Chapter 13: Meetings

– iii –

PART VI: AIR FORCE WRITING PRODUCTS AND TEMPLATES

The Quill

Personal Letter

Official Memorandum

In Turn Memo

Indorsement Memo

Short-Note Reply

Memorandum for Record

Trip Report

Staff Study Report

Talking Paper

Bullet Background Paper

Background Paper

Position Paper

Staff Summary Sheet

Performance Report

Awards and Decorations

Air Force Publications

Biography

Résumé

Envelope

APPENDIX 1: THE MECHANICS OF WRITING

Glossary of Common Grammatical and Writing Terms

Punctuation Guidelines: An Alphabetical Listing

Abbreviating ABCs

Capitalization Guidelines

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

APPENDIX 2: THE MECHANICS OF RESEARCH

APPENDIX 3: EFFECTIVE READING STRATEGIES

APPENDIX 4: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND OTHER REFERENCES

THE INDEX

Alphabetical Arrangement of Topics

– iv –

PART I:

COMMUNICATION BASICS

– 1 –

… so why should we care about communication skills?

We fly and fight for a living …

– 2 –

CHAPTER 1

A BASIC

PHILOSOPHY

OF

COMMUNICATION

This chapter covers:

• How we define communication.

• Why communication is important in today’s Air Force.

• Characteristics of effective communication.

• Common problems encountered when people try to communicate.

This is an exciting time to be in the United States Air Force! Our mission and our operations tempo reflect the larger world around us—a world of rapidly accelerating technology and nearly unlimited access to information. Airmen are successfully accomplishing more missions with fewer people than ever before, and there is a constant battle to cover the bases with limited resources. With many demands on their time, why should the men and women of the Air Force care about effective communication? This chapter answers that question, identifies five principles of effective communication, and describes common speaking and writing problems.

– 3 –

The Tongue and Quill

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY COMMUNICATION,

…AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

Why are we here again?

com•mu•ni•ca•tion n 1: an act or instance of transmitting information; 2: a verbal or written message; 3: a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.

Communication is defined as the process of sharing ideas, information and messages with others. In the Air Force, most communication involves speaking and writing, but this definition includes nonverbal communication such as body language, graphics, etc.

Any communication can be broken into three parts: the sender, the message and the audience. For communication to be successful, the audience must not only get the message, but must interpret the message in the way the sender intended.

Since communication requires effort, it should always have a purpose. If the purpose isn’t clear to the audience, you will have a problem! Most Air Force communication is intended to direct, inform (or educate), persuade or inspire. Often the sender has some combination of these motives in mind.

Chapter 3 describes the process of determining your purpose and audience in detail, but here are a few examples of Air Force communication targeted toward a specific objective:

The headquarters staff (the sender) writes a new policy on trip report procedures (the message) and sends a copy to all subordinate units (the audience).

Purpose of this communication: to direct

An aircraft technician (the sender) reports the results of an aircraft engine inspection (the message) to his supervisor (the audience).

Purpose of this communication: to inform

A branch chief (the sender) requests additional funding for new computers (the message) in a meeting with the division chief (the audience).

Purpose of this communication: to persuade

– 4 –

A Basic Philosophy of Communication

Most communication outside the Air Force falls in these categories as well. Can you spot the purpose of each of the following sentences?

“You didn’t wash the car like you promised.”

“But Dad! Everyone else is going to the beach. Why can’t I go?”

“Son, I know you’re a fine young man, and fine young men keep their promises.”

“Aw, Dad…”

“Wash the car NOW!”

If you look carefully, you can see the efforts to inform, direct, persuade or inspire in this common conversation.

COMMUNICATION, TEAMWORK AND LEADERSHIP

Communication skills are vitally important in any environment where teamwork is important. Simply put, communication enables us to come together to accomplish things better than we can accomplish as individuals. Communication skills are particularly important for leaders. The ability to communicate a vision and direction, to motivate and inspire others and to persuade our superiors are all essential in bringing people together to achieve a common goal.

The military environment is unique, and much of its uniqueness requires extraordinary communication skills. We operate highly technical equipment in a lethal environment and we are held to very high standards by the country we serve. Miscommunication can cause expensive mistakes, embarrass our organization and in some cases cause accidents or even death.

A CALL TO ARMS…

This book is designed to give you tools and ideas that will help you learn to communicate better … and to teach others as well.

Both the Air Force and the large culture we live in are drowning in a sea of information.

Around-the-clock media coverage, universal electronic mail (e-mail), and the expansion of the Internet and other electronic information sources make it difficult for us to sift out the valuable information we need to accomplish our mission. Now, more than ever, it’s important to communicate with clarity and focus.

