CHAPTER 5: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Creating and Delivering Messages that Matter

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: YOUR INVISIBLE ADVANTAGE Noise - Any interference that causes the message you send to be different from the message your audience understands. Communication Barriers - Obstacles to effective communication. Effective Communication – Happens when you transmit meaning – relevant meaning- to your audience.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: YOUR INVISIBLE ADVANTAGE Examples of Noise: Over the emergency exit in a small hotel: This door is not to be used for entering or exiting the building In a university faculty lounge: At the end of the day, please empty the coffee pot and stand upside down on the draining board At a conference in Las Vegas: For anyone who has children and doesn’t know it, there is a day care on the first floor In the window of a dry cleaner: Anyone leaving garments here for more than 30 days will be disposed of On the ladies room in a New York office tower: Restroom out of order. Please use floor below At the information desk of a museum in Paris: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9am and 11am daily Over a church door: This is the gate to heaven. Enter ye all by this door. This door is kept locked because of the draft. (Please use side door)

COMMUNICATION BARRIERS: THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT  Physical barriers  Language barriers  Body language barriers  Perceptual barriers  Organizational barriers  Cultural barriers

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION As globalization gains speed, intercultural communication will become increasingly pivotal to long- term business success

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION  Nike has a television commercial for hiking shoes that was shot in Kenya using Samburu tribesmen. The camera closes in on the one tribesman who speaks, in native Maa. As he speaks, the Nike slogan "Just do it" appears on the screen. Lee Cronk, an anthropologist at the University of Cincinnati, says the Kenyan is really saying, "I don't want these. Give me big shoes." Says Nike's Elizabeth Dolan, "We thought nobody in America would know what he said.“  Toyota makes the MR2, which in France is pronounced "merdé" or spelled 'merdeux', means "crappy".  In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off.“  In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.“

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION  Nike offended Muslims in June, 1997 when the "flaming air" logo for its Nike Air sneakers looked too similar to the Arabic form of God's name, "Allah". Nike pulled more than 38,000 pairs of sneakers from the market.  The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION: BEYOND THE WORDS Reinforce the meaning of your message.  Eye contact  Tone of voice  Facial expressions  Gestures and posture

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION  Eye contact is a strange thing and varies across cultures. On the whole in the USA, Americans usually state that "you can't trust people who won't look you in the eye." Yet when it comes to facts the average duration of eye contact among Americans is only about three seconds. Less than that usually equals shyness or embarrassment and more than that is an invasion of personal space.  In many Asian and Arab cultures it is bad form to look into womens' eyes so many will not do so out of respect (usually misinterpreted by many western women).  In Native American cultures, direct prolonged eye contact is seen as invasive. It’s avoidance is practiced to "protect the personal autonomy of the interactors“. Direct gaze to an elder or very respected person is seen as especially rude, unless one is in a formal listening/storytelling situation, in which case "…listeners may look at (the speaker) more directly … without violating his or her personal space by eye contact"  Yet in other cultures the rules are different.  In Japan, children learn to direct their gaze at the region of an adult's Adam's apple rather than eyes.  Chinese, Indonesians, and rural Mexicans judge too much eye contact as a sign of bad manners.

ACTIVE LISTENING: THE GREAT DIVIDER Hourly Employee30% Manager60% Executive75% Top Salesman75% % of time spent listening: “ “ “Lying is done with words and also with silence” - Adrienne Rich

LISTENING  80% of our success in learning from other people is based upon how well we listen  Think before you speak  Listen with respect  Ask yourself, “Is It Worth It?”

LISTENING  Listening Exercise:  Listen  Don’t interrupt  Don’t finish the other person’s sentences  Don’t say “I knew that”  Don’t even agree with the other person  Don’t use the words “no,” “but,” and “however”  Don’t be distracted – don’t let your eyes or attention wander  Maintain your end of the dialogue by asking intelligent questions  Eliminate striving to impress the other person

CHOOSE THE RIGHT CHANNEL: A RICH ARRAY OF OPTIONS Consider the audience - it’s not about you! Communication Channels – Figuring out the right way to send a message. The number of options is growing…

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS: LEVELS OF RICHNESS VARY Memos/ReportsVery Low. No information from tone or body language. Very Low. No information beyond words. Instant MessageVery Low. Very few words lead to basic communication. Voice MailLow. The audience gains tone but no body language. Telephone ConversationModerate. The audience benefits from changes in your tone. VideoconferencingHigh. Conveys richness similar to in-person communication. In-Person PresentationHigh. Audience experiences all elements of message. Face-Face MeetingVery High. Audience experiences full message most directly.

