Sitting in your Boston office at the accounting firm Bachman, Trinity, and Smith, working away on your computer, it seems as though you could be doing this work from home. You have not spoken to your co-workers in more than two hours. As long as you complete your work on time, does your location matter?

As an entry-level accountant, you have participated in on-location audits at major companies for nearly a year now. If your bosses trust you to work while staying in a hotel, why not let you work from home, where you already have an office with a computer, phone, and scanner? You would love to get back the two hours you lose commuting to and from work every day.

Your task: To gather support for telecommuting, visit the website of the International Telework Coalition at www.telcoa.org. Find statistics and other support and write a memo persuading your boss and senior partner, Marjorie Bachman, to grant you a six-month trial.

Format and style for persuasive messages

- Follow format and layout guidelines for memos in Appendix A in the Thill and Bovee textbook.

- Gather information about your audience needs. Take demographics, psychographics, and motivation into consideration.

- Make sure that your argument uses the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) plan.

- Use what you learned about the science of persuasion to appeal to human drives and needs.

- Make sure the document has high skim value and correct format.

Checklist:

- Know your audience and have appealing introduction.

- Clearly describe the product, service, or idea being promoted.

- Detailed reasons that add to the argument.

- Clearly state the action being asked of the reader and how to assist.

- Know your reader's objections and suggest the answers.

- Include contact information.

- Letter is concise and interesting with a courteous and professional tone.