The only way to become a better writer and speaker is to work at it—there are no short cuts. The good news is that service in the Air Force will provide plenty of opportunities for you to improve. Your communication skills will become stronger with practice, regardless of your initial ability, and this book is designed to help you on your journey.

“Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake somebody up.”

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

– 5 –

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Once you accept that communication is important, it’s important to understand what makes communication succeed and what makes it fail. Most mistakes are caused by forgetting one of five principles of good communication. This section addresses these core principles, which we’ve organized to spell out the acronym FOCUS. It also describes some of the most common mistakes that occur when you miss the mark.

FOCUSED: ADDRESS THE ISSUE, THE

WHOLE ISSUE AND NOTHING BUT THE

ISSUE

FOCUS Principles Strong Writing and Speaking:

Focused

Address the issue, the whole issue and nothing but the issue.

Organized

Systematically present your information and ideas.

Clear

Communicate with clarity and make each word count.

Understanding

Understand your audience and its expectations.

Supported

Use logic and support to make your point.

The first hallmark of good communication is that it is focused—the sender has a clear idea of purpose and objective, locks on target and stays on track.

In staff or academic environment, writing and speaking often attempts to answer a question provided by either a boss or an instructor. In such situations, the principle may also be stated as the following:

Answer the question, the whole question and nothing but the question.

Failure to focus comes in three forms:

1. Answering the wrong question. This happens when we don’t understand the assignment or what the audience really wants. Have you ever written what you thought was an excellent paper, only to be told you answered the wrong question or you missed the point? Have you ever asked someone a question and received a long answer that had nothing to do with what you asked?

fo·cus n

1. a state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding: direction; 2. a center of activity, attraction or attention; a point of concentration; directed attention: emphasis.

2. Answering only part of the question. If a problem or question has multiple parts, sometimes we work out the easiest or most interesting part of the solution and forget the unpleasant remainder.

3. Adding irrelevant information. Here the communicator answers the question, but mixes in information that is interesting but unnecessary. Though the answer is complete, it’s hard to understand—it’s like finding that needle in the haystack.

– 6 –

A Basic Philosophy of Communication

Failure to focus can really hurt staff communication. Time and time again our efforts crash and burn because we never carefully read the words or really listen to the speaker for the real message … for the specific question! Most executive officers will tell you that failing to answer the question is one of the primary reasons staff packages are dumped back into the laps of hapless action officers.

Chapter 3 provides suggestions on how to be clear on your purpose and avoid these problems.

ORGANIZED: SYSTEMATICALLY PRESENT YOUR INFORMATION AND

IDEAS

Good organization means your material is presented in a logical, systematic manner.

This helps your audience understand you without reading your words over and over, trying to sort out what you’re really trying to say.

When writing or speaking is not well organized, audiences become easily confused or impatient, and may stop reading or listening. Even if you’re providing useful, relevant information, your audience may underestimate its value and your own credibility.

Chapter 6 is full of suggestions on how to organize well. Problems with organization are relatively easy to fix, and the payoffs are enormous. In these high-tempo environments, a little effort on your part will save your audience a lot of time and pain.

CLEAR: COMMUNICATE WITH CLARITY AND MAKE EACH WORD COUNT

This principle covers two interrelated ideas. First, to communicate clearly, we need to understand the rules of language—how to spell and pronounce words, and how to assemble and punctuate sentences. Second, we should get to the point, not hide our ideas in a jungle of words.

People are quick to judge, and mangled, incorrect language can cripple your credibility and limit acceptance of your ideas. Acceptable English is part of the job, so commit to improving any problems you may have. Developing strong language skills is a lot like developing strong muscles—steady commitment produces steady improvement. Always remember that progress, not perfection, is the goal.

Grammar scares most of us, but the good news is that many common mistakes can be corrected by understanding a few rules. Start by scanning our section on editing sentences, phrases and words on pages 95-101. If you want to dig deeper, then check out some of the books and Internet sites that address grammar and writing—contact your local librarian or our References section for some suggestions.

Using language correctly is only half of the battle, though—many Air Force writers and speakers cripple themselves with bureaucratic jargon, big words and lots of passive voice.

These bad habits make it hard to understand the message. See Chapter 7 pages 73-88 for some suggested cures to these problems.

– 7 –

UNDERSTANDING: UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE AND ITS

EXPECTATIONS

If you want to share an idea with others, it helps to understand their current knowledge, views and level of interest in the topic. If you’ve been asked to write a report, it helps to understand the expected format and length of the response, the due date, the level of formality and any staffing requirements. It’s easy to see how mistakes in understanding your audience can lead to communication problems, and I’m sure you’ve watched others make this mistake. Check out Chapter 3 for some helpful hints on audience analysis.

