Business Communication for Success Business Communication for Success [Author removed at request of original publisher] UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA LIBRARIES PUBLISHING EDITION, 2015. THIS EDITION ADAPTED FROM A WORK ORIGINALLY PRODUCED IN 2010 BY A PUBLISHER WHO HAS REQUESTED THAT IT NOT RECEIVE ATTRIBUTION. MINNEAPOLIS, MN Business Communication for Success by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Contents Publisher Information x Chapter 1: Effective Business Communication 1.1 Why Is It Important to Communicate Well? 3 1.2 What Is Communication? 7 1.3 Communication in Context 16 1.4 Your Responsibilities as a Communicator 20 1.5 Additional Resources 25 Chapter 2: Delivering Your Message 2.1 What Is Language? 29 2.2 Messages 33 2.3 Principles of Verbal Communication 36 2.4 Language Can be an Obstacle to Communication 42 2.5 Emphasis Strategies 47 2.6 Improving Verbal Communication 54 2.7 Additional Resources 58 Chapter 3: Understanding Your Audience 3.1 Self-Understanding Is Fundamental to Communication 65 3.2 Perception 72 3.3 Differences in Perception 82 3.4 Getting to Know Your Audience 84 3.5 Listening and Reading for Understanding 90 3.6 Additional Resources 93 Chapter 4: Effective Business Writing 4.1 Oral versus Written Communication 96 4.2 How Is Writing Learned? 99 4.3 Good Writing 104 4.4 Style in Written Communication 109 4.5 Principles of Written Communication 113 4.6 Overcoming Barriers to Effective Written Communication 118 4.7 Additional Resources 122 Chapter 5: Writing Preparation 5.1 Think, Then Write: Writing Preparation 125 5.2 A Planning Checklist for Business Messages 130 5.3 Research and Investigation: Getting Started 139 5.4 Ethics, Plagiarism, and Reliable Sources 144 5.5 Completing Your Research and Investigation 151 5.6 Reading and Analyzing 155 5.7 Additional Resources 158 Chapter 6: Writing 6.1 Organization 164 6.2 Writing Style 178 6.3 Making an Argument 187 6.4 Paraphrase and Summary versus Plagiarism 195 6.5 Additional Resources 198 Chapter 7: Revising and Presenting Your Writing 7.1 General Revision Points to Consider 201 7.2 Specific Revision Points to Consider 204 7.3 Style Revisions 214 7.4 Evaluating the Work of Others 220 7.5 Proofreading and Design Evaluation 224 7.6 Additional Resources 228 Chapter 8: Feedback in the Writing Process 8.1 Diverse Forms of Feedback 232 8.2 Qualitative and Quantitative Research 243 8.3 Feedback as an Opportunity 248 8.4 Additional Resources 252 Chapter 9: Business Writing in Action 9.1 Text, E-mail, and Netiquette 255 9.2 Memorandums and Letters 261 9.3 Business Proposal 269 9.4 Report 274 9.5 Résumé 281 9.6 Sales Message 290 9.7 Additional Resources 294 Chapter 10: Developing Business Presentations 10.1 Before You Choose a Topic 298 10.2 Choosing a Topic 303 10.3 Finding Resources 309 10.4 Myths and Realities of Public Speaking 318 10.5 Overcoming Obstacles in Your Presentation 321 10.6 Additional Resources 326 Chapter 11: Nonverbal Delivery 11.1 Principles of Nonverbal Communication 330 11.2 Types of Nonverbal Communication 337 11.3 Movement in Your Speech 345 11.4 Visual Aids 349 11.5 Nonverbal Strategies for Success with Your Audience 361 11.6 Additional Resources 363 Chapter 12: Organization and Outlines 12.1 Rhetorical Situation 366 12.2 Strategies for Success 370 12.3 Building a Sample Speech 377 12.4 Sample Speech Outlines 380 12.5 Organizing Principles for Your Speech 382 12.6 Transitions 387 12.7 Additional Resources 390 Chapter 13: Presentations to Inform 13.1 Functions of the Presentation to Inform 393 13.2 Types of Presentations to Inform 398 13.3 Adapting Your Presentation to Teach 402 13.4 Diverse Types of Intelligence and Learning Styles 412 13.5 Preparing Your Speech to Inform 414 13.6 Creating an Informative Presentation 420 13.7 Additional Resources 424 Chapter 14: Presentations to Persuade 14.1 What Is Persuasion? 428 14.2 Principles of Persuasion 431 14.3 Functions of the Presentation to Persuade 434 14.4 Meeting the Listener’s Basic Needs 438 14.5 Making an Argument 444 14.6 Speaking Ethically and Avoiding Fallacies 452 14.7 Sample Persuasive Speech 456 14.8 Elevator Speech 460 14.9 Additional Resources 462 Chapter 15: Business Presentations in Action 15.1 Sound Bites and Quotables 464 15.2 Telephone/VoIP Communication 466 15.3 Meetings 470 15.4 Celebrations: Toasts and Roasts 473 15.5 Media Interviews 476 15.6 Introducing a Speaker 479 15.7 Presenting or Accepting an Award 481 15.8 Serving as Master of Ceremonies 484 15.9 Viral Messages 486 15.10 Additional Resources 489 Chapter 16: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Business Communication 16.1 Intrapersonal