We're excited to launch a new series of brief videos that you can use to supplement your lectures. These videos address specific communication challenges and offer practical advice that students can apply now in their coursework and take with them on the job. We're producing two versions of each video. The instructor version concludes with […]
Category Archives: Resources for Instructors
Dr. Holly Littlefield’s Epic Collection of Social Media Failures
If you were fortunate enough to attend Holly Littlefield's presentation at the ABC convention in Seattle this past week, you were treated to an entertaining and highly instructive selection of social media failures. Her talk, "Audience, Brand, Channel: Using Social Media Cases to Teach Communications Concepts," offered a taste of everything from cringe-worthy image choices […]
Evidence-Based Advice for Improving Mobile Communication
Jakob Nielsen has long been a respected authority on website usability, and in recent years he has turned his attention to mobile devices. A key benefit of the advice he and his colleagues dispense to clients and readers is extensive usability testing to measure what really works and what doesn't. The book Mobile Usability, which […]
Free Resource for Adopters: Bovée and Thill’s Guide to Business Communication Videos
Bovée and Thill's Guide to Videos for Business Communication is now available free to all adopters of Bovée and Thill business communication texts. The guide, prepared by Dr. Maria Schellhase of the College of Southern Nevada, has links to nearly 50 online videos in 27 subject categories. The guide includes discussion questions for each video […]
A Bumper Crop of Corporate Crises: Discussion Resources for Your Classroom
Between network security breaches and random corporate blunders, it's been a rough few months for GM, Target, Neiman Marcus, Adobe, Michaels, Lululemon, SeaWorld, US Airways, Yahoo, and about half the population of the Internet, thanks to the Heartbleed glitch. Their grief is our good fortune, however—at least in terms of providing discussion material for business […]
Hall of Fame: Creative Commons’s Effective Use of Plain Language (with PowerPoint Slide for Classroom Use)
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
Putting Social Media to Work: Three Examples (with PowerPoint Slides for Classroom Use)
These PowerPoint slides offer annotated examples from three companies making effective use of social media tools to develop customer relationships: Biznik Segway Lie-Nielsen Toolworks You can download the PowerPoint file from the link below.
Have Your Students Judge Their Promotional Skills Using Real-Life Test Results
As George Bernard Shaw famously put it, the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. One of the great promises of online business communication is the relative ease with which companies can test to see how well their communication efforts are working. Online marketing expert Anne Holland’s website offers […]
When Free Speech Isn’t Quite So Free: Legal Hazards in Online Communication
Millions of bloggers, tweeters, and forum posters appreciate the free-wheeling nature of online communication, but a growing number are learning that free speech sometimes has a steep price. As Santa Clara University’s Eric Goldman emphasizes in this helpful overview article, “Most people have no idea of the liability they face when they publish something online.” […]