Business Communications Final Review Chapter Questions
(Chapter 1) Which of the following is the most accurate description of the role that communication will play in your career?
No matter what other skills, connections, and attributes you have, your prospects will be limited if you don't have good communication skills.
(Chapter 5) Using jargon is
Often a good idea when discussing complex subjects with people who are intimately familiar with the subject and common jargon relating to it.
(Chapter 5) What is meant by using a linear organization to craft messages for mobile devices?
Organizing all the information in a single topical thread form start to finish.
(Chapter 5) Why should you take the time to adapt your messages to your audience?
People are more inclined to read and respond to messages that they believe apply to them and their concerns.
(Chapter 4) The first step of the three-step writing process is
Planning your message
(Chapter 4) The three major steps in the three-step writing process are
Planning, writing, and completing.
(Chapter 1) Effective business messages are
Practical, objective, concise, clear, and persuasive.
(Chapter 6) Which of the following concerns is the most important to consider when distributing messages through digital media such as email?
Privacy and security.
(Chapter 1) Sensitivity to business etiquette
Reduces the chance of interpersonal blunders that might negatively affect communication.
(Chapter 1) For the receiver of a message to respond in the manner desired by the sender, the receiver needs to
Remember the message, be able to respond to the message, and have the motivation to respond to the message.
(Chapter 6) Which of these is the most important reason you should take care to revise messages before sending them?
Revising shows your audience how hard you work.
(Chapter 9) An advantage of using the direct approach with negative messages is that it
Saves readers time by helping them reach the main idea more quickly.
(Chapter 1) For audience members to successfully receive messages, they must first___the presence of the message, then___it from other sensory input, and then___it as a message.
Sense, select, perceive
(Chapter 9) Which of the following is an effective way to maintain the "you attitude" when crafting negative messages?
Show respect for the reader by avoiding negative, accusatory language and emphasizing positives whenever possible.
(Chapter 6) When proofreading, you should look for errors in
Spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, typography and format.
(Chapter 4) Which of the following is one of the reasons storytelling can be effective in business communication?
Stories help readers and listeners imagine themselves living through the experience of the person in story.
(Chapter 5) When developing a paragraph, keep in mind
That your choice of technique should take into account your subject, your intended audience, and your purpose.
(Chapter 9) Which of the following should be a goal of every negative message?
- To convey the bad news clearly - To gain audience acceptance for the news - To maintain as much goodwill as possible with the audience - To maintain a good image for your organization - To reduce or eliminate the need for future correspondence on the matter, if appropriate.
(Chapter 6) Which of the following sentences contains hedging words?
1. It appears that we may have a problem completing the project by May 20. 2. There is a possibility that the project might be done by May 20. 3. It seems that the project could possibly miss its completion date of May 20. - All of these contain hedging words.
(Chapter 9) When using the indirect approach with negative messages, you begin with
A buffer
(Chapter 6) The best time to proofread is
A day or so after you finish the first draft.
(Chapter 5) Which of the following defines the connotative meaning of the word flag?
A flag is a symbol of everything that a nation stands for.
(Chapter 4) Media richness is a measure of
A medium's ability to use more than one informational cue, facilitate feedback, and establish personal focus.
(Chapter 4) Which of the following choices would be best for communication a complex policy change to employees in a company with offices all over the world?
A posting on an internal website with an email message alerting employees to the change and directing them to the website for more information.
(Chapter 8) A courteous close contains
A specific request, information about how you can be reached (if it isn't obvious), and an expression of appreciation or goodwill.
(Chapter 5) Plain English is
A way of writing and arranging content to make it more readily understandable.
(Chapter 4) To determine whether the information you've gathered is good enough, verify that it is
Accurate, Ethical, and Pertinent to the audience's needs.
(Chapter 5) If you have developed a reputation for missing deadlines on projects you manage, which of the following statements would do the best job of helping to rebuild credibility? (You have previously committed to a project completion date of April 1.)
After analyzing past projects, I now realize that a failure to clarify project objectives up front created significant delays down the line. In order to meet the April 1 deadline, I will make sure to clarify the objective as soon as the team assembles.
(Chapter 5) What is a good rule of thumb for the length of subject lines and headlines intended for mobile readers?
Around 25 characters.