SUPPORTED: USE LOGIC AND

SUPPORT TO MAKE YOUR POINT

Most writers and speakers try to inform or persuade their audience. Part of the communicator’s challenge is to assemble and organize information to help build his or her case. Support and logic are the tools used to build credibility and trust with our audience.

sup·port n information that substantiates a position.

v to furnish evidence for a position.

Nothing cripples a clearly written, properly punctuated paper quicker than a fractured fact or a distorted argument. Avoiding this pitfall is most difficult, even for good writers and speakers. Logic is tough to teach and learn because it challenges the highest levels of human intellect—the ability to think in the abstract. We slip into bad habits at an early age, and it takes effort to break them. Chapter 4 provides practical advice on how to use support and logic to enhance your effectiveness as a speaker and how to avoid common mistakes.

SUMMARY

In this chapter, we defined communication as the process of sharing ideas, information, and messages with others, and described how effective communication enables military personnel to work together. To help writers and speakers stay on target, we introduced five FOCUS principles of effective communication. In the next chapter, we’ll describe a systematic approach to help you attain these principles and meet your communication goals.

“Jargon allows us to camouflage intellectual poverty with verbal extravagance.”

— David Pratt

– 8 –

PTER 2

SE STEPS

TO CTIVE

COMMU ATION:

AN RVIEW

• A systematic process to help achieve communicatio

• How this process helps attain FOCUS principles fro

• Where to find detailed information on each step in l

Chapter 1 introduced five FOCUS principles of good commu introduce a seven-step approach to hitting the target. Here yo but later chapters will describe each of the seven steps in grea

You can tailor the steps to your own style and approach, but increase your chances of speaking and writing success. Thes sequence, and for long and complicated assignments you may forth between steps. That’s OK—it’s better to deviate from a

– 9 –

CHA

VEN

EFFE

NIC

OVE

n success.

m Chapter 1.

ater chapters.

nication. In this chapter, we’ll u’ll get the big picture introduction, ter detail.

completing each of them will e steps are not always used in find yourself moving back and plan, than to have no plan at all.

PREPARING TO WRITE AND SPEAK: THE FIRST FOUR STEPS

Like many things, good communication requires preparation, and the first four steps lay the groundwork for the drafting process.

Though much of this seems like common sense, you’d be surprised at how many people skip the preparation and launch into writing sentences and paragraphs (or speaking “off the cuff”). DON’T DO IT! Good speaking or writing is like building a house—you need a good plan and a firm foundation.

SEVEN STEPS FOR EFFECTIVE

COMMUNICATION

1. Analyze Purpose and Audience

2. Research Your Topic

3. Support Your Ideas

4. Organize and Outline

5. Draft

6. Edit

7. Fight for Feedback and Get Approval

ANALYZE PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

— Proverbs 29:18

Too many writers launch into their project without a clear understanding of their purpose or audience. This is a shame—a few minutes spent on this step can save hours of frustration later, and help determine whether you end up looking like an eagle or a turkey.

You’re much more likely to hit the target if you know what and who you’re aiming at.

Carefully analyzing your purpose helps with FOCUS Principle #1: “Focused—answer the question, the whole question and nothing but the question.” In some cases, if you take a hard look at the purpose you might find that a formal paper or briefing might not be needed. You’d be startled at how many briefings, paper documents and electronic messages are processed in a typical day in a MAJCOM or wing. Formal communication takes effort and costs money—make sure you don’t unnecessarily add to everybody’s workload.

If you take the time to “understand your audience” (FOCUS Principle #4) and think about their current knowledge, interest and motives, you’ll be better able to tailor your message so that you’ll accomplish your purpose, regardless of what it is. Instructing a hostile audience about changes in medical benefits will be different than inspiring a friendly audience at a Veteran’s Day celebration, and writing for the general’s signature will be different than writing for the base newspaper. Chapter 3 has lots of helpful suggestions about analyzing purpose and audience.

RESEARCH YOUR TOPIC

“Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Remember that FOCUS Principle #5 states good communication should be supported with information relevant to your point. Step Two—“Research your topic”—gives you the raw material to build your case.

For many of us, “research” sounds intimidating—it brings back memories of painful school projects and hostile librarians who wouldn’t let us sneak coffee into the building.

Don’t let the idea of research scare you. In the context of the seven-step approach,

– 10 –

Seven Steps to Effective Communication research is the process of digging up information that supports your communication goals. Think of it as “doing your homework” to get smart on your communication topic.

