4. Developing Business Writing Techniques You can improve your message by using mechanical emphasis, parallelism, voice, and well-placed descriptions One way to achieve emphasis is through mechanical devices. . Complete the following sentence. Organizing information in provides emphasis by making items stand out. You can also improve your messages through stylistic emphasis in sentence structure and word choice. Which of the following stylistic devices can be used to achieve emphasis? Check all that apply. Avoid general words Position important ideas in the middle of the sentence. Use passive voice. Give important information the spotlight. Label the main idea In some cases it is necessary to de-emphasize an idea, such as bad news. Does the following selection emphasize or de-emphasize the bad news? While we are unable to renew your contract for the upcoming year, we hope to have the position reposted once the funds are available Emphasize De-emphasize When you compose messages, you may use the active or passive voice to convey meaning. Most business messages use the active voice. Which of the following are instances when you would use the passive voice in a business message? Check all that apply. To emphasize an action instead of the recipient of an action To conceal the doer of an action To de-emphasize negative news To emphasize the sender not the reader Does the following sentence use the active or passive voice? The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Christina Balian. Passive Active Parallel sentences are balanced and casy for readers to understand. Choose which sentence has the better parallel structure. Although the presentation was extremely long, it outlined the research, analyzed the data, and provided clear recommendations that will be useful in the future. Although the presentation is extremely long, it outlines the research, analyzes the data, and provides clear recommendations that are useful in the future. Choose the best revision to the following sentence. Teagan saw the recommendations flipping through the report. Teagan saw the recommendations, flipping through the report. Flipping through the report, Teagan saw the recommendations. Effective business writers use various techniques to improve their messages. How could the following selection be improved