Direct v. Indirect: Adapting

As I have said before, I have never written or presented a recommendation report for anyone or anything, but this week we’ve been asked to answer a question referring to the scenario. “If you were writing a recommendation report for an audience that doesn’t know you, would you use the direct approach, focusing on the recommendation, or the indirect approach, focusing on logic? Why?”

Since I obviously have no experience with this topic I figured I would have to refer to our textbook for answers. Thill and Bovee write about direct v. indirect approaches for oral presentations on pg. 329 of Business Communications: The Essentials. From what I am getting from it, you use the direct approach for good news and a receptive audience and indirect for bad news or persuasion and when expecting resistance from the crowd.

To me, this would mean that you have to read the crowd a bit and also decide whether the message is primarily positive or negative in nature.

For example if you are recommending that a branch of a company be closed, that’s bad news, so an indirect approach should be used. Meanwhile, if you are recommending an expansion for the company or a merger (with positive benefits), the direct approach is more appropriate.

There isn’t a cookie cutter mold for how to do each different kind of presentation so, as with any form of communication, written or oral, being able to adapt to the audience is crucial. Especially when desiring a certain outcome from the presentation.