Chapter 4 is full of helpful advice on how to approach the challenge. For those of you interested in academic research, Appendix 2 has additional information on the topic.

SUPPORT YOUR IDEAS

“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.”

— Anonymous

Often our communication goal involves persuasion. In such cases, throwing information at our audiences isn’t enough—we have to assemble and arrange our facts to support our position. Different kinds of information gathered during the research process can be used to form a logical argument. A logical argument is not a disagreement or a fight—it’s how we assemble information to make decisions and solve problems.

At the same time we are trying to persuade others, others are trying to persuade us and not all their arguments are airtight. A logical fallacy is a weakness or failure in the logic of an argument. Chapter 5 describes logical arguments and several common logical fallacies—allowing you to recognize mistakes in other’s arguments and avoid them in your own.

Building logical arguments are part of everyday life. We build arguments when we decide which new car to buy, who to nominate for a quarterly award or how we should spend our training budget. You’ll find that many of the ideas described in Chapter 5 are part of the way you think, even if you didn’t know the formal terminology.

ORGANIZE AND OUTLINE

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up.”

— Christopher Robin in A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh

You know your purpose and audience, you’ve done your homework—it’s time to deliver your message, right? Not so fast! Before starting to write sentences and paragraphs (or deliver your speech), you’ll save time and frustration by organizing your thoughts and developing an outline of how you are going to present your information.

Successful communicators organize their material logically and in a sequence that leads their audience from one point to the next. Audiences often “tune out” a speaker or writer who rambles on without a logical pattern. Poorly organized essays are a common complaint in both civilian and military schools. Save yourself and your audience a lot of pain—read Chapter 6 to learn different patterns and techniques to organize and outline your material.

FOCUS Principle #2 states that good communication should be organized so that the audience can efficiently understand your point. You’ve taken the first steps towards accomplishing this principle when you take the time to organize and outline your work before starting to write … but how you actually draft and edit paragraphs will take you the rest of the way.

– 11 –

DRAFTING AND EDITING:

WHEN THE FINGERS HIT THE KEYBOARD

The first four steps are identical for both writing and speaking assignments, but the drafting and editing processes are somewhat different for the two forms of communication. In this section we’ll describe the steps from a writing perspective, and Chapters 9 and 10 will describe how the steps are adapted for Air Force speaking.

DRAFT

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

— Gene Fowler

When we think about the writing process, we immediately think of drafting sentences and paragraphs. If you’re uncomfortable with your writing skills, this step usually causes the most anxiety. The good news is that your work on Steps 1-4 will make the drafting process less painful and more efficient.

Once you’ve completed the preliminaries and are ready to write, there are several practical ways to ensure you connect with your readers.

• First, get to the point quickly—use one or more introductory paragraphs to state your purpose up front. Most Air Force readers don’t have the time or patience to read a staff paper written like a mystery novel with a surprise ending.

• Second, organize your paragraphs so the readers know where you’re leading them, and use transitions to guide them along.

• Third, make sure your sentences are clear and direct. Cut through the jargon and passive voice, use the right word for the job and don’t make them wade through an overgrown jungle of flowery words.

• Finally, summarize your message in a concluding paragraph that connects all the dots and makes the message feel complete.

Chapter 7 is full of practical advice on drafting, and it takes a top-down approach. It begins with preliminaries such as writing tone and formats, transitions to paragraph construction, provides practical tips on writing clear, vigorous sentences, then concludes with advice on overcoming writer’s block.

EDIT

Experienced writers know that editing should be a separate, distinct process from drafting. When you draft, you create something new. When you edit, you shift from creator to critic. This change in roles can be tough, and no one wants to admit that his baby is ugly. Remember that criticism and judgment are inevitable in communication.

The better you are at critically evaluating and correcting your own writing, the fewer people will be doing it for you.

– 12 –

Seven Steps to Effective Communication

There are two important aspects of the editing process—WHAT you are editing for, and HOW to edit efficiently. What to edit for is simple—remember those FOCUS principles from Chapter 1? How to edit is a little more complicated, but we recommend starting with the big picture and working down to details like spelling and punctuation.

Ironically, many people do just the opposite; they focus on details first. Some even think that editing is all about the details. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Though details are part of editing, they’re only part of the puzzle.

FIGHT FOR FEEDBACK AND GET APPROVAL

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.”

— Doug Larson

When you’ve completed the editing process and done what you can to improve your communication, it’s time to move outside yourself to get feedback. We are all limited in our ability to criticize our own work, and sometimes an outside opinion can help us see how to improve or strengthen our communication. Your objective is to produce the best possible product; don’t let pride of authorship and fear of criticism close your mind to suggestions from other people. Also, what we write or say at work often must be approved by our chain of command through a formal coordination process. Your supervisor needs to see it, the executive officer needs to see it, then the big boss, and so on…. Chapter 9 provides tips on how to give and receive feedback and how to manage the coordination process.

SUMMARY

In this chapter, we summarized a systematic process—Seven Steps to Effective Communication—that will help you achieve the five FOCUS principles. These steps will help you improve your writing and speaking products. Each step is described in greater detail in subsequent chapters.

THE BASIC STEPS… FOR MORE DETAILS, REFER TO:

1. Analyze Purpose and Audience Chapter 3

2. Research Your Topic Chapter 4

3. Support Your Ideas Chapter 5

4. Organize and Outline Chapter 6

5. Draft Chapter 7 (Writing); Chapter 11 (Speaking)

6. Edit Chapter 8 (Writing); Chapter 11 (Speaking)

7. Fight for Feedback and Approval Chapter 9

– 13 –

Thanks for the tip.

A systematic approach helps when planning to write or speak… check out the Seven Steps in The Tongue and Quill.

– 14 –

PART II:

PREPARING TO WRITE AND

SPEAK

– 15 –

Beautiful report—logical, well written… I just wish it covered what I needed…

– 16 –

CHAPTER 3

STEP 1:

ANALYZING

PURPOSE

AND

AUDIENCE

• Evaluating purpose and emphasis in your communication.

• Drafting a purpose statement.

• Audience analysis—know yourself, your unit, and the audience.

• Tips for success with your audience.

In Chapter 2, we introduced the Seven Steps for Effective Communication. Now we’re going to discuss the first of these steps in further detail. First and most importantly, you can save yourself a lot of work by asking yourself if the PowerPoint briefing, memo, meeting, e-mail, you name it, is going to help get the mission done or a task accomplished. In today’s fast-past work environment, we don’t need to create unnecessary work for anyone.

– 17 –

Once you’re clear on the need for communication, Step 1 requires you to get clear on your purpose and audience. As you’ll see in this chapter, these are not two distinct categories. The characteristics of your audience will influence all parts of your message, and your purpose often involves influencing your audience.

KEY QUESTIONS

Masters in the art of communication stay focused on their objective and approach audience analysis seriously. The more you know about your audience, the more comfortable you will feel writing that memo or delivering that briefing to the commander. Where do you start in this?

Here are some questions to help you begin to analyze your purpose and audience and get you on the right track. We’ll discuss many of them in more detail later in the chapter.

• What is the overall purpose of the communication? Are you trying to make a change in your audience? Are you writing just to inform your audience?

• If you had one sentence or 30 seconds to explain your specific objective, what would you write or say?

• What format are you using to communicate? How much time do you have to prepare?

• Is there anything unusual about the time and place your audience will receive your communication? (i.e., is it 1600 on a Friday before a holiday weekend?) A lengthy informative e-mail sent out late on a Friday afternoon may not be appreciated or even worse—not read!

• Who will read this communication? Your boss? Your subordinates? Civilians? The answers will have a direct bearing on the tone and formality of your message.

• What are the education levels, career fields and areas of expertise of your readers/listeners?

• Do you need to supply any background information, explanation of terms, or other information to your audience? Does your audience have experience with the ideas and concepts you are presenting?

• What does the audience think of you? Are you known and trusted?

• Is your audience motivated to hear/read your communication?

• Do you need to coordinate your communication?

• Are you making promises your organization will have to keep?

– 18 –

Analyzing Purpose and Audience

WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?

Most Air Force writing or speaking falls under one of the following purposes: to direct, inform, persuade or inspire. Your task is to think about the message you want to send (the “what”) and make some sort of determination what your purpose is (the “why”). Some communication has primary and secondary purposes, so don’t kill yourself trying to make sure your message fits neatly in one of these categories. Once you decide the purpose, you’ll know where to place the emphasis and what the tone of your communication should be. Here’s a quick synopsis of these purposes and how they might work for you.

• To Direct. Directive communication is generally used to pass on information describing actions you expect to be carried out by your audience. The emphasis in directive communication is clear, concise directions and expectations of your audience.

• To Inform. The goal of informative communication is to pass on information to the audience. The communication is successful if the audience understands the message exactly the way the speaker or writer intended. The emphasis in informative communication is clear, direct communication with accurate and adequate information tailored to the education and skill levels of the audience. Audience feedback and interaction may be appropriate in some situations to make sure they “got the message.”

• To Persuade. Persuasive communication is typically used when you are trying to “sell” your audience on a new idea, new policy, new product or change in current operations. Though emotions are one tool of persuasion, most persuasive communication in the workplace requires convincing evidence put together in a logical way. Audience analysis is critical, because different audiences have different views on what evidence is convincing. Since the purpose is to guide your audience to a specific course of action, you cannot overlook tone and delivery.

Chapter 5, Supporting Your Ideas, describes how to build your persuasive skills.

• To Inspire. One final purpose for writing or speaking that doesn’t get much attention but is frequently used in the military is to inspire. As you climb the leadership ladder you will increasingly be requested to perform retirements, promotions, commander’s calls—opportunities where you will want to inspire the audience with your profound insight on someone’s career or possibly your philosophy on leadership. Although protocol drives portions of these events, the opportunity to send a personal message and inspire the audience should not be overlooked. The emphasis in inspirational communication is delivery, a thorough knowledge of your topic and likewise your audience.

Regardless of whether your mission is to inspire, direct, persuade or inform, there are general principles that apply to almost all communication. See “Tips for Success” at the end of this chapter to round out your portfolio for analyzing purpose and audience.

– 19 –

GET CLEAR ON YOUR BOTTOM LINE: DRAFTING A PURPOSE STATEMENT

OK, we’re making progress. You have a feel for the general purpose of your communication (to direct, inform, persuade or inspire), but what is your “bottom line” you need to communicate to your audience? If you have difficulty nailing down your objective, your audience will be equally confused.

One way to make sure you’re clear on your objective is to write a purpose statement, which is one sentence that captures the essence of what you’re trying to do—your “bottom line.” It’s the one sentence you’d keep if you were allowed only one.

Developing a clear purpose statement will help you in two ways:

• It will help you FOCUS as you develop your communication.

• It will help your audience FOCUS when you deliver your message.

Think about it; your audience wants a clear statement of your position and where you are going.

This is especially true when your audience consists of higher-ranking individuals with many demands on their time and issues requiring their attention.

Let’s look at some examples of draft purpose statements:

Purpose Statement: To inform individuals in the Civil Engineering Squadron about new policies on hazardous waste disposal.

Purpose Statement: To encourage (inspire) at-risk high school students to work hard, stay in school and have hope in the future.

Purpose Statement: To persuade the division chief to buy three laptops for use during official travel.

As we’ll mention in Chapter 5, you may update your purpose statement after researching your topic. (For example, you might find out you need four laptops, not three.) Even if it isn’t locked down, a draft statement will help guide your research and support efforts.

ANALYZING PURPOSE: OTHER ISSUES

Knowing your “bottom line” is not the end of analyzing purpose. Here are some questions you want to ask to make sure you look at all parts of the equation. The answers will help refine your purpose and shape your entire project.

• What format will I use to communicate? Today’s commanders are increasingly more vigilant of the value of their troops’ time—and their own. Make sure that the communication is required and that you select the most appropriate format for delivery. Think about how much time you will have to deliver your message before you go any further. Will you have 2 minutes in a staff meeting with the general that starts in 1 hour? One hour at your commander’s call next week?

• How much time do I have to prepare my communication? The breadth and scope of a report your boss needs the next day will be different than a staff project due by the end of the fiscal year. What’s the suspense? How long is it going to take to write the report? Be sure to budget adequate time for all “Seven Steps,” especially “Researching your Topic” (Step 2),

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“Drafting” (Step 5), and “Editing” (Step 6). If coordination is part of the master plan, it will also affect your timelines.

There’s more to successful communication than getting clear on purpose. There’s always that human factor, and in the communication game that translates to analyzing your audience.

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS: THE HUMAN FACTOR

As stated in Chapter 1, all communication involves a sender, a message and an audience. “A” sends the message (either verbally or in writing) with a specific intended meaning to “B.” “B” receives the message, processes the message and attaches perceived meaning to the message.

This is where it gets interesting. Did the intended message actually get to “B” (or not to “B”— that is the question)? Was the perceived meaning what “A” intended? If not, why not? Ah, thus begins our journey into audience analysis.

KNOW YOURSELF: Before you look around, you need to look in the mirror. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will help you meet your communication goals.

• Do you do better with certain communication formats than others? Be aware of your personal strengths. If you know that you’d rather be buried in a pile of fire ants than speak in public, you may choose to send your message in writing—if that’s an option. If not, spend some time in Chapter 10 and improve your speaking skills!

• Are you an inexperienced briefer that needs notes? If so, make sure they are written in a format that is easy to refer to while the general is listening intently and watching the beads of sweat form on your forehead.

