April 28: Final Exam and link

Reminder:

• The BUS 3700 final exam will be tonight, April 28, 7:15 pm - 9:15 pm, room 1160 Schneider Hall.


• BE SURE to come prepared with your student ID - you'll need to be able to log on to a computer in the lab.

Good luck!

And... Here's one final link that you might find useful.

How to interview with a small company vs. a large one
There are some differences in the interviewing process of small companies vs. large companies. Here are a few things to be prepared for. (TechRepublic)

April 14: Writing for the Web

EDITORIAL STYLE (Content attributed to Web Style Guide, 3rd edition, Lynch/Horton)

People read differently on the Web. Period.

...but why??

1. One reason for this is that reading text on-screen is unpleasant. Given the low resolution of the computer screen and the clumsiness of the scrolling page, many readers scan onscreen and print pages for reading.


2. Another reason is that Web reading is not a stationary activity. Users roam from page to page collecting salient bits of information from a variety of sources. They need to be able quickly to ascertain the contents of a page, get the information they are seeking, and move on.


3. Also, because Web pages may be accessed directly without preamble, they must be more independent than print pages. Too many Web pages end up as isolated fragments of information, divorced from the larger context of their parent Web sites through the lack of essential links and the simpler failure to inform the reader properly of their contents.

Hypertext links One of the most obvious characteristics of Web writing is hypertext links. Web authors use hypertext links to create or supplement concepts: a list of related links can reinforce their content or even serve as the focus of their site. The problem posed by links has little to do with the Web but is rooted in the concept of hypertext: Can the quick juxtaposition of two separate but conceptually related pieces of information encourage a better understanding of the overall message? A collection of links cannot create or sustain an argument or deliver a collection of facts as efficiently or legibly as conventional linear prose. When there is no sustained narrative, readers are sent aimlessly wandering in their quest for information. Links also become a maintenance issue, because most Web pages are ephemeral. Broken links shake the reader's confidence in the validity and timeliness of content.

• Links should be used sparingly and as a reinforcement of, not a substitute for, content.

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Organizing your prose

• Documents written to be read online must be concise and structured for scanning.


• People tend to skim Web pages rather than read them word by word.


• Use headings, lists, and typographical emphasis for words or sections you wish to highlight; these are the elements that will grab the user's attention during a quick scan.


• Keep these elements clear and precise — use your page and section heads to describe the material.

The "inverted pyramid" style used in journalism works well on Web pages, with the conclusion appearing at the beginning of a text. Place the important facts near the top of the first paragraph where users can find them quickly.

• Concise writing is always better, but don't "dumb down" what you have to say.


• Web authors often cut so much out of their presentations that what remains would barely fill a printed pamphlet.


• You can assume that readers will print anything longer than half a page and read it offline. Simply make printing easy for your readers and you can use the Web to deliver content without cutting the heart out of what you have to say.

"Chunking" information

• Most information on the World Wide Web is gathered in short reference documents that are intended to be read nonsequentially. This is particularly true of sites whose contents are mostly technical or administrative documents.


• Long before the Web was invented, technical writers discovered that readers appreciate short "chunks" of information that can be located and scanned quickly.

This method for presenting information translates well to the Web for several reasons:

1. Few Web users spend time reading long passages of text on-screen. Most users either save long documents to disk or print them for more comfortable reading.


2. Discrete chunks of information lend themselves to Web links. The user of a Web link usually expects to find a specific unit of relevant information, not a book's worth of general content.


3. But don't overly subdivide your information or you will frustrate your readers. One to two pages (as printed) of information is about the maximum size for a discrete chunk of information on the Web.

Chunking can help organize and present information in a uniform format.

• This allows users not only to apply past experience with a site to future searches and explorations but also to predict how an unfamiliar section of a Web site will be organized.


• Concise chunks of information are better suited to the computer screen, which provides a limited view of long documents. Long Web pages tend to disorient readers; they require users to scroll long distances and to remember what is off-screen.


• The concept of a chunk of information must be flexible and consistent with common sense, logical organization, and convenience. Let the nature of the content suggest how it should be subdivided and organized.


• At times it makes sense to provide long documents as a subdivided and linked set of Web pages. Although short Web documents are usually preferable, it often makes little sense to divide a long document arbitrarily, particularly if you want users to be able to print easily or save the entire document in one step.


• Don't break up a long document arbitrarily; users will have to download each segment and will have difficulty printing or saving the entire piece.


• The key to good chunking is to divide your information into comprehensive segments. That way readers will have direct and complete access to the topics they are interested in without having to wade through irrelevant material or follow a series of links to get the whole picture.

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Online style

For most Web writing you should assume that your carefully crafted prose will not be read word by word. This is not the case, of course, for texts such as journal articles or teaching materials: in many cases these more complicated texts will be printed and read offline. But most online information is best presented using short segments of texts written in a clear, concise style and with ample use of editorial landmarks.

Prose style

• Web writing should be short, concise and factual. Most Web readers are looking for information, and they find it not by reading a Web page word by word but rather by scanning the page for relevant items.

Other stylistic considerations

• Be frugal. Make sure that the text you present is worth something to the reader. Avoid empty chatter like welcome text or instructions on how to use the site. Users should be able to determine who you are by your navigation and page design, and your interface should be clear enough that it doesn't require instructions. Don't use the first paragraph of each page to tell users what information they'll find there. Instead, start with the information, written in the concise and factual prose style shown above.


• Stick to the point. Write in easily understood sentences. Steer clear of clever headings and catchy but meaningless phrases that users must think about and explore further to understand.


• Cultivate a voice. Web readers welcome a measure of individuality from their information sources. With so many competing sources, a unique voice may help distinguish your pages, but beware of going "over the top." When it comes to attitude, there is a fine line between engaging and annoying.


• Think globally. Remember that you are designing documents for the World Wide Web and that your audience may not understand conventions specific to your little corner of the world. For example, when including dates, use the international date format of day / month / year (e.g., 14 March 2001). Also, avoid metaphors and puns that may make sense only in the context of your language and culture.

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Titles and subtitles

Editorial landmarks like titles and headers are the fundamental human interface device in Web pages, just as they are in any print publication. A consistent approach to titles, headlines, and subheadings in your documents will help your readers navigate through a complex set of Web pages.

Text styles

The text styles we recommend:

Headline style: Bold, capitalize initial letters of words

• Document titles


• References to other Web sites


• Titles of documents mentioned in the text


• Proper names, product names, trade names

Down style: Bold, capitalize first word only

• Subheads


• References to other sections within the site


• Figure titles


• Lists

Page titles

Web page titles are designated in the HTML document head section with the TITLE tag. The title is crucial for several reasons. Often the title is the first thing users with slow Internet connections will see; it also becomes the text for any bookmarks the reader makes to your pages. In addition, most search engines regard the page title as the primary descriptor of page content, so a descriptive title increases the chance that a page will appear as the result of a related search query.

The page title should:

• Incorporate the name of your company, organization, or Web site


• Form a concise, plainly worded reminder of the page contents

Always consider what your page title will look like in a long list of bookmarks. Will the title remind the reader of what he or she found interesting about your pages?

Text formatting for web documents

Some points about text formatting specific to the Web:

• Excessive markup. Beware of too much markup in your paragraphs. Too many links or too many styles of typeface will destroy the homogeneous, even "type color" that characterizes good typesetting.


• Link colors. If you are including links in the body of your text, choose custom link colors that closely match your text color. Reading from the screen is hard enough without struggling with distracting link colors scattered across the page.


• Use the best tool. Write your text in a good word processing program with spell-checking and search features. Transfer your text to HTML only after it has been proofread.


• Style sheets in word processors. Don't use the word processor's style sheets to produce "All capitals" or other formatting effects. You will lose those special formats when you convert to plain ASCII text for HTML use.


• Special characters. Don't use the "smart quotes" feature. Avoid all special characters, such as bullets, ligatures, and typographer's en and em dashes, that are not supported in standard HTML text. Consult a good HTML guidebook (we recommend several in the References) for the listing of special and international characters supported through HTML's extended character formatting.


• No auto hyphens. Never use the automatic hyphenation feature of your word processor on text destined for the Web. This may add nonstandard "optional hyphen" characters that will not display properly in Web browsers.

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Links

Two basic types of links are used in Web sites:

1. navigational links connect pages within a site


2. the classic hypertext links offer parenthetical material, footnotes, digressions, or parallel themes that the author believes will enrich the main content of the page.

