Kreitner/Kinicki/Cole
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
Chapter 9
Communication
Chapter Learning Objectives



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Describe the perceptual process model of communication.
Demonstrate your familiarity with four antecedents of communication
distortion between managers and employees.
Contrast the communication styles of assertiveness, aggressiveness, and
non-assertiveness.
Discuss the primary sources of nonverbal communication and 10 keys to
effective listening.
Explain the information technology of Internet/Intranet/Extranet, E-mail,
videoconferencing, and collaborative computing, and explain the related
use of telecommuting.
Describe the process, personal, physical, and semantic barriers to
effective communication.
Opening Case
Top Employers Take Employee Communication Seriously
This case profiles several of ‘Canada’s Top 100 Employers’ and their
approach to upward communication from employees. At AIT Corp., employee
committees provide input on workplace issues. The Zenon Parliament is a
vehicle for employees to communicate their views to the company, as are the
quarterly meetings for all staff at Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. Employee
surveys are use at Ernst & Young, as well as an advisory group of employees
that meets quarterly with top management. These examples clarify how seriously
top employers take the issue of employee communication.
Chapter Summary
Basic Dimensions of the Communication Process
Effective communication is critical for employee motivation and job
satisfaction. The chapter is designed to help the students better understand how
managers can both improve their communication skills and design more effective
communication programs. Communication is defined as ‘the exchange of
information between a sender and a receiver, and the inference (perception) of
meaning between the individual involved’. What does this actually communicate?
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
Can the students put into everyday words? Communication is a two-way process
as shown in Figure 9-1.
A Perceptual Process Model of Communication. Communication is
often fraught with miscommunication and distortion. So researchers have started
to look at communication as a form of social information processing. There are
various parts to this process.
Sender. The sender is an individual, group, or organization that desires or
attempts to communicate with a particular receiver.
Encoding. Communication begins when a sender encodes an idea or
thought. Encoding translates mental thoughts into a code or language that can
be understood by others. What is the language of the field of business? What
about your college?
The Message. The output of the encoding is a message. Messages may
contain more than meets the eye and messages need to match the medium used
to transmit them.
Selecting a medium. There are a variety of mediums available ranging
from voice mail to computer output. Media richness refers to the potential
information-carrying capacity of a communication medium. Managers choose
communication media for situations that range in complexity. Figure 9-2 presents
a contingency model for selection media based on the complexity of the situation.
Decoding. Decoding is the receiver’s version of encoding.
Creating Meaning. The perceptual model of communication is based on
the belief that a receiver creates the meaning of a message in his or her head.
Feedback. The receiver’s response to a message is the crux of the
feedback loop.
Noise. Noise represents anything that interferes with the transmission
and understanding of a message. You could have one student make up a
message and then pass it along through the whole class and see how the
communication is heard and understood or not.
Organizational Communication Patterns
Hierarchical communication is the exchange of information between
managers and employees. Employees often do not receive enough information
from their immediate supervisors, so they use the grapevine, the unofficial
communication system of the informal organization. Communication distortion
occurs when an employee purposely modifies the content of a message, thereby
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
reducing the accuracy of communication between managers and employees.
The Ethics at Work box provides an example of how employees distort
information on their resumes.
Because managers generally do not want to reduce their upward influence or
curb their subordinates’ desire for upward mobility, they can reduce distortion in
several ways:
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Managers can de-emphasize power differences between themselves and
their subordinates.
They can enhance trust through a meaningful performance review process
that rewards actual performance.
Managers can encourage staff feedback by conducting smaller, more
informal meetings.
They can establish performance goals that encourage employees to focus
on problems rather than personalities.
Distortion can be limited by encouraging dialogue between those with
opposing viewpoints.
Interpersonal Communication
The quality of interpersonal communication within an organization is very
important. This section is to help the students with their interpersonal
communication skills.
Assertiveness, Aggressiveness, and Nonassertiveness. An assertive
style is expressive and self-enhancing, but does not take advantage of others.
The aggressive style is expressive and self-enhancing, but takes unfair
advantage of others. The nonassertive style is timid and self-denying
behaviour. Managers may improve their communication competence by trying to
be more assertive and less aggressive or nonassertive, by using the appropriate
communication behaviours listed in Table 9-1.
Sources of Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal communication is
messages sent outside the written or spoken word such as facial expressions or
body language. It also includes such factors as use of time and space, distance
between persons, when conversing (think regions of the country or cultural
differences in this area), use of colour, dress, walking behaviour, standing,
positioning, seating arrangements, office locations and furnishings. You might
want your students to play act out each of these styles each person doing each
style in a round robin fashion. You could assign participant observers to record
what happens and the body language and facial expressions used by each style.
Body movements and gestures. Body movements, such as leaning
forward or backward, and gestures, such as pointing, provide additional
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
nonverbal information that can either enhance or detract from the communication
process.
Touch. Touching is another powerful nonverbal cue. People tend to touch
those they like. The International OB box illustrates how norms regarding
touching vary across different countries.
Facial expressions. Facial expressions convey a wealth of information.
As with touch, associations between facial expressions and emotions varies
across cultures.
Eye contact. Eye contact is a strong nonverbal cue that varies across
cultures.
Practical tips. It is important to have good nonverbal communication skills
in light of the fact that they are related to the development of positive
interpersonal relationships. This would be a good place to have a discussion of
how national culture impacts all of the nonverbal communication factors. If you
have students from other lands in your class or from other parts of this nation,
have them share their stories of nonverbal communication.
Active Listening
Listening is the process of actively decoding and interpreting verbal
messages. It requires cognitive attention and information processing while
hearing does not.
Listening styles. Three listening styles are identified:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Results-style listeners are interested in hearing the bottom line or
result of a message. Is this a national trait in comparison to other
nations such as Mexico or Spain where you get to know a person
prior to doing business?
Reason-style listeners are interested in hearing the rationale
behind the message so they weigh and balance information and
process it in a logical manner; and
Process-style listeners who like to discuss issues in detail. They
are concerned with relationships.
Becoming a more effective listener. Listening skills can be enhanced by
using the keys to effective listening provided in Table 9-2.
Women and Men Communicate Differently. Linguistic style refers to a
person’s characteristic speaking pattern, which includes such features as
directness or indirectness, pacing and pausing, word choice and the use of such
elements as jokes, figures of speech, stories, questions and apologies. Linguistic
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
style not only helps explain communication differences between women and
men, it also influences our perceptions of others’ confidence, competence and
abilities.
Why linguistic styles vary between women and men. We do not know
but the well-worn debate is between nurture ie. learned, and nature ie. inherent.
You might have your students concentrate on this section and then have them
break up into groups of men and women and discuss the research. Then have
them go into balanced mixed groups for a discussion and then as a whole class.
Gender differences in communication. Women and men communicate
differently in a number of ways. For example, women are more likely to share
credit for success, to ask questions for clarification, to tactfully give feedback
while men seem to do the opposite. The Focus on Diversity box provides some
fascinating early research on cross-gender communication in cyberspace.
Improving communication between the sexes. Deborah Tannen is an
expert and best selling author on communication between the sexes. She argues
that we need to become more knowledgeable and aware about how linguistic
styles work and how they influence our perceptions and judgments. What do your
students think? What will happen as more and more women become CEOs and
have power to influence how we communicate?
Communication in the Computerized Information Age
Organizations are increasingly using information technology as a lever to
improve productivity and customer and employee satisfaction and in turn,
communication patterns at work are radically changing. How? We are all being
influenced by the computerized information age.
Internet/Intranet/Extranet. These are three forms of powerful
communication technology. The Internet is a global network of computer
networks. An Intranet is an organization’s private internet; and an extranet
connects internal employees with selected customers, suppliers and strategic
partners. The primary benefit of these three is that they can enhance the ability of
employees to find, create, manage, and distribute information. You might ask
your students how these three have changed their world and what they think will
happen in the future in communication technology.
Electronic Mail. E-Mail uses the Internet/Intranet to send computergenerated text and documents between people. The use of E-mail is on the rise
around the world. What might happen to traditional mail and Canada Post in the
future? What if we have power failures on a regular basis? What happens once
we are so dependent on electronic technology? There are four key benefits to Email:
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
(1) reduced costs,
(2) as a tool for increasing teamwork,
(3) E-mail reduces the costs and time associated with print duplication and
paper distribution, and
(4) E-mail fosters flexibility.