• Do you have expertise in the area? If so … great! But don’t lose your audience with lots of lingo and unfamiliar jargon. You may think it’s cool; others may not. On the other hand, if you lack expertise in the area, you will need to focus your research to beef up on unfamiliar territory.

Remember, there’s always someone in the crowd that knows as much or more—no pressure!

• What is your relationship with the audience? Are you personally familiar with them? You may be able to present a more informal briefing or written document if you know this is acceptable to the audience. See the section on tone for more guidance.

KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION: Once you’ve taken a hard look at yourself, you need to take a look at your work environment and your organization. In the military we rarely act or speak in a vacuum. Often we represent our organization, unit or functional area and must understand them and accommodate their views, capabilities or concerns in our communications.

The following questions may help bring things into focus.

• Am I promising something my organization can deliver? (You can substitute boss or personnel for organization.) If not, why are you bothering?

• Is what I’m saying consistent with previous policy or operating philosophy? If not, you need to shift to a persuasive tone and explain why your approach warrants a change or breach in policy.

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• Who needs to coordinate on this? Who else owns a piece of this action? The coordination game can be a mind maze, but if you leave a key player out, you will undoubtedly hear about it.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: The receiving audience falls into one of four sub-categories.

Depending on the type of communication and coordination necessary, you may or may not deal with each and every one of these.

• Primary receiver: The person you directly communicate with either verbally or in writing.

• Secondary receiver: People you indirectly communicate with through the primary receivers. Let’s say, for example, that you’re a group commander. You send a written memo to the unit’s first sergeants (primary receivers) identifying establishments near your base that are now designated “off limits” to the troops. The first sergeants post these areas in the squadron orderly rooms for “widest dissemination.” The secondary receivers would be the troops that read (and hopefully heed!) the commander’s directive.

• Key decision makers: These are the most powerful members of the audience … the ones that really make the decisions. Knowing who they are will help focus your attention and potentially your delivery in larger briefings and certain written communication.

• Gatekeepers: These are people in the chain that typically review the communication before it reaches your intended audience. Knowing who they are and what their expectations are can save you embarrassment and help ensure your success in the long run. We all know that administrative assistants are keenly aware of their bosses’ preferences. Listen to their inputs!

“Therefore I say: Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”

— Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu was ahead of his time. He knew the importance of audience analysis! We’re not recommending you view your audience as “the enemy,” but Sun Tzu had the right idea. Read on for some final tips for connecting with your audience.

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TIPS FOR SUCCESS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

• RANK—don’t be afraid of it. Differences in military rank can be a real barrier to communication in the Air Force. Too many of us become tongue-tied when communicating with those senior in rank, and cursory or impatient with those who are junior in rank. We must constantly remind ourselves we are all communicative equals and should strive to be candid, direct and respectful with everyone.

• JARGON—tailor to your audience. Don’t overestimate the knowledge/expertise of your readers, but don’t talk down to them either. Be careful with excessive use of career-field specific jargon and acronyms. Yes, they are second nature to most of us in the military, but you can lose your audience with unfamiliar terminology.

• Be INCLUSIVE—remember our diverse force. Sometimes we inadvertently exclude members of our audience by falling into communication traps involving references to race, religion, ethnicity or sex. Remember this concept when designing your visual support. Your visual aids should show a range of people who represent our Air Force. Avoid traditional stereotyping of jobs based on sex or race. Inclusiveness also applies to humor. Humor is not universal, and joke telling is the biggest area where otherwise sensitive people unknowingly get themselves into trouble. Knowing your audience and adhering to good taste and sensitivity will keep you in check.

• TONE—it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. Closely tied to the purpose of your communication is the tone you take with your audience. Speakers have gestures, voice and movements to help them communicate. Writers only have words on paper. How many times have you seen colleagues get bent out of shape over a misunderstood e-mail? Why? Because the nonverbal signals available during face-to-face communication are absent. Recognize this disadvantage in written communication and pay close attention to it.

Words that carry uncomplimentary insinuations (ignorant, opinionated) make negative suggestions (failure, impossible) or call up unpleasant thoughts (liable, unsuccessful) can potentially defeat your purpose.

• COURTESY—be polite (please!). The first rule of writing is to be polite. Forego anger, criticism and sarcasm—strive to be reasonable and persuasive. Try not to deliberately embarrass someone if it can be avoided with a more tactful choice of words. Rudeness is a weak person’s imitation of strength.

