The business communication course offers unusual value for students because the insights they gain and the skills they develop can be applied in so many aspects of their personal and professional lives. In the upcoming Thirteenth Edition of Excellence in Business Communication, we’ve added a highlight box theme called Apply Your Skills Now. These boxes […]
Category Archives: Professionalism
Free Video for Classroom Use: Communication Ethics: How to Make Good Choices When Your Choices Aren’t Clear
Here is the sixth video in our new series that addresses a variety of specific communication challenges and offers practical advice that students can apply now in their coursework and take with them on the job. This video gives students a four-step decision model to guide them in making ethical communication choices. Instructor version (concludes […]
Free Video for Classroom Use: The Five Zones of Professional Etiquette
Here is the fifth video in our new series that addresses a variety of specific communication challenges and offers practical advice that students can apply now in their coursework and take with them on the job. This video helps students adapt their behavior to the five zones of professional etiquette: in the workplace, online, on the […]
Using the Business Communication Course to Teach Professionalism
One of the major benefits of the business communication course is that it helps students practice so many valuable skills, from research and analysis to organization and document design. The course also creates an opportunity to incorporate these communication-focused skills into the larger context of being a business professional. We define professionalism as the quality […]
Surviving Social Feedback
To do business in the social media era is to walk around with a giant "Kick me" sign taped to one's back. Evernote CEO Phil Libin put it perfectly in a recent Inc. article: "…the Internet is the most efficient invention in the history of the universe for concentrating dissatisfaction into its purest, darkest, and […]
Thanks, But We’ll Keep Saying “Thank You”
A recent opinion piece in the New York Times on new etiquette norms in the digital age caused a minor stir when the writer asserted that simple "thank you" messages are often rude because they waste the recipient's time. The writer's point was that there generally is no need to acknowledge receipt of information sent […]
Putting Organizational Culture on Display: Good, Bad, or Just Inevitable?
One of the more intriguing effects of social media is the way these tools have put organizational culture on public display. Companies that might have once been known mostly by products, headquarters architecture, and advertising campaigns are now also represented (officially and unofficially) by legions of bloggers, YouTube producers, and Twitter users. Professionals and managers […]
The Challenge of Nuanced Messages in Lean, Text-Only Media :(
You know that feeling when the words don't quite capture the spirit of your intended message, but words are all you have? Let's say your project team has just been reprimanded by the boss for missing an interim deadline. You're confident that the team will meet its final deadline, so you're ready to brush off […]
Résumé Writing: Using a Partner to Get Unstuck
Many people find it difficult to write about themselves when preparing a resume, and the importance of having a compelling resume in today’s tough employment market isn’t making the task any easier. Teaming up with a partner to work on each other’s resume can help, particularly on the qualifications summary or other introductory statement, which […]