There are also three key drawbacks:
(1) sending and receiving E-mail can lead to wasted time and effort,
(2) E-mail can create information overload, and
(3) people use E-mail when they should be using other media.
What about the record that E-mail keeps? Again, think the investigation of
Enron and other companies.
Videoconferencing. This is also known as teleconferencing and it used
video and audio links with computers to enable people located at different
locations to see, hear, and talk to each other.
Collaborative Computing. Collaborative computing means using
computer software and hardware to help people work better together because in
a collaborative style they can share information without the constraints of time
and space.
Telecommuting. Telecommuting is doing work that is generally
performed in the office away from the office using different information
technologies. Proposed benefits include: reduction of capital costs; increased
flexibility and autonomy for workers; competitive edge recruitment; increased job
satisfaction and lower turnover; increased productivity; and tapping nontraditional
labour pools such as persons with disabilities.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are four key barriers to effective communication: process; personal;
physical; and semantic.
Process barriers. These happen anywhere in the communication process
model. A complete list of barriers in each step of the model is provided in the
text.
Personal barriers. There are many personal barriers to communication,
beginning with our ability to communicate, how we process information, trust
levels, stereotypes and prejudice, and our egos and our tendency to evaluate or
judge a sender’s message and the inability to listen with understanding.
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Physical barriers. These can be distance, time barriers, and quality of
communication equipment.
Semantic barriers. These deal with words and the study of words. It can
deal with the use and understanding of word usage. Have your students watch a
BBC program and then compare English and American.
Internet Exercises
1. A Free Self Assessment Questionnaire for Assertiveness
This exercise provides students with feedback on the extent to which they
use an assertive communication style. They are directed to go to the Website for
Body-Mind Queen-Dom, www.queendom.com. Once there, they select the
“Assertiveness Test.” Then they complete 32-item test and then the test is
automatically scored. The questions asked are:
1. Possible scores on the self-assessment questionnaire range from 0-100.
How did you score? Are you surprised with the results? Do you agree with
the interpretation of your score? Personal opinion. Some students may
have a different perception of the extent to which they use an assertive
communication style than the test shows.
2. Review the questionnaire item by item. Can you find aspects of
communication in which you are either nonassertive or possibly too
assertive? Do you think that your communication style can be improved by
making adjustments within these areas of communication? Personal
opinion.
2. Gender Games
This exercise is designed to assist students in understanding and adapting
to gender differences in communication. They are instructed to go to the Website
of a communications consultant (www.tymson.au), review articles on strategies
for dealing with people of the opposite gender in business situations. Then they
are to try to use these tips at a subsequent work or school meeting. This
exercise should generate a lively class discussion. The questions asked are:
1. Were there any strategies that you immediately sensed would be helpful?
What past experiences have that led to this perception? Personal opinion.
2. Which strategy did you find most useful? What happened when you used
it? Personal opinion.
3. Which strategy or strategies seemed to be most effective in making crossgender communication easier? Why? Personal opinion.
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Experiential Exercises
1. Practicing Different Styles of Communication
This role-playing exercise is designed to demonstrate the relative
effectiveness of communicating assertively, aggressively, and non-assertively,
and to give students hands-on experience with different styles of communication.
Divide students into groups of three, One will play the role of the poor performer;
one will be the store manager; and the third will act as an observer (role
descriptions are provided in the text). There are three rounds to the exercise. In
the first round, the manager uses aggressive communication first (using the
guidelines in Table 9-1), and then the observer provides feedback. Next, the
manager uses a non-assertive style (using the guidelines in Table 9-1) and the
observer provides feedback. Then the manager uses an assertive style (using
the guidelines in Table 9-1) and the observer provides feedback. Rounds two
and three repeat the process with the participants rotating the roles so that each
has an opportunity to play the manager. The questions asked are:
1. What drawbacks of the aggressive and nonassertive styles did you
observe? Personal opinion, but the aggressive style probably led to a
confrontational situation that did not help reach a resolution to the issue at
hand, and the nonassertive style probably led to no significant dialogue
regarding the problem and no resolution.
2. What were major advantages of the assertive style? Personal opinion, but
it probably made the discussion run more smoothly and helped to reach a
resolution to the disciplinary issue at hand.
3. What were the most difficult aspects of trying to use an assertive style?
Personal opinion.
4. How important was nonverbal communication during the various role
plays? Explain with examples. This is likely to have been quite important,
and you may need to probe for complete reports in this area (refer to
Table 9-1).
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
2. A Not-So-Trivial Cross-Cultural Communication Game
This exercise is designed to develop and test students’ knowledge of
cross-cultural differences in communication and etiquette. First, divide the class
into an even number of teams of 2-4 students. Each team is then matched with
another team of equal size. Then hand out a stack of cards to each team with the
multiple choice questions face down. See the next six pages in this manual for
the cards. These cards have questions and multiple-choice answers about crosscultural differences in communication and etiquette. Remind students that the
textbook provides very little information pertain to the questions in this exercise.
Rather, they must rely on past experience, logic, and luck to win.
The exercise begins with one team picking up a card and providing the
question and multiple-choice answers to their partner team, who then chooses an
answer and finds out if it is correct. Then the other team picks a card and this
procedure is repeated until all the cards have been read or until the time has
elapsed. The team with the most correct answers wins. Group discussion is not
required, but a brief summary of how easy it is to inadvertently offend people in
other cultures can be used to wrap up the exercise.
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In Japan, who should arrive first at a meeting?
a. the most senior employees
b. the most junior employees
c. employees who missed the previous
meeting
d. the oldest employee
e. no particular order is expected
A polite way to give your business card to a
Japanese business person is:
a. casually, after several hours of getting to
know the person
b. when first meeting, presenting your card
with both hands
c. at the very end of the meeting
d. casually during the meeting, with the
information shown face down to show
humility
e. never; it is considered rude in Japan to
give business cards
In Saudi Arabia, someone extends his hand out When trying to point to an object, Japanese
at you, palm down, fingers splayed outward, people tend to:
and middle finger facing straight down. What
does this mean?
a. raise their nose in the direction of the
object
a. “Let’s stop here to rest.”
b. point with their thumb
b. “Kiss my hand to show respect!”
c. point with their index finger (as in Canada)
c. “I do not want to be disturbed.”
d. point with their right elbow
d. “F--- You!”
e. point with an open hand
e. “I’m glad to see you again.”
Japanese clients visit you at your office for a Your car breaks down in Saudi Arabia and needs
major meeting. In the meeting, where should repair. What is the best approach to getting the
the top Japanese official be seated?
job done most quickly?
a. closest to the door
b. as close to the middle of the room as is
possible
c. anywhere in the room; seating location
isn’t important to Japanese business
people
d. somewhere away from the door with a
piece of artwork behind him/her
e. always beside rather than facing the
host
a. stop by every 30 minutes to ask the
mechanic how much is done
b. compliment the mechanic on his good
reputation, then don’t return for several
hours
c. ask the mechanic when the car will be
ready and return only at that time
d. tell the mechanic that you will move the
car to another repair shop if the work isn’t
done when he promises
e. tell the mechanic where you can be
reached, then leave for several hours
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In which if the following countries are office In which of the following countries are two male
arrangements NOT usually an indicator of the business associates most likely to hold hands or
person’s status
be arm-in-arm in public?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
United Kingdom
Germany
Saudi Arabia
China
Canada
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Saudi Arabia
United Kingdom
Australia
India
Scandinavia
A German colleague makes two fists with In Saudi Arabia, you are asked to pass a dish of
thumbs tucked inside and makes a slight up- food to someone. Which of the following should
and-down or pounding motion. This says:
you do?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
“I’m angry with you.”
“Good luck!”
“Let’s get down to business.”
“Up yours!”
“Hurry up!”
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
pass the dish using your left hand
pass the dish using your right hand
pass the dish using both hands
ask a servant/waiter to pass the dish
any of these actions is acceptable
While visiting a German client, you make a In which country is it wise to mention (and
compliment about the client’s beautiful pen set. indicate on your business card) that your
What will probably happen?
organization has been in business for many
years?
a. The client will insist very strongly that
you take it.
a. United States
b. The client will tell you where to buy such
b. Peru
a pen set at a good price.
c. Germany
c. The client will accept the compliment,
d. Nigeria
then get on with business.
e. Mexico
d. The client will probably get upset that
you aren’t paying attention to the
business at hand.
e. The client will totally ignore the
comment.
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People (particularly men) from which of these In many parts of India, when people rock their
countries tend to shake hands the most?
head slowly back and forth side-to-side, it usually
means:
a. Japan
b. France
a. “Yes, I agree with you.”
c. Scotland
b. “No, I disagree with you.”
d. Chile
c. “Yes, I’m listening.”
e. Finland
d. “You’re crazy!”
e. none of the above
In Canada, patting your stomach with your Male guests in many Latin American countries
hand usually means, “I’m full”. What does this often give their visitors an abrazzo when greeting
gesture mean in Brazil?
them. An abrazzo is:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
“You are my friend for life.”
“You think with your stomach!”
“I’m full.”
“Bring me more food, please!”
“You’ve got a deal!”
a. a light kiss on the nose
b. a special gift, usually food or wine
c. clapping hands in the air as the visitor
approaches
d. a strong embrace, or kiss with hand on
shoulder
e. a firm two-handed handshake, lasting
almost one minute
While visiting Southern France, you are asked In which country is grasping one’s ear a sign of
by the concierge whether the meeting room is apology?
satisfactory. You give the OK signal of thumb
and forefinger touching. To the concierge, this
a. India
probably means:
b. Taiwan
c. Mexico
a. “Screw you!”
d. Australia
b. “How much does it cost?”
e. Portugal
c. “It’s worthless!”
d. “It’s okay, just fine, thanks.”
e. this gesture has no meaning in
Southern France.
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
One of the most universal gestures is:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a pat on the back (congratulations)
a smile (happiness or politeness)
scratching your chin (thinking)
closing your eyes (boredom)
arm up, shaking back and forth (waving)
In many Oriental cultures, a direct order such as
“Get me the Amex report” is most likely to be
given by:
a. senior management to most subordinates
b. a junior employee to a peer
c. senior management only to very junior
employees
d. junior employees to outsiders
e. none of the above
Most Canadians interpret the finger touching Which of the following gestures have the same
thumb in an “O” shape as “OK”. In which meaning in almost every part of the world?
country is this gesture very rude?
a. shaking your fist (anger)
a. Russia
b. making a circular motion with the hand over
b. Greece
the stomach (hunger)
c. Brazil
c. yawning (showing tiredness)
d. all of the above
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
e. none of the above
In which countries does holding your nose with In which of these countries is it important to show
thumb and forefinger mean “It smells bad!”
respect to guest by bowing when greeting them?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Jamaica
Canada
Japan
Russia
all of the above
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
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Taiwan
Italy
Venezuela
Hong Kong
none of the above
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Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
While visiting West Africa, you decline another
drink by putting your hand out, palm up and
facing out with fingers spread – like a police
officer’s signal to stop. To the West African,
this might mean:
a. “I don’t want any more to drink.”
b. “Bring me just half a glass of that drink.”
c. “You could have any one of five fathers
(ie. you are a bastard)
d. “Bring me five more glasses to drink,
please!”
e. “No more, I’ve already had five glasses
to drink.”
How do most people in Holland interpret the “fig”
gesture (a clenched fist with thumb coming
through between the knuckle of the index and
middle fingers)?
it means “good luck!”
it shows anger
it is a subtle way of pointing to something
it symbolizes sexual behavior between a
man and woman
e. it means, “I’m not telling the truth.”
a.
b.
c.
d.
Nodding your head up and down tends to In Canada, having one’s arm extended, palm up,
mean “No” in which country?
with fingers bending back and forth is usually
interpreted as “come here.” In which country does
a. Bulgaria
a similar gesture mean “good-bye”?
b. Australia
c. Brazil
a. France
d. China
b. China
e. Pakistan
c. Brazil
d. Hong Kong
e. Italy
Inuit people are well known for rubbing noses In which country is it usually not necessary to
as a sign of personal closeness. What other spend several hours discussing nonwork-related
group rubs noses as a sign of friendliness?
topics before turning to business issues?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Latvians
French
Maori
Nicaraguans
Japanese
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
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Brazil
China
Japan
Hong Kong
None of the above
Kreitner/Kinicki/Cole
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
You want to do business with a Greek For most Canadians, sticking your thumb up with
company, but the representative insists on a closed fist means “Everything is OK”. In
examining every detail of your proposal for Australia, it means:
several hours. This time consuming detail
means that the Greek representative:
a. get me one of those (ie. signaling one)
b. “Look up, mate!”
a. doesn’t trust the accuracy of your
c. the person is about to shake your hand
proposal
d. “Up yours!”
b. is being polite, and really doesn’t want
e. “Everything is OK!”
to go ahead with the deal
c. is signaling you to consider a more
reasonable offer, but doesn’t want to
ask directly
d. is uncomfortable with detailed proposals
and would prefer a simple handshake
e. is showing good manners and respect
to you and your proposal
Managers from which country are least likely to You visit a Tibetan tribesman, who sticks out his
tolerate someone being five minutes late for an tongue at you. The tribesman is signaling that:
appointment?
a. you are not welcome here
a. Canada
b. he has prepared a delicious meal for you
b. Australia
c. you wear ugly clothes
c. Brazil
d. you are welcome here
d. Sweden
e. this is not an opportune time to visit
e. Saudi Arabia
In Chile, the fist slap (slapping the closed fist of In Canada, scratching your head usually means
one hand with the open palm of the other) that the person is confused or skeptical. In Russia,
means:
it means:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
“Up yours!”
“What a good idea”
“I think we can reach agreement”
“You’re crazy!”
“Congratulations!”
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Chapter 9 - 15
“you’re crazy!”
“I am listening carefully”
“I want to get to know you better”
“I’m confused or skeptical”
none of the above
Kreitner/Kinicki/Cole
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
Personal Awareness and Growth Exercises
1. Assessing Your Listening Skills
This exercise provides students with the opportunity to assess the
effectiveness of their listening skills. After completing the 17-item questionnaire
using the 5-point scale provided, the item scores are added to calculate a total
score. The total score can be interpreted using the norms provided (17-34 = good
listening skills; 35-53 = moderately good listening skills; 54-85 = poor listening
skills). The question asked is:
1. How would you evaluate your listening skills? Students may find that their
score matches their own perception of their listening skills, or they may
not. If not, the discussion may proceed to having students explain what
they perceive their own listening strengths and weaknesses to be.
2. Monkey Say, Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Lesson in Interpersonal
Communication
This powerful exercise focuses on non-verbal communication and is carried
out in pairs. Each partner takes turns making a statement. Then the listening
partner repeats the statement mimicking the speaker’s tone of voice, rate of
speech, body position, gestures, and facial expression. This process is repeated
until each partner speaks twice and listens twice. The questions asked are:
1. Discuss the speaker’s reaction to the listener’s perception of his or her
communication style in each case. What aspect of mirroring was most
surprising for you when you were the speaker? Personal opinion.
2. What aspects of the speaker’s communication style were most striking?
Personal opinion.
3. Did you and your partner both react in a similar manner? Explain.
4. What aspects of nonverbal communication did you find most surprising in
your speaker-listener activities? Personal opinion.
Chapter 9 - 16
Kreitner/Kinicki/Cole
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices
Video Case
Pitching a Dream
This video focuses on a high-pressure communication exercise required of
young Canadian new-economy entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley who are looking
for venture capital funding. They must deliver a 30-second ‘pitch’ in an elevator
ride, following which they may be selected to make a 10-minute presentation to
venture capitalists. The questions asked are:
1. What “noise” arises in the “elevator ride” communication scenario?
In the contest? The confined space, the sound of the elevator, and
the close physical proximity to the audience all create noise.
2. What were the most effective nonverbal aspects of the
presentations shown in the video? The presentation that was sung
was particularly memorable.
3. How could the presentations have been made more effective?
Personal opinion.
Chapter 9 - 17