(Chapter 8) If you are requesting an adjustment from a company but you're not sure what the best solution would be, which of the following tactics would be best?
Ask the company to assess the situation and offer advice on solving the problem.
(Chapter 8) Which of the following should you do when closing a routine request?
Ask the reader to respond by a specific and appropriate time.
(Chapter 5) Where is the most emphatic place to put a dependent clause?
At the end of the sentence.
(Chapter 6) A well-designed document
Balances the space devoted to text, artwork, and white space.
(Chapter 6) What sentence does not have a dangling modifier?
Because Internet-only banks lack brand recognition, some consumers are wary of using them.
(Chapter 1) Which of the following is not one of the six traits of professionalism identified in the chapter?
Being loyal to the company no matter what.
(Chapter 1) What is a potential disadvantage of the constant connectivity enabled by mobile communication devices?
Blurring the lines between personal and professional time.
(Chapter 8) When writing a routine request, the best approach is to begin
By politely stating your request.
(Chapter 8) When writing routine messages, you
Can assume that your readers will be interested or neutral.
(Chapter 8) If a customer who is clearly at fault requests an adjustment, you should
Carefully weigh the cost of complying with the request against the cost of denying it and then decide how to respond based on the overall impact on your company.
(Chapter 5) To explain the reasons something happened, which of these paragraph designs should you use?
Cause-Effect
(Chapter 1) Which of the following is not a skill employers will expect you to have?
Commanding employees to follow orders.
(Chapter 8) Which of the following is not among the recommended elements to include in your message if you are responding to a claim or complaint when your company is at fault?
Complete contact information for your corporate legal staff.
(Chapter 6) Which of the following sentences lack parallelism?
Consumers can download stock research, can electronically file their tax returns, create a portfolio, or they can choose from an array of recommended mutual funds.
(Chapter 4) If you realize you have given your audience incorrect information, the most ethical action would be to
Contact the audience immediately and correct the error.
(Chapter 1) Communication style using the social communication model is best described as
Conversational
(Chapter 8) What should you do when asking questions in a routine request?
Deal with only one topic per question.
(Chapter 4) Which of the following tasks should you do when you're planning a writing project?
Define your purpose
(Chapter 4) No matter what the message is or the audience you want to reach, you should always
Determine the information your audience needs in order to grasp your main idea
(Chapter 5) Paragraphs organized by comparison and contrast point out the ___ or ___ between two or more items.
Differences, Similarities
(Chapter 4) The media choices of oral, written, and visual can be delivered through_____ and _____ channels.
Digital, Non-Digital
(Chapter 1) An ethical___exists when a person is faced with two conflicting but ethical choices or alternatives that are neither entirely right nor entirely wrong; an ethical___occurs when a person makes an unethical choice.
Dilemma, Lapse
(Chapter 4) Starting with the main idea and then offering supporting evidence is known as the ____ approach.
Direct
(Chapter 8) Requests for recommendations and references are routine messages, so you can organize your inquiry using the ____ approach.
Direct
(Chapter 6) Which of the following is not an informative heading?
Distributors are a better choice for us than wholesalers.
(Chapter 6) Which of the following is not one of the main tasks involved in completing a business message?
Drafting the message.
(Chapter 5) If you're not sure about the meaning of a word you'd like to use, which of the following is the most appropriate way to handle the situation?
Either verify the meaning of the word or rewrite the sentence so that you don't need to use it
(Chapter 8) The purpose of goodwill messages is to
Enhance relationships with customers, colleagues, and other businesspeople.
(Chapter 8) Which of the following would be an inappropriate goal for a routine, simple request?
Explaining how you can use your position in the company to force the reader to comply.
(Chapter 6) Type that is justified is
Flush on both the left and the right.
(Chapter 8) If a third party (such as a shipping company) is at fault when one of your customers makes a claim or requests an adjustment, the best response is to
Follow the terms of whatever customer service agreement your company has with the third party.
(Chapter 4) If audience members will vary in terms of the amount of information they already know about your topic, your best approach is to
Gear your coverage to your primary audience and provide the information most relevant to them.
(Chapter 4) The ____ _____ of a message indicates whether you intend to use the message to inform, to persuade, or to collaborate.
General Purpose
(Chapter 1) What is not one of the advantages of mobile communication discussed in the chapter?
