Business & Professional Communication
When terminating an employee,
make sure reasons are objectively verifiable.
The best way to phrase the purpose statement of a report is with
an infinitive phrase
The best visual for illustrating a manufacturer's quality control process would be a
flowchart
One way to be tactful when giving your reasons for bad news is to
focus on facts and imply the bad news.
When you're writing for mobile devices, use ________ to present the most important information first and provide successive layers of detail that readers can consume, if they want to.
an inverted pyramid style
When you need to maintain a close working relationship with someone to whom you are sending a negative message, you should generally
analyze the situation carefully.
Words such as "nevertheless," "however," "but," and "therefore"
are useful for making transitions.
which one of the following is a planning step in creating effective email messages?
following company email guidelines and policies
Which of the following is an example of a message topic?
"Funding for research and development"
Because of its natural feel and versatility, the ________ approach is generally the most persuasive way to develop an analytical report for skeptical readers.
2 + 2 = 4
Which of these best describes the role of a hub in a company's social media strategy?
A company-owned web property that serves as the anchor of its online presence.
Which of the following is an example of Business Communication 2.0 in action?
An electronics store invites customers to submit YouTube videos showing how to install home theater systems.
________ is the process of transferring information and meaning between senders and receivers.
Communication
________ involves the practice of accepting multiple cultures on their own terms.
Cultural pluralism
________ is a shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations, and norms for behavior.
Culture
Which of the following is not one of the four major tasks involved in completing business reports and proposals?
Deciding which visuals to create for the report.
If you are facing an audience that is apprehensive about what you might have to say in a presentation, which of the following approaches is best?
If your message will calm their fears, use the direct approach; if your message confirms their fears, consider the indirect approach to build acceptance.
Which of the following sentences contains an idiomatic expression?
Making our monthly sales quota will be a piece of cake.
Which of the following is not necessary when crafting business messages for mobile devices:
Pictures will help engage with readers.
what are the three key steps to making sure meetings are productive?
Preparing carefully, conducting meetings efficiently, and putting meeting results to productive use.
Which of the following is an effective way to respond if you feel nervous right before giving a presentation?
Remind yourself that nerves are normal and to use them to be energetic when speaking.
________ is the practice of assigning a wide range of generalized attributes to an individual based on his or her membership in a particular culture or social group.
Stereotyping
Which of the following is an example of a hedging sentence?
The employee's performance appears to be less than satisfactory.
Which of the following scenario is the best candidate for a visual representation in a report?
The percentage of employees who are full time, part-time, contracted, and retired.
Which of the following steps should be completed before anyone on a team does any planning, researching or writing?
The team should agree on the project's goals.
Why should writers avoid phrases such as, "attached please find" and "we are in receipt of"?
They are stale and pompous.
How does user comprehension of information change when using a mobile device?
User comprehension decreases because users tend to scroll past important information.
Which of the following statements that would appear in a business message best reflects the "you" attitude?
You will have your merchandise by July 15 if you send us your check for $25 today.
When you're writing an unsolicited proposal, approach the transmittal letter as
a persuasive message
To illustrate how your department's budget will be distributed by percentage and type of expense, you should use
a pie chart
When making a routine request, you should begin with
a clear statement of the main idea or request.
The best time to proofread is:
a day or so after you finish the first draft.
The introductory section of a formal proposal includes all of the following except
a statement of qualifications.
In closing a request for a recommendation you should include
an expression of appreciation
To gain credibility with your audience in business reports, verifying facts and references will help to ensure
accuracy
Which of the following is not one of the five ways to get the audience to notice your messages?
acknowledge the importance of the situation
Successful speakers work on making
an authentic connection with listeners
An example of horizontal communication is:
an email message about sick leave sent from one department secretary to a secretary in a different department.
When making a routine request, you should
assume that the audience is willing to comply.
When writing persuasive messages, one way to avoid faulty logic is to
avoid hasty generalization
when writing for multicultural audiences, it's important to
be brief
Promotional messages developed for mobile devices need to
be fast and straightforward
According to the FTC, marketing and sales messages must
be free of implied claims.
When creating a list for a business document,
be sure to introduce it clearly.
Business communicators can improve their cultural competency by
becoming aware of their own biases.
The ability to update content quickly and easily makes ________ a natural medium when communicators want to get messages out in a hurry.
blogs and microblogs
The benefits of a product can be
both practical and emotional.
Instead of announcing the bad news up front, you can open with a ________ to establish common ground with the reader.
buffer statement
Emotional appeals
can help audiences care enough to respond positively to your persuasive message.
When adapting to business cultures, a sense of humor
can help people move past awkward and embarrassing moments.
Suggesting that readers have made poor choices in the past
can inadvertently insult your audience, reducing the effectiveness of your persuasive message.
Placing detailed supporting materials online instead of in a traditional appendix
can make it much more convenient for readers to access
The primary difference between titles and captions of visuals is that
captions offer discussion of the visual's content.
If the purpose of your presentation is to get your audience involved in an upcoming project, you should
close by explaining who'll be involved and what they'll do.
Associating youth with strength, and age with declining powers, is
common in the United States, but not in many Asian societies.
If a writer focuses on the similarities and differences of a topic to compose a paragraph, then he or she is using the ________ approach.
comparison or contrast
Topical organization strategies for informational reports include all of the following except
complexity
All ________ are written in response to regulations of one sort or another.
compliance reports
Skillful writers use transitional elements to
connect ideas and show the relationships between them.
Writing for websites often involves the use of ________, which organize and control content and support teamwork.
content management systems
One advantage in using a PDF file to send a report is the author's ability to
control how the document is displayed on a computer
When choosing words to convey a message, successful writers pay attention to
correctness and effectiveness.
When drafting content for online reports, it is helpful to use the inverted pyramid style of organization in which you
cover the most important information first and then gradually reveal more detail.
When sending a video to someone who will view it on a smartphone, ________ may be a key concern for the mobile carrier and the customers alike.
data usage and operational costs
When you must deliver bad news in the workplace, remember that
delaying, downplaying, or distorting the news may be unethical or illegal.
During the planning phase of the writing process,
determine scope.
The body of a proposal should
explain the complete details of the solution
If you have serious concerns about the qualifications of a job candidate who has asked you for a written recommendation, you should
elect not to write the recommendation.
Which of the following media would be best for sending a brief message (requiring no response from your audience) about an upcoming software update?
During the group development process, the ________ phase is reached when a consensus is reached and the team finds a solution that all members are willing to support.
emergence
The concept of ________ refers to the ability to relate to the needs of others, which is a vital characteristic of successful managers and leaders.
emotional intelligence
Answering questions at the end of a presentation gives you a chance to
emphasize your supporting points.
In the introduction to a report on how to establish a paperless office, explaining the historical conditions or factors that led up to the report
enables readers to understand how the opportunity developed
one important goal of a buffer is to
establish common ground with your reader.
To English-speaking U.S. listeners, routine Arabic speech may sound
excited or angry.
A ________ is the richest communication medium.
face-to-face conversation
Regarding the three-step writing process, all of the following except ________ are important elements of the completing step.
forecasting the message
Friendly notes with no direct business purpose, such as those conveying congratulations or thanks, are called ________ messages.
goodwill
To avoid ethical problems with visual support in a message
group data carefully
An ideal approach to proofreading a formal report or proposal is to
have two people review it—one who is an expert on the topic and one who is not.
The prefatory parts of a report should
help readers decide whether and how they need to read the report.
Before revising someone else's work,
identify the writer's intent of the message.
An audience-centered approach to organizational communication:
improves the effectiveness of communication by focusing on the information needs of the audience.
Which of the following will not help you write routine messages that promote goodwill?
including a sales pitch with every routine message
A well-written buffer can
indicate empathy with the audience.
Use the ________ when you must deliver bad news, if your audience has an emotional investment in the situation.
indirect approach
Which of the following pairs of attributes best describes the social communication model?
interactive and conversational
When you're writing a routine reply to a positive message, your readers will generally be ________ what you have to say; therefore, you can use the ________ with a routine reply or positive message.
interested in; direct approach
Learning about an unfamiliar culture
is a worthy undertaking, even if you learn only a small amount.
When planning an outline for your speech, keep in mind that
it can include delivery cues, such as where you plan to pause for emphasis or use visuals.
What is wrong with the following sentence? "Having stalled for two days, the assignment was now late."
it contains a dangling modifier
Which of the following is not a problem that results from cramming too much text on a slide?
it forces presenters to stay on topic
When outlining the content of your report,
it is preferable to use informative headings as opposed to descriptive ones.
When communicating with members of the same, specialized field, the use of ________ can be an efficient way to convey complex ideas quickly.
jargon
When preparing to be able to best respond to questions from the audience,
learn about the audience and their concerns ahead of time.
For effective document design in business communication, you should
let "simpler" and "fewer" be your guiding concepts.
A disadvantage of a written, printed message is that it
limits opportunities for timely feedback.
Organized like a printed document, a ________ is appropriate for technical presentations and presentations in which you want to build a conclusion following logical steps.
linear presentation
As a rule, social media releases do not include
long narrative paragraphs.
The ________ of a business message summarizes what you want your audience members to do or think and why they should do so.
main idea
When you're providing details in the body of routine or positive message,
maintain the supportive tone that you established in the introduction.
An index
may include the names of important persons mentioned in you report
In the United States, businesses value time and schedules that promote
meetings starting and ending at designated times.
When you need to inform employees that a benefit or privilege will be eliminated
minimize the impact of the bad news by presenting it in as positive a light as possible.
Compared to low-context cultures, high-context cultures tend to take a ________ approach regarding the meaning of business contracts.
more flexible
As you create and refine your messages, evaluate your writing at all of the following levels except
multimedia enhancements.
Most routine informative messages have a ______ tone
neutral
Sources of secondary information include
newspaper and periodicals
As social media prevents people from fully disengaging from work while allowing flexibility to meet personal and professional obligations, ________ become(s) increasingly important.
nontraditional work models
Nonverbal communication can be a reliable guide to determining the meaning of a message
only if the sender and receiver assign the same meaning to nonverbal signals.