In emotional situations... REMEMBER  The more emotional the message, the more personal the medium  High emotion: In-Person / Face-to-Face Meeting (assess & adapt)  Medium emotion: Handwritten letter / Telephone Conversation (careful choice of words, paper, ink)  Low emotion: Memo / Report / (careful choice of words, paper, formatting)  STOP and THINK before communicating  Avoid impersonal writing, such as and notes, for “heavy” messages.  Deliver “bombs” in person, if possible… THE ASSOCIATED PRESS published: August 31, 2006 that RadioShack has notified 400 workers by that they are being laid off. The stated, “The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.”

 Blessing  Faster  Simpler  Spelling/grammar checkers  Curse  Faster  Simpler  Spelling/grammar checkers ELECTRONIC WRITING

SPELLBOUND I have a spelling checker, It came with my PC, It plainly marks four my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I’ve run this poem threw it, I’m sure your pleased too no, Its letter-perfect in it’s weigh, My checker tolled me sew.

 Americans becoming dependent on computers for literacy  Working vocabulary of average 14-year-old dropped from 25,000 to 10,000 words over past 50 years  Determine best uses of technology  Software skills  Attachments to be shared via  How far to trust technology ELECTRONIC WRITING

Electronic Communications There are over 60 billion s sent everyday around the world There are over 2 billion cell phone owners worldwide – over 200 million in the US There are over 110 million MySpace active users Over 400 million active users on Facebook Pitfall or Potential

Facebook - Company Figures  More than 400 million active users  50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day  More than 35 million users update their status each day  More than 60 million status updates posted each day  More than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month  More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week  More than 3.5 million events created each month  More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook  More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook  More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day  Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans 20

 Do not rely on to address problems.  If there is a sticky situation that needs to be dealt with at work, do it face-to-face. It will earn you respect in the long run.  Balance work-related with telephone calls.  may enhance a business relationship, but it will not necessarily build one.  Pick up the phone and have a conversation with that person as well.  Intentional or not, can sometimes come across as rude.  It is easy to misread between the lines so at work, try to be extra polite.  If your Internet access is through a corporate account, check with your employer about their policy regarding private e- mail.policy

Emoticons  Send mature messages at work.  Emoticons such as this smiley :-) in business , may be interpreted as too casual. Emoticons Mr. Mathis, Since we discussed emoticons in class today, I thought that you might find this funny. Last year, when my daughter was in the second grade, she received an from one of her classmates. It made her mad because he sent an emoticon with a smile and a heart. She sent him the following reply: Jeremiah that was not cool to put a smile and a heart. That means I love you. g-r-o-s-s spelles GROSS!!!!!!!!!! ew!!!!!!!!!!!!you are gross do not put this again ew ew ew ew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT !!!!!!!!!!!! put this insted do not put this ether or this 23

 Never send chain letters, they are forbidden on the Internet.  Notify you System Administrator if you receive one.  Do not send abusive or heated messages (flames).  Take care with addressing mail.  Allow time for mail to be received, and replied to, keeping in mind time differences around the world and other people's busy schedules.  If you want your mail to be read, don't make it too long unless the receiver is expecting a verbose message. Over 100 lines is considered long.

 If you are forwarding or re-posting a message, don't change the original wording.  If you are replying to a message, quote only the relevant parts.  Use mixed case:  UPPER CASE LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING  lower case shows lack of respect to the recipient  Mail should have a subject header that reflects the content of the message.

TIPS FOR EXCELLENT  Consider both your primary and secondary readers.  Keep it short.  Don’t forget to proofread.  Use standard writing.  Avoid attachments.  Don’t assume privacy.  Avoid anything nearing “off-color”  belongs to your employer!  Respond promptly to s.  Assume the best.  Create a compelling subject line.  Think before you write, and think again before you send!

Voic & Cell Phones

Your Voic Message  If an employer called and heard these voic s what perception do you think they would have?  Yo, this is Kelly, you know what to do and when to do it. Later….(beep)  This is Joe, I’m busy at the present moment. If this is Anthony, I’ll be hangin’ until midnight having some brews with the guys. …(beep)  Let’s not forget ring tones…….keep them conservative, no techno, hip-hop, mission impossible craziness – cackles, crying etc….

Telephone and Voice Mail  If you return a phone call and you're forwarded to that person's voice mail, let them know when and where you can be reached:  "I'll be at my desk at 4:30 this afternoon if you want to call me then."  Return your calls in a timely manner. Ideally no more than twenty-four hours should go by.  When leaving a voic message, give your number at both the beginning and end of the message.  If the recipient didn't write it down it at the beginning, they can either catch it at the end or replay the message and catch it at the top.

