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So, to decide between building in California and Alabama we need to have other

states with which to compare the two. Consequently, consider New Jersey with 44.4
percent of its rental units vacant and Washington D.C. with 34.7 percent of its rental

units vacant. This places the rental vacancy rates as follows: Alabama at 11.8,

California at 3.7, D.C. at 5.9, and New Jersey at 4.5. These figures will dictate where
we should build our new rental housing. Naturally, we're going to build when the

rental vacancy rate is the lowest because we believe that this implies that there is a

rental shortage.

At the very least, the passage probably seemed confusing. The excess percentages

and housing numbers probably made it difficult to focus on the point of the passage,
which, incidentally, was an argument that a company should build new rental homes

in California rather than Alabama. If there are so many statistics and figures in a

passage that it could be difficult to tell "the point," then there is a serious problem
and the passage needs to be revised and streamlined. As illustrated, this is especially

true for information presented during discussions or presentations. It is very hard to

process lots of figures while listening to a person speak.

Keep the passage we just read handy so that we can review it and discuss its

strengths and weakness. We will then make changes to the passage and discuss why
the changes are successful revisions.

Using Data Effectively as Inartistic Information

Only poignant data can be used effectively. Consequently, the first step towards

clarification involves cutting out any inartistic information that we do not directly

need. Looking at your printed copy of the previous passage, mark the information
that you believe is inartistic and mark the information that you believe is artistic.

Then, continue.

TX Marketing II: Negotiation Techniques 28