Test your Knowledge: Oral and Outline Presentations

1. Oral presentations give you the opportunity to practice and demonstrate skills such as thinking on your feet, grasping complex business issues, and handling challenging situations. It displays your research, planning, writing, visual design, and interpersonal and nonverbal communication abilities. Executives watch for all of these qualities when considering employee promotions.

2. The three goals you should accomplish in the introduction of your oral presentation are arouse your audience interest, establish your credibility, and preview your message so that the listener understands what's coming.

3. To get an audience's attention during the introduction, you can tell a story, ask a question, pass out a sample, unite the audience with a common goal, use humor, or announce a surprising statistic.

4. In the close of the presentation, you should make sure to restate your main points, describe the next step of who is responsible for doing what, and end on a strong, positive note.

5. To ensure success during an online presentation, you should keep your presentation as simple as possible, ask for feedback, consider sending preview materials ahead of time, view the experience from an audience's point of view, and allow time for the audience to get connected and familiar with their viewing screen.

Test Your Knowledge: Reports and Proposals

1. Reports for monitoring and controlling operations are used to provide feedback and other information for decision making (plans, operating reports, personal activity reports). They are a type of informational report.

2. Primary research differs from secondary research in that it is new research done specifically for the current project. Secondary research contains information that others have previously gathered for another purpose.

3. A survey is reliable if it would produce identical results if repeated. It is valid if the survey measures what it is supposed to measure.

4. A conclusion is a logical interpretation of facts and other information. It should be based only on the information provided or at least referred to in the report. A recommendation suggests what to do about the information.

5. Proposal writers use RFPs (request for proposals) to specify exactly the type of work to be performed or products to be delivered, along with budgets, deadlines, and other requirements. RFPs are basically a formal invitation to bid on their contracts.

Persuasive Messages

1. Some question to ask when gauging the audience's needs during the planning of a persuasive message are...

- Who is my audience?
- What are the needs of the audience?
- What do I want them to do?
- How might the audience resist?
- What is the most important issue?
- How might the organization's culture influence my strategy?
- Are there are alternative positions that need to be examined?

2. Demographics and psychographics play a large role in categorizing audiences.

Demographics has specific information such as age, gender, occupation, income, education, and other quantifiable characteristics.

Psychographics has information such as personality, lifestyle, attitude, and psychological characteristics.

Both of these need to be taken into account when analyzing an audience so that the persuasive message will be appropriate for the audience's culture.

3. How do emotional appeals differ from logical appeals?

Emotional appeals attempt to connect with the reader's sympathies or feelings.
Logical appeals, however, are based on the reader's notions of reason; these appeals can use analogy, deduction, or induction.

4. The three types of reasoning you can use in logical appeals are:

- Analogy: You reason from a specific evidence to a specific evidence.

- Induction: You work from specific evidence to a general conclusion.

- Deduction: You work from a generalization to a specific conclusion.

5. An AIDA model organizes a presentation into four phases:

- Attention: find common ground with the audience.
- Interest: provide details so that the audience knows how the solution might benefit them.
- Desire: explain how the change will benefit the audience and answer potential objections.
- Action: suggest the specific action you want the audience to take, including a deadline.

The AIDA does have some limitations. First, AIDA is a methoda that talks at audiences rather than with them. Second, the AIDA method is built around a single event rather than on a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship.

Negative Messages - Testing Knowledge

1. The five main goals in delivering bad news are...

- to convey bad news
- gain acceptance for the news
- maintain goodwill with the audience
- maintain good image for your organization
- reduce need for further communication on the matter

2. When choosing between the direct and indirect approach, the following questions should be asked:

- Is the bad news unexpected or will it come as a shock?
- What is your organization's preferred style?
- Does the reader prefer to the point messages?
- Do you need to maintain a close and working relationship with the reader?
- Do you need to grab the reader's attention?
- Is the news minor and routine or is there an emotional investment for the reader?