Cell Phone  When on your cell phone, practice netiquette and avoid screaming into your cell phone. The speaker on your cell phone is very sensitive and can transmit your slightest whisper.  Be sensitive to those around you, because believe it or not, they don't want to hear your conversation.

Top 10 Cell Phone Etiquette Rules People Still Break 1. Talking too loudly. 2. Holding inappropriate conversations in public. 3. Rudely interrupting conversations. 4. Checking your phone at the movies. 5. Texting while driving. 6. Texting while talking. 7. Texting small talk. 8. Loud and annoying ringtones. 9. Disturbing live performances. 10. Location, location, location

Texting A&M student caused fatal wreck Jury decides that texting A&M student caused fatal wreck, orders him to pay $22 million FRANKLIN -- A jury that decided that a Texas A&M University student was texting while driving and caused a deadly wreck ordered him to pay $22 million in damages. The victim, Megan Small of Houston, was a senior at Baylor University and was driving to Waco when the November 2007 accident happened near Calvert. The investigation indicated that a vehicle driven by Reed Vestal crossed the center line and struck Small's vehicle head-on. Phone records indicated that Vestal sent and received 15 texts and made seven calls in the 45 minutes before the wreck. The damages will be shared with Small's friend Laura Gleffe, who was driving another car that rolled during the crash. Hunter Craft, attorney for the Small family, said Vestal declared bankruptcy before the civil trial in Franklin. An attorney for Vestal did not immediately comment. Posted Friday, Mar. 19, 2010

Facebook

Facebook Issues  At several Kentucky universities, administrators have used incriminating Facebook photographs to discipline students for drinking in campus dorms.  After two students at Fisher College in Boston (one of them the Student Council president) mocked and threatened a police officer on a Facebook forum, they were immediately expelled.  Penn State police used Facebook to identify and discipline students who rushed the field after the Ohio State football game last October.  The University of California, Santa Barbara, has promised harsh consequences for students posting pictures displaying “illegal activity” on the virtual network.

Mild mannered Ray Clark during the day Same guy – is now expelled from his private Christian Academy

Employers Background Checking Process  If you’ve got a profile on a social networking site such as MySpace or Facebook, be prepared for potential employers to view it. National Association of Colleges and Employers  More than one in 10 employers reported plans to review profiles on social networking when considering candidates.  Profile information may have at least some effect on an employer’s hiring decisions:  More than 60 percent of employers who review social networking sites said the information gleaned there has at least some influence on their hiring decisions.

Reports

TRIVIA QUIZ What report gets better reaction: 3-page or 10-page? ANSWER It depends.

Accuracy Organization Maximum meat/Minimum fat Attention to detail ANSWER What’s preferred in business writing? TRIVIA QUIZ

PICK THE RIGHT WORDS: ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE  Expectations  What kind of language do most people use in the organization?  Education  What vocabulary should you use?  How complex should you make the message?  Profession  Are there professional acronyms and jargon that can impact your message?

 Know audiences’ preferences  Professors/boss preferences  Be adaptable  Time issues  Stress issues  Use reference materials BUSINESS WRITING TIPS

Recommended for Neeley students Franklin Covey’s Style Guide For Business and Technical Communication BUSINESS WRITING STYLE

REMEMBER On the written page, being clear and concise is more important than being impressive, brilliant, literary, or academic.

PICK THE RIGHT WORDS: AVOID SLANG Do not alienate yourself by using slang, gender, age, ethnicity bias in written or verbal communication.

WRITING SCHEDULE  Establish absolute deadlines  Meet deadlines on schedule  Work backwards from project due-date to set working due-dates

THINK IN REVERSE  Finalized document due on ________  Proofreading due on ________  Final draft due on ________  Editing #2 due on ________  Revision due on ________  Editing #1 due on ________  Rewrite due on ________  First draft due on ________

WHY IS DRAFTING SO HARD?  We don’t write the way we speak  FIRST DRAFT  Center on subject and substance  DON’T worry about editing and proofing—yet  BUT, don’t neglect editing and proofing or you get the OOPS factor …

Fyrst, lern ta spel! “OOPS!” FACTOR

Suppose attendance will drop? “OOPS!” FACTOR

So much for the secret. “OOPS!” FACTOR

New product offering? “OOPS!” FACTOR

Talk about oxymorons! “OOPS!” FACTOR

Care to check in? “OOPS!” FACTOR

Writing should be this clear. PICTURE LESSONS

 Consider readers’ perspectives  Plan ahead  Edit carefully  Proofread carefully  Have someone else read it

USE ACTIVE VOICE  In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts.

PASSIVE VOICE  In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. The agent performing the action may appear in a "by the..."

SAME MESSAGE, DIFFERENT APPROACH If your recipient will feel positive or neutral: Begin with your bottom line If your recipient will feel negative about your message: Start with the rationale and follow with your bottom line

WRITE HIGH-IMPACT MESSAGES: BREAKING THROUGH THE CLUTTER  Strike the right tone  Don’t make grammar goofs  Use block paragraphs  Use headings and bulleted lists

WRITING: STRIKE THE RIGHT TONE  Use personal pronouns whenever appropriate  I, you  Use contractions as often as you would when speaking  I’ll, don’t, here’s  It is OK to end a sentence with a preposition when doing so sounds natural  Where is this book from? is much better than From where is this book?  It is OK to begin sentences with “And” or “But”  Most teens enjoy videogames with a moderate level of violence. But a small, vocal minority strongly advocates a more clean-cut approach  Use common words in most situations  use vs. utilize

WRITING: USE BLOCK PARAGRAPHS  Standard Business Writing  Use single spacing  Double space between paragraphs  Do not indent the first sentence of your paragraphs

WRITING: NUMBERS 1. Use numerical figures for numbers expressing time, measurement or money 3 a.m. ; $15.00; 45 ft. 2. Write out numbers if they are below 10; if they are 10 or more, use figures Two technicians; 15 systems Regardless of size, use figures for units of measure – 5 pounds; 2 yards In nontechnical writing, numbers are often written out if less than 100 – thirty-five; seventy-one 3. Write out numbers that begin a sentence Thirty-three patients were…..; Four years ago we….. 4. Use figures to express approximations Approximately 60 applicants; over 3 million orders this quarter 5. Write out approximations that are obvious exaggerations for effect That computer isn’t worth two cents; the boss told them a million times 6. Use a combination of letters and figures for very large round numbers We have invested over $45 million

WRITING: USE HEADINGS AND BULLETED LISTS  Headings  Not a title, but subject label  Effective even in short documents  Bulleted List  Engage your readers  Direct their attention

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Essential for readers who don’t have the time, interest or need to read the entire document  Most important part of document  Last piece of document created  VERY short  Introduction/body/conclusion  Enough detail to reflect content  Concise and complete enough (even if full document never is read)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  Comprehensive restatement of …  Purpose  Scope  Conclusions Results Recommendations

 No new information  Use transitional words/phrases  Follow organization of document  Do not refer to document’s …  Tables  Figures  Appendices  References  Other explanatory materials EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

WHY IS EDITING SO HARD?  We don’t write the way we speak.  Most business writing is too verbose.  Focus on content and meaning  Facts/analysis/recommendations  Numbers and charts  Structure and organization  Sentence/phrase interpretation  Consistency

EDITING PRACTICE Short-term planning is foremost in the prioritization of the planning loop. Writing Coach’s suggested change: Short-term planning comes first.

It is recommended that a legal action against a foreign company for the profit under contention would not be a wise move. Writing Coach’s suggested change: Suing a foreign company for this amount of money is unwise. EDITING PRACTICE

It is Sabrina’s proposal for the adoption of the employee profile software by the personnel department. This software provides assistance in the selection of new employees. EDITING PRACTICE Writing Coach’s suggested change: Sabrina proposes that the personnel department adopt employee profile software for new-employee selection.

PROOFREADING  Focus on format and usage  Appearance on page  Spelling, grammar, typographical errors Electronic checks (be careful!)(be careful!) Physical check of printed copy  Usage errors Language confusion Capitalization and punctuation

Pay special attention to headings, topic sentences of paragraphs, visuals, captions Practice! Check every capitalization, punctuation, word division, number, chart, etc. Read aloud to slow down and catch more grammar/sense flaws PROOFREADING TIPS

WHY IS PROOFING SO HARD? Read in unison… Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

PROOFREADING PRACTICE Writing Coach’s suggested change: The nurse and her#patient discussed the patient’s plans for the future. The nurse and herpatient discussed her plans for the future.

PROOFREADING PRACTICE Writing Coach’s suggested change: Don enjoys chemistry and always wanted to be a chemist. Don enjoys chemistry and he has always wanted to be a chemist.

PROOFREADING PRACTICE Writing Coach’s suggested change: In the land of Nod, no one wears clothes. In the land of Nod no one wears cloths.

PROOFREADING PRACTICE Writing Coach’s suggested change: Due to extenuating circumstances, the judge decided to dismiss the charges. Due to incriminating circumstances, the judge decided to dismiss the charges.

HOW EMBARRASSING!