My business communications class is now moving on to letter writing after a month or so of discussing organization, context and culture. Our latest lesson was developing the main thought in their writing. For me, the best way you can support any of your claims is through cold facts. However, you just have to be cautious in selecting which facts help you to achieve your purpose.

Being college students, I used a simple but realistic context for them to use in practice writing. Say, a professor has indicated in the student’s grade that he/she has failed to pass a requirement and thus, merits an Incomplete mark for the course. However, the student has passed the requirement and even got it back marked with a perfect grade. And just to mixed things up, I added this little detail - getting a grade of Incomplete at any time will cost them their chance to graduate with honors. Now to get the grade changed, he/she must submit a letter of request to the professor.

To help them get organized, I asked my students to identify the bare but relevant facts first. Most of them noted and used these facts in their sample letter:

• Final grade was Incomplete due to a missed requirement
• Requirement was completed with a perfect score
• Request a change of grade, will show requirement as proof

What can be noticed here is that no one actually used the detail that their chances of getting honors will be botched if the grade wasn’t changed. Asked why, they cited that this fact isn’t relevant at all and using it in the argument might come off as “pleading for mercy” or being too grade conscious. It was the professor’s clerical error anyway so why even mix emotion? Some will use that fact but only the portion of it (the graduating part) since citing this might prompt a quicker action from the other party. Good reasoning. What can I say, I got brilliant students.

Now for other purposes, you can also apply the same thing. Asking for a raise? Just cite the quality of work, your experience and all the good things you’ve contributed. Don’t even mention that you found out that a colleague with the same job description is getting a higher than you do. It’s unnecessary anyway.

In any case, the important thing here is to identify the purpose of your communication. Start off with a clean slate and write down the bare facts and strike out unnecessary details. Either totally leave out, or downplay those facts that do not have a strong impact. Keeping your letter air-tight also prevents any misinterpretations.