{"id":159,"date":"2025-09-13T20:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T20:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/chapter\/6-7-constructive-positive-language\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:19:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:19:33","slug":"6-7-constructive-positive-language","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/chapter\/6-7-constructive-positive-language\/","title":{"raw":"6.8 Constructive, Positive Language","rendered":"6.8 Constructive, Positive Language"},"content":{"raw":"Unless there is a specific reason not to, always use constructive, positive language wherever you can. It is important to consider how you want your reader to feel, and what may make your reader feel that way. Your goal is to write constructively, which means to use beneficial or helpful phrasing to convey your message to your reader. Positive language benefits your writing by creating an encouraging tone which is likely to be well-received.\n\nThe following examples offer negatively worded sentences which are then edited into more constructive, positive language. As the audience for these messages, how would you react upon reading each one?\n
\n

Examples<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
\n\nNegative:<\/strong> Your car will not be ready for pickup until Friday.\n\nPositive:<\/strong> The car will be ready for pickup on Friday.\n\n \n\nNegative:<\/strong> Your holiday time is not approved until your manager clears it.\n\nPositive:<\/strong> The holiday time will be approved when your manager clears it.\n\n \n\nNegative:<\/strong> A decision will not <\/em>be made unless<\/em> all board members agree.\n\nPositive:<\/strong> A decision will be made when all board members agree.\n\n \n\nNegative:<\/strong> The event cannot<\/em> be scheduled without<\/em> a venue.\n\nPositive:<\/strong> The event will be scheduled when the venue booking is finalized on Friday.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNote that the last two sets of examples use multiple negatives in one sentence, which you should try to avoid. When readers encounter more than one negative in a sentence, their brains have to do more cognitive work to decipher the meaning (Maldonado & Culbertson, 2021).\n\nWriting constructively requires an awareness of potential audience reaction; it does not<\/em> require a lot of additional vocabulary. In most of the examples presented above, just a few words were changed to create a positive tone.\n\nIn general, you should strive for that positive tone in professional writing. However, sometimes you\u2019ll need to communicate information that is unpleasant, such as delivering bad news or rejecting a request. Communicating constructively is possible and arguably needed in these situations. Regardless of the message, how can you ensure you are communicating constructively?\n\nAdopt an adult-to-adult approach:<\/strong> that is to say, avoid talking to your reader in a patronizing tone, and likewise avoid sounding unwilling to take responsibility. Aim to communicate respectfully, responsibly, confidently, and cooperatively \u2014 as one responsible adult to another. For example, the way the writer uses the word \u201cwe\u201d can mean cohesion between the members of the business, but it can also become patronizing and shift power from the reader to the writer's perspective. This may sound like the control is in the sender rather than the receiver. For example, if a company has three software products and they state \u201cWe offer three products\u201d the focus becomes the company\u2019s capability rather than the choice of the buyers. If the sender states \u201cYou have options to choose from three products\u201d the focus becomes the choice of the receiver.\n\nBe courteous: <\/strong>focus on the reader as much as possible. Use \u201cyou\u201d unless it results in blaming (one effective use of passive verbs is to avoid assigning blame: \u201cmistakes were made\u201d). Use traditionally accepted forms of courtesy and politeness.\n\nFocus on the positive: <\/strong>emphasize what you can<\/em> do rather than what you can\u2019t. Try to avoid negative wording and phrasing (no, not, never, none, isn\u2019t, can\u2019t, don\u2019t, etc<\/em>.). Focus on what can<\/em> be improved.\n\nBe genuine: <\/strong>apologize only if you have made a mistake. Take responsibility and promise to do better. Be authentic in your expression. Avoid relying on cliches or standard phrases not common to your own way of speaking or writing. Make reasonable claims that can be backed up with evidence. Keep in mind that over apologizing habitually may result in a decrease in perceptions of competence.\n\nThis section is adapted from \u201cYou\u201d Approach and Constructive Language'<\/a> in Communications for Professionals<\/a><\/em> by Susan Oaks, licensed under CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.","rendered":"

Unless there is a specific reason not to, always use constructive, positive language wherever you can. It is important to consider how you want your reader to feel, and what may make your reader feel that way. Your goal is to write constructively, which means to use beneficial or helpful phrasing to convey your message to your reader. Positive language benefits your writing by creating an encouraging tone which is likely to be well-received.<\/p>\n

The following examples offer negatively worded sentences which are then edited into more constructive, positive language. As the audience for these messages, how would you react upon reading each one?<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Examples<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
\n

Negative:<\/strong> Your car will not be ready for pickup until Friday.<\/p>\n

Positive:<\/strong> The car will be ready for pickup on Friday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Negative:<\/strong> Your holiday time is not approved until your manager clears it.<\/p>\n

Positive:<\/strong> The holiday time will be approved when your manager clears it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Negative:<\/strong> A decision will not <\/em>be made unless<\/em> all board members agree.<\/p>\n

Positive:<\/strong> A decision will be made when all board members agree.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Negative:<\/strong> The event cannot<\/em> be scheduled without<\/em> a venue.<\/p>\n

Positive:<\/strong> The event will be scheduled when the venue booking is finalized on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Note that the last two sets of examples use multiple negatives in one sentence, which you should try to avoid. When readers encounter more than one negative in a sentence, their brains have to do more cognitive work to decipher the meaning (Maldonado & Culbertson, 2021).<\/p>\n

Writing constructively requires an awareness of potential audience reaction; it does not<\/em> require a lot of additional vocabulary. In most of the examples presented above, just a few words were changed to create a positive tone.<\/p>\n

In general, you should strive for that positive tone in professional writing. However, sometimes you\u2019ll need to communicate information that is unpleasant, such as delivering bad news or rejecting a request. Communicating constructively is possible and arguably needed in these situations. Regardless of the message, how can you ensure you are communicating constructively?<\/p>\n

Adopt an adult-to-adult approach:<\/strong> that is to say, avoid talking to your reader in a patronizing tone, and likewise avoid sounding unwilling to take responsibility. Aim to communicate respectfully, responsibly, confidently, and cooperatively \u2014 as one responsible adult to another. For example, the way the writer uses the word \u201cwe\u201d can mean cohesion between the members of the business, but it can also become patronizing and shift power from the reader to the writer’s perspective. This may sound like the control is in the sender rather than the receiver. For example, if a company has three software products and they state \u201cWe offer three products\u201d the focus becomes the company\u2019s capability rather than the choice of the buyers. If the sender states \u201cYou have options to choose from three products\u201d the focus becomes the choice of the receiver.<\/p>\n

Be courteous: <\/strong>focus on the reader as much as possible. Use \u201cyou\u201d unless it results in blaming (one effective use of passive verbs is to avoid assigning blame: \u201cmistakes were made\u201d). Use traditionally accepted forms of courtesy and politeness.<\/p>\n

Focus on the positive: <\/strong>emphasize what you can<\/em> do rather than what you can\u2019t. Try to avoid negative wording and phrasing (no, not, never, none, isn\u2019t, can\u2019t, don\u2019t, etc<\/em>.). Focus on what can<\/em> be improved.<\/p>\n

Be genuine: <\/strong>apologize only if you have made a mistake. Take responsibility and promise to do better. Be authentic in your expression. Avoid relying on cliches or standard phrases not common to your own way of speaking or writing. Make reasonable claims that can be backed up with evidence. Keep in mind that over apologizing habitually may result in a decrease in perceptions of competence.<\/p>\n

This section is adapted from \u201cYou\u201d Approach and Constructive Language’<\/a> in Communications for Professionals<\/a><\/em> by Susan Oaks, licensed under CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-159","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":143,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/159\/revisions\/160"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/143"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/159\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}