Although navigational links can cause problems in site design, more disruptive is the overuse or poor placement of hypertext links.

Hypertext links pose two fundamental design problems.

1. They disrupt the flow of content in your site by inviting the reader to leave your site.


2. They can also radically alter the context of information by dumping the reader into unfamiliar territory without preamble or explanation.

The primary design strategy in thoughtful hypertext is to use links to reinforce your message, not to distract readers or send them off chasing a minor footnote in some other Web site. Most links in a Web site should point to other resources within your site, pages that share the same graphic design, navigational controls, and overall content theme.

Whenever possible, integrate related visuals or text materials into your site so that readers do not have the sense that you have dumped them outside your site's framework. If you must send your reader away, make sure the material around the link makes it clear that the reader will be leaving your Web site and entering another site by following the link. Provide a description of the linked site along with the link so users understand the relevance of the linked material.

Maintain context

The key to good hypertext linking is to maintain context, so that the reader stays within the narrative flow and design environment of your site. If you place a simple link on your page, these plain links will work within a single browser window — your content will disappear and the linked page will fill the window. If you use this kind of link to point away from your site, you will probably lose your readers.

The simplest way to maintain context using links to other sites is to add the TARGET="main" argument to your link tags. This will cause the linked page to appear in a new browser window in front of the one containing your page. This feature allows your reader to access new material without losing visual contact with your site.

Placing links

Links are a distraction. It is pointless to write a paragraph and then fill it with invitations to your reader to go elsewhere. You can minimize the disruptive quality of links by managing their placement on the page.

• Put only the most salient links within the body of your text, and remember that these links should open new browser windows so that you don't supplant the original pages. But most links do not belong in the middle of the page — they won't be important enough to justify the potential distractions they pose.


• Group all minor, illustrative, parenthetic, or footnote links at the bottom of the document where they are available but not distracting.

If you do place links in the body of your text, pay close attention to your language. Never construct a sentence around a link phrase, such as "click here for more information." Write the sentence as you normally would, and place the link anchor on the word or words that best describe the additional content you are linking to.

• Poor: Click here for more information on placing links within your text.


• Better: Avoid problems with Web links by managing their placement within the context of your document.

(Content attributed to Web Style Guide, 3rd edition, Lynch/Horton)

To add a little more to our discussion about writing for the web, here are some examples from a couple of books that you might find useful. Both contain good information about user-centered design and web content.

Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works by Janice Redish

• Chapter 1 Content! Content! Content! (PDF, 1.3MB)


• Chapter 5 Writing Information, Not Documents (PDF, 2.5MB)

For more info about the book, consult the publisher's web site.

Hot Text! Web Writing that Works by Jonathan and Lisa Price

• Chapter 5 Shorten That Text! (PDF, 778KB)


• Chapter 6 Make Text Scannable (PDF, 652KB)

For more info about the book and related writing resources, consult the publisher's web site.

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Apr 7: Cross-Cultural Communication and Nonverbals

Culture

• Modern business requires dealing with other cultures


• Shapes values, priorities, and practices

Successful Intercultural Communicator

• Aware of the values, beliefs, and practices in other cultures


• Sensitive to differences among individuals within a culture


• Aware that preferred values and behaviors are influenced by cultures and are not necessarily “right.”


• Sensitive to verbal and nonverbal behavior


• Flexible and open to change

Importance of Global Business

Video clip: "A Rude Introduction" (3 min 10 sec)

High-Context and Low-Context Cultures

• Values, Beliefs & Practices


• Often unconscious


• Affect response to people and situations


• Different cultures have different views of - Fairness - Competition - Success - Social status

International Business Communication

• Beyond a set of rules


• International business practices are constantly evolving/changing


• Seek out and talk to people from other backgrounds


• Enhance understanding of multiple perspectives

Writing to International Audiences

• Write in English unless fluent in audience’s language


• Buffer negative messages; make requests indirect


• Re-think audience benefits


• Allow extra response time

Nonverbal Communication

• Communication without words


• Signals such as smiles and gestures


• Can be misinterpreted as easily as words


• Important to be conscious of signals sent and received

Time

Monochronic culture

• Highly scheduled cultures,


• People focus on clock,


• Plan their time; avoid wasting it


• Time communicates importance,


• Lots of importance placed on punctuality


• Poor schedule adherence is interpreted as arrogance or incompetence


• If you live in the United States, Canada, or Northern Europe, you live in a monochronic culture.

Polychronic culture

• People focus on relationships


• Disregard clocks and planners


• Schedule and agendas are viewed as goals, not binding


• Promptness is not as important as completing a human interaction


• As a result, interruptions will delay appointments


• Forcing someone to wait is not intended as an insult


• If you live in Latin America, the Arab part of the Middle East, or sub-Sahara Africa, you live in a polychronic culture.

Voice Qualities: Stress and Volume

• Stress—emphasis given to one or more words...


• I’ll give you a raise. “…another supervisor wouldn’t”


• I’ll give you a raise. “…yes, but I really don’t agree”


• I’ll give you a raise. “…nobody else gets one”


• I’ll give you a raise. “…but just one”


• I’ll give you a raise. “…but nothing else you want”


• I’ll give you a raise. “…you deserve it”


• I’ll give you a raise. “…the raise will please both of us”

Personal space - distance one likes between self and others

• Lots: North Americans - North Europeans - Asians


• Little: Arabs - Latin Americans - French - Italians


• Some people more comfortable with touch than others

The middle finger in west may mean another thing in the east. A clip of the best and fascinating gestures from around the world, taken from BBC documentary the human animal- language of the body.

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Portions attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008.

Embed a live web page into PowerPoint 2007

Want to display a live web page during a presentation but find it awkward to switch windows or jump in and out of PowerPoint? The solution is to embed the web page directly into your PowerPoint slide.

LiveWeb is another PowerPoint add-in that allows you to insert and view web pages real-time. Download and install the add on - follow the instructions.

http://skp.mvps.org/liveweb.htm

Insert a YouTube video into PowerPoint 2007

Inserting videos into your presentation is easy... just follow these steps.

1. Turn on the Developer tab: Office button > PowerPoint Options > check "Show Developer tab in the Ribbon


2. Click the Developer Tab: Controls (group) > More Controls (icon) > "Shockwave Flash Object"


3. Draw a rectangle on your slide with your cursor (it can be resized later)


4. Select the rectangle, right click, choose properties


5. Grab the YouTube url... paste into "Movie" field


6. Delete "watch?" from the url


7. Replace "=" with "/"


8. ...and test.

Here's an example... The following url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChq5drjQl4&feature=player_embedded should end up as this: http://www.youtube.com/v/hChq5drj

Note: you MUST have a live internet connection for this method.

Here's an even easier way...

Visit this page: http://skp.mvps.org/youtube.htm

...download the YouTube Video Wizard, install, and follow the instructions - super easy(!) and it works every time.

Note: the wizard must be installed to create the slideshow, but need not be on the machine when you present.

March 24: Team Report Project

Teams:

1. Tim D., Jaffer A., Kavik B., Kevin K.
   
2. Archie T., Mansoor A., Darren L., John L., Abdullah A.
   
3. Melissa D., Raed A., Carl H., Aras K.
   
4. Aaron T., Chau N., Naquib M., Ahmed A.
   
5. Alan D., Mickey H., Nicholas P., Derek V.
   

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Steps in Report Writing

Proposals and reports depend on research. The research may be as simple as pulling up data with a computer program or as complicated as calling many different people, conducting focus groups and surveys, or even planning and conducting experiments. Care in planning, proposing, and researching reports is needed to produce reliable data.

In writing any report, use these five steps.

1. Define the problem
2. Gather necessary data
3. Analyze the data
4. Organize the information
5. Write the report

Academic vs. Business Writing (Academic Center and the University of Houston-Victoria)

Formal reports contain formal elements such as a title page, a transmittal, a table of contents, and a list of illustrations. Informal reports may be letters and memos or even computer printouts of production or sales figures. But all reports, whatever their length or degree of formality, provide the information that people in organizations need to make plans and solve problems.

• Writing at work focuses on problem solving.
• Work-related writing targets multiple audiences with different perspectives.
• Writing at work may be read by unknown readers.
• Writing produced at work can be used indefinitely and can be used in legal proceedings.
• The format for work documents varies greatly from the format for academic documents

Team reports: Task

Write a short to medium length formal report to the director of marketing explaining whether Martha’s Kitchen should develop an Internet presence, and if so, to what extent
(i.e. should they offer online sales, promote existing products or offer expanded services, etc.) You will need some solid figures about the demographics of Internet users, their surfing habits, the types of products they purchase online, and growth trends in online commerce.

Report Components

Generally, a report will include the following sections:

• Title Page
• Exeutive Summary / Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Body
  - Purpose
  - Scope
  - Background
• Recommedations
• References
• Appendices

Reports can be called information reports if they collect data for the reader such as sales and quarterly reports. Analytical reports interpret data but do not recommend action. They include annual, audit, and make-good or pay-back reports. Recommendation reports recommend action or a solution and can include feasibility, justification, and problem-solving reports.

Title page

• Introduction
• Background
• Discussion of the Problem
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• Works Cited

Cover page

Title

Table of Contents

Introduction

• prepares readers for the discussion that follows

Most introductions contain three parts:

1. Purpose

• What did your research discover or prove?
• What kind of problem did you work on?
• Why did you work on this problem?
• Why are you writing this report?
• What should the reader know or understand?

2. Scope

• How did you work on the research problem?
• Why did you work on the problem the way you did?
• Were there other obvious approaches you could have taken to this problem? What were the limitations you faced that prevented your trying other approaches?
• What factors contributed to the way you worked on this problem? What factor was most important in deciding how to approach the problem?

3. Background Information

• What facts does the reader need to know in order to understand the discussion that follows?
• Why was the project authorized or assigned?
• Who has done previous work on this problem?
• What theory or model informed your project?
• What facts are already known that support or don’t fit the theory?
• What will the reader know about the subject already and what will you need to tell them so they can understand the significance of your work?

Body

Discussion of the Problem

• Part One: “Theories, Models”
• Part Two: “Materials, Methods”
• Part Three: “Presenting Data”
• Part Four: “Interpreting Data”

Conclusion

• A very short section that introduces no new ideas.
• Important because it is your last chance to convey the significance and meaning of your research
• It is also a place to raise questions that remain unanswered and to discuss ambiguous data.
• The conclusions you draw are opinions, based on the evidence presented in the body of your report

Recommendations

• What do you want the reader to do next?
• Save discussion of future action for your section on recommendations.

Appendices & Index

Using & Documenting Sources

Works Cited

• Citation—attributing an idea or fact to its source in report body
• Documentation—listing bibliographic information readers would need to locate original sources

Effective Report Writing

• Use these four techniques:
  1. Use clear, engaging writing
  2. Keep repetition to a minimum
  3. Introduce sources and visuals
  4. Use forecasting, transitions, topic sentences, and headings to organize

Effective Meeting Guidelines

• Make purpose explicit
• Distribute an agenda
• Allow time for discussion
• Pay attention to people and process as well as tasks

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Content in part attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008, and The Owl at Purdue University.

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Mar 17 (ch 13): Interviewing for a Job

Develop an Interview Strategy

1. What about yourself do you want the interviewer to know?
2. What disadvantages or weaknesses do you need to minimize?
3. What do you need to know about the job and the organization to decide on a job offer?

Preparation: Final Research

• Read
  - Web pages
  - Newsletters
  - Annual reports
  - Trade journals
• Ask people you know about the organization
• Find out who will interview you and research them, if possible

Preparation: Travel Planning

• Find building and closest parking
• Plan how much time you’ll need
• Leave time for unexpected events (e.g., traffic jams, broken elevators)
• Plan transportation, if flying

Preparation: Attire

• Meet interviewer’s dress expectations
• Make conservative dress choices
• Dress a step above organization culture
• Wear comfortable, shined shoes
• Style hair conservatively
• Wear understated jewelry and makeup
• Avoid perfume and cologne
• Present flawless personal hygiene

Preparation: Professional Materials

• Extra copies of your résumé
• Notepad, pen, and list of questions
• Copies of your work or a portfolio
• Reference information

Interview Channels

• Campus interviews
• Phone interviews
• Video interviews

Interviews Practice

• Put on the clothes you’ll wear
• Practice everything
  - Entering a room
  - Shaking hands
  - Sitting down
  - Answering questions
• Use video equipment if available

Interview Customs: Behavior

• Practice active listening
• Do not monopolize with monologues
• Never say anything bad about employers
• Be enthusiastic
• Be yourself—your best self
• Review your accomplishments
• Look for signs of organizational culture

Interview Customs: Note-Taking

• Record the following briefly during or right after the interview
  - Interviewer’s name (or names)
  - Advice given to you
  - What they liked about you
  - Negative points discussed
  - Answers to your questions
  - When you’ll hear from them

Interview Customs: Sections

• Opening (2 to 5 minutes)
  Hold conversation to set you at ease
• Body (10 to 25 minutes)
  Answer questions to show your strengths
  Deflect questions that probe weaknesses
  Ask questions
• Close (2 to 5 minutes)
  Summarize your key accomplishments
  Listen to find out what happens next

Kinds of Interviews

• Behavioral
• Situational
• Stress
• Group

Final Steps in a Job Search: Follow-up Phone Calls and Written Messages

• Phone Calls
  - Show enthusiasm for the job
  - Reinforce positives and overcome negatives from the interview
• Written Messages
  - Thank the interviewer for useful information
  - Remind them what they liked about you
  - Use company jargon; refer to interview
  - Refer to the next move

Final Steps for a Job Search: Negotiating for Salary and Benefits

• Wait for job offer to talk about salary
• Find out going rate for work you’d do
• Avoid naming a specific salary
• Negotiate package, not just starting salary

Final Steps for a Job Search: Accepting a Job Offer

• Know what’s important to you
• Plan what to say at time of job offer
• Ask for 2 weeks to accept or reject offer
• Make acceptance contingent upon written job offer
• Let other interviewers know when you accept a job

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.

Mar 10 (ch 11-13): Resumes and Cover Letters

Summary of Key Points

• Informal preparation for job hunting should start soon after you arrive on campus. Formal preparation for job hunting should begin a full year before you begin interviewing. The year you interview, register with your placement office early.
• Employers skim résumés to decide whom to interview. Employers assume that the letter and résumé represent your best work. Interviewers normally reread the résumé before the interview. After the search committee has chosen an applicant, it submits the résumé to people in the organization who must approve the appointment.
• A résumé must fill at least one page. Use two pages if you have extensive activities and experience.
• Emphasize information that is relevant to the job you want, is recent (last three years), and shows your superiority to other applicants.
• To emphasize key points, put them in headings, list them vertically, and provide details.
  Résumés use sentence fragments punctuated like complete sentences. Items in the résumé must be concise and parallel. Verbs and gerunds create a dynamic image of you.

A chronological résumé summarizes what you did in a time line (starting with the most recent events, and going backward in reverse chronology). It emphasizes degrees, job titles, and dates. Use a chronological résumé when

• Your education and experience are a logical preparation for the position for which you're applying.
• You have impressive job titles, offices, or honors.

A functional (skills) résumé emphasizes the skills you've used, rather than the job in which or the date when you used them. Use a skills résumé when

• Your education and experience are not the usual route to the position for which you're applying.
• You're changing fields.
• You want to combine experience from paid jobs, activities or volunteer work, and courses to show the extent of your experience in administration, finance, speaking, etc.
• Your recent work history may create the wrong impression (e.g., it has gaps, shows a demotion, shows job-hopping, etc.).

Résumés commonly contain the applicant's name, address, phone number, education, and experience. Activities, honors, references, and a summary of qualifications should be included if possible.

• To fill the page, list courses or list references vertically.
• Using a laser printer, print your résumé on quality paper.
• To e-mail your résumé, save it in plain text format.
• To create a scannable résumé, create a "plain vanilla" text using industry jargon, buzzwords, and acronyms.
• To post your résumé on an online job board, compose, edit, and proof your answers in word processing software before posting them online

Cover Letter “DOs”

• DO find out the name and title of the person who makes hiring decisions and write to her/him directly if at all possible.
• DO address the letter to “Dear Sir or Madame” if you absolutely can’t find out the name of the person you are writing to.
• DO compose each letter individually for each specific job or company.
• DO be as specific as possible.
• DO keep it to one page, especially for entry-level positions.
• DO use plain white paper
• DO have a date on your letter
• DO indicate if you are attaching or enclosing other documents.

