Air Force Effective Writing

1. Air Force Effective Writing

2. Tongue and Quill Exercise • List the 7 steps to effective communication. 2. In Step 1 of the communication process, we need to be smart about the “human factor;” therefore, effective communication requires us to analyze the audience. The journey into audience analysis actually involves knowing about three things:

3. Tongue and Quill Exercise 3. The T&Q refers to “logical arguments” as a series of statements to persuade others. We need to be smart about logical arguments because “If you understand how arguments are constructed and where they go wrong, you’re less likely to buy into somebody else’s muddy thinking.” Therefore, what four elements need attention when communicating to persuade others?

4. Tongue and Quill Exercise 4. Identify 12 types of evidence

5. Tongue and Quill Exercise • __________ __________try to persuade the heart, not the head. • False cause, also known as ______ ______ fallacy, occurs when you assume one event causes a second event merely because it precedes the second event. (Maybe a third factor caused the other two events.)

6. Tongue and Quill Exercise 7. While the organization pattern, ________, discusses similarities and/or differences, the _______ pattern shows how ideas/actions/conditions may lead to other ideas/actions/conditions.

7. Tongue and Quill Exercise • The draft for most papers and speeches has a 3-part structure that includes these types of paragraphs: ____________, ________, and _____________. • The ____________ statement in the introduction paragraph is the one sentence • you’d keep if you had only one, while the __overview__________ statement is like a good roadmap by clearly identifying the main points.

8. Tongue and Quill Exercise 9. The ____________ statement in the introduction paragraph is the one sentence you’d keep if you had only one, while the ____________ statement is like a good roadmap by clearly identifying the main points.

9. Tongue and Quill Exercise 10. Generally, ______ transitions (e.g., first, next, finally) improve the flow of ideas within a paragraph, while the ______ transitions (e.g., Now that we’ve covered X, let’s talk about Y.) link separate paragraphs or major sections of a paper.

10. Tongue and Quill Exercise 11. By using mostly active voice, your writing is clear, concise, and alive. Rewrite the following passive sentence so that it reads in active voice. PASSIVE: Better sentences will be written by you. ACTIVE: ______________________________

11. Tongue and Quill Exercise 12. When editing your work, the 3-step approach—1st pass, the Big Picture; 2nd pass, the Paragraph Structure/Clarity; and 3rd look, the Sentences/Phrases/Words—means you’ll need to read your papers at least three times to do a good job. Identify the editing technique that helps you catch errors because it requires you SLOW DOWN and uses two senses—SEEING and HEARING?

12. Tongue and Quill Exercise 13. A drill team with 12 members is competing during Field Training. team-singular subject; is-singular verb; members is object of prepositional phrase, not the subject Correct / Not Correct

13. Tongue and Quill Exercise 14. The commander’s main concern are untrained Airmen. Linking verb needs to agree with the subject (concern), not the complement (Airmen) Correct / Not Correct

14. Tongue and Quill Exercise 15. Everyone within the four squadrons participates in Field Day. Everyone (singular) participates (singular) Correct / Not Correct

15. Tongue and Quill Exercise 16. Everyone needs to eat their meal while sitting at attention. Correct / Not Correct

16. Tongue and Quill Exercise 17. The trainees need to eat their meal while sitting at attention. Correct / Not Correct

17. Tongue and Quill Exercise • Three lieutenants arrived late; their supervisor was angry with them. Correct / Not Correct

18. Tongue and Quill Exercise 19. Air Force Instruction (AFI) 33-119, Official Messaging, provides guidance on official and authorized use of e-mail. List three of the six situations that are prohibited when using government communication systems.

19. Tongue and Quill Exercise 20. The template for the Official Memorandum (p. 184) indicates the number of blank lines between the last line of the last paragraph and the first line of the signature block. How many?

20. Tongue and Quill Exercise 21. The template for the Talking Paper (p. 209) indicates that the identification line at the bottom of the paper must include the following six items:

21. Tongue and Quill Exercise 22. The T&Q discusses two types of bullets, the __Single-Idea_____ bullet for talking papers and the _Accomplishment-Impact_____ bullet for performance reports and award submissions.

22. Tongue and Quill Exercise 23. Will you go by car, train, or plane? Open / Closed 24. OPEN Will you go by car, train or plane? 25. How do you abbreviate “Second Lieutenant?”2d Lt_

23. Tongue and Quill Exercise 24.Will you go by car, train or plane? Open / Closed

24. Tongue and Quill Exercise 25. How do you abbreviate “Second Lieutenant?”

25. Tongue and Quill Exercise 26. In titles and headings, all words are capitalized except articles (the, a, an), short prepositions (at, by, of), and _____________________________________

26. Tongue and Quill Exercise Questions?