BC Final
4) To achieve excellence, teams should primarily focus on establishing rapport.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: The most basic ingredient of excellent teams is a focus on high performance. Make sure your team has a sense of urgency and direction to achieve excellence.
7) The stages of effective listening outlined in the HURIER model of listening are hearing, understanding, restating, interpreting, empathizing, and responding.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: The stages of effective listening outlined in the HURIER model are hearing, understanding, remembering, interpreting, evaluating, and responding.
Chapter 14 Rehearsing and Delivering Successful Presentations 1) Impromptu speeches should last longer than most speeches.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Because impromptu speeches are spontaneous, people usually expect them to be short.
7) The context of a message is limited to what is happening in the physical environment.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Context involves both the physical and psychological environment in which your message is communicated.
16) The best way to engage diversity in an ethical manner is to put your own values aside and embrace your colleagues' values.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: It's often easier to appreciate the cultural values and diverse backgrounds of others when we consciously recognize our own.
20) Most virtual teams emphasize camaraderie during meetings.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Most virtual teams focus on efficiency in meetings. This forces you to prepare carefully ahead of time and state your views precisely when you have the chance.
9) Transposition and slurring are articulation problems.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Articulation is the extent to which the speaker pronounces words clearly. Transposition means reversing two sounds within a word. Slurring occurs when a speaker combines two or more words into one. Transposition and slurring are both common articulation problems.
5) Speakers' facial expressions need not match the tone of their words.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Congruence between your facial expressions and your verbal message makes your audience more inclined to believe what you're saying.
6) Having an interesting topic and a compelling thesis are the two keys to keeping an audience interested in a speech.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Even if you have a fascinating topic and a compelling thesis statement, your audience will quickly lose interest if your presentation lacks coherence and order.
3) High-performing teams typically just go with the flow.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: High-performing teams avoid simply going with the flow. Rather, they frequently discuss the set of values, norms, and goals they share.
5) Only verbal messages can metacommunicate.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Nonverbal messages, such as cupping your hand to your mouth to indicate "What I'm about to say is meant for only you to hear," can also metacommunicate.
6) The HURIER model contains seven stages of effective listening.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: The HURIER model contains six stages of effective listening—hearing, understanding, remembering, interpreting, evaluating, and responding.
17) It is a good idea to engage with audience members before a speech begins.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: One of the best ways of relaxing immediately before your presentation is to speak with audience members.
2) Opinions assert what should be, whereas factual claims assert what is.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Opinions assert what should be whereas factual claims assert what is, and each statement calls for a different type of response.
19) You should pause before answering questions.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Pausing gives you time to reflect and quickly develop the best response, gives the impression that you are thoughtful, and helps you stay calm and collected.
2) Culture can be connected to a religion.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: We use the term culture to mean all sorts of things. Sometimes we connect it to a place, as in "Italian culture" and "New England culture." Other times we use it to refer to an ethnic or a religious group, as in "African American culture" or "Jewish culture."
16) Glazing over is the same behavior as pseudolistening.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Glazing over is different from pseudolistening, which means only pretending to listen. When people are glazing over, they actually are listening to the speaker, but they are allowing their minds to drift while doing so.
Chapter 11: Major Goals for Presentations 1) The primary goal of a persuasive speech is to teach listeners something they do not already know.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: A persuasive speech appeals to listeners to think or act in a certain way. An informative speech teaches listeners something they do not know.
2) The following sentence is an effective purpose statement. "Outsourcing accounting tasks will make your company more efficient."
Answer: FALSE Explanation: A purpose statement is a declaration of a specific goal for a speech. It expresses precisely what the speaker wants to accomplish during his or her presentation. The sample sentence shown does not declare the goal for a speech. Rather, it is a thesis statement, a one- sentence version of the message of a speech.
13) Judgments about a speaker's credibility are determined by the speaker.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: A speaker's credibility is called his or her ethos. Ethos doesn't belong directly to a speaker rather, judgments about a speaker's ethos belong to the audience.
19) The following statement is an example of a summary transition. "Now, I'm going to address a question many of you might be asking yourselves: If constant change is the norm, how can your business anticipate the next trend and prepare to meet each challenge head on?"
Answer: FALSE Explanation: A summary transition is a statement that briefly reminds listeners of points you have already made. Another type is a preview transition, a statement alerting listeners that you are about to shift to a new topic. The above statement is a preview transition.
70) Once established, cultures stay essentially the same for all time.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: All cultures change, usually over years and more often decades. It's often in cultures undergoing rapid economic development that norms and expectations change the most quickly.
6) Eighty-four percent of the world's population identifies with the same religious tradition.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Although 84 percent of the world's population identifies with a religion, they do not all identify with the same religion.
15) Research shows that men and women are generally equally interested in issues related to engineering, science, mathematics, and technology.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Although individual responses always vary, some research shows that men are often more interested than women in issues related to engineering, science, mathematics, and technology. Women, in contrast, are often more interested than men in social, artistic, and relationship issues.
14) A good way to respect diversity is to see people as members of a group and not as unique individuals.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Although it is important to understand the culture of a group an individual comes from, the best way to respect diversity is to see each individual you meet as a unique person. Our identities may be tied to various groups, yet regardless of our cultures, we all still like be known for our unique personalities, interests, skills, abilities, and contributions.
13) College is a poor model for how diversity works in the business world.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: As a college student, you are in a stage of life that gives you unique opportunities to acquire cross-cultural experiences, including studying abroad, learning a language, developing friendships with international students on campus, and taking an interest in and learning about a particular culture.
19) Assimilation means giving up your individuality for the good of the group.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Assimilating involves finding admirable aspects of the host culture that you can adopt into your personal worldview and values.
14) The conflict management strategy that is easiest to implement is collaboration.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Because it can allow everyone to win, collaborating is often the best way for groups to handle conflict. Yet it can require a great deal of energy, patience, and imagination. Even when it is the ideal approach to managing conflict, it can also be the most time-consuming and laborious solution.
7) Brainstorming is a process for generating presentation topic ideas and evaluating them for their value and appropriateness.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Brainstorming is a technique for generating topic ideas that encourages you to identify as many ideas as possible without stopping to evaluate them.
9) In an active conversation, one person plays the role of the sender and one person plays the role of the receiver.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Conversation can flow in multiple directions at once. Even though you may be the one speaking, you are also receiving and responding to messages from your listeners, making everyone in the conversation simultaneously a sender and a receiver,
3) Culture is a property of place, ethnicity, or economic class.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Culture is a property of people, not of countries or ethnicities or economic classes.
12) Unlike greeting customs, gift-giving customs are universal among different cultures.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Cultures vary in the types of gifts they consider appropriate. A nice bottle of wine or cognac may be welcomed by a Japanese colleague, for instance, but would be considered taboo in Saudi Arabia, where alcohol consumption is prohibited.
10) If Taylor writes an email to her supervisor, she is participating in downward communication.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Downward communication flows from superiors to subordinates. Upward communication flows from subordinates to superiors.
8) Your attire during any work-related presentation should be a suit and tie.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Dress to match the formality of—or to be slightly more formal than—your listeners' appearance.
17) Being an effective listener is an innate ability we all possess.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Effective listening is a skill rather than an innate ability, so it is possible to improve through education and practice.
13) Audience members will not be offended by culturally insensitive speech as long as it was unintentional.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Effective speakers take the cultural makeup of their audiences into account and speak in culturally sensitive ways. For instance, they avoid using words or phrases that insult, mock, or belittle cultural groups. Speakers who aren't culturally sensitive can cause offense even if they don't intend to do so.
7) A good speaker should gesture as much as possible.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Effective speakers use a moderate number of gestures—not too many, not too few.
12) Effective networkers can be characterized as "takers": they always look for an opportunity to take control of a situation and gain positive attention.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Excellent networkers are givers rather than takers. They don't view networking as simply an instrumental activity. Rather, they take the initiative to share information and resources, and to support network members' personal and professional needs.
15) Groupthink is most likely to occur under democratic leadership.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Groupthink is particularly likely to occur when a team has a strong, authoritarian leader, is composed of members with similar backgrounds, and is isolated from outside influence.
8) In teams, most feedback should be negative to filter out bad ideas and encourage critical thinking.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: High-performing teams consistently provide their members with feedback—most of which should be positive.
11) People from low-formality cultures would feel uncomfortable being greeted by a stranger.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: In cultures that value public formality, addressing someone you don't know makes that person uncomfortable. A low-formality culture would not feel uncomfortable in talking with a stranger.
17) The size of the audience should have no effect on how formal your presentation is.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: In general, the larger the group, the more formally structured you should make your presentation.
2) During the performing stage, it is important to avoid disagreement and conflict at all costs.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: In the performing stage (months 6 and 7), teams operate efficiently toward accomplishing their goals. They have evolved to a level at which they can transform disagreement and conflict into consensus for future action.
5) Studies have shown that teams that are more alike than they are different yield better business returns.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Increasingly, research shows that diversity brings better business returns.
6) Most experienced speakers look at the ground or above audience members' heads while presenting.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Inexperienced presenters often stare at the floor or the ceiling while speaking. Experienced presenters make eye contact with their audience members.
11) Inspirational listening is listening for pure enjoyment, such as what you might do when listening to a Spotify playlist on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Inspirational listening is listening to be inspired by what someone is saying, such as when you are listening to a motivational speech. Appreciative listening, which is listening for pure enjoyment, is what you do when listening to a comedian's monologue or your favorite music.
18) Extraverts are more likely to express their opinions in virtual teams than they are in traditional teams.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Introverts generally feel more comfortable expressing opinions in virtual teams extraverts generally feel more comfortable expressing opinions in traditional teams
18) You should lean on a podium to appear relaxed during a speech.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Leaning on or gripping a podium indicates nervousness.
Chapter 4: Listening and Learning 1) Listening is essentially the same as hearing.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Listening isn't just about hearing, which is the sensory process of receiving and perceiving sounds. Listening is an active process and is about creating meaning from what you hear.
8) Feminine cultures believe that men and women should have strongly differentiated roles.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Masculine cultures value sex-specific roles for women and men. Feminine cultures tend not to believe that women's and men's roles should be strongly differentiated.
14) Active listening is primarily a physical act, involving the listener's posture and facial expressions.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Michael Hoppe of the Center for Creative Leadership has defined active listening as "a person's willingness and ability to hear and understand. At its core, active listening is a state of mind. . . . It involves bringing about and finding common ground, connecting to each other, and opening up new possibilities."
11) Most companies seek to have the same leadership style across all of their team leaders.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Most companies contain a mix of leaders and managers with democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire styles to help encourage contributions from all employees while maintaining structure and efficiency.
15) Most people are capable of understanding about 150 words per minute.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Most people are capable of understanding up to 600 words per minute, but the average person speaks fewer than 150 words per minute.
17) Teams working in the same office rarely rely upon virtual technologies for communication purposes.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Nearly all teams, including teams located in the same office, rely on virtual technologies for a substantial amount of their communication.
18) The most effective communicators have settled on a single communication strategy that works in almost all situations.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: No single communication strategy will be effective in all situations. Being an effective communicator means choosing the messages that will best meet your goals.
4) A person's culture is synonymous with his or her racial or ethnic background.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: People often confuse a person's culture with his or her nationality or racial or ethnic background, but these are all different aspects of a person's identity. Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
7) People who are bisexual usually maintain long-term relationships with one sex and short-term relationships with the other.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: People who are bisexual have romantic and/or sexual attraction to both women and men. They are not necessarily attracted to both equally, nor do they necessarily maintain long-term relationships with partners of either sex.
1) Calling your client to schedule a lunch meeting is an example of using communication to meet your identity needs.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Practical, everyday needs are instrumental needs. Making travel arrangements, scheduling a meeting with a client, and completing a self-evaluation at work are among the instrumental needs communication helps us meet.
13) It is not necessary to build or maintain rapport in long-term business relationships.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Rapport is important at all stages of professional relationships. In first impressions, you gain trust more easily when others sense you are concerned about them. As professional relationships develop, if others believe you care about them, they will trust you.
17) Genes play no role in our ability to communicate.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Research shows that some of our communication traits—such as how sociable, aggressive, or shy we are—are partly determined by our genes. No matter which traits we're born with, though, we still have to learn how to communicate competently and successfully.
12) Stressors are actions that block the body from feeling stress.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Scientists use the term stressor to refer to events that cause the body to experience stress.
9) In any culture, power distance is measured by the amount of money individuals have.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Several types of assets can give someone power, including money or other valuable resources, education or expertise, age, popularity, talent, intelligence, and experience.
10) Good speech delivery elements are the same across cultures.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Speakers with various cultural backgrounds may prefer different delivery styles.
14) The following speaker is demonstrating the aspect of ethos called virtue. "I wrote my PhD thesis on how creativity influences problem solving, and I have been a consultant in the corporate world for the past twelve years."
Answer: FALSE Explanation: The above speaker is demonstrating wisdom, in which speakers are perceived as credible if they demonstrate their knowledge of or experience with the topics about which they speak. Demonstrating virtue is when speakers who attain excellence are perceived as credible. The key to demonstrating such virtue is to highlight the quality of the work you put into your speech.
10) Considering the nature and tone of the event is an important step in selecting an appropriate topic for a presentation.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Make sure your topic fits the tone of the occasion. After considering which topics are right for you, which are right for your audience, and finally which are right for the occasion, you should have a "short list" of excellent options from which to make your final selection.
8) The popular children's poem that begins "In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue" is an example of a mnemonic device.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Mnemonic devices such as this children's poem are tricks that can aid both short- and long-term memory. Research shows that using mnemonic devices can significantly enhance our memory of what we hear.
3) Nonverbal communication is sometimes called body language.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Nonverbal communication is sometimes referred to as body language to reflect the idea that we can "talk" through our gestures, facial expressions, use of touch, and other behaviors.
20) Nonverbal transitions are most effective when they seem natural.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Nonverbal transition behaviors are generally effective only to the extent that they seem natural rather than staged. As you rehearse your speech, practice using movement, inflection, pauses, and gestures until they feel natural. When you can incorporate these behaviors without consciously thinking about them, they are likely to look and seem natural to your audience.
4) Recorded business speeches frequently have more online viewers than live audience members.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Often, recorded presentations are watched by more people online than in person.
9) The following main points are organized in a time pattern. 1. Conduct security analysis of all Internet-accessible systems. 2. Review techniques for improving security and backing up data. 3. Research vendors for relevant security software. 4. Complete contract agreements and implement solutions.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: One option for organizing your main points is to use a time pattern, which means arranging them in chronological order. This option is particularly useful when you are describing the steps of a process, as in this example.
10) When you look at and try to understand a situation from someone else's point of view, you are engaging in perspective taking.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Perspective taking is the ability to understand a situation from another's point of view.
10) Supporting materials, such as quotations, definitions, and statistics, should be incorporated into your subpoints.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Subpoints can clarify the meaning of a main point, provide examples, offer evidence, and elaborate on your argument. You will usually incorporate your supporting materials—such as quotations, definitions, and statistics—into your subpoints.
18) Talking over people's heads means assuming they have knowledge of a subject they do not actually have.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Talking over people's heads means assuming they have information or an understanding they don't actually have.
6) The communication process begins with the creation and exchange of a message.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: The communication process begins with a message, which consists of verbal and/or nonverbal behaviors to which people give meaning.
16) A speaker can signal the end of a speech nonverbally as well as verbally.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: The first goal of your conclusion is to signal to your audience that you are bringing your presentation to a close. You can do this verbally or nonverbally.
5) The forum format allows presenters and the audience to offer comments and questions to one another.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: The forum format is the most interactive type of group presentation. It allows members of the group and the audience to offer comments and questions to one another.
4) When Sara interprets her boss's statement that she "has a knack for this" as a sign that she should apply for a promotion, she is considering the relational dimension of the message.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: The relational dimension of a message carries signals about our relationship with the sender of the message. Sara has inferred meaning about her relationship to her boss from the tone and manner of his message.
3) If you have a people-oriented style of listening, you are typically a trusting person.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Those with a people-oriented style of listening are usually open to trusting others.
10) In societies with a polychronic time orientation, schedules are flexible.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Unlike monochronic societies, polychronic societies maintain a fluid concept of time.
11) Slides using images and figures rather than dense text would be a good approach for visual learners because they learn best from illustrations and diagrams.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Visual learners learn best from illustrations and simple diagrams that show relationships and key ideas. They also enjoy gestures and metaphors. Text-based PowerPoints do not appeal to them much, but slides rich in images and figures do help them respond to your message.
20) If you are trying to show empathy and communicate your support nonverbally, eye contact is usually the most important nonverbal behavior.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: When you are listening rather than speaking, your nonverbal behaviors convey your interest, understanding, and empathy. Perhaps the most important nonverbal behavior in this situation is eye contact.
20) You should talk to the audience after your speech is over.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: When you complete your presentation, your work is not complete. In most cases, this is a good opportunity to work the room, further connecting with your audience. You can get additional feedback and discuss future endeavors with your listeners.
2) Memorized speeches allow for freer gesturing.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: When you don't have to handle a script or set of notes, you can gesture naturally and maintain an effective level of eye contact with listeners.
14) Public speaking anxiety can be advantageous.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: You can train yourself to focus your nervous energy on the goal of giving the best speech possible rather than letting it distract you.
9) Laissez-faire leaders care less about their employees than leaders with different leadership styles.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Leaders with a laissez-faire style rarely interact with employees, give them little feedback on job performance, and generally trust others to make the right decisions. When they are forced to oversee decisions or mediate conflicts, they step in for only as long as is necessary. This approach doesn't mean these leaders don't care about their employees rather, they simply think others function best with minimal supervision.
11) Public speaking anxiety is also known as desensitization.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Desensitization can help people to reduce their public speaking anxiety. It is not another term for public speaking anxiety.
4) Exaggerating claims in your thesis is ethical because you are not directly making false statements.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Ethical practice requires you to believe in the truth of your thesis statement so you don't knowingly mislead your audience. That doesn't just mean avoiding claims you know to be false. Also avoid exaggerating your claims beyond what the evidence warrants.
17) Stereotypes are defined as illogical generalizations that are ultimately unproductive.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Stereotypes are simply generalizations. Although they are sometimes negative, they can be productive as long as they are only a starting point, they are flexible, and they are primarily positive.
5) If you are stonewalling as a listening response, you are using facial expressions, nods, vocalizations such as "uh-huh," and statements such as "I get what you're saying."
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Stonewalling typically entails a silent response and a lack of expression on the face of the listener. These often signal a lack of interest in what the speaker is saying. Backchanneling uses facial expressions, nods, vocalizations, and supportive statements to let the speaker know you are paying attention.
19) Virtual teams should choose a permanent leader to ensure the group continues moving toward its goals.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Team leaders should ensure frequent contact and communication to keep the team moving toward its goals. One strategy many virtual teams use is to periodically rotate team leaders. This helps energize the team and keeps team leaders from burning out. This strategy also helps develop leadership skills of team members.
15) Fluency is the term used to describe developing a specific mental image of winning or giving a successful performance.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Visualization involves developing a specific mental image of winning or giving a successful performance.
19) Audiences are usually unaware of how long a speech is supposed to last and will have no particular reaction if a speaker goes over the time allotted.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Whatever the situation, your listeners are likely aware of how long your speech is supposed to last, and they may get restless and lose interest if you speak longer than you should.
6) When you are selecting a topic for a presentation, experts recommend starting by drawing up a list of five to ten promising ideas.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: When no topic has been assigned, experts recommend brainstorming to generate a list of potential topics. Brainstorming is a technique that encourages you to identify as many ideas as possible without stopping to evaluate them.
8) The following main points are organized in a topic pattern. 1. Overworked employees sacrifice nights and weekends. 2. Employee exhaustion causes burnout and lower morale. 3. As a result, quality of employee output decreases.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: When you adopt a topic pattern, you organize your main points to represent different categories. The above example is a cause-and-effect pattern, in which you organize your points so they describe the causes of an event or a phenomenon and then identify its consequences.
18) The outgroup homogeneity effect is the tendency to assume others share your cultural norms and values.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Whereas projected cognitive similarity is the tendency to assume others share your cultural norms and values, the outgroup homogeneity effect is the tendency to think members of other groups are all the same.
19) Competent communicators will speak differently to different audiences depending on their experiences, cultural backgrounds, level of interest, and other factors.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A competent communicator would speak differently to a group of senior executives than to a group of new hires, because one group has experience and expertise that the other does not. Competent communicators are also aware of generational and cultural differences that can influence what an audience finds engaging.
2) A eulogy is a type of speech likely to be heard at a memorial service for a person who has died.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A eulogy is a speech made to honor the memory of people after their death and to comfort those who remain.
3) Scripted speeches are read aloud from a manuscript.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A scripted speech is composed word for word in a manuscript and then read aloud exactly as written.
4) A speech honoring someone who is receiving an award is called a speech of recognition.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A speech of recognition is used to honor someone who is receiving an award. Such presentations usually explain the criteria for the award and then identify the recipient by describing his or her achievements.
19) For a claim to be certain, there can be absolutely no chance that it is not true.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A statement is certain only if its likelihood of being true is 100 percent and nothing less.
5) The following sentence is an example of an effective thesis statement. "Industrial corporations have a duty to be environmentally responsible."
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A thesis statement is a one-sentence version of the message of a speech. "Industrial corporations have a duty to be environmentally responsible" could serve as an effective thesis statement.
8) Thinking about topics you care about is a helpful step in selecting a topic for a presentation.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Choosing a topic you care about will make preparing your speech more enjoyable, and your presentation will be more engaging for your listeners.
14) Researchers recommend assessing the economic status of your audience when preparing a presentation because wealthy audiences and those with lower incomes often have different attitudes, experiences, and priorities.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Considering the economic status of your listeners can help you to tailor your message to their priorities and experiences. For instance, wealthy listeners are often older, more educated, and more widely traveled. Wealthy audiences are often politically conservative as well, so they may be more resistant to change. In contrast, low-income audiences are often more liberal and more open to new ways of thinking.
13) When your goal is to evaluate or analyze what you are hearing, you are engaged in critical listening.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Critical listening is used for analyzing or evaluating.
12) The listening skill of empathic concern is the ability to identify how someone else is feeling and then experience those feelings yourself.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Effective empathic listening requires two separate skills: perspective taking, which is the ability to understand a situation from another's point of view, and empathic concern, which is the ability to identify how someone else is feeling and to experience those feelings yourself.
11) Effective networkers will use informal communication channels, such as social media, alongside more formal channels, such as email.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Effective networkers carefully evaluate communication channels for their ability to enhance professional relationships and accomplish work. They recognize the benefits and drawbacks of these channels and learn the preferences of other members of their professional networks.
9) Empathic listening is not the same as sympathetic listening.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Empathic listening is used for understanding and identifying with someone, while sympathetic listening is feeling sorry for someone.
Chapter 2: Culture, Diversity, and Global Engagement 1) A single person can belong to many different cultures at once.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Every person identifies with many different groups.
8) Feedback can be verbal, nonverbal, or both.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Feedback is a receiver's various verbal and nonverbal reactions to a message.
6) It is important for teams to allow time for working independently and without interruption.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: For teams to function well, most members need time to work independently and without interruption. The most innovative teams balance time in teams with time for independent work to capture a diversity of strong ideas.
7) Extraverts tend to make the best leaders.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: In teams, leadership is inherently social, so extraverts tend to excel at leadership because they are comfortable interacting socially with others.
Chapter 6: Effective Team Communication 1) A work plan usually defines team members' roles, goals, and accountabilities.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: In the norming stage (months 4 and 5), the team arrives at a work plan, including the roles, goals, and accountabilities.
18) Having experience may give someone credibility in a particular area, but it doesn't necessarily make that person an expert.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: It's sometimes easy to confuse expertise with experience. Just because someone has experience with something, it does not necessarily make him or her an expert in that area.
12) A presentation prepared with kinesthetic learners in mind would include group activities and frequent breaks.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Kinesthetic learners need to participate in order to focus their attention on your message and learn best. They need group activities, hands-on activities, or breaks at least every 20 minutes.
7) Formulating main points as complete sentences will be useful as you practice your speech.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Main points should be written as complete sentences. Using complete sentences for your main points helps you think in complete thoughts and will assist you in rehearsing your speech for presentation.
20) When speaking at a somber event, it is a good idea to try to lighten the mood.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Make sure your topic fits the tone of the occasion.
15) Most companies have a written code of conduct meant to shape their employees' behavior at work.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Most organizations have created a written code of conduct or code of ethics to direct their members' behavior at work.
20) Ethical beliefs vary from one culture to another.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: People often have very different ideas about right and wrong. What may be morally justified to one person or one culture may be considered unethical to another. Successful communicators are aware that people's ideas about ethics vary.
Chapter 12 Planning and Crafting Presentations 1) A purpose statement makes your general goal more specific.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Purpose statements reflect the general goal of your speech (to inform, to persuade, to introduce, etc.). At the same time, however, a purpose statement makes your general goal more focused and specific.
16) Practicing a speech in virtual reality can lower anxiety.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Research has shown that practicing with an online audience can help to desensitize you to public speaking anxiety.
4) Most people remember about 25 percent of what they hear.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Research shows that most people can recall a mere 25 percent of what they hear— and even then, they remember only about 20 percent of that fraction accurately.
15) You should exercise particular care when introducing a speech on a sensitive topic.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Some speeches focus on topics to which listeners will be sensitive, perhaps because they are uncomfortable or embarrassing to talk about. When you select such a topic as the focus of your speech, it's important to frame your introduction accordingly.
2) Text messages are a form of verbal communication.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Spoken language is indeed a key aspect of verbal communication, but so are words that we write, text, or express through sign language. Anytime we use words to get our point across, we're engaged in verbal communication.
10) If a team leader has valuable experience that the rest of the group members lack, he or she should adopt a laissez-faire style.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: The autocratic style is the most effective when the leader has knowledge or expertise that the group members at large lack. If a senior physician is leading a group of interns in a complicated surgery, for instance, it's best for everyone if the physician takes charge and gives orders rather than taking a vote about how to proceed with the surgery, because the surgeon's experience confers knowledge the interns don't yet have.
3) The difference between a symposium and a colloquium is that the audience participates in a symposium, whereas a colloquium presentation does not involve audience interaction.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: The difference between a symposium and a colloquium is that a symposium features individual speakers and presentations, whereas a colloquium is more of a group discussion.
12) The most effective way to capture listeners' attention is by telling a story that will spark your audience's curiosity.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: There are many effective ways to capture listeners' attention, including telling a story, using statistics, presenting a quotation, telling a joke, posing a question, citing an opinion, noting the occasion, identifying something familiar, or incorporating technology.
9) If you choose a presentation topic you care about, then it will also be of interest to the audience.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: To give an effective speech, you need to select a topic that is right not only for yourself but also for your listeners. If your listeners care about your topic, they will be more attentive and more likely to remember what you say.
16) As far as the context of a presentation is concerned, it does not matter if audience members are there by choice or have been required to attend.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: To maximize your effectiveness as a speaker, consider why your audience will come together to hear you. Will they choose to attend, or be required to? Is the context formal or informal? Is it joyous or somber? Those issues matter because they influence the behaviors your audience will expect from you.
16) Communicators cultivate credibility by establishing their point of view and never wavering, even in the face of controversy or pushback from the audience.
Answer: FALSE Explanation: Ultimately, effective communicators cultivate credibility by genuinely understanding and adapting to the needs, wants, and preferences of their audiences.
11) The goals of an introduction are to capture listeners' interest, build credibility, preview your main points.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A good presentation starts with an introduction that accomplishes three goals: It captures your listeners' interest in your topic, it helps you build your credibility, and it previews the points you plan to make.
18) Transitions are what give a speech a satisfying flow and help distinguish one point from another.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: A transition is a statement that logically connects one point in a speech to the next, giving it a satisfying flow. Some transitions are full statements that provide previews and internal summaries of the material. Others are single words or phrases, called "signposts," that help to distinguish one point from another. Finally, many nonverbal behaviors can signal transitions.
14) The average U.S. adult is exposed to more than 350 advertising messages each day.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: According to the latest research, the average U.S. adult is exposed to about 360 advertising messages each day.
15) It is the responsibility of every employee to create an inclusive workplace.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Although many organizations hire diversity teams to help their organizations realize the potential of their diverse workforces, all professionals should consciously think about ways to draw out the best in all their colleagues. Taking a diversity perspective helps accomplish this goal and facilitates rich and rewarding communication.
5) Business organizations can have a culture.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Companies have distinct cultures, which are influenced by many factors, including industry and size.
12) Conflict can be productive for teams.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Conflict is not necessarily problematic. In fact, it can motivate groups to make more creative decisions than they otherwise might. What matters is the way groups manage conflict when it arises.
17) The following part of a conclusion is an example of creating a memorable moment: "The next time Arnold needed to hire a new team member, he understood how to recruit great talent. He paid more attention to the details of each candidate's experience, noted the rapport he had with each of them, and included other team members in the process to ensure the new hire would fit in with his company's culture. Arnold also learned to ask the right questions, so he had a better idea of each candidate's strengths and weaknesses. Today, Arnold's newest employee has been with his company for five years, and his firm is one of the most successful marketing strategy groups in the industry."
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Creating a memorable moment in your conclusion will help your listeners remember your presentation. One option is to return to a story you told earlier and provide further details. For instance, if you spoke of someone affected by the issue you're addressing, your conclusion could describe how the person dealt with the issue and how he or she is doing now.
13) A person in a collectivistic society is more likely than a person in an individualistic society to view accommodation as a valid conflict management strategy.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Cultural ideas play an important role in the use of accommodation. In collectivistic societies, accommodating in response to conflict is often expected and is viewed as respectful or noble. In contrast, in individualistic societies, people may be seen as weak or spineless if they consistently accommodate others.
3) Drafting your thesis statement will help guide your research.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Drafting your thesis statement will help you organize your outline and your research.
16) After reaching an important decision, teams should meet a second time to make sure they do not have second thoughts.
Answer: TRUE Explanation: Even after the team has made its decision, leaders should recommend that members meet once more to reconsider it and express any doubts or second thoughts they have. This will help the team to avoid groupthink.