Communication 492 16.2 Self-Concept and Dimensions of Self 494 16.3 Interpersonal Needs 498 16.4 Social Penetration Theory 502 16.5 Rituals of Conversation and Interviews 508 16.6 Conflict in the Work Environment 516 16.7 Additional Resources 523 Chapter 17: Negative News and Crisis Communication 17.1 Delivering a Negative News Message 526 17.2 Eliciting Negative News 536 17.3 Crisis Communication Plan 542 17.4 Press Conferences 545 17.5 Additional Resources 550 Chapter 18: Intercultural and International Business Communication 18.1 Intercultural Communication 554 18.2 How to Understand Intercultural Communication 557 18.3 Common Cultural Characteristics 560 18.4 Divergent Cultural Characteristics 564 18.5 International Communication and the Global Marketplace 570 18.6 Styles of Management 575 18.7 The International Assignment 578 18.8 Additional Resources 584 Chapter 19: Group Communication, Teamwork, and Leadership 19.1 What Is a Group? 587 19.2 Group Life Cycles and Member Roles 592 19.3 Group Problem Solving 600 19.4 Business and Professional Meetings 606 19.5 Teamwork and Leadership 614 19.6 Additional Resources 619 Publisher Information Business Communication for Success is adapted from a work produced and distributed under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA) in 2010 by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution. This adapted edition is produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing through the eLearning Support Initiative. This adaptation has reformatted the original text, and replaced some images and figures to make the resulting whole more shareable. This adaptation has not significantly altered or updated the original 2010 text. This work is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. For questions about this textbook please contact [email protected] x Chapter 1: Effective Business Communication Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. –Rollo May I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. –Robert J. McCloskey, former State Department spokesman Introductory Exercises 1. Write five words that express what you want to do and where you want to be a year from now. Take those five words and write a paragraph that clearly articulates your responses to both “what” and “where.” 2. Think of five words that express what you want to do and where you want to be five years from now. Share your five words with your classmates and listen to their responses. What patterns do you observe in the responses? Write a paragraph that addresses at least one observation. Communication is an activity, skill, and art that incorporates lessons learned across a wide spectrum of human knowledge. Perhaps the most time-honored form of communication is storytelling. We’ve told each other stories for ages to help make sense of our world, anticipate the future, and certainly to entertain ourselves. The art of storytelling draws on your understanding of yourself, your message, and how you communicate it to an audience that is simultaneously communicating back to you. Your anticipation, reaction, and adaptation to the process will determine how successfully you are able to communicate. You were not born knowing how to write or even how to talk—but in the process of growing up, you have undoubtedly learned how to tell, and how not tell, a story out loud and in writing. You didn’t learn to text in a day and didn’t learn all the codes—from LOL (laugh out loud) to BRB (be right back)—right away. In the same way, learning to communicate well requires you to read and study how others have expressed themselves, then adapt what you have learned to your present task—whether it is texting a brief message to a friend, presenting your qualifications in a job interview, or writing a business report. You come to this text with skills and an understanding that will provide a valuable foundation as we explore the communication process. Effective communication takes preparation, practice, and persistence. There are many ways to learn communication skills; the school of experience, or “hard knocks,” is one of them. But in the business environment, a “knock” (or lesson learned) may come at the expense of your credibility through a blown presentation to a client. The classroom environment, with a compilation of information and resources such as a text, can offer you a trial run where you get to try out new ideas and skills before you have to use them to communicate effectively to make a sale or form a new partnership. Listening to yourself, or perhaps the comments of others, may help you reflect on new ways to present, or perceive, thoughts, ideas and concepts.