As an assistant to body language expert and author Tonya Reiman, you must help her politely decline an invitation to speak at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The business associations on campus pooled their resources and decided to invite Ms. Reiman to give a talk about nonverbal communication. A sought-after TV commentator and consultant, Ms. Reiman is the author of three books, The Power of Body Language, The YES Factor, and The Body Language of Dating. In their invitation, the students demonstrated they had done their homework. They knew Ms. Reiman’s books and were fascinated by her focus on proxemics, power gestures, projecting the best image, building rapport, and reading microexpressions. Ms. Reiman likes to speak to young students, mostly pro bono or for a nominal fee, but during the spring semester she is too busy writing a new book and providing training to several domestic and international companies. She could, however, send her deputy director and senior trainer, Tinashe Efe.

Your Task.

In Ms. Reiman’s name, refuse the invitation but suggest an alternative. Send your letter to Celeste Gunvaldsen, Associated Students, University of South Carolina, 1244 Blossom Street, Suite 206, Columbia, SC 29208. Note that Celeste is a gender-unspecific name. How will you handle the honorific (Ms., Mr., etc.) in your letter?