TM 1-1: Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
Verbal communication uses words and
includes
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Face-to-face or phone conversations.
Meetings.
Email and voice-mail messages.
Letters and memos.
Reports
Non-verbal communication does not use
words and includes
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Pictures.
Company logos.
Gestures and body language.
Who sits where at a meeting.
How long someone keeps a visitor waiting
We use a combination of verbal and
nonverbal communication every day.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-2: Differences Between Business
Communication and School Communication
Purpose
 In school, you speak and write to demonstrate that you have
learned the course material.
 In business, people communicate to meet an organizational need
or to go on record. You are not paid to communicate something
your audience already knows.
Audience
 In school, your real audience is the teacher (and other students).
Your teacher’s job is to read your papers and listen to your
presentations, even if he/she already knows the information, and
even if your communication is boring.
 Real business audiences include people inside and outside the
organization. These audiences attend to your message only if it
appears relevant and interesting. If your business audience
doesn’t pay attention to your speaking and writing, you have
failed to communicate.
Information
 In school, the information may be new to you, but it is rarely
new to the teacher.
 Business communication information is usually new and must
be interesting to the reader
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-3: Differences Between Business
Communication and Other School Writing
Organization
 School writing follows the essay form, with the thesis paragraph
up front, followed by expository paragraphs supported by
evidence, and a final concluding paragraph.
 Business communication is organized to meet the psychological
needs of the reader.
Style
 The style for school writing is formal: big words, long
sentences, and long paragraphs are rewarded.
 Business communication style is informal, natural, and tactful.
Small words, short sentences, and brief paragraphs make
business communication accessible and reader-friendly.
Document Design
 School documents are lengthy, with indented paragraphs, long
sentences, and large paragraphs of explanations.
 Business documents are designed to be skimmed: doublespacing, left justification, headings, plenty of white space,
bulleted lists, and brief paragraphs help readers find relevant
information quickly.
Visuals
 School documents concentrate on text, and plenty of it.
 Business communication uses visuals—charts, graphs, tables,
and illustrations—to convey the information most effectively
(clearly and concisely).
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-4: Purposes of Business Communication
To Inform
 Channels, formats, and styles to use
 Topics to discuss
 Approach
 Evidence
To Request or Persuade
 Friends
 Families
 Work departments
 Fields of study
 Trade groups
To Build Goodwill
 Each discourse community can be different.
 Use observation, research, and trial-and-error to learn
differences.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-5: Myths About Writing in the Workplace
Myth 1: Secretaries will do all my
writing.
 Downsizing and changes in job classification make
it unlikely.
Myth 2: I’ll use form letters or templates
when I need to write.
 No form letter will adequately solve each
communication problem.
Myth 3: I’m being hired as an accountant
(or other non-writing position), not a
writer.
 Regardless of the job, you will be responsible for
some correspondence and documentation.
Myth 4: I’ll just pick up the phone.
 Writing is still the preferred form of communication
for many business transactions.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-6: The Cost of Workplace Writing
In 1996, the Dartnell Institute showed
 A message that took ten minutes to compose cost
between $13.60 U.S. and $20.52 U.S. to produce.
Researcher Diana Booher surveyed seven
industries and found that the average letter took
one hour to complete.
 Based on Dartnell figures, a letter costs $80 U.S. a
page. (The average of $13.60 U.S. and $20.52 U.S.
multiplied by five).
Remember
 The cost of writing is measurable.
 Costs include resources, utilities, and employee pay.
 Costs are for the original message and do not include
follow-up correspondence to correct
miscommunication.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-7:
Good Business and Administrative Writing is
Clear
 The language is concrete; the message is specific; and
the message is grammatically correct.
Concise
 The writer conveys maximum meaning using as few
words as possible.
Comprehensive
 The style, organization, and visual impact of the
message help the reader to read, understand, and act.
Complete
 All of the information a reader needs to understand
and act on the message is present.
Correct
 The message is error free.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-8: PAIBOC and Audience Analysis
P
A
I
B
O
C
What are your
purposes in writing?
audiences?
Who is (are) your
How do members
of your audience differ? What characteristics are relevant to
this particular message?
What
information must your message include?
What reasons or reader
support your position?
benefits can you use to
objections
What
can you expect your reader(s) to
have? What negative elements of your message must you
de-emphasize or overcome?
context
How will the
affect reader response? Think
about your relationship to the reader, morale in the
organization, the economy, the time of year, and any special
circumstances.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-9: Memo of Introduction
September 20, 2000
To:
Business Communication Students
From:
Kitty O. Locker
Subject:
Kitty O'Donnell Locker on September 20, 2000
I'm looking forward to this quarter. I'm ending three years as a journal editor, and I hope to have time not
only to teach well but also to do some of my own work and plant bulbs. I may not get all of that done, but
I'm looking forward to ending a responsibility that has made life almost impossibly busy. I feel more
relaxed than I have in a long time.
Background Information
I was born in Wyoming, grew up in Kentucky, attended DePauw University in Indiana, and did my
graduate work at the University of Illinois. After earning my PhD, I taught at Texas A&M University for
a year and at Illinois for seven years before coming to Ohio State in 1985. In 1990, I received tenure and
promotion to associate professor.
Although I got into business communication by accident, I have stayed in it by design. The field has been
good to me. I've been very active in the Association for Business Communication; my textbook, Business
and Administrative Communication, is the number 1 book in the United States. My research areas include
the history of business communication, negative messages, collaborative writing, and the writing of
factory workers. In January 1999, I finally published a project that I began in 1976 on reader responses to
negative messages. My other decades-long project is a study of the correspondence of the British East
India Company (1600-1858). In The Development of the Faceless Bureaucrat, I trace the evolution of
bureaucratic writing in the first two centuries of the Company's correspondence and argue that the basic
causes of bureaucratic writing are psychological, not rhetorical. I laid the East India project aside (not for
the first time) to work on another textbook that will come out this December. But in 2001, I actually hope
to finish revising the East India book and get it off to a publisher. I'm finishing three years of editing The
Journal of Business Communication (JBC), which has been satisfying but very time-consuming. I'm
looking forward to doing some of my own work.
I've been fortunate in my personal life, too. In August, Bob Mills and I celebrated our 19th wedding
anniversary (in Nikko, Japan--a beautiful place). When I met Bob (in a disco dance class!), I was
divorced and felt dubious about marriage. With Bob, I've learned that a man and a woman can
communicate openly, that conflicts can be resolved, and that resolution produces intimacy. In a world
with so many unhappy marriages, I feel fortunate to be part of a strong one. I don't believe that people
need to confront the world in matched pairs, like bookends, but it feels very good to love and be loved
and to be part of a learning, growing, supportive relationship.
We spent the first year of our marriage in tiny Homer, Illinois, where Bob was pastor of the Presbyterian
church. Then Bob decided to pursue a ministry in "underdog law." His second career was as an attorney
with Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS), a state agency which represents people who are mentally
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-10: Memo of Introduction
Business Communication Students
2
September 20, 2000
handicapped in civil suits. He's now reinvented himself again, as a computer network administrator for
OLRS. He got this new job without going back to school, without job hunting, and without losing pension
benefits. He loves his work.
When we married, we each had two cats. Four years ago, the last two died (at the advanced age of 18½).
We now have just two cats in our second generation of cats. Honey-colored Webster is the neighborhood
charmer. He likes small children and knows more people in the neighborhood than we do. One year a
group of people came to our house to sing Christmas carols to him. Liza is solid black. She is more of a
home body than Webster. She was so scared when we brought her home from the shelter that she slept in
the ceiling of the basement for months. But over the years she's turned into a pet.
In 1989, I went in for a baseline mammogram and discovered that I had breast cancer. I had a
lumpectomy and radiation. Six years ago, I had a recurrence, a mastectomy, and six months of
chemotherapy. I feel much more charitable about the chemo now that it's in the past and I'm fine and can
do what I want to do.
Personality and Beliefs
In some ways--not all--I'm very independent. I can become very enthusiastic about ideas and people. I'm
an ardent feminist, though there are definitely spots where my consciousness isn't as high as it could be
and I enact sex-role stereotypes. Bob is also a feminist. Many years ago, however, we abandoned our
early effort to split the cooking evenly: I do all the cooking and Bob washes all the dishes. We pay to
have the house cleaned. What a pleasant luxury!
Although in some areas I'm a traditionalist, I'm a liberal on most issues, partly as a result of living with
Bob. I'm also developing a sense of humor. I actually emceed a roast a few years ago for a retiring colleague and had the audience rolling with laughter on the last joke. (To be fair, it was one I'd heard the
roastee tell. But my timing was exactly right.)
I complain about having too much work to do (and I overcommit my time), but I like being busy and I
like doing projects that seem worth doing. When one project ends, I take on two more. I don't call
myself a workaholic--for one thing, I love to goof off, too--but for the last dozen years I've acted like one!
Interests
Many of my interests are long-standing. I like houses and decorating and gardening. Each spring, we
start some annuals and vegetables from seed in the basement under grow lights. I like OSU basketball,
expecially when we win. I like organ and harpsichord music and medium-hard rock. I like representational paintings, traditional ballets, and cheerful movies. I read science fiction and non-violent murder
mysteries (I like puzzles, not gore). I can appreciate modern and abstract art but I'm fondest of
Impressionist paintings. Visits to Florence and Rome have made me really appreciate Renaissance frescos and everything by Michelangelo. Photographs of his statues and the Sistine Chapel just don't measure
up to the reality.
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication
TM 1-11: Memo of Introduction
Business Communication Students
3
September 20, 2000
Bob and I like traveling--to state and national parks, US cities, Williamsburg, Disney World, Europe, and,
most recently, Japan. When my professional conferences are in neat places, we try to spend a few days
before or after the conference exploring the city. I had a conference in Kyoto this summer, and we spent
two weeks touring Japan. (We got around fine, even though we don't read or speak Japanese. People
were very helpful.) Two years ago, we spent three weeks driving through Germany, Austria, and Belgium
with my brother (who lives in Scotland and speaks German); we visited Bob's sister who was in Brussels
at the time. She now lives in Africa, and perhaps someday we'll visit her there.
In 50 years, I've had the opportunity to do many things. The accomplishments which please me most at
this point are
1. Building good communication and problem-solving strategies in my relationship with
Bob.
2. Playing Titania in a college production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
3. Being a friend and having good friends.
4. Feeling that the English department at OSU has accepted me and (perhaps) is even
beginning to accept business writing as a legitimate academic discipline.
5. Advising graduate students, and having both of my students on the job market last year
get tenure-track jobs.
6. Being the only person (so far) to receive both the "Outstanding Researcher Award" and
the "Outstanding Teacher Award" from the Association for Business Communication.
7. Helping a man at a local company go from being a "terrible" to an "excellent" writer, in
the judgment of his supervisor.
8. Having people come up to me at conferences and tell me that they really like using BAC.
Goals
In October, I'm giving a series of talks in Finland, and I need to prepare those presentations. I'd really like
to write two articles this quarter if I can. I need to finish up the remaining work on JBC. I also want to
teach well, get back on a regular exercise schedule, give some energy to my marriage, and, if time
permits, plant lots of spring bulbs.
Five years from now, I hope that The Faceless Bureaucrat will be in print, that both my textbooks will be
doing well in their respective markets, and that I'll be a full professor.
This term should be busy and satisfying. I look forward to working with you and to a productive quarter!
Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
Module 1 Transparency Masters: Introduction to Business Communication