Cover Letter “DON’Ts”

• DO NOT address your letter "To Whom it May Concern.“
• DO NOT address your letter to “Dear Sir” unless you are 110% sure you are writing to a man.
• DO NOT use “Mrs.” or “Miss,” always use “Ms.”
• DO NOT simply add your info to a form letter. If you must use a template, delete the text and make it your own writing (not someone else’s).
• DO NOT begin each sentence with “I.” Describe what you will contribute to the organization, not what you will gain from the position.
• DO NOT sign a letter in bright colors such as red, pink or purple.
• DO NOT attempt to use a creative format, unless your job is 100% based on creativity.

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(Adapted from http://www.ns.msu.edu/acrc/quick_guides/cover_letter_dos.asp )

Resume Writing Tips

• When writing your cover letter (and resume), keep in mind that the reviewer is only interested in one thing; the facts.
• Do not think of your cover letter as an autobiography; it should be brief and to the point.
• The purpose of the cover letter and resume should be one thing – it should demonstrate that you meet or exceed the requirements listed in the job description.
• It should demonstrate that you’re interested in the position, and that you are available to accept the position if offered.
• Additional information beyond this can be counterproductive, as it dilutes the core purpose of the cover letter and resume.
• The resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview.
  - If it does that, it works.
  - If it doesn't, it isn't an effective resume.
• A resume is an advertisement,
  - nothing more,
  - nothing less.
• A resume doesn't just tell them what you have done
  but makes the same assertion that all good ads do:
  “If you buy this product, you will get these specific, direct benefits.”
• It presents you in the best light.
• It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this new position or career.
• Cover letters and resumes offer the perfect chance to communicate in a personal and professional way, and to highlight key information.
• They also provide you the opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
• NEVER use a form letter! Always tailor each letter to the person to whom you are writing.
• Always keep in mind that the resume is your primary tool for selling yourself.
• If readers can’t consume the information in it, whether due to technical issues or readability problems, they will quickly move on to the next resume.

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(adapted from the following sources:)

http://www.how-to-write-a-resume.org/cover_letter_tips.htm
http://www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes.html
http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/students/resources/letters.htm#coverletter
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=274

Biggest Mistakes Job Applicants Make

• Not researching the company before the interview
  - Thorough research will reveal what positions are available and what type of employee the company wants.
  - Network with people already working at the company; call professional organizations the company is associated with, and ask people you know who work at the company about their experience.
• Inability to articulate needs and desires
  Companies are hiring because they either need to solve problems or have opportunities that require more employees, which is why the best applicants are those who can articulate how their experience is best for the particular position.
• Being unprofessional in the interview
  Applicants often commit faux pas that can be excused among friends but that make them less desirable to recruiters.
  Examples of unprofessional actions include: bringing food to an interview, sharing personal information not relative to the job, and speaking ill of a former employer.
• Demonstrating poor communication skills
  Be prepared to talk with confidence and expertise about who you are and why you're the best fit.
  - Practice the basics of communication before going to the interview, listening and responding and not talking over the other person.
  - At the same time don't be dull or fear showing enthusiasm.
• Not keeping the personal to yourself
  - Don't put your social-network identification on your resume or mention it in the interview.
  - Make sure your voice mail message reflects a professional attitude.
  - Use an email address with your name before the @ sign, from a professional email address provider.

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(adapted from The Career News, http://www.thecareernews.com/ )

Resume Tips: DO

• Use 8-1/2”x 11” paper.
• Make your resume as legible as possible and only include necessary personal information
• Include both a permanent contact and present address and phone number. You may be contacted through a permanent number, long after you have moved
• Include your job discipline(s) near your name at the top of page one of your resume and on each assignment
• Include a summary paragraph near the top of your resume. Be brief, complete and include buzzwords. Omission of just one buzzword can prevent retrieval of your resume in a search
• List jobs in reverse chronological order
• Be consistent in calling out similar information (i.e., Jan. 98 or January 1998 or 1/98)
• List “under contract to” for any contract assignments you may have worked
• Give security status, if any. If your security clearance has expired, include the date of expiration
• Write job descriptions in easy-to-understand terms, and as completely as space allows
• Include your name and page number on each page of a multiple-page resume (do not number first page)
• If you have a length problem due to extensive number of job assignments, leave the oldest positions off and type “Experience from (date) to (date) available upon request.” Then prepare a “complete” resume to furnish only to firms asking for it.
• If you want to use a better quality paper, consider a white bond paper with a rag content (available from most printers or paper supply stores). Rag bond, however, should not be used if you are printing copies on a photocopier or laser printer, since any machine that uses toner and heat has a tendency to “flake” along creases of that kind of paper.
  If you submit your resume electronically (via upload or email), experience tells us that 99.9% of the recruiters out there will ask for your resume in standard Microsoft Word 97-2003 (.doc, NOT .docx) format.

Resume Tips: DON’T

• Don’t include personal references or hobbies
• Don’t include your Social Security number
• Don’t include a cover sheet (unless you have important information that cannot be included on your resume)
• Rather than stating a “Job Objective”, try using a short “Summary” paragraph instead. A “Job Objective” tells the firm what you want, a “Summary” tells what you can do for them.
• Don’t exaggerate your experience
• Don’t show salary or pay information
• Don’t offer explanations for leaving prior employers
• Don’t use your photograph
• Don’t use uncommon abbreviations (acceptable acronyms in the engineering/technical fields, such as IBM, CAD, UGII, HTML, VB, RDB, etc. are fine)
• Don’t put the reader at legal risk
• No hiring manager likes to be accused of prejudiced or discriminatory hiring. Not only is it unethical, but it is illegal. So hiring managers who are trying to do the job right will be familiar with the list of questions they can’t ask an applicant.
  Your part of the equation is to exclude this information from your resume. The hiring manager does not need to know your marital status, ethnicity, nation of origin, age, religion, or sexual orientation. There are a lot of other things the hiring manager does not need to know, either. If you include these irrelevant details on your resume, the hiring manager will feel scared and skittish. Leave these details out, please.

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(adapted from the following sources:)
http://www.cjhunter.com/cew/grw.html
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=274

Seriously… DON’T!

• Candidate attached a letter from her mother.
• Candidate used pale blue paper with teddy bears around the border.
• Candidate explained a gap in employment by saying it was because he was getting over the death of his cat for three months.
• Candidate specified that his availability was limited because Friday, Saturday and Sunday was "drinkin' time."
• Candidate drew a picture of a car on the outside of the envelope and said it was the hiring manager's gift.
• Candidate's hobbies included sitting on the levee at night watching alligators.
• Candidate included the fact that her sister once won a strawberry eating contest.
• Candidate included a picture of herself in a cheerleading uniform.
• Candidate explained that he works well nude.
• Candidate explained an arrest by stating, "We stole a pig, but it was a really small pig."
• Candidate included family medical history.

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Adapted from http://www.helpdesknotes.com/2007/10/humor_tips_for_job_seekers.html

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008.

Feb 24 (ch 8): Designing Documents

Why Design Matters

• Saves time and money
• Reduces legal problems
• Builds goodwill
• Attractive pages look friendly, easy to read
• Grouping ideas shows structure

Design: Part of Writing

• Think about design at each step
• As you plan, think about audience
• Skilled or busy?
• Read straight through or skip around?
• As you write, use lists, headings.
• Use visuals to convey numerical data clearly
• Get feedback from your audience
• As you revise, check the design guidelines that follow

Design and Conventions

• Vary widely by audience, geographic area, industry, or department
• Change over time
• Violating is risky
• Presents incorrect interpretations
• Signals author is unreliable or unknowledgeable

Page Design Guidelines

• Use white space
• Use headings
• Limit words in all capital letters
• Use no more than two fonts per document
• Justify margins selectively
• Put key items at top left or bottom right
• Use a grid for graphic unity
• Use highlighting, decorative devices, and color in moderation

Designing Brochures

• Use this process to create effective brochures
• Determine your objectives
• Identify your target audiences
• Identify central selling point
• Choose image you want to project
• Identify objections; brainstorm ways to deal with them
• Draft text to see how much space it takes
• Select visuals to accompany text
• Experiment with different papers and layouts
• Make every choice a conscious one
• Color – Font – Layout – Paper
• Polish prose and graphics

Designing Web Pages: Text

• Help surfing audience learn about Web page sponsor
• Offer contents list, link to each part
• Make clear what audience will get if they click a link
• Put most important info at top of page
• Start with important words

Designing Web Pages: Visuals

• Use white or light background
• Keep graphics small
• Provide visual variety
• Unify pages; show sponsor on each
• Include link to homepage on every page
• Use little animation; let users control it
• If page includes sound, put off button where users can see it

More to do…
Assignment 8: Visual Impression and Organization Analysis
DUE: Thursday, March 31

Blog entry: What part of report writing do you find to be the most challenging?