Guaranteeing ethical treatment of message recipients
(Chapter 1) An audience-centered approach to communication
Improves the effectiveness of communication by focusing on the information needs of the audience.
(Chapter 8) If you are making a routine reply to a customer, it's a good idea to
Include resale information to assure the customer of the wisdom of his or her purchase.
(Chapter 4) Starting with evidence first and building toward your main idea is known as the ____ approach
Indirect
(Chapter 1) Communication technology has value only if it helps deliver the right___to the right___at the right time.
Information, people
(Chapter 1) Which of the following pairs of attributes best describes the social communication model?
Interactive and Conversational
(Chapter 5) The _____ ______ style recommended for mobile messages means you reveal the most important information briefly at first and then provide successive layers of detail that readers can consume if they want.
Inverted pyramid
(Chapter 9) Which of the following is an advantage of using the indirect approach with negative messages?
It eases the reader into the message.
(Chapter 6) Regarding paragraph length, the best approach for business messages is to
Keep paragraphs short
(Chapter 8) When it comes to routine messages, you can
Keep the planning stage brief
(Chapter 6) Regarding the use of lists, the best approach for business messages is to
Make sure listed items are in parallel form
(Chapter 4) The purpose of limiting your scope when planning a writing project is to
Make sure that your message stays focused on the main idea and any necessary supporting details.
(Chapter 6) Why is it a good idea to think in small chunks when writing for mobile audiences?
Mobile users consume information one screen at a time.
(Chapter 5) Which of the following is a concrete word?
Mouse
(Chapter 5) To develop a paragraph by illustration, give your audience enough _____ to help them grasp the main idea.
examples
(Chapter 8) A positive message should open with a clear and concise statement of the _____ _____ or _____.
good news or positive news.
(Chapter 1) Ethical communication
includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way.
(Chapter 1) Reconnecting frequently with colleagues and customers in person
is critical because it helps ensure that technology doesn't hinder human interaction.
(Chapter 5) If you want to avoid attributing blame or otherwise calling attention to a specific person, the _____ voice is a more diplomatic approach.
passive
(Chapter 5) Credibility is a measure of
the audience's perception of your believability
(Chapter 5) Devoting a lot of words to a particular idea shows your audience that
the idea is important.
(Chapter 4) If you were to write a letter to a manufacturer complaining about a defective product and asking for a refund, your general purpose would be
to Persuade
(Chapter 1) Why is it important for a business message to clearly state expectations regarding who is responsible for doing what in response to message?
To eliminate confusion by letting each affected person know his or her specific responsibilities.
(Chapter 8) If a message has both positive and negative elements, you should
Try to put the negative news in a positive context.
(Chapter 6) When editing for conciseness, you should look for
Unnecessary words and phrases
(Chapter 5) A good way to achieve a businesslike tone in your messages is to
Use a conversational style that is not intimate or chatty.
(Chapter 6) Regarding sentence length, the best approach for business messages is to
Vary to the length of your sentences
(Chapter 4) To make sure you have provided all the necessary information, use the journalistic approach, which is to
Verify whether your message answers the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how.
(Chapter 6) Which of the following is not an example of a redundancy?
Very useful
(Chapter 6) Any blank areas in a document are referred to as ____ ____.
White space.
(Chapter 9) When using the direct approach with negative messages, you begin with
The bad news.
(Chapter 6) As a general rule, the cost of distributing a business message should be balanced against
The importance and urgency of the message.
(Chapter 4) When your audience is likely to have a skeptical or even hostile reaction to your main idea, you should generally use
The indirect approach
(Chapter 5) How is your audience likely to respond to a message that doesn't seem to be about their concerns or that is written in language they don't understand?
They will ignore the message; if they read the message, they will be less inclined to respond in a positive way; they will assume the writer doesn't respect them enough to adapt the message.
(Chapter 4) Which of the following is an important benefit of taking time to organize your business messages?
You save time and conserve creative energy because the writing process is quicker.
(Chapter 5) The _____ voice usually makes sentences shorter, more direct, and livelier.
active
(Chapter 8) The most effective goodwill messages
are sincere and honest.
(Chapter 1) The information technology paradox means that
communication tools can sometimes waste more time than they save.
