Welcome to Business Communication Design

Through a straightforward, eight-step process, Business Communication Design: Creativity, Strategies, and Solutions presents a strategic approach to learning the fundamentals of business communication and designing effective business messages.

A Message Designed for Students

Message creation reaches with long arms and touches everything we think, feel, and do as communicators both personally and professionally. This method-based instruction offers you techniques to design intrapersonal (internal), verbal (speech and writing), nonverbal, interpersonal (interaction), collaborative, and change messages for use in nearly every aspect of business. Through contemporary communication theory, real-world business examples, and practical applications, you will develop the skills necessary to become a successful communication designer. During your career, you will cultivate and use the skills mastered through this text to solve problems, face new challenges and technologies, build relationships, and develop creative communication strategies of your own.

A Message Designed for Instructors, Communication Designers and Friends

Virtually any student can excel if the instructional design is grounded in both the theoretical and practical applications of communication design. Business Communication Design focuses on pragmatic design techniques that are easy to use, understand, and teach. This text allows you to integrate your course materials and ideas into flexible and comfortable business communication content. Innovative topics include useful and necessary applications of listening, culture, collaborative, and visual communication. The text presents these topics concisely in its 17 chapters, a manageable number to cover over an average college term.

Skill Building and Creative Challenges, Activities, and Cases

A comprehensive set of creative activities and exercises are included in each chapter to support your course instruction. These features include “In a Nutshell” (introductory examples), “Creative Challenge” (brief critical thinking exercises), “Jump In” (skill-building activities), “Word on the Web” (Web-based exercises and information), “Strategies,” “Creative Cases” (situational and topic specific case studies), “Business Communication Projects,” and “Discussion Questions.” See pages x–xv for detailed descriptions of how these features can enhance the learning experience.

A Message About the Chapters

Chapter 1, The Basics, provides the reader with connections to, and applications of, communication skills in 21st-century business. This chapter also introduces basic communication principles, the interactive process, and an intrapersonal approach that identifies students as communication designers.

Chapter 2, How Business Communicates, offers a brief exploration of directions for 21st-century business communications including globalization, management information, technology, and change. This chapter focuses on business messages that flow internally and externally through formal and informal communication networks.

Chapter 3, Creating Effective Messages, introduces and describes the heart of communication design—MESSAGES. The acronym MESSAGES spells out the eight steps involved in designing effective business messages. While not every message will require the execution of all eight steps, most business messages do. The steps provide the basis of message construction and a comprehensive strategy for communication designers.

Chapter 4, Listening: A Silent Hero, is a comprehensive examination of listening skills, types, and liabilities in business. Because at least 45 percent of a business communicator's time is spent listening, it is a fundamental skill. This chapter explores active, passive, and not listening and offers strategies to listen effectively.

Chapter 5, Creating and Using Meaning, explores how meaning is created through perception and is rooted in cultural experience. Meaning is different for each person because perceptions vary. This chapter discusses intended and interpreted meaning, contexts, semantics, and strategies to design messages with clear meaning.

Chapter 6, Designing Messages with Words, provides the fundamentals of verbal communication (speaking and writing) and associated speech styles, rules, and limitations. This chapter also focuses on communication apprehension, persuasion and argumentation principles, and design strategies.

Chapter 7, Designing Oral Presentations, presents fear factors associated with public speaking and practical anxiety reduction techniques. This chapter also covers topic selection, speech goals, customizing presentations, speech organization, and delivery strategies.

Chapter 8, Business Writing Design, is a strategy-based method for written communication. This chapter focuses on business writing including the process, various styles, and using the “you view.” Step-by-step strategies for developing memos, letters, and e-mail messages will help students to construct effective written documents. Numerous sample documents also present complete instruction.

Chapter 9, Direct and Indirect Communication Strategies, focuses on the use of direct and indirect communication strategies in written business messages. This chapter presents step-by-step writing techniques, types, goals, and components of positive, negative, neutral, and persuasive messages. Sample documents provide both direct and indirect approaches.

Chapter 10, The Business of Reports: Informal and Formal Report Writing, features business writing instruments that are designed to solicit funding, approval, or partnership. This chapter discusses formal and informal styles of reports, research, and techniques for organization and construction. Sample reports and proposals help students to understand the mechanics of report writing.

Chapter 11, Writing Strategies for Reports and Proposals, focuses specifically on using direct and indirect strategies in formal and informal reports. Consideration is given to audience, types of reports connected to strategy, and the components.

Chapter 12, Culture: Inside and Out, presents a macro view of social culture and diversity, and a micro view of organizational culture. Aspects of both deep and observable organizational culture are provided in this chapter with strategies to understand and work effectively within a diverse organization.

Chapter 13, Interpersonal and Collaborative Messages, features interpersonal business relationships, nonverbal, and collaborative group communication. Because most business professionals spend between 80 and 90 percent of their time engaged in interpersonal interaction, readers will understand how relationships evolve in business contexts and what strategies to use to maintain good working interactions. This chapter also examines the development of small groups and teams in business including the four C's of effective small groups, leadership communication, c-commerce technology, and distance meetings.

Chapter 14, The Business of Change and Conflict, offers strategies for the business communicator dealing with change. In business transition, messages can become distorted or hidden and communication styles become closed. Resistance and reduction techniques including multidirectional and multimedia communication are examined. This chapter also presents conflict resolution skills to achieve accord through traditional and transformative communication strategies.

Chapter 15, Creating a Career and Designing Résumés, features career development strategies, five résumé formats, and the ingredients to construct them. This chapter also provides cover letter design techniques that are ideal for students entering the job market.

Chapter 16, Interviewing to Get the Job, features the employment interview process, traditional and behavioral interviews, an overview of interviewer and applicant goals, preparation techniques, and the types of questions asked. This chapter also focuses on strategies for followup calls, letters, and negotiating the position package.

Chapter 17, Creativity and Visual Design, explains that many business designers will not acquire nor need the necessary skills to become professional graphic designers but most will need some basic knowledge. Because visuals frequently support both written and oral business messages, communication designers need to understand how visuals work to enhance messages. This chapter describes the various types of quantitative and qualitative info graphics, and offers strategies to develop effective visual designs and integrate them into documents.

A Message Designed to Express Appreciation

Any creative work of this magnitude requires the expertise and dedication of numerous people to bring it to fruition. This book continues to be a labor of love that includes the talents of McGraw-Hill publishing professionals, such as sponsoring editor Barrett Koger and editorial coordinator Jill O'Malley. Special thanks also goes to Andy Winston, whose laugh-a-little, fight-a-little approach makes him the champion of all publishers in my book. Sarah Reed and Mark Ventra deserve special appreciation for promoting and carrying the message to so many of my colleagues and their students far and wide. I would also like to thank three very talented colleagues for their assistance: Chuck Seifert from Siena College and Philip Boudreau for the preparation of the Instructor's Manual, B. Barbara Boerner from Brevard College for producing the Test Bank, and Frank Markham, DBA and Marylin Markham, MBA for creating the PowerPoint® package. I am also extremely grateful to Phil Boudreau for his contributions to the Ethics in Action features and Case Studies and to Philip Kelly from Gannon University for his contributions to Chapter 8. I am especially grateful to my colleagues, students, and friends, Andrea Pike, Tom Niederkorn, Anne Minehan, Carolyn Mackey-Temple, Sherri Wait, Sherry Goldstein, Danielle Blesi, Mike Lynick, Dave Padula, and Jason Haupt, who gave generously of their time and talent with research and visual support.

My heartfelt thanks also go to my mentor and friend Diane Gayeski from Ithaca College, whose insights more than a decade ago inspired communication design; to Scott Velie, whose faith in me never wavered; and to Lee Aurelia, whose constant support encouraged me to press on. Faculty and students are encouraged to offer their suggestions, ideas, or comments to Professor Pamela Angell, by e-mail: pamangell@yahoo.com.

—Pamela Angell