Business Communication –
Course. Room XXXX
Schedule:
Mon. Jan. 27 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Wed. Jan. 29 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Sat. Feb. 1
9:00a to 4:00 pm
Mon. Feb. 3 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Wed. Feb. 5 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Sat. Feb. 8 9:00a to 4:00 pm
Office:
Email:
Office Hours:
Teaching Fellow:
Jim Horton
KMC 3-100
jhorton@stern.nyu.edu
By appointment
Michael Strange
Mikestrange77@hotmail.com
mcs506@stern.nyu.edu
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course:

Introduces fundamentals of effective communication to include audience analysis,
communicator credibility, intent, message construction and delivery.

Provides opportunities for you to improve your business speaking and writing skills as well
as your preparation and use of visual aids.
You will:

Deliver individual and team presentations,

Receive feedback targeted to your communication goals and needs.

Work with your team on a final project. You will craft a presentation that persuades the
audience to accept your strategic recommendations.
This interactive course will help you start on the path to become a persuasive communicator.
PRE-WORK
1.) Read Guide to Presentations.
2.) Decide on a case and think about the Team Informative Presentation assignment.
3.) Complete the Student Information Sheet (on Course Documents) and send it to
jhorton@stern.nyu.edu with a copy to Mikestrange77@hotmail.com by Friday Jan. 24 at
midnight
4.) See the team list for students with whom you will work. If you would like to be assigned to a
different team, please email Michael Strange prior to Jan. 24, and he will reassign teams
accordingly.
5.) Prepare to deliver a 2-minute Individual Benchmark Presentation on one of the below topics:

Describe an event at work that involved a communication breakdown.

Share with us the best or worst business advice you ever received.
Use the Presentation Storyboard that is located in the Course Materials in NYU Classes
REQUIRED MATERIALS


Russell and Munter , Guide to Presentations, 3rd Edition. Prentice Hall, 2011. Available in the
NYU Professional Bookstore.
SEC, A Plain English Handbook – available at no cost online at:
http://www.sec.gov/news/extra/handbook.htm.
NYU CLASSES
Use NYU Classes for communication, and streaming video of class presentations. Please get
familiar with the site and check it frequently. You can find NYU Class via Sternlinks. Submit all
materials by e-mail to jhorton@stern.nyu.edu with a copy to Michael Strange.
GRADING
This is a core course and grade distribution follows the standards of the Stern School of Business
Langone Program: “To ensure parity among required course sections and to prevent grade
inflation, core faculty are required to impose a 35% maximum of the letter grade of ‘A.’”
Your final grade will be based on both class participation and your completion of the assignments
listed below.
Item
Deliverables
Due date / session
Weight
1
Completion of Information Sheet, (Individual)
Due: Jan. 24 at
midnight
*
2
Benchmark Informative Presentation (Individual)
Session 1: Jan. 27
*
3
Self-evaluation on Individual Benchmark
Presentations
Due: Friday, Jan. 31 at
midnight
*
4
Team Informative Benchmark Presentation
(Team)
Session 3: Feb. 1
10%
Team Informative Benchmark Presentation
(Individual Delivery)
Session 3: Feb. 1
10%
5
Self-evaluation on Team Informative Benchmark
Presentation
Due: Tues. Feb. 4at
midnight
*
6
Visual Aids Exercise. This will be an in-class
assignment.
Session 5: Feb. 5
*
7
Final Persuasive Presentation (Team)
Session 6: Feb. 8
20%
Final Persuasive Presentation (Individual
Delivery)
Session 6: Feb. 8
20%
8
Final E-mail
Feb. 10 at midnight
15%
9
Participation (includes * items above as well as
elements described below)
Throughout the course
25 %
TOTAL
100%
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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CLASS PARTICIPATION
In-class contribution is a significant part of your grade and an important part of our shared learning
experience. You can excel if you come to class on time, stay through the end of class, and contribute
to your own learning as well as the learning of others in the following ways:






Provide strong evidence of having thought through the assigned material.
Listen.
Advance discussion by contributing insightful comments and questions.
Demonstrate interest in your peers’ comments, questions and/or presentations.
Share constructive feedback with your peers, when appropriate.
Post assigned documents on time to the designated location in NYU Classes.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Given the short duration of this class, attendance at all sessions is required and part of your grade.
INTEGRITY
Everyone will adhere to the Stern MBA Honor Code and Code of Conduct. To review it, go here:
http://w4.stern.nyu.edu/include/printview.cfm?doc_id=4797&docTitle=Judiciary%20Committee#Ho
nor_Code
LAPTOPS
We will use laptops for specific in-class exercises. Bring your laptop to class.
VIDEO RECORDING
You can improve your presentation skills by watching yourself on video. That’s why all your inclass presentations will be recorded and made available on NYU Class. (Video streams are saved as
Real Media files. If you need RealPlayer to view your videos, you can download it for free from
http://www.real.com.)
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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DETAILS OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Pre-work: Due midnight on Jan. 24
Deliverable 1: THE STUDENT INFORMATION SHEET
Fill out the Student Information Sheet (provided in Course Documents) and submit to
jhorton@stern.nyu.edu with a copy to TF. This is not a graded assignment, but your
timely submission and thoughtful, thorough answers will contribute to your course
participation grade.
Other Action Before Session 1:
1. Think about your 2-minute Individual Benchmark Presentation. (For details, see
Session 1 below.) Use the Presentation Storyboard located in Course Materials
in NYU Classes
Session 1: Monday, Jan. 27. 6PM – 9PM
Topics:
Course, Student and Team Introductions
Communication Strategy
Individual Benchmark Presentations
Reading:
1. Russell and Munter , Guide to Presentations (GP), entire book.
Deliverable 2: THE INDIVIDUAL BENCHMARK PRESENTATION
Prepare to deliver 2-minute oral presentation about one of the following topics:


Describe an event at work that involved a communication breakdown.
Share with us the best or worst business advice you ever received.
Review Guide to Presentations (GP) on presentation structure and delivery before the
first class. Think about your audience and how you can ensure that your message is
clear, memorable and useful.
This assignment is not graded, but think about it before you come to class. Organize
it around the principles outlined in GP and practice it a few times so you can exhibit
your best delivery techniques. As a starting “benchmark” of your presentations skills,
this assignment is important to your progress. Include some personal information in
your story so we can get to know you better by the end of the presentation. Do not
use visual aids, notes or slides. Do use the Presentation Storyboard found in course
documents.
Due: Midnight, Jan. 30
Deliverable 3: SELF-EVALUATION ON INDIVIDUAL BENCHMARK PRESENTATIONS
This assignment will help you to work on your own individual delivery skills
throughout the course as well as be an effective coach to your teammates. There are
several steps to the assignment:
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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1) Read the handout, provided in Course Documents, titled “How to Review
Streaming Videos.”
2) Watch the streaming video of your own Benchmark Presentation (posted on ).
Follow the four steps outlined in the handout mentioned above. Watch it several times
and make a few notes on each step that you can use in your posted comment,
described below.
3) Submit your self-assessment by e-mail to the professor and TF.
4) Watch the streaming video of your group members’ Benchmark Presentation
5) Post 2 sustains and 2 improves for yourself and each of your group members by email to the professor and TF.
Evaluation criteria: Depth of analysis; specificity; tone; timely submission.
Session 2: Wed. Jan. 29, 6PM – 9PM
Topics:
Business Speaking
Business Writing
Review:
Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of Russell and Munter, Guide to Presentations (GP)
Session 3: Sat. Feb. 1, 9AM – 4PM
Topics:
Team Benchmark Informative Presentations
Deliverable 4: TEAM BENCHMARK INFORMATIVE PRESENTATION
Using your understanding of audience, intent and targeted content, collaborate with
your team members to prepare a 10-minute team presentation, followed by 3-4
minutes of Q&A.
All team members must speak. Your visual aids must include at least two originally
designed charts.
This assignment gives you the opportunity to be videotaped, analyze your team
presentation techniques, and subsequently receive group and individual feedback. As
a result, you will be able to establish personal and team-oriented goals for your final
presentation.
Tasks:
Introduction to Team Presentation Assignments
In our course, your team will deliver two presentations. They will focus on one
company (which your team will choose) that has been facing a challenge to its
reputation and image. In the first presentation, the team will provide an overview of
the company.
In the second presentation, the team will recommend a specific communication
strategy to enhance and/or repair the damage to some aspect of their overall
communication with their most important stakeholders. Details about each
presentation will follow and will be posted on the NY Classes website.
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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Team Presentation One: Company Profile Presentation
In this presentation your intent is to prepare your fellow students with enough
information about your company to help them effectively represent the company’s
executives in your final presentation.
A company profile should include essential information such as the following:
 History
 Key executives
 Core business and competitive position within its industry
 Products and Services
 Key financial data, i.e. profitability, scope of business
 Global presence
 Sense of future prospects
 Preview of image and reputation in comparison to competitors.
The challenge for this 12-minute presentation is be both comprehensive and
interesting. Putting all the important information in a structure that tells a story
which is both interesting and memorable will determine how successful you are at
achieving your intent with your classmates as audience members. If they
remember the story, they will be an excellent audience as you present your
recommendations in the second team presentation assignment.
You are persuading them that the information you present is the most important to
know about the company at this point in time.
Grading Criteria for Team Informative Presentation: Submit hard copies of
planner and slide deck (3 to a page) to the professor at start of presentation and
submit by e-mail.
1. Strategy: Audience clearly understands what to do as a result of the
presentation.
2. Organization: Presentation follows a logical order and details support the
main ideas.
3. Structure: Ideas are organized logically for impact and retention; appropriate
opening, body, and close.
4. Content: Information is relevant and useful; examples and facts are included.
5. Team Delivery: Clear transitions guide the listener; smooth hand-offs from
speaker to speaker; consistent energy and conviction from all presenters.
6. Individual Delivery: Persuasive language, rate of speech, volume, vocal
emphasis, use of fillers as well as appropriate non-verbal elements, including
eye contact, stance, facial expression, gestures, and use of space convey
confidence and conviction.
7. Timing: Appropriate
You’ll be graded on both the content of the presentation (15 points for the team)
and delivery (10 points for each individual). The evaluation form for this
assignment is posted on the NYU Classes site.
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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Each team member must speak. Be conscious of the team dynamic in
presentations. Too much time allocated to one or two speakers on a team detracts
from the overall effectiveness of the team and may affect the intended impact.
Your team will make specific recommendations. Your team may do additional
research to expand on the assigned topic. You may bring in points about the
economy, the political/cultural issues involved, current or future competitors, etc.
Remember to:

Complete the Presentation Planner ( Course Documents) and e-mail it by
midnight, Jan. 31. Bring a hard copy of your Planner to class.

Design visual aids for your presentation. Include at least two charts or graphs.
Post slides to e-mail by 1:30pm Sat, Feb 1. Bring a hard copy of your slide
deck to class.
Due at midnight on Tues, Feb. 4
Deliverable 5: VIDEO SELF-EVALUATION AND TEAM FEEDBACK ON TEAM
BENCHMARK INFORMATIVE PRESENTATIONS
Once again, this feedback assignment will help you continue to develop your own
individual presentation skills as well as help your teammates achieve their best
performance.
Watch the video of your Team Benchmark Informative Presentation. Then, fill out
the Self-evaluation of Team Benchmark Informative Form (Course Documents) and
send it by e-mail to the professor with a copy to the TF.
In this e-mail, also comment on individual delivery skills (2 sustains and 2 improves
for each group member), as well as how well you believe your team coordinated the
entire presentation. For example, 1) Was there consistency between presenters in
terms of preparation, energy and confidence? 2) Were the handoffs smooth? 3) Did
you all make good use of the presenting space? Did you seem like a well-coordinated
team—or just five presenters, speaking one after the other?
Post one single entry with your collective comments to your team by e-mail with a
copy to jhorton@stern.nyu.edu and TF.
Evaluation criteria: Depth of analysis, specificity, tone, timely submission.
Deliverable 6: E-MAIL ONE QUESTION ABOUT BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TO ME
FOR USE DURING SESSION 4. Deadline. Midnight Sun. Feb. 2
The question will be used during the Q&A section of Session 4. Questions may be
about communications issues you have faced in the workplace, or issues that might
come up. For example, how do you communicate to a boss who talks too much and
rarely listens?
Session 4: Mon, Feb. 3, 6PM – 9PM
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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Topics:
Impromptu speaking
Managing Q&A
Email
Review:
Chapter 6, Russell and Munter , Guide to Presentations (GP)
Deliverable: None
Session 5: Wed. Feb. 5. 6PM – 9PM
Topics:
Designing effective visual aids
Final Team Presentation Preparation: During the last two hours of this class session,
you will meet with the professor and TF to prepare for the final presentation. Central
to these meetings is clarifying the main idea of your presentation and rehearsing for
effective delivery both as a team and individually.
With the professor, each team will be expected to present the “creative idea” for the
final presentation as well as initial thinking on the presentation planner. With the TF,
teams will have the choice to work on either visual design or delivery issues.
These sessions, which count toward your class participation grade, will emphasize
preparation and participation. While an initial slide deck is not required, a draft of
your Presentation Planner (Course Documents) is required and should be submitted
by e-mail by 5:30 pm. Bring a hard copy of your Planner to class. You will
finalize that planner for submission on the day of your final team presentation.
Reading:
None
Session 6: Sat., Feb. 8 9a to 4pm
Topics:
Preparation of the final presentation, cont.
Team Final Presentations
Debrief from Team Presentation
Class Wrap-Up
Deliverable 7: TEAM PRESENTATION TWO -- PERSUASIVE PRESENTATION
(20 minutes including Q&A)
Assume your team is a part of the corporate communication department of your
company. Your company is concerned with its reputation and image, especially after
reviewing all the data from Edelman’s Trust Barometer and Harris Reputation RQ.
The head of Corp. Communication has asked you to recommend a specific
communication strategy to enhance and/or repair the damage to some aspect of their
overall communication to any of their most important stakeholders.

Analyze which stakeholders are most important to the company at this moment in
time or for the future.
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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


Determine what would be the best strategy for communicating with the
stakeholder groups you’ve chosen.
Recommend immediate action to improve or enhance communication.
Consider and recommend, if appropriate, what a longer range communication
strategy may look like.
Make sure you support your argument with relevant data that persuades the audience
to accept your recommended strategy.
Your presentation will be more formal than your first one. Your audience will be key
executives of the company. Please provide names, titles and brief backgrounds for
the class to assume the appropriate roles. (This should have been completed with
your company profile presentation.)
Consider the following questions in preparing your presentation:








How will your communication strategy prove effective?
How will your recommendations help achieve the company’s long term goals?
What data will provide evidence to support your reasons?
How feasible is it for the company to implement your recommendations?
What data will provide evidence to support your reasons?
Who are the main stakeholders who will be affected by your
recommendations?
What are the primary audience’s chief concerns? Their hot-button issues?
What needs to happen next? What’s the appropriate timeline?
Remember to:
 Organize your presentation so that you can effectively communicate your key
messages in the allotted time. All team members must speak.
 Adopt the position of internal staff; use “we” to refer your company
 Make sure your visual aids enhance and support your message and use graphs and
charts to visually communicate quantitative data.
 Be prepared to answer questions at any time during the presentation.
Bring one copy of your slide deck (3 slides per page) to class.
Grading Criteria for Team Informative Presentation
1. Strategy: Audience clearly understands what to do as a result of the
presentation.
2. Organization: Presentation follows a logical order and details support the
main ideas.
3. Content: Information is relevant and useful; examples and facts are included.
4. Visuals: Slides are readable and contribute to the persuasiveness of the
presentation.
5. Team Delivery: Clear transitions guide the listener; smooth hand-offs from
speaker to speaker; consistent energy and conviction from all presenters.
6. Individual Delivery: Persuasive language, rate of speech, volume, vocal
emphasis, use of fillers as well as appropriate non-verbal elements, including
eye contact, stance, facial expression, gestures, and use of space convey
confidence and conviction.
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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7. Timing: Appropriate
You may take any approach you believe will help the company deal with issues
presented in the case. Make sure you support your argument so you can persuade the
audience to accept your recommendations.
Remember to:








Bring a hard copy of your Presentation Planner and slide deck to class.
Post your Planner and PowerPoint slides on NYU Class by 1:30p.
Be prepared to answer questions at any time during the presentation.
Organize your presentation so that you can effectively communicate your key
messages in the allotted time. All team members must speak.
Include a preview of the presentation in the opening and a close at the ending.
Make sure your visual aids enhance and support your message.
Use graphs and charts to visually communicate quantitative data. Include a
minimum of three originally designed charts in your presentation.
Check (Course Documents) for presentation times and speaking order.
Bring your presentation slides to class on a jump drive. Arrive in class in time to
upload your file to the classroom “Desktop.”
Due at Midnight on Sun. Feb. 9
Deliverable 8: FINAL E-MAIL (INDIVIDUAL)
Write an e-mail to the CEO as a follow-up to your presentation. Use this as an opportunity to
repeat your argument, share the reasons for and benefits of your recommendations, and
outline next steps. Pay attention to the structure and style of your e-mail. Format your e-mail
for clarity and ease of reading. Send your e-mail to me and Michael Strange by midnight on Sept.
22.
Grading Criteria for the Final E-mail
1. Strategy: Audience clearly understands what to do as a result of the e-mail.
2. Structure: E-mail includes an appropriate opening, body and close.
3. Content: Recommendations are clear and specific, supported by evidence.
4. Style: Plain English is used and the tone is appropriate for the audience.
5. Format: Document design makes skimming easy; typography is used
correctly.
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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Companies for BC 2014: Choose wisely
Each company listed below is facing a challenge to its reputation and image right now. What
would you do and say to whom if you were charged with enhancing the company’s reputation
through a communication strategy? As a team, select one company that you would like to
work on creating a strategy for. Remember that these are all real time events and anything
you recommend in your final presentation could be affected by what happens over the next
two weeks. So, once you choose your company, decide who on the team will monitor which
sources of information during the coming weeks.
1. Livestrong: the not for profit organization to help cancer survivors founded by Lance
Armstrong has been preparing for his confession and stacking up reserve funds.
“Though there is nothing illegal about padding assets, donors — believing their money
has gone toward an urgent need — may end up feeling deceived so many of the
contributions instead went into the vault.” See Livestrong’s vast reserve perhaps
foreshadowed Armstrong backpedal”
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/01/livestrongs_assets_top_100_mil.html
2. SAC Capital: a top notch hedge fund booking annual returns of approximately 30% is
under the microscope for possible insider trading. Some firms are starting to withdraw
their money. According to the Chicago Tribune, “to date, nine current or former SAC
employees have been charged with or implicated in insider-trading while working at
Cohen's fund.” Rumor has it that the regulators are after founder, Steven Cohen.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-hedgefunds-sacbre9410o120130502,0,4782919.story
See also Wall Street Journal “SAC Capital is bracing for Big Exodus of Funds”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324442304578234361906270642.html
3. Cerberus Capital owns the Freedom Group, a gun manufacturer. In December 2012,
Cerberus announced it would sell all of its investments in Freedom Group. The decision
was made after a California pension board, a Cerberus stakeholder, announced it would
dispose of all stakes it held in firearms manufacturers that make weapons banned by
state law. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/17/us-freedom-groupidUSBRE93G01620130417
NY Times Dealbook: “In unusual move Cerberus to Sell Gun Company”
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/cerberus-to-sell-gunmaker-freedom-group/See Daily
Finance, Jan. 18,2013 “Gun ban could be a boom to weapons manufacturers”
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/01/18/gun-ban-weapons-manufacturers-no-protest/
4. Nokia: the company sees a big jump in sales of its phones, but is challenged with its HR
policies of layoffs. see Tech Crunch , “Noka cuts more jobs” January 17, 2013
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/17/nokia-cuts-300-jobs-outsources-up-to-820-more-to-hcland-tata/
http://bgr.com/2013/01/17/nokia-layoffs-2013-300-294040/
5. LG Electronics: great company with a great rep wants to build their headquarters in a
place that will compromise the view over the Hudson from the Cloisters museum. See NY
Times, Jan. 21, 2013, “A Timeless View from the Cloisters faces a modern Intrusion”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/arts/design/the-cloisters-view-is-threatened-by-lgelectronics-offices.html?_r=0
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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Also:
Http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/business_news/LG_Electronics_unvie
ls_website_touting_Englewood_Cliffs_construction_plans.html
6. Novartis: The Swiss pharmaceutical giant has been the subject of two major lawsuits
brought on by the U.S. Justice Department. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/April/13civ-481.html http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130423-716536.html
7. Colgate: has a top image and reputation; wins awards, but is now under fire by some
groups about triclosan in their toothpaste. The FDA says it is
investigating.http://newyorkorthodontists.net/triclosan-dangers-side-effects-intoothpastes-andmouthwash/http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm205999.htm
8. Square Enix- the gaming company has over promised and underperformed for some time and
analyst expectations have not been met. The CEO recently stepped
down.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2013/03/26/square-enix-head-wada-to-step-downextraordinary-loss-predicted/
9. Chevron lawsuit on Amazon despoiled with court fracas
10. Internal revenue service investigating conservative causes
11. Tesla electric car and range anxiety and its impact on the company. Tesla and battery fire and
its impact on the company’s stock
12. Newspapers with falling circulation – NY Times, Washington Post
13. Zynga and its failing game business
14. The US meat industry and antibiotic-resistant bacteria
15. Samsung and the payment to write positive reviews
16. KPMG and the rogue partner in Los Angeles
17. The NFL and player concussions
18. Shell oil and drilling in Alaskan waters
19. Deloitte Touche and its one-year ban from bank consulting
20. Men’s Wearhouse – firing of founder and spokesperson
21. Carnival cruise lines – problems on shipboard.
22. Booz Allen Hamilton and its leaker, Edward Snowden.
Bonus: How would you handle this morning news? Any one of the “10 most hated companies in
America” See: Marketwatch, Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2013
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-most-hated-companies-in-america-2013-01-14 JC Penny,
Dish, T-Mobile, Facebook, Citibank, Research in Motion, American Airlines, Nokia, Sears, HP
7 companies on the ropes in 2013 http://money.msn.com/investing/7-companies-on-the-ropes-in2013
 Best Buy
 Rite Aid
 Sears
 Education Management
 Office Depot
 Arena Pharmaceuticals
 Zynga
Spring 2014 Business Communication, Jim Horton
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