A manager is using the ________ when he or she "walks-around" to chat with employees face-to-face, seek input, answer questions, and interpret important business events and trends.
oral medium, in-person channel
In high-context cultures, ________ media are often more effective than ________ ones.
oral; written
When incorporating lists into a document, they should all use the same grammatical pattern, referred to as
parallelism
When using information from sources, ________ helps you maintain a consistent tone while using vocabulary familiar to your audience.
paraphrasing
Ethical businesspeople often use ________ as a positive force to align their interests with what is best for their audience.
persuasion
Use a ________ to show frequency or distribution of parts in a whole.
pie chart
Messages with spelling and grammar errors create an impression of
poor quality thinking
An informative synopsis
presents the main points of the report in the same order as the text.
A _______ is a specialized document used to share relevant information with the news media
press release
When it comes to writing messages in today's business environment,
printed messages are still preferred for formal correspondence or a court of law.
The ________ of a message involves the total effect of elements such as page or screen design, typography, and graphics.
production quality
With the exception of ________, all of the following guidelines can help you close a negative message on a respectful note.
promising an optimistic future outcome
Personality, lifestyle, and attitudes are assessed through
psychographic studies.
If you have mildly disappointing information to deliver as part of a positive message, you should
put the negative information in a favorable context.
When it comes to communication skills, employers express particular frustration with:
recent college graduates who haven't learned how to adapt to a professional environment.
One of the disadvantages of using an oral medium with an in-person channel is
reduced control over the message by the communicator.
During the ________ phase of group development, the team clarifies and summarizes the agreed-upon solution, and team members receive their assignments for carrying out the group's decision.
reinforcement
A survey is ________ if it produces identical results when repeated under similar conditions
reliable
In the practice of ________, behaviorally targeted ads from one website follow an online shopper when he or she moves on to other websites.
remarketing
Which of the following is the best way for a team of people to write a report?
research and plan as a group but assign the actual writing to one person
A presenter who is using free-form slides is
responsible for conveying more of the content.
When you begin the ________, focus your attention on content, organization, style, and tone.
revision process
For printed reports, the letter of transmittal is most often positioned
right before the table of contents
An online survey is vulnerable to ________ because it captures only the opinions of those who visit the site and choose to participate.
sampling bias
During a long meeting, you notice that you're automatically questioning the motives of anyone whose viewpoint does not match your own. You are engaging in:
selective perception
According to your textbook, ________ are the most attractive features of a product.
selling points
Encouraging additional communication in the close of a negative message
should be avoided unless you are truly willing to discuss the matter further.
When you are refusing a routine request from someone in an established relationship, you
should use the indirect approach.
When preparing a persuasive request for action, it is vital to
show you understand the audience's concerns.
To build, maintain, or repair your credibility, emphasize
sincerity by pointing out specific qualities that warrant praise.
The close of a report
spells out exactly what should happen next.
If your audience will be skeptical of or resistant to your message,
start with the evidence and build your case before presenting your main idea.
Because of the low context culture, when it comes to decision-making customs, North American Executives
tend to focus on the results of the decisions they face.
Using good standards of etiquette, emphasizing the positive, and using bias-free language are examples of incorporating ________ into a message.
the "you" attitude
One advantage of developing a presentation as a webcast is
the ability to download it and view at later.
When reviewing your document for content, you should be concerned with
the accuracy and relevance of the information.
When developing your message for mobile technology and different user interface features, ________ must be adapted.
the design and layout of the message.
The "information technology paradox" refers to:
the idea that information tools (such as email) can waste as much time as they save.
The primary audience for your message should always include
the key decision makers in the audience.
Effective communication helps businesses make stronger decisions based on
timely, reliable information.
When checking the location of your presentation in advance, you should
think carefully about the seating of the audience.
When using persuasion to sell a product or idea, the goal is
to present your offering in the best possible light.
The term ________ refers to the overall impression of your messages.
tone
A letter of ________ is a specialized cover letter that introduces your report to the audience.
transmittal
Which of the following will best improve the message's readability?
using headings and subheadings
Use the concept of ________ to help you design visuals that are consistent from one page of a document to the next.
visual parallelism
By emphasizing principles of ________, a designer can make a website more accessible to people whose vision is limited.
web accessibility
Any space in a message that doesn't contain text or artwork, both in print and online, is considered to be
white space
Taking the time to outline your points as you prepare business messages
will save you time in the long run and lead to better results.
When developing a message for a mobile device, how should a message be organized?
with a linear flow from the top to the bottom
Speaking from notes or an outline is often effective because
you can maintain a natural speaking flow.
If a customer uses the comment feature to criticize the content of your business blog,
you should respond promptly and honestly.
Don't try to memorize a presentation because
you'll probably sound stilted when you deliver the message.
Community Q&A sites offer opportunities for building your personal brand. When you're responding to an individual's question, keep in mind that
you're responding in advance to anyone who has the same question and visits the site
When introducing yourself to someone in a business context, you should always include a brief description o
your role in the company
