most important elements of the presentation, but to supplement the information presented through words.
A difference between written and oral presentations is the extreme importance of nonverbal messages in oral communication of all kinds. Although non-verbal elements exist also in written material, nonverbal communication is more obvious and important in oral interaction.
Another consideration is the extreme importance of delivery. Material that wild be considered excellent in written form is far from excellent if the speaker rumbles, if voice tone is monotonous and unenthusiastic, if the speaker is uninterested in the subject, or if words are mispronounced. Timing is essential; the audience must be given an opportunity to understand a point before the speaker hurriedly moves on to the next one, but speech must not be so slow that listeners’ minds wander or they become bored.
A good speaker can make even a routine topic interesting. A poor speaker can ruin what could be an exciting, informative, and persuasive talk.
A written message can be revised before it is mailed. Your talk cannot be wised once it is delivered, but your planning of the talk can be revised over and over until you get it right.
As with reports and many other kinds of written communication, planning must include adequate research. Research will help you choose the most important points to emphasize and the most effective presentation of facts and ideas. Knowing your subject will also build your self-confidence. Information and understanding beyond the content of the speech itself is essential, particularly when answering questions or responding to comments from the audience.
Mark Twain once said that it takes three weeks to prepare a good ad-lib speech.
Text 5. Business Etiquette
Etiquette is related in some way to all aspects and forms of communication discussed in the preceding chapters. (All elements of communication are related to all others.) Etiquette is based on consideration, or the well-known «you-attitude», which is in itself an ethical consideration. We have considered etiquette with the study of ethics, goodwill letters, word usage, letter arrangement, and other subjects.
An authority on business and personal etiquette opens her 519-page book, Letitia Baldrige’s Complete Guide to Executive Manners, with these words:
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This is a book about manners but also about the quality of excellence. It is a book about the importance of detail and about how details linked together can create the strong, effective executive presence that propels an individual upward in his or her career. This is, therefore, a book about success...
This book is based on the theory that good manners are cost-effective because they not only increase the quality of life in the workplace, contribute to optimum employee morale, and embellish the company image, but they also play a major role in generating profit. An atmosphere in which people treat each other with consideration is obviously one in which a customer enjoys doing business. Also very important, a company with a well-mannered, high-class reputation attracts — and keeps — good people.
As Baldrige emphasizes, etiquette is necessary for quality, consideration, and even for profitability. Although she does not use the word ethics, the meaning is implied in «people treat each other with consideration».
Ethics is a broader term than etiquette, at least from its usual meaning of following the rules of proper behavior in polite society. Etiquette, however, consists of far more than knowing the exact wording (there is none) of introductions and which fork to use at a dinner party. Nevertheless, violating the usual and expected contentions of behavior, either knowingly or because of lack of knowledge, is at least inconsiderate and at most insulting and dangerous.
The «rules» of etiquette are based on consideration, first of all, but also on common sense and a recognition of the usual customs and mores of the society in which we live or work. This recognition of particular customs is particularly troublesome when we travel or work abroad. Actions based on goodwill alone can be misinterpreted as hostile or demeaning.
What you need to know about etiquette, regardless of your experience or background, could not be fitted into this chapter or into any book. Even if you have been taught etiquette since you were a child, further study at the present stage of your career will be of benefit. Perhaps the greatest advantage of all is that your self-confidence will be increased. A complete book, such as Letitia Baldrige’s, would be a valuable addition to your home library.
Some of the questions that arise regarding etiquette are greeting visitors, making introductions, table manners, choice of clothing, the etiquette of business letters, business entertaining, proper forms of address, smoking, conversation, business relationships between men and women in the office, gift giving, planning seminars and meetings — and many, many more.
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True etiquette increases the comfort, confidence, and self-esteem of other persons. Words and actions that build these qualities, however, must be sincere, as all communication must be.
Some of many possible guidelines are listed here:
1.Listen to the words of others instead of concentrating on your own words.
2.Remember and use people’s names. Spell and pronounce them correctly.
3.Make introductions promptly and correctly. Traditionally, a man is introduced to a woman (saying the woman’s name first); a younger person is introduced to an older person (saying the older person’s name first); and other people are introduced to a guest (saying the guest’s name first.) Introduce a peer in your own company to a peer in another company, a lower-ranking person to a higher-ranking person, and a person in your company to a customer or client.
4.Be careful about using new acquaintances’ first names, especially if they are older than you or in higher positions. This advice is extremely important when addressing people from countries outside the United States, where business people are far more formal than most people in the United States.
5.Keep your promises.
6.Give sincere compliments.
7.Do not criticize others. If you are a supervisor and must reprimand an employee, do so in private only, and then with fairness and courtesy.
8.Apologize when an apology is due, but do not apologize unnecessarily or profusely.
9.Be especially considerate of newcomers or people alone, either in an office environment or at a party.
Text 6. Concerns of Organisational Communication
With the exception of innovations in communication technology, these concerns are not new. They have existed throughout the history of organizations; they existed long before business organizations themselves, as we now use the term. All these areas are aspects of human cooperation, understanding, responsibility, honesty, fairness, and harmonious personal and professional relationships. All require knowledge and the effective use of language.
These concerns are described as contemporary because they are now receiving more attention in organizations of all kinds, including government agencies and colleges and universities, than they did in past decades. More and more students, managers, and workers at all levels realize that true education,
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including preparation for a vocation, consists of more than specialized details and technical skills. In addition, ethics enters into all other topics discussed throughout the book, along with accompanying questions and cases.
Many complete books have been written about ethics and about the social responsibilities of organizations. Nevertheless, because these topics are so closely interwoven with most if not all areas of business communication, they must be included here.
Many letters, memorandums, and reports are composed from the standpoint of how goods or services can be sold so that the company can make a profit. The question arises as to whether making a profit is the only or even the principal purpose of organizations. Some people agree with this assumption, saying that profit is essential if the company is to continue to exist. Others say that this reasoning is similar to saying that the purpose of life is to eat. Although we must eat to live, eating is not the sole purpose of life. (For the very hungry, however, eating is the sole purpose, at least until the hunger is satisfied.)
Legal considerations relate to numerous areas of business communication, including employee rights, sales and advertising, credit and collections, equal opportunity for job applicants, the right to privacy, and avoiding defamation. Laws pertain to plagiarism and copyright ownership. These legal topics and others are included in relevant chapters, usually in separate sections.
The terms international and intercultural are not synonymous as they are applied to communication. Much intercultural communication occurs between people who have never left the United States (or any other country in which the communication occurs) because differing cultures exist side by side in the same city. Intercultural, a broader term than international, describes communication that involves almost everyone at work, at school, and in home communities. It is almost certain lo occur when we travel abroad — an event that also involves international communication.
International is used in still another way, to describe official communication between governments of nations — a meaning that is not considered here. (Government officials, however, should be good communicators at home and abroad.)
However the terms are defined, basic principles are the same. We need in learn as much as possible about different cultures, including their customs and value systems.
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Although computers and other equipment speed the preparation, transrnission, and reception of messages, human thought and written and spoken words remain the most important elements of human communication.
In many organizations, important communication projects are planned or written by a group, not by individuals alone. Even if material is individually written, it is often submitted to others for evaluation or editing. Consideration of how to approach problems that will eventually be solved by written or oral communication maybe done by committees. Parts of long reports may be written by individuals, then combined for the complete report.
Questions and problems at the end of every chapter in this book can be used for collaborative planning and writing. Many are especially appropriate for group work, and are so designated with specific instructions for work in process and the finished product. In addition, students are asked to provide feedback on work previously done by other students, similar to the way that an individual’s work would be read in an organization before it is submitted to the final reader. Oral communication, such as a meeting or an important speech, may also be planned by a group.
In addition to the benefits of combining efforts on an assignment or project of some kind, participants practice communication skills while working in groups.
Successful personal and professional relationships, first of all, depend on ethical and open communication. Other factors enter in, however. A person can be filled with good intentions and not «come across» because of a lack of ability to relate to other people — or because of a lack of effective communication.
Text 7. Advertising Campaigns
Advertising campaign has gone through five major stages of development: domestic, export, international, multi-national, and global. For global advertisers, there are four, potentially competing, business objectives that must be balanced when developing worldwide advertising campaign: building a brand while speaking with one voice, developing economies of scale in the creative process, maximising local effectiveness of ads, and increasing the company’s speed of implementation. Born from the evolutionary stages of global marketing are the three primary and fundamentally different approaches to the development of global advertising executions: exporting executions, producing local executions, and importing ideas that travel.
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