Indirect Pattern

When you expect the audience to be uninterested, unwilling, displeased, or perhaps even hostile, the indirect pattern is more appropriate. In this pattern you don't reveal the main idea until after you have offered an explanation and evidence.

The indirect pattern has these benefits:

• Respects the feelings of the audience.
• Facilities a fair hearing.
• Minimizes a negative reaction.

Typically business messages that could be developed indirectly include letters and memos that refuse requests, deny claims and disapprove credit. Sales letters, sensitive messages and some reports also benefit from the indirect strategy.

Direct Pattern

In preparing to write any message, you need to anticipate the audience's reaction to your ideas and frame your message accordingly. When you expect the reader to be pleased, mildly interested, or, at worst, neutral, use the direct pattern. In the direct pattern main point comes first which followed by an explanation or evidence.

 Direct method, also called frontloading, has these advantages:

• It saves the reader's time.
• It sets a proper frame of mind.
• It prevents frustration.

This frontloading technique works best with audiences that are likely to be receptive to or at least not disagree with what you say. All these tasks have one element in common: none has a sensitive subject that will upset the reader. Business messages which use direct pattern are orders, nonsensitive memos, e-mail messages, informational reports and oral presentation etc.

Organizing Ideas Into Patterns

Organize your thoughts into a pattern which is the best way to convey your ideas or messages. There are two  organizational patterns for typical business messages: the direct pattern and the indirect pattern. The difference between the two are that in the direct pattern, the main idea is followed by details, explanation, or evidence. In the indirect pattern, the main idea follows the details, explanation and evidence.

Here is the small video about pattern of organization:

The following table will help to identify different organizational patterns:

 

Lists and Outlines

The Scratch List:

A quick list of topics a writer wants to cover is called a scratch list. A few ways of  making a scratch list are:

• Find an item in the list
• Tick the item off as you process
• Remove items from the list
• Add items to the list
• Move an item within the list
• Shuffle the order

 The Outlines:

Outlines is a complex way of organizing the ideas. A few tips for making outlines are:

• Define the main topic (purpose of the message) in the title
• Divide the main topic into major components
• Break the components into sub points
• Don't put a single item under a major component; if you have only one sub point, integrate it with the main item above it or recognized
• Strive to make each component exclusive (no over-lapping)
• Use details, illustrations and evidence to support sub points.
  

Grouping ideas into categories is the hardest part of outlining. These components or categories are very important as they are a major point in your writing. Every major category in an outline should have at least two subcategories.How to group  ideas into categories or components its depends on the topic and channel of communication. The order of the information in outline though depends on what pattern or strategy choose to write.

Organize

Writing process always starts from ideas, which later on grouped together in terms of messages. There are two types of messages: Organized and unorganized.

Organized messages are the groups of similar ideas which helps the reader to understand the sequence and ideas in the same way the writer viewed them.

Unorganized messages on the other hand give readers the freedom of having jumping thoughts while jumbling different ideas which can create frustration and irritation as they can't understand the idea behind a piece of writing.

According to many communication experts mostly business writers fail because of poor organization of ideas. They can overcome this failure by following two simple techniques: the scratch list and the outline.

Tips for Organizing Ideas:

• Analyze the ideas generated in the original cluster diagram.
• Cross out ideas that are obviously irrelevant; simplify and clarify.
• Add new ideas that seem appropriate.
• Study the ideas for similarities.
• Group similar ideas into classifications (such as Content, Development, and Form).
• If the organization seems clear at this point, prepare an outline.
• For further visualization, make sub-cluster circles around each classification.