3. The sequence of elements in an indirect, negative message are organized as follows:

- Open with a buffer
- Provide reasons and additional information
- Continue with a clear statement of the bad news
- Close on a positive note

4. A buffer is a noncontroversial and neutral statement closely related to the message's purpose. It establishes common ground and validates your request. Some find it unethical or dishonest if the buffer is insincere or manipulative in some way. However, if it is not deceptive, it is okay to use a buffer statement.

5. When using the indirect approach, it is a good idea to announce the reasons behind the decision before the final news is released. This is because it is easier for the reader to cope with bad news gradually, so that they will be able to handle and understand the negative conclusion. Gradually providing reasons and information will diffuse emotions and lead the reader to expect the final outcome before it is stated.

Routine and Positive Messages

P. 160
3. Analyze the Message

One strength of the original document is in the first sentence. The purpose of the email is clearly stated, showing that the company understands what the requester is needing. However, some of the sentences are a bit lengthy and not concise. The amount of information could have been shortened and more precise, so that the requester clearly understands what he or she needs to do for the problem to be corrected. Another strength of the document is in the overall polite and courteous tone.

Corrected Message:

Dear John Doe,

I am contacting you about your email request for technical support on your cable Internet service. In order to process your request efficiently, we would like to request more information from you. Please visit our support website where you will find the online support request form. By completing all the fields about your computer type, operating system, memory, etc., we will be able to troubleshoot your computer quickly and get you back in business.

Thank you for your time and patience.

Sincerely,
Technical Support

p. 163
Revising a Letter: Vacation Planning

5493 Beechwood Drive
Trenton, N.J. 08608
April 12, 2009

Florida Resort Bureau
1555 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Dear Sir:

I noticed your advertisement about Florida resorts in the April 2009 issue of Smithsonian magazine and was intrigued by the brochure promises. We would like to request additional information from your Bureau about potential resort options so that my wife and I can plan a late September vacation with our two children.

We would like to know which resorts are near large cities, provide accessible public transportation, and have attractions for teenagers. We are also searching for a resort that provides recreation such as a beach, golf, and night entertainment suitable for family. I would additionally like to obtain phone numbers of who to call for local concert schedules. Finally, we are interested in learning about the weather conditions of Florida during September.

Most importantly, I would like to request financial information about the possibility of off-season rates including all amenities. We will be needing this information in the next two weeks so that time for planning is allowed.

Thank you for your time.

Frank C. Atlas

Email Task Assignment

Electronic Communication Practice

Exercise 1 and 2

Netiquette Rules

Following appropriate netiquette guidelines is very important when communicating electronically. Listed below are some strategies to maintain electronic office etiquette as well as tips for composing effective electronic messages.

Use of confidential, sensitive, or private information
-- In order to ensure good behavior and online conduct, always assume that what you are doing online is public. Doing so will help protect both your name and the company's by not posting or chatting information that is inappropriate. In addition, it is in bad taste to re-post or widely distribute an email someone has sent you without their consent. This can lead to some serious legal consequences, as privacy may have been intruded upon.

Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar
-- When writing your message, make sure the message is clear rather than ambiguous. Provide as much information as needed, but try not to go overboard. Also, how an an electronic message is composed will effect how well the message gets across to the reader. Keep a dictionary nearby to prevent spelling or grammar mistakes, which can easily distract from your message and how the reader perceives your ability to communicate.

Tone and flaming
-- Another extremely important tip to remember is to not use all caps. Using caps indicates that the message is supposed to be heard in a SHOUTING or YELLING voice. Also, remember to be remain polite. It is easier to be rude to someone when not face to face with that person. In addition, refrain from writing emails or electronic messages when angry. Making rash remarks or decisions can lead to serious consequences.



http://www.cs.indiana.edu/docproject/zen/zen-1.0_6.html#SEC44

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201201541

http://news.cnet.com/A-new-sort-of-online-protocol/2100-1023_3-261391.html



Exercise 3

To: sarah@work.net
CC: jim@work.net
From: bill@work.net
Subject: Financial aid for Training Trip

Dear Sarah,

I am hoping to go on a training trip soon, however am short on financial resources. Do you know of any people or organizations that would either loan me money or be willing to let me work for them? I am fairly open to any ways in which I can raise funds. If so, please send me their contact information at your earliest convenience! Thank you for your time.