• Make it PERSONAL—but it’s not all about you! When appropriate, use pronouns to create instant rapport, show concern and keep your reader involved. Using pronouns also keeps your writing from being monotonous, dry and abstract. The pronouns you’ll probably use the most are you, yours, we, us and our. Use I, me, and my sparingly. One rule of business writing is “put your audience first,” so when possible, avoid using I as the first word of an opening sentence and avoid starting two sentences in a row with we or I unless you’re trying to hammer home a point. These guidelines will help you to avoid sounding self-centered and repetitive.

• Be POSITIVE. To cultivate a positive tone, give praise where praise is due; acknowledge acceptance before focusing on additional improvements; and express criticism in the form of helpful questions, suggestions, requests, recommendations, or clear directives rather than accusations. When having to give bad news, lead with a neutral comment before jumping in with the bad news. Save the positive for the closing by offering alternatives, etc. Stay away

– 23 – from using clichés, restating the refusal, hiding bad news in a fog of wordiness and inappropriate apologizing. Your audience always appreciates sincerity and honesty. To get you started thinking “positive,” listen for the tone of the following sentences:

Commanders will recommend only qualified persons for training. [Constructive]

Commanders may not recommend for training any person who is not qualified. [Destructive]

Positive Negative reception area waiting room established policy old policy change of schedule postponement confirm meeting reminder competition is keen opportunity is limited start writing well stop writing badly use the big hoist don’t use the small hoist the cup is half full the cup is half empty

• FORMAL (“To be, or not to be”) versus INFORMAL (“hey dude”). Different communication situations require different levels of formality. The informal tone is more like a conversation between you and your reader, and it is characterized by clear, direct, active language. In today’s Air Force, most of your writing will be informal, though ceremonies and awards may require more elaborate (formal) language. Whether your tone is formal or informal, you still need to follow the accepted rules of grammar. In any case, the best advice is to keep your writing clear, concise and simple. We’ll cover this in more detail under “drafting clear and concise sentences” in Chapter 7.

SUMMARY

This chapter covered the key concepts of analyzing your purpose and audience—the first step towards developing effective communication. Getting clear on your purpose early in the process helps you focus your preparation. Taking the time to understand your audience will help you tailor your message to their knowledge, interests and motives. Once you’ve determined your purpose, nailed down your purpose statement, and carefully analyzed your audience, you need to do some homework on your topic…

…it’s called R-E-S-E-A-R-C-H.

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CHAPTER 4

STEP 2:

RESEARCHING

YOUR TOPIC

• Things to think about before getting lost in the library.

• Where to go to get information.

• Internet searches.

• Tips for evaluating sources.

• A list of useful references for Air Force personnel.

Whether your communication goal is to persuade or inform, you’ll need more than fancy words to win the day—you’ll need substance as well as style. Once you’re clear on your purpose and audience (Step 1), you’ll need to research your topic to uncover information that will support your communication goals.

In some ways, research has never been easier—electronic databases and the Internet give us access to quantities of information unthinkable 20 years ago. But new opportunities bring new challenges. With so much information, how do we find the data we need to meet our purpose? And how do we know a source should be trusted? This chapter gives some basic suggestions that will be useful in nearly any assignment.

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BEFORE YOU HIT THE LIBRARY

Okay—you need to research your topic … how do you approach the task? If you do a little early planning, you’ll be more focused and effective when searching for data.

For simple projects, planning means spend a few quiet moments thinking about your task.

For longer projects, you may write out a detailed research plan. Regardless of the scope, think through these issues:

• Review the purpose and scope of the overall project.

After completing Step 1, Analyzing Purpose and Audience, you should have a good idea of what you need, but sometimes your purpose and scope may evolve as you learn more about the topic. You may also need to do some preliminary research just to get smart enough to scope out the effort. If you’ve been handed a vague topic, try to get some feel for how far you should go in your research, what you can realistically do, and where you should stop.

Chapter scope and related sections

The word “research” is often used to describe a multistep investigation process used to either answer a question or solve a problem. Academic research expands knowledge by finding answers to questions, while nearly all military staff research revolves around identifying and solving problems. This chapter emphasizes information retrieval and evaluation of sources, and will not describe the end-to-end process associated with academic research (which is covered in Appendix 2), or details of systematic problem solving (which is described in the Military Staff Study chapter).

• Assign yourself a deadline for the research effort.

It’s easy to get lost in the research process. Don’t do an outstanding job of data retrieval, then a marginal job on the presentation because you ran out of time. For larger projects, assign yourself a time budget for the data-gathering process.

• Ask the boss—Are there unusual sources or knowledgeable individuals you should seek out?

Your boss gave you this research problem for a reason—he or she thought that you were capable of finding the answer. Even if you can eventually find the answer on your own, you might save some time by asking for suggestions on where to…