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.

Feb 24 (ch 7): Planning, Composing, and Revising

Ways Good Writers Write

• Revise first drafts
• Write regularly
• Break big jobs into small chunks
• Focus on purpose, audience
• Choose from several different strategies
• Use rules flexibly
• Finish a draft before editing text

Four Basic Composing Activities

1. Plan – analyze, gather
2. Write – transform ideas into words
3. Revise – evaluate, get feedback, change
4. Edit – correct grammar, typos

More About Composing Activities

Don’t have to do in 1-2-3 order
Don’t have to finish one to start another
Don’t have to use all activities for every message

Brainstorm, Plan, and Organize

When content isn’t obvious—

• Brainstorm
• Freewrite
• Cluster
• Talk to audiences
  

Writing Good Business and Administrative Documents

• Closer to conversation
• Varies by audience
• Contains easy-to-read words, sentences, and paragraphs
• Attention to visual impact
• Less formal than academic writing (except reports)

Half-Truths about Style

• Write as you talk
• Never use I
• Never use You
• Never begin sentence with And or But
• Never end sentence with preposition
• Big words impress people

Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read

As you choose words—

1. Use accurate, appropriate, and familiar words
2. Avoid technical jargon; eliminate business jargon

As you write and revise sentences—

1. Use active voice most of the time
2. Use verbs—not nouns—to carry weight of sentence…
   Mary’s kindness was much appreciated by all her colleagues. Mary’s colleagues appreciated her kindness
3. Eliminate wordiness

As you write and revise sentences—

1. Vary sentence length and structure
2. Use parallel structure
   Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.
3. Put readers in your sentences

As you write and revise paragraphs—

1. Begin most with topic sentence
2. Use transitions to link ideas

Organizational Preferences in Writing Style

• Good writing varies by organization
• Preferred style should be used
• When preferred style is bad
  Ask about poor examples you find
  Recognize that a style may serve a purpose
  Revise, Edit, and Proofread
  Revise – change content, organization, and tone to satisfy purposes and audiences
  Edit – change mechanical flaws, grammar errors
  Proofread – correct typing errors

Use Feedback

• Ask for feedback you want
  Approach  Benefits  Tone  Grammar
  Heed comments, even if you disagree
  Rephrase
  Give more details
  Document sources

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.

Feb 17: Presentations (Running Order)

February 17

1. Kavik B.
2. Chau N.
3. Aras K.
4. John L.
5. Mickey H.
6. Alan D. P.
7. Nicholas P.
8. Carl H.
9. Archie T.
10. Jaffer A.
11. Abdullah A.

Feb 10: Presentations (Running Order)

February 10

1. Abdullah A. (moved to 2/17)
2. Kevin K.
3. Derek V.
4. Tim D.
5. Aaron T.
6. Raed A.
7. Ahmed A.
8. Darren L.
9. Mansoor A.
10. Melissa D.
11. Muhammad Naquib M.T.

Feb 3 (Ch 16): Persuasive Messages

Purposes

• Primary
  - To have audience act or change beliefs
• Secondary
  - To build good image of the communicator
  - To build good image of communicator’s organization
  - To cement a good relationship between communicator and audience
  - To overcome any objections that might prevent or delay action
  - To reduce or eliminate future messages on subject

Choosing a Persuasive Strategy

1. What do you want people to do?
2. What objections will audience have?
3. How strong a case can you make?
4. What kind of persuasion is best for organization and culture?

Building Credibility

• Be factual—don’t exaggerate
• Be specific—if you say X is better, show in detail how it is better
• Be reliable—if project will take longer or cost more than estimated, tell audience immediately

Three Persuasive Patterns of Organization

• Direct Request
• Problem-solving
• Sales

Why Threats Don’t Persuade

• Don’t produce permanent change
• May not produce desired action
• May make people abandon action
• Produce tension
• People dislike/avoid one who threatens
• Can provoke counter-aggression

Organizing Direct Requests

• Ask immediately for the information or service you want
• Give audience all the information they need to act on your request
• Ask for the action you want

Subject line:

• Request itself
• Topic of request
• Question

Organizing Problem-Solving Messages

• Catch audience’s interest
• Define shared problem
• Explain solution to problem
• Show that advantages outweigh negatives
• Summarize additional benefits
• Ask for action you want

Subject line:

• Omit request or use neutral
• Use common ground or audience benefit

Developing Common Ground

• Suggest you and audience have mutual interest in solving problem
• Analyze audience to understand biases, objections, and needs
• Identify with readers; make them identify with you

Dealing with Objections

• Specify time, money required to act
• Put time, money in context of benefits
• Show that spent money now will save later
• Show benefit about audience’s values
• Show need for sacrifice to achieve larger, goal
• Turn a disadvantage into opportunity

Reasons to Act Promptly

• Show that time limit is real
• Show that acting now will save time or money
• Show the cost of delaying action

Building Emotional Appeal

• Storytelling
• Psychological description
  - Create word picture for readers’ senses
  - Help readers imagine themselves doing, enjoying what you ask

Tone in Persuasive Messages

• Be courteous
• Give solid reasons for requests
• Make requests clear
• Give enough information for audience to act

Varieties of Persuasive Messages

• Performance Appraisals
  - Cite specific observations, not inferences
  -Identify two or three areas for improvement
• Recommendation Letters
  - Be specific
  - Tell how well/ long writer knew applicant
  - Give details about applicant’s work
  - Say whether writer would rehire applicant

Sales and Fund-Raising Purposes

• Primary
  - To motivate reader to act (send donation, order a product)
• Secondary
  - To build good image of writer’s organization
  - To strengthen commitment of readers who act
  - To make readers who do not act more likely to act next time

Organizing Sales/Fund-Raising Messages

Opener

• Makes reader want to read entire message
• Types
  - Questions
  - Narration, stories, anecdotes
  - Startling statements
  - Quotations
• Sets up transition to letter body

Body

• Answers reader’s questions
• Overcomes reader’s objections
• Involves reader emotionally.
• Content usually includes
  - Information any reader can use
  - Stories about history of product/organization
  - Stories about people who use product
  - Readers enjoying benefits offered

Action Close

• Tells readers what to do
• Makes action sound easy
• Offers readers reason to act now
• Ends with positive picture
• May recall central selling point

Using a Postscript

• Reason to act promptly
• Description of premium reader receives
• Reference to another part of package
• Restatement of central selling point

Writing Style

• Make text interesting
• Use psychological description: vivid word pictures
• Make message sound like a letter, not an ad

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.

Feb 3 (Ch 15): Negative Messages

Negative Messages

• Information conveyed is negative
• Audience’s reaction is negative
  - Message does not benefit them
  - Usually they experience disappointment or anger
• Varieties
  - Rejections, refusals
  - Policy changes not benefiting customer
  - Poor performance appraisals
  - Disciplinary notices
  - Insulting, intrusive requests
  - Product recalls

Purposes...

Primary

• To give audience negative news
• To have audience read, understand, and accept message
• To maintain as much goodwill as possible

Secondary

• To build good image of communicator
• To build good image of communicator’s organization
• To avoid future messages on same subject
• Want audience to feel
  - They have been taken serious
  - Your decision is fair and reasonable
  - If they were in your situation, they would make the same decision

Organizing Negative Messages: Clients and Customers

1. When you have a reason that the audience will understand and accept, give the reason before the refusal
2. Give the negative information, just once
3. Present an alternative or compromise
4. End with positive forward-looking statement

Organizing Negative Messages: Superiors

1. Describe problem clearly
2. Tell how it happened
3. Describe the options for fixing it
4. Recommend a solution and ask for action

Organizing Negative Messages: Peers and Subordinates

1. Describe problem objectively, clearly
2. Present an alternative or compromise
3. Ask for input or action, if you can
   - May suggest helpful solutions
   - Audience may accept outcomes better

Context Crucial In Messages

• Do you and audience have good bond?
• Does organization treat people well?
• Has audience been warned about possible negatives?
• Has audience accepted criteria for decision?
• Do follow-ups build goodwill?

