Improving Professional Writing for Lay Practitioners: A Rhetorical Approach

This tutorial presents a workshop aimed at developing persuasive writing skills among lay practitioners with limited literacy who are required to write reports for professionals in a social-service delivery context. Drawing on Ong´s distinction between the communication patterns of oral and literate culture, the workshop was designed to utilize participants´ existing oral communication patterns as the underpinning for developing rhetorical strategies appropriate for their professional audience. The workshop consisted of a four-phase process of iterative questioning: identifying audience, defining project goals, formulating feasible outcomes, and assembling relevant evidence and support.