Best Practices in Business Writing and CommunicationKANDICE DIXORG 536: CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS WRITING AND COMMUNICATIONCOLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY – GLOBAL CAMPUSDR. PHILLIP JACKSONMAY 3, 2015

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Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter.

GILBERT AMELIOPRESIDENT AND CEO OF NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORP

http://www.leadershipnow.com/communicationquotes.html

Effective and Ethical Business Communication

Effective communication Tailored to the intended audience (San Diego Mesa College, 2015). Appropriate medium for the message (2015) Consider the following:

Context, climate, background/experience of the audience )2015) Values/goals of the organization (2015)

Effective and Ethical Business Communication

Ethical communication Transparency: Information is truthful and honest (San Diego Mesa College, 2015). Timeliness of the message (2015) Noble intentions (2015) Message stands up to criticism. (2015)

Professionalism in the Workplace

Ubiquitous and pervasive concept - Transcends trade and industry lines (Department of Labor, 2015).

Blending of qualities and skills (2015) Responsibility (2015) Integrity/honesty. (2015) Accountability (2015) Ethical (2015) Strong interpersonal, communication , and problem-solving skills (2015)

Professionalism in the Workplace

What to do: Polite Courteous Respectful Hard working On time Prepared Quality listening and communication

skills. (Department of Labor, 2015)

What not to do: Forceful/overly outspoken Inappropriate language/comments Late Unprepared Irritable/prone to rage Email emoticons

Intercultural Business Communication

Economic globalization – our world is getting smaller (Diplomacy, 2015) Innovation(2015)

Travel (2015) Media relations (2015) Increased communication technology (2015)

Intercultural Business Communication

Challenge in business today (Diplomacy, 2015) So much more than just language (2015) Convey a clear message (2015)

Void of culturally biased references (2015) Sensitive to the audience culture (2015)

Failed communication (2015) Misunderstandings (2015) Possible embarrassment (2015)

Writing Tips for the Business Professional

Know your audience (McLaughlin, 1998) Be clear and concise (1998) Purposeful (1998) Proper timing (1998) Well-researched (1998) Ethical (1998) PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD! (1998)

Writing Tips for the Business Professional

Avoid the following: Clichés & jargon McLaughlin, 1998) Excessive abbreviations or acronyms (1998) Pop culture references (1998) Emoticons (1998) Contractions (1998) Exaggerations (1998) Parenthical statements (1998)

Business Presentations and the Use of Electronic Message and Digital Media Intended for the use of leadership, teams, or consumer base (Biehl-

Missal, 2011). Prepared and well rehearsed (2011)

Rarely improvised (2011) Fosters audience engagement (2011)

"RennFestShow" by Mistman123 at the English language Wikipedia. Licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RennFestShow.jpg#/media/File:RennFestShow.jpg

Business Presentations and the Use of Electronic Message and Digital Media PowerPoint:

This is only a visual aid! You are the presentation (Phillips, 2014) Tips:

Do not read from the slide (2014) Format text appropriately (2014) Avoid overcrowding and excessive animation. (2014) Keep the audience engaged (2014) Black out function (2014)

Great example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo

References

Beihl-Missal, B. (2011). Business is show business: Management presentations as performance. Journal of Management Studies, 48(3), 619-645. doi:10.1111/j. 1467-6486.2010.00931.x

Department of Labor. (2015). Professionalism. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/Professionalism.pdf

Diplomacy. (2015). Intercultural communication. Retrieved from http://www.diplomacy.edu/language/intercultural-communication

McLaughlin, R. (1998). Writing tips for professionals. Target Marketing, 21(11), 12-14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/233094075?accountid=458

Phillips, D., JP. (2014, Feb). How to avoid death By PowerPoint [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo

San Diego Mesa College. (2015). Effective and ethical communication at work. Retrieved from http://classroom.sdmesa.edu/sspangler/Lectures/Chap%201%20-%20Rev%201.pdf