Exam 17: Business Communication: Creating and Delivering Messages That Matter

When putting together a written message, you should try to anticipate how the reader will respond to the message, even if the best you can do is nothing more than a thoughtful guess.

Millie Martin is giving a presentation at a customer service seminar and wants to grab her audience's attention. What is one effective way for her to open the presentation?

Why do people tend to have a hard time listening effectively?

Key executive board members attend annual meetings at the World Bank. Most of the members travel from their respective countries and come prepared to discuss local business needs. What do the interactions in the meeting exemplify?

A department head plans to send a memo to the employees in her department outlining some changes in the company's personnel policies. She believes that most employees will view the changes in a very favourable light. Given this perception, what should she do?

Katy wants to improve her business writing skills and is looking for a way to determine the appropriate tone for her messages. Which of the following suggestions represents the best advice?

What are a manager's facial expressions, posture, and gestures examples of?

Ivy's manager asked her to train the new employees on the company's software program. Although Ivy agreed, her tone of voice was not warm and welcoming. What is this an example of?

Studies suggest that after three days, individuals retain approximately 65 percent of the information received from a combined visual and oral presentation.

You should avoid attachments if possible when sending e-mails.

Barry Holngren plans to start his presentation with a startling statistic. This is usually a poor approach since it may distract the audience.

Which of the following communication channels has the lowest degree of channel richness?

Al Ownsby, project manager at the Innovative Technologies Defence Company, is a man of few words. His idea of communication is to "give the recipients the basic idea, but spare them the details." Ownsby's approach is sound, because a basic rule of business communication is that being concise is better than being complete.

What do effective writers think about first when deciding how to structure must-read messages?

Speakers should tailor their message to the expectations, educational levels, and backgrounds of their audiences.

Shefali attended a business conference where the keynote speaker provided a very entertaining presentation. She thought several of the speaker's jokes were funny and found some of the points he made interesting. But she left the speech unsure of the speaker's main point and how it related to her. As far as Shefali was concerned, the speaker was not an effective communicator.

A little nervousness right before giving a speech can actually help you perform better.

At what rate do people normally listen?

Business writing should consider how the audience will feel about the information and how it will be applied.

The successful communicator avoids gender bias.