Warmest regards,

Bill

Memorandum Assignment

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Composing Effective Messages

Best Baby Gear, our e-tailing company, specializes in only the very best products for parents of newborns, infants, and toddlers. It is our job to provide well-built and classy products that consumers will love. By visiting our award-winning website, www.bestbabygear.com, you will find hundreds of carefully selected products. Every time we add a product to join this portfolio, we ensure that consumers as well as the participating companies will not be disappointed. You will find that our online items are in high demand, as we sell at least one hundred units per model in a year. After careful consideration, Best Baby Gear would be honored to add your Inglesina lines to our online retail outlet.

BioPage Assignment

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Audience Profile Assignment

Who is my audience? What is my audience's general attitude toward my subject? What does my audience need to know?

9) An advertisement for peanut butter.

1. The audience includes a wide range of people, including parents, college students, and even children, of all races and backgrounds. Peanut butter is a product that most consumers of any type could be willing to buy.
2. The audience's general attitude toward peanut butter is probably one of wanting overall quality. Consumers want to choose a peanut butter that tastes good, but yet is still healthy and affordable.
3. The audience needs to know why they should buy this particular brand of peanut butter. For instance, they should know if it has any health advantages and also if it has a high quality of taste and substance. They should understand from the advertisement what makes this peanut butter better than all the others.

12) A request (to the seller) for a price adjustment on a piano that incurred $150 in damage during delivery to a banquet room in the hotel you manage.

1. The audience would be the owner of the company who sold the piano.
2. The owner's general attitude toward a request for price reduction might be one of disgruntlement to lose money on the sale and disappointment in his delivery service.Hopefully, however, the owner would be gracious and understanding enough to provide a price adjustment, considering that the delivery was his company's mistake.
3. The owner needs to know how the damaged occurred and to what extent the piano was damaged. He or she also needs to know how much money the buyer is interested in receiving from the company for its mistake.

Always About the Audience

This week's class focused upon the importance of planning business information while still being able to understand the audience. It is important when writing to follow the three step writing process, analyze your purpose for writing, understand the audience and cater to their needs, and finally to choose an appropriate medium.

Before attempting to communicate ideas, it is important to analyze all of these factors in order to reach your audience. Deciding between oral, written, or electronic media can make a difference in how audiences will react and respond. Everything learned in class this week can be directly applied to my future career as a nurse. For instance, when working with coworkers and especially patients, it would be helpful to first decipher my audience's background before communicating.

Also in class, we discussed the Biopage assignment, in which I will create a power point slide to sell myself as a nursing professional to future employers. The activity will help me practice writing to and communicating with businesses and hospitals.

First Full Week of Class

The first full week of class in Business Writing has already been an interesting learning experience. I have expanded my knowledge about what businesses will expect from me as a communicator and employee. As a future nurse, I will need to know how to communicate with others in precise, efficient, culturally aware, and ethically based manners. Being able to get a message across in these ways will benefit the workplace with higher productivity, faster problem solving, and stronger relationships. One of the most important characteristics of a health care worker is possessing the ability to communicate strongly cross culturally. Body language, sensitivity, respect, and utilization of direct, unambiguous language will make interacting with patients easier. Practicing ethically within a hospital is also a tremendous part of nursing, and this chapter has emphasized the importance of making wise choices. Overall, the first full week of class has provided a solid ground and basis for communication that will be built upon throughout the semester.

Analyze this Message

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Business Writing Expectations

My expectations for Business Writing class include becoming a more effective communicator and learning how to compose documents with appropriate formats. One of the most important parts of any job, (whether a business, medical, or education career) is to know how to correspond with others in a professional way. I believe that this class will help me later on as a nurse with these necessary skills. I expect to do a lot of writing in many different mediums. Practice makes perfect, and this class will provide me the opportunity to practice and perfect accurate writing techniques. I also think that my professor is enthusiastic about the class and will make the experience enjoyable.