The ability to explain complex topics in clear terms is one of the most important skills a business communicator can have. This example from the Creative Commons website, explaining three levels of content licensing, demonstrates the power of plain language. Bovee and Thill blog – Hall of Fame – Creative Commons website
Author Archives: George Dovel
A Few Flickers of Hope in Employment-Related Communication
The sluggish job market isn't going to reignite overnight, but we have recently noticed a few positive communication developments that could eventually help more qualified candidates land the jobs they want. 1. The growing realization that auto-screening applicants is not automatically a good idea When companies complain they can't find qualified applicants for unfilled openings […]
Hall of Shame and Fame: Apple Statements Regarding Apple Maps (with PowerPoint Slide for Classroom Use)
Within minutes of its release as part of an operating system upgrade on Apple mobile devices, the Apple Maps feature began to generate howls of protest. Compared to the Google mapping feature it replaced, Apple Maps had numerous problems, from egregious errors to missing functionality. Users accustomed to finding just about anything through the Google […]
Vexatious Grammar: What’s Your Rule About Rules That Aren’t Really Rules?
When those who spend their lives writing and evaluating the writing of others don’t always agree on the rules of grammar, it’s easy to empathize with students who want to get it right but aren’t always sure what “right” is. It’s one thing to not know or not follow a rule. It’s quite another when […]
Free Resources to Enhance Your Business Communication Course
As the new term gets under way, we invite you to use all the free Bovée and Thill resources now available online. Media Curation Services Bovée & Thill’s Online Magazines for Business Communication on Scoop.it collect useful and interesting media items in a variety of subject areas: Business Communication 2.0: Social Media and Electronic Communication […]
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 […]
What Do Your Students Think About Generational Conflict in the Workplace?
Generational differences can be a source of workplace conflict in the best of times, and in today's workplace, the potential for conflict seems particularly acute. Between a sluggish job market, structural changes in the employment landscape, and a logjam at the top caused by Baby Boomers who can't or won't retire, many younger workers feel […]
Employment References: Automated, Anonymous Reference Checks Are Changing the Game
Employment references have been one of the more volatile areas of business communication in recent years, and the situation is often frustrating for everyone involved. With the threat of lawsuits over negative references, many employers now offer nothing more than confirmation of dates of employment. On the other side of the equation, recruiters are frustrated […]
Should the Business Communication Course Change to Reflect the Media Preferences of Generation Y?
One of the more intriguing aspects of age diversity in the workplace is the degree to which technology has shaped the communication habits and preferences of each generation. For instance, Generation Y (roughly speaking, those born between 1981 and 1995) has a well-documented preference for electronic media, from texting to IM to social networking. Coupled […]
This Stuff Is Important: “Strategic Informality” in Business Communication
When Google wanted to alert users to significant changes in its online privacy policy, it didn't couch the news in the formal language that corporations normally use for major policy announcements. Instead, it used phrases such as "This stuff is important" and "This stuff matters." Whether or not one believes "stuff" is stylistically appropriate language […]