Parts of Negative Messages

• Subject lines
• Buffers
• Reasons
• Refusals
• Alternatives
• Endings

Parts: Subject Lines

• Put the topic, not the specific negative
• Use negative subject lines when the audience—
  - May ignore message
  - Needs information to act
• Keep in mind not everyone reads all their messages
  - Be cautious of neutral subject lines

Parts: Buffers

• Buffer—neutral or positive statement that delays the negative
• Use a buffer when—
  - Audience values harmony
  - Buffer serves another purpose
  - You can write good buffer

Parts: Reasons

• Clear, convincing reasons precede refusal
  - Prepare audience for refusal
  - Help audience accept refusal
• Don’t hide behind company policy
  - Show how policy benefits audience
  - If no benefit, omit policy from message

Parts: Refusals

• Put refusal in ¶ with reason to deemphasize
• Imply—don’t state—refusal if you can
• Make it crystal clear
• Finalize message on subject
  - Don’t write 2nd message to say no

Parts: Alternatives and Endings

• Offers way to get what audience wants
• Shows you care about audience’s needs
• Returns audience’s psychological freedom
• Allows you to end on positive note
• Best endings look to future
• Avoid insincere endings:
  Please let us know if we can be of further help.

Tone in Negative Messages

• Tone—implied attitude of the author toward the audience and subject
• Show you took request seriously
• Use positive emphasis and you-attitude
• Think about visual appearance
• Consider timing of message
  

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.

Jan 27: Oral Presentation Basics

Oral Presentations

Your presentation will have these main parts:

1. Opener
2. Introduction w/ Overview
3. 3-4 Key Points (Signposts)
4. Summary
5. Conclusion

1. Plan A Strong Opening & Closing

• Points of emphasis
• Interest audience and emphasize key points
• Talk from notes
• Write out opener and closer

Four Strong Openers

1. Startling statement
2. Narration or anecdote
3. Question
4. Quotation

2. Introduction w/ Overview

Don’t forget to introduce yourself…
Give an overview of the presentation…

• Tell what you’ll cover first, second, and third
• Helps audience know what to expect
• Prepares audience for tracking and remembering your points
• Offers clear signpost as you end each point

3. Signposts

Give your presentation using clear signposts:

Match what you told your audience in your introduction (remember above: "Tell what you’ll cover first, second, and third")

• Key point #1
  - Supporting information
  - Supporting information
• Key point #2
  - Supporting information
  - Supporting information
• Key point #3
  - Supporting information
  - Supporting information

4. Summary

Summarize your presentation… give a fast review of what you just talked about (repeat what you told above: "Tell what you’ll cover first, second, and third")

• Key point #1
• Key point #2
• Key point #3

5. Conclusion

• Thank your audience for their participation
• Offer to answer any questions they might have

Overcoming Fear

• MOST IMPORTANT!! Be prepared
• Use only normal amount of caffeine
• Avoid alcoholic beverages
• Re-label your nerves

Effective Delivery: Notes

• Put notes on cards or sturdy paper
• Jot down details, examples you’ll use
• Indicate where you’ll refer to visual
• Look at notes rarely
• Hold notes high

PowerPoint Design Tips*

• The goal is improved learning
• Be conservative – keep it simple
• Use lots of white space
• Use contrast (dark-on-light or light-on-dark)
• Design from top left to bottom right
• People see graphics first, then text
• Use large font size – min 18 or 24 pts
• Limit use of boldface, italics, and underlining
• Don’t write in all upper case letters
• Use common fonts (Verdana, Arial, etc,)
• No more than two fonts on a screen
• Be concise with text
• One concept per slide
• Plan on spending about 2 minutes per slide
• Limit use of special effects
• Use background patterns wisely
• Use high quality original media
• Edit files to a meaningful length

*Teaching Well with PowerPoint, University of Notre Dame, 2/6/2004, http://www.nd.edu/~learning/powerpoint/designtips.pdf

Things to work on…

• Speak clearly… articulate
• Don’t rush… slow down…
• Speak up…

More things to work on…

• Don’t lean on the podium…
• Don’t read off the slides or cards…
• Present TO your audience (not the screen)

A few more things to work on…

• Maintain eye contact…
• PowerPoint must be readable…
• Be confident…

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Presentation Basics**

1. Informative presentations inform or teach the audience.
2. Persuasive presentations motivate the audience to act or to believe.
3. Goodwill presentations entertain and validate the audience.
4. Most oral presentations have more than one purpose.

A written message makes it easier to present extensive or complex information and to minimize undesirable emotions.

• Oral messages make it easier to…
  - use emotion,
  - to focus the audience's attention,
  - to answer questions and resolve conflicts quickly,
  - to modify a proposal that may not be acceptable in its original form,
  - and to get immediate action or response.

In both oral and written messages, you should

• Adapt the message to the specific audience.
• Show the audience how they benefit from the idea, policy, service, or product.
• Overcome any objections the audience may have.
• Use you-attitude and positive emphasis.
• Use visuals to clarify or emphasize material.
• Specify exactly what the audience should do.

An oral presentation needs to be simpler than a written message to the same audience.

• In a monologue presentation, the speaker plans the presentation in advance and delivers it without deviation.
• In a guided discussion, the speaker presents the questions or issues that both speaker and audience have agreed on in advance. Rather than functioning as an expert with all the answers, the speaker serves as a facilitator to help the audience tap its own knowledge.
• An interactive presentation is a conversation using questions to determine the buyer's needs, probe objections, and gain provisional and then final commitment to the purchase.

Adapt your message to your audience's beliefs, experiences, and interests.

• Use the beginning and end of the presentation to interest the audience and emphasize your key point.
• Use visuals to seem more prepared, more interesting, and more persuasive.
• Use a direct pattern of organization. Put your strongest reason first.
• Limit your talk to three main points. Early in your talk-perhaps immediately after your opener-provide an overview of the main points you will make.
• Offer a clear signpost as you come to each new point. A signpost is an explicit statement of the point you have reached.

To calm your nerves as you prepare to give an oral presentation,

• Be prepared. Analyze your audience, organize your thoughts, prepare visual aids, practice your opener and close, check out the arrangements.
• Use only the amount of caffeine you normally use.
• Avoid alcoholic beverages.
• Relabel your nerves. Instead of saying, "I'm scared," try saying, "My adrenaline is up."
• Adrenaline sharpens our reflexes and helps us do our best.

Just before your presentation…

• Consciously contract and then relax your muscles, starting with your feet and calves and going up to your shoulders, arms, and hands.
• Take several deep breaths from your diaphragm.

During your presentation,

• Pause and look at the audience before you begin speaking.
• Concentrate on communicating well.
• Use body energy in strong gestures and movement.
• Convey a sense of caring to your audience by making direct eye contact with them and by using a conversational style.
• Treat questions as opportunities to give more detailed information than you had time to give in your presentation.
• Link your answers to the points you made in your presentation.

Repeat the question before you answer it if the audience may not have heard it or if you want more time to think. Rephrase hostile or biased questions before you answer them.

The best group presentations result when the group writes a very detailed outline, chooses points and examples, and creates visuals together. Then, within each point, voices trade off.

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**Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008.

Jan 20 (ch 14): Informative and Positive Messages

• Informative message - receiver’s reaction neutral
• Positive message - receiver’s reaction positive
• Neither message immediately asks receiver to do anything

Purposes

Primary

• To give information or good news
• To have receiver view information positively

Secondary

• To build good image of sender
• To build good image of sender’s organization
• To build good relationship between sender and receiver
• To deemphasize any negative elements
• To eliminate future messages on same subject

Common Media: Instant Messages and Text Messages

• Use IMs and TMs to
  - Be less intrusive (than visit or phone call)
  - Ask questions on tasks that fellow colleagues are working on
  - Leave a communication trail

Common Media: Letters/Memos

• Use letters to send messages to people outside your organization
• Use memos to send messages to people within your organization

Common Media: E-mail

• Use e-mail to accomplish routine business activities
• Save time
• Save money
• Allow readers to deal with messages at their convenience
• Communicate accurately
• Provide details for reference
• Create a paper trail

Organizing

• Start with good news or the most important information
• Clarify with details, background
• Present any negative points positively
• Explain any benefits
• Use a goodwill ending
  - Positive
  - Personal
  - Forward-looking

Subject Lines

• Serves three purposes
  1. Aids in filing, retrieving
  2. Tells readers why they should read
  3. Sets up message
• Specific, Concise, Appropriate for Message
  - Differentiate from others on same topic
  - Usually less than 35 characters
  - Must meet situation and purpose

Subject Lines—E-mail

• Specific, concise, and catchy
• Include important information/good news
• Name drop to make connection
• Make e-mail sound easy to deal with
• Create new subject line for reply when
  - Original becomes irrelevant
  - Re: Re: Re: Re: appears

Managing Information

• Give audience information they need
• Consider your purpose
• Develop a system that lets people know what is new if you send out regular messages
• Put the most vital information in e-mails, even if you send an attachment
• Check message for accuracy and completeness
• Remember e-mails are public documents

Audience Benefits

• Use audience benefits when
  - Presenting policies
  - Shaping audience’s attitudes
  - Stressing benefits presents the motives positively
  - Introducing benefits that may not be obvious
• Omit benefits when
  - Presenting factual information ONLY
  - Considering audience’s attitude does not matter
  - Stressing benefits makes audience seem selfish
  - Restating them may insult audience’s intelligence

Ending

• Not all messages end same way
• Goodwill ending–focuses on bond between reader, writer
  - Treats reader as individual
  - Contains you-attitude, positive emphasis
  Omits standard invitation
  - Ex: If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call.

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 9/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2010.

Jan 20: Letters, Memos and Clear Messages

Business Letter Basics (OWL at Purdue University)
Business Memo Basics (OWL at Purdue University)


Making Your Writing Easy to Read

Good style in business and administrative writing is less formal, more friendly, and more personal than the style usually used for term papers.

To improve your style,

• Get a clean page or screen so that you aren't locked into old sentence structures.
• Try WIRMI: What I Really Mean Is. Then write the words.
• Try reading your draft out loud to someone sitting about three feet away. If the words sound stiff, they'll seem stiff to a reader, too.
• Ask someone else to read your draft out loud. Readers stumble because the words on the page aren't what they expect to see. The places where that person stumbles are places where your writing can be better.
• Write a lot.

Use the following techniques to make your writing easier to read:

As you choose words

1. Use words that are accurate, appropriate, and familiar. Denotation is a word's literal meaning; connotation is the emotional coloring that a word conveys.
2. Use technical jargon only when it is essential and known to the reader. Eliminate business jargon.
   As you write and revise sentences,
3. Use active verbs most of the time. Active verbs are better because they are shorter, clearer, and more interesting.
4. Use verbs-not nouns-to carry the weight of your sentence.
   Don't make an adjustment - adjust
   Don't make a pament - pay
   Don't make a decision - decide
5. Tighten your writing. Writing is wordy if the same idea can be expressed in fewer words.
   a. Eliminate words that say nothing.
   b. Use gerunds and infinitives to make sentences shorter and smoother.
   c. Combine sentences to eliminate unnecessary words.
   d. Put the meaning of your sentence into the subject and verb to cut the number of words.
6. Vary sentence length and sentence structure.
7. Use parallel structure. Use the same grammatical form for ideas that have the same logical function.
8. Put your readers in your sentences.
   As you write and revise paragraphs,
9. Begin most paragraphs with topic sentences so that readers know what to expect in the paragraph.
10. Use transitions to link ideas.

• Readability formulas are not a sufficient guide to style. They imply that all short words and all short sentences are equally easy to read; they ignore other factors that make a document easy or hard to read: the complexity of the ideas, the organization of the ideas, and the layout and design of the document.
• Different organizations and bosses may legitimately have different ideas about what constitutes good writing.

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008.

Jan 20: Reader benefits, You-attitude, Positive emphasis, Audience

Assignments:

• Assignment 2: Informative and Positive Messages
• (FYI: the grading criteria attached to the end of this assignment follows the outline presented in the "Aspects..." handout.)
• Assignment 3: "Self" Analysis
• Blog topic: Describe (in general) that you believe to be the single most important communication success factor (business or otherwise).

Reader benefits

• Reader benefits are benefits or advantages that the reader gets by
  - using the writer's services,
  - buying the writer's products,
  - following the writer's policies,
  - or adopting the writer's ideas.
• Reader benefits can exist for policies and ideas as well as for goods and services.
• Reader benefits tell readers that they can do the job and that success will be rewarded.

Reader benefits

• Good reader benefits are adapted to the audience, based on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivators, supported by clear logic and explained in adequate detail, and phrased in you-attitude.
• Extrinsic benefits simply aren't available to reward every desired behavior; further, they reduce the satisfaction in doing something for its own sake.

Create Reader benefits

• Identify the feelings, fears, and needs that may motivate your reader.
  Identify the features of your product or policy that could meet the needs you've identified.
• Show how the reader can meet his or her needs with the features of the policy or product.
• When you write to multiple audiences, use the primary audience to determine level of detail, organization, level of formality, and use of technical terms and theory.

You-attitude

• You-attitude is a style of writing that…
  — looks at things from the reader's point of view,
  —emphasizing what the reader wants to know,
  —respecting the reader's intelligence, and
  —protecting the reader's ego.

Talk About Audience, Not Yourself

• Tell how message affects the audience
• Don’t mention communicator’s work or generosity
• Stress what audience wants to know

Refer to Reader’s Request or Order

• Make specific references, not generic
• Name content of order for person or small business
• Cite purchase order numbers for customers that order often

Don’t Talk About Feelings

• Express your feelings to
  —Offer sympathy to audience
  —Congratulate audience
• Don’t talk about audience’s feelings
• Don’t predict audience’s response
• Give audience good news

In Positive Situations…

• Use 'you' in positive situations
• Avoid 'I' in printed text
• Avoid 'we' if it excludes the audience

Avoid 'You' in Negative Situations

• Protect audience’s ego
• Avoid assigning blame
• Use passive verbs
• Use impersonal style
• Talk about things, not people
• Apply you-attitude beyond the sentence level by using organization and content as well as style to build goodwill.

Positive Emphasis

• Positive emphasis means focusing on the positive rather than the negative aspects of a situation.
• Avoid negative words and words with negative connotations.
• Focus on what the reader can do rather than on limitations.
• Justify negative information by giving a reason or linking it to a reader benefit.
• If the negative is truly unimportant, omit it.
• Put the negative information in the middle and present it compactly.

The desirable tone for business writing is…

• businesslike but not stiff,
• friendly but not phony,
• confident but not arrogant,
• polite but not groveling.

The following guidelines will help you achieve the tone you want:

• Use courtesy titles for people outside your organization whom you don't know well.
• Be aware of the power implications of the words you use.
• When the stakes are low, be straightforward.
• When you must give bad news, consider hedging your statement.
• Writing should be free from sexism in four areas: words and phrases, job titles, courtesy titles, and pronouns.

Positive emphasis

• Ms. is the nonsexist courtesy title for women. Whether or not you know a woman's marital status…
  —Use Ms. unless the woman has a professional title or …
  —unless you know that she prefers a traditional title.
• Traditional pronouns are sexist when they refer to a class of people, not to specific individuals...

Four ways to make the sentence nonsexist are to

1. use plurals (“people go…, “managers talk…”)
2. use ‘you’ (“you may consider…”)
3. to revise the sentence to omit the pronoun
4. to use pronoun pairs (“men and women…, “she and her team…”)

Bias-free language

• is fair and friendly;
• it complies with the law.
• It includes all readers;
• it helps to sustain goodwill.

Check to be sure that your language is nonsexist, nonracist, and nonagist.

• When you talk about people with disabilities or diseases, use the term they prefer.
• When you produce newsletters or other documents with photos and illustrations, picture a sampling of the whole population, not just part of it.

Audience

• The primary audience will make a decision or act on the basis of your message.
• The secondary audience may be asked by the primary audience to comment on your message or to implement your ideas after they've been approved.
• The initial audience routes the message to other audiences and may assign the message.
• A gatekeeper controls whether the message gets to the primary audience.
• A watchdog audience has political, social, or economic power and may base future actions on its evaluation of your message.

Common sense and empathy are crucial to good audience analysis.

The following questions provide a framework for audience analysis:

Six Questions to Analyze Audiences

1. How will audience react at first?
   —Will they see message as important?
   —What is their experience with you?
2. How much information do they need?
   —What do they already know?
   —Does their knowledge need to be updated?
   —What do they need to know to appreciate your points?
   —Six Questions to Analyze Audiences
3. What obstacles must you overcome?
   —Is audience opposed to your message?
   —Will it be easy to do as you ask?
4. What positives can you emphasize?
   —What are benefits for audience?
   —What do you have in common with them?
   —Experiences – Interests – Goals – Values
   —Six Questions to Analyze Audiences
5. What does audience expect?
   —What writing style do they prefer?
   —Are there red flag words?
   —How much detail does audience want?
   —Do they want direct or indirect structure?
   —Do they have expectations about length, visuals, or footnotes?
   —Six Questions to Analyze Audiences
6. How will audience use document?
   —Under what physical conditions will they use it?
   —What purpose will document serve?
   —Reference
   —Guide
   —Basis of lawsuit

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Content attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008.

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Jan 13 (assignment): Creating Your Blog

Follow these instructions and set up your own Blogger account. (Blogger and Google are free accounts - creating them will not affect the amount of spam you receive, you will NOT be required to sign up for unwanted services, and you will NOT be required to buy anything. (Consult with your instructor if you have any other questions or concerns.)

TASK: Set up your blog and email your blog URL (web address) to your instructor.

Here's a video that describes the process - be sure to follow the title convention as indicated in the instructions - your URL should look something like this: (http://bus3700-yourname.blogspot.com)

Once your blog has been created, add at least one post for each class session telling of one item that you found interesting, informative, helpful - or - an example from your own experience that goes along with the discussion topic (unless instructed otherwise).

First topic: "Describe what you hope to gain from BUS 3700"

Posts may be simple and brief - or as detailed as you wish.

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Jan 13 (Ch 1): Succeeding in Business Communication

Effective Communication

• Communication helps organizations and the people in them achieve their goals.
• The ability to write and speak well becomes increasingly important as you rise in an organization.
• People put things in writing to
  ◦create a record
  ◦to convey complex data
  ◦to make things convenient for the reader
  ◦to save money
  ◦to convey their own messages more effectively

Types of Communication

• Verbal
  ◦Face-to-face
  ◦Phone conversations
  ◦Informal meetings
  ◦Presentations
  ◦E-mail messages
  ◦Letters
  
• Nonverbal
  •Computer graphics
  •Company logos
  •Smiles
  •Size of an office
  •Location of people at meetings

Communication Purposes

• All business communication has three basic purposes
  ◦To inform (explain)
  ◦To request or persuade (urge action)
  ◦To build goodwill (make good image)
• Most messages have more than one purpose

Audiences

• Internal
  ◦Go to people inside organization
  ◦Memo to subordinates, superiors, peers
• External
  ◦Go to people outside organization
  ◦Letter to customers, suppliers, others

Benefits & Costs

• Effective writing
  ◦Saves time
  ◦Increases one’s productivity
  ◦Communicates points more clearly
  ◦Builds goodwill
  
• Poor writing
  ◦Wastes time
  ◦Wastes effort
  ◦Loses goodwill

Criteria for Effective Messages

• Good business writing meets five basic criteria:
  1.Clear,
  2.Complete
  3.Correct
  4.It saves the reader's time
  5.It builds goodwill
  
• To evaluate a specific document…
  ◦we must know the interactions among…
  1.the writer
  2.the reader(s)
  3.the purposes of the message
  4.and the situation.
• No single set of words will work for all readers in all situations.

10 Business Trends

1. Technology
2. Focus on quality, customers’ needs
3. Entrepreneurship
4. Teamwork
5. Diversity
6. Globalization and outsourcing
7. Legal and ethical concerns
8. Balancing work and family
9. Job Flexibility
10. Rapid rate of change

Conventions

• Conventions - widely accepted practices you routinely encounter
  ◦Vary by organizational setting
  ◦Help people…
  –recognize, produce, and interpret communications
  ◦Need to fit rhetorical situation:
  –audience, context, and purpose

Analyze Situations: Ask Questions

• What’s at stake?
• To whom should you send a message?
• What channel should you use?
• What should you say?
• How should you say it?

Solving Business Communication Problems

• A solution to a business communication problem
  ...must solve the organizational problem
  …meet the needs of the writer or speaker, the organization, and the audience.
• Revise draft for tone
  ◦Friendly
  ◦Businesslike
  ◦Positive
• Edit draft for standard English
  Check Names
  Check Numbers
• Use replies to plan future messages

Create Effective Messages

The following process helps create effective messages:

1. Answer the six numbered questions for analysis
2. Organize your information to fit your audiences, your purposes, and the situation.
3. Make your document visually inviting.
4. Revise your draft to create a friendly, businesslike, positive style.
5. Edit your draft for standard English; double-check names and numbers.
6. Use the response you get to plan future messages.

1. Six Analysis Questions

1. Who are your audiences?
2. What are your purposes?
3. What information must you include?
4. How can you support your position?
5. What audience objections do you expect?
6. What part of context may affect audience reaction?

2. Organize to Fit Audience, Purpose, Situation

1. Put good news first
2. Put the main point/question first
3. Persuade a reluctant audience by delaying the main point/question

3. Make Message Look Inviting

• Use subject line to orient reader
• Use headings to group related ideas
• Use lists for emphasis
• Number items if order matters
• Use short paragraphs—six lines max.

4. Create Positive Style

• Emphasize positive information
  ◦Give it more space
  ◦Use indented list to set it off
• Omit negative words, if you can
• Focus on possibilities, not limitations

5. Edit Your Draft

• Check…
  ◦ Spelling,
  ◦ Grammar,
  ◦ Punctuation
• Double-check…
  ◦ Reader’s name
  ◦Any numbers
  ◦First and last paragraphs
• Always proofread before sending

6. Use Response to Plan Next Message

• Evaluate feedback you get
  ◦ If message fails, find out why
  ◦ If message succeeds, find out why
• Success =
  ◦ results you want,
  ◦ when you want them

Eight Aspects of Business Communication

• All of these aspects are present in any business communication
  …but some might be more emphasized or obvious in certain typed of communication.
• These aspects are also highly interdependent,
  …but we separate them for clarification, discussion, and grading.

1. Task/Context:

• “Context” can be defined as…
  the “time, place, and situation” or
  the “big picture” for communication.
  
• Successful business communicators know that messages never occur in vacuums…
  but are viewed within the larger situations that surround them.

2. Audience:

• the recipient(s) of the message…
  whether that be an individual,
  a group,
  a market,
  or a public.
• “Audience” discussions include…
  analysis (what’s important about the audience)
  adaptation (how that affects the message)
  approaches to particular types of audiences

3. Channel Choice:

• A key consideration, given the proliferation of media and how different they are.
  ◦Effective communicators make wise choices, recognizing the need for…
  documentation,
  speed,
  direct contact,
  opportunities for interaction, etc.

4. Organization:

• Smart communicators ask themselves…
  “What goes where?”
  and the related question “What follows what?”
• When they do, they worry about…
  the order of elements they are working with
  the relationships among those elements (e.g. visual coherence or transitions).

5. Content:

• In business, “content” covers
  what is said…
  what is omitted
  how much of it to include about each point
• Many business communicators forget to consider the importance of amount for small and large areas.

6. Self-expression:

• awareness of the “self” you’re presenting is critical for any business student.
  The presenter’s
  credibility,
  confidence,
  reputation,
  appearance,
  attention to details
• …are all parts of self expression.
• “Selves” here are not just individuals,
  departments
  Organizations
  (A communicator often represents the “face” of an organization.)

7. Visual Impression/Format:

• “Organization” refers to the ordering of content,
• “Visual Impression/Format” treat its
  placement,
  depiction,
  proportions on a page (paper, PowerPoint slide, Web page, etc.).
• These considerations include conventions for formats like where the date is placed on a page (often specific to organizations), as well as aesthetic and functional design decisions.

8. Mechanics/Language use:

• Two discrete (though often blurred) aspects are at work here… conventions & style.
• “Conventions” (spelling, punctuation, grammar)
  are matters of “right and wrong” which can be corrected.
• “Style” (word choice and sentence structure)
  treats matters of effectiveness and
  is often more difficult to define.
  

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Content attributed to:

Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008.

Walker, Robyn. Strategic Business Communication: An Integrated, Ethical Approach. Thomson, South-Western, 2006, adapted from Dr. Beth Hoger.

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