TD2 - Threaded Discussion for exam 2 PDF

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Threaded Discussion for exam 2...

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TD2 Chapter 4 - Effective Business Writing 1. How are oral & written communication similar and different from each other? Both forms of communication are dependent on the basic communication process. This process has eight elements: source, receiver, message, channel, receiver, feedback, environment, context, and interference. Also, they can both be partitioned into two categories: verbal and nonverbal. Oral communication is synchronous and written communication is asynchronous, meaning that it occurs at a different time than sent. This is due to the fact that oral communication is done while talking and written communication is done through written words. 2. What’s the difference between verbal & nonverbal communication? Verbal communication is defined as the use of sounds to express yourself whereas non-verbal communication is defined as the use of gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, eye contact, body language, posture, and other ways people can communicate without using language. 3. What are the 10 Cs of business communication (Linkedln Learning) The 10 Cs of business communication are defined to help your writing be impactful and easy to understand by the readers. The 10 Cs include complete, concise, clear, conversational, coherent, correct, courteous, considerate, concrete, and credible. These tools will help to polish your writing and make it a useful tool in any business setting. 4. What are internal communication & external communication? Internal communications is all about promoting effective communications among people within an organization. External communication is any communicative effort for people and organizations operating outside of the business. 5. What are the three styles of writing? How do you figure out which style to use? The three styles of writing are colloquial, formal, casual. The style you will use depends on the audience, whether your communication is internal or external, and the purpose of the document. Colloquial refers to a style of writing that conveys the effect of informal spoken or written language. Casual refers to a style of writing that is used for everyday context in a familiar environment such as with friends or family. Lastly, formal refers to a style of writing used in a professional setting. 6. How cannot sweating the small studd? (e.g. grammar & spelling) impact people’s perception of you? They can indicate that you are not educated enough as you failed to realize spelling errors and fix Them properly. Hence, it can tarnish the perception of you or your company. 7. Why is bypassing? When can it occur? Bypassing is miscommunication that occurs when two individuals think that they understand each other but actually they miss each other's meaning. It can happen in many cases such as when two people are from different locations or regions in a state, are of different genders, or are of different generations. The cause of bypassing is endless. Chapter 5 - Writing Preparation

1. How can confirmation bias, egocentrism, and sociocentrism impact writing and critical thinking? How do these concepts interact with each other? Confirmation bias is the tendency of people to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs. Egocentrism refers to someone's inability to understand that another person's view or opinion may be different than their own. Sociocentrism refers to a tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own social group or society. These concepts can impact your writing and critical thinking as they can tarnish your credibility and eliminate readers who share a different viewpoint than the one you hold. Additionally, it can lease to incorrect conclusions that have no supporting evidence. These concepts interact with each other as egocentrism and sociocentrism come under confirmation bias. They all do not focus on an audience-centered view. Instead, they are biased concepts based on beliefs rather than thorough research and facts. 2. Who determines if a source/message sender is credible? The audience (also known as the receiver) determines if a source/message sender is credible. 3. What are strengths, weaknesses, and expectations of communication channels? When and for which audiences should you use each channel? Check out Table 5.1 IM or text message Strengths - fast, rapid response, not costly Weaknesses - informal, small amounts of information, leads to misunderstanding Expectations - quick response When/which audience - peers within an organization or when you need a fast response from a colleague dealing with a insignificant issue Email Strengths - fast, not costly, easy to distribute to multiple people, quick exchange of information Weaknesses - can hit “send” unintentionally, large attachments can cause spam filter, can be overlooked Expectations - response time of 24 hours normally When/which audience - when time is not critical for communication and attachments are needed Fax Strengths -fast and provides documentation Weaknesses - issues with receiving, costly with long distance, not popular Expectations - should not be a multiple page fax When/which audience - you want to send a document with its original format or use the company letterhead Memo Strengths - official, has information about sender, time, and receiver Weaknesses -can often get deleted, attachment can get removed Expectations - used through internal communication When/which audience - you want to communicate to employees internally within an organization Letter Strengths - formal, can add letterhead of the company

Weaknesses - can get discarded easily, cost and time efforts Expectations - it should have a specific format for a specific purpose When/which audience - you want to document the communication or a bad or negative news Report Strengths - time a preparation efforts are significant Weaknesses - extensive amount of research and documentation Expectations - it should have a specific format for a specific purpose When/which audience - need to keep track of the relationship of large data and usually sent to internal or external audience Proposal Strengths - time a preparation efforts are significant Weaknesses - extensive amount of research and documentation Expectations - it should have a specific format for a specific purpose When/which audience - need to convince the audience with numbers and arguments 4. Why do you need to give credit to your sources in written communication? What’s plagiarism? You need to give credit to your sources in written communication because it can go against copyright law or tarnish your credibility. It can have a bad impact on you or the organization you stand for as you are not being honest. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent. 5. Why is it important to evaluate your sources? How do you do that? It is important to evaluate your sources to make sure the information you are using is accurate and honest. It encourages you to think about the reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, point of view or bias of information sources. You can evaluate a source by focusing on six points. First, make sure that the document has a purpose and goal. Also, it should focus on the issue at hand. Third, the information used should be tied to the purpose and goal of the document. Fourth, it should have supportive evidence for any inferences or interpretations made. It should clearly state the point of view of the document. Lasly, it should lay out any assumptions or ideas made by the author. 6. What’s the difference between analyzing and reading a document? Analyzing a document involves focusing on how the information is presented and put together in the document to relay a concrete message. On the other hand, reading a document involves understanding the author’s meaning through the words and symbols used in the document. You may also associate emotional connection to the words used. 7. How does document design and organization impact understanding? What are best practices or techniques? The design and organization of a document can impact understanding as if the document is meant to be skimmed, it should lay out the main points clearly. In an email, the subject line helps to convey the purpose of the information. Hence, design and organization help to highlight what the document is all about and help relay the information in the most effective manner depending on the purpose of the document. It can help for the readers to understand the intended purpose of the document and only convey to them the required information. Some techniques to do this are listed below.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Include a overview of the document in the beginning Use headings and subsections to divide information Make your heading detailed and concise Have a topic sentence for each paragraph that explains the purpose of the paragraph List points, questions, or considerations in bullet points Include a conclusion at the end of the document

Chapter 6 - Writing 1. How do ethos, pathos, and logos work in business writing? Ethos is ethical appeal within your writing that is created from using credible sources and having authority on subjects.Logos is logical appeal that comes from the way your writing is organized in logical manner to describe the relationships between things. Lastly, pathos is emotional appeal that comes from your word choice and design to show your passion and excitement for the topic. 2. What do effective sentences look like? Focus on p. 169-171 (don’t need to know the 4 types of sentences on p. 168) Effective sentences should be specific in content instead of vague. A specific sentence relays a complete idea without any ambiguity. Effective sentences should also be clear and concise instead of long and complex. Complex sentences can often include unnecessary information that takes the reader’s away from the main point of the sentence. Instead, brief sentences are directly to the point in an effective manner. Additionally, effective sentences should be complete instead of fragments. Fragments are incomplete sentences that do not include both a subject and a verb. They can cause misunderstanding and confusion. Effective sentences should avoid, when possible, bureaucratic language and phrases. Instead, it is suggested to use standard english alternatives. Lastly, effective sentences should not include redundant words. It should be clear and concise. 3. How do you determine when to use informal v. formal/bureaucratic style? It depends on the expectations of your audience. Hence, it is important to know who your audience is and understand their expectations. 4. What is the conversational tone? What’s jargon? Conversational tone mimics how you talk in style, tone, and word choice. Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. It is good in specific contexts and for specific audiences. 5. What are active and passive voice? Be able to identify them and use them in writing. The active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb. It follows a clear subject + verb + object construct that's easy to read. With passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. 6. List 10 of the common errors in English (table 6.6). The 10 common errors in English are: 1. Using accept or except 2. Using affect or effect 3. Using e.g. or i.e.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Using its or it’s Using lay or lie Using pressure or pressurize Using principle or principal Using regardless or irregardless Using than or then Using that or which

7. What is Toulmin’s 3-part rhetorical strategy? What does that look like in an example? Toulmin’s three-part rhetorical strategy includes claim, data, and warrant. Claim is where you state your belief. Data is supporting evidence for your claim. Lastly, warrant is the element that displays the connection between the claim and supporting evidence. An example of this strategy is the following: Claim - There are dogs nearby. Data - You hear barks and howling in the distance. Warrant - Dogs are animals that bark and howl. 8. What are fallacies in writing? Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your argument. Fallacies are defects that weaken arguments as it uses faulty reasoning. 9. What are the steps to paraphrasing? There are various steps to paraphrasing. You can focus on the complete thought while reading a passage out loud. You can explain the thoughts and ideas of a passage out loud in your own words. You can write the thoughts and ideas of the passage using illustrations. You can reread the original passage and compare it to yours to ensure it is simply paraphrased. You need to start over with the first step mentioned if your version of the passage is a translation rather than an expression in your own words of the main concepts. You need to make sure to cite the source of the passage and include it in your work cited page upon completion. Chapter 7 - Revising & Presenting Your Writing 1. What are four categories that require revision in a document. Be able to identify them in examples. Content relates to addressing who, what, where, when, why, and how for the chosen topic.An example of a revision is leaving out supporting evidence for your argument. Organization relates to how you format your document. An example of a revision is failing to transition from one point to the next. Style is produced through the content and organization of the document. Additionally, it can also include the word choice and grammatical structure. An example of style revision is choosing an informal tone for a professional audience. Lastly, readability is the degree to which the reader can read and understand the document. An example of readability revision is making the writing too complex for a younger audience. The for categories are content, organization, style, and readability. 2. How are commas and semicolons used? Commas are used for various reasons. They are used to separate two independent clauses that are joined by a conjunction. They are also used after introductory phrases and to offset nonessential clauses in a sentence. It is also used to offset words like “however” and “therefore”

that create unity within a sentence. Lastly, commas can be used to multiple adjustectve that describe a noun or separate addresses, dates, and titles. Semicolons are used for two purposes. They can be used to show relationships among a group of items, with each separated by commas. Additionally, they can be used to join two independent clauses. 3. What are common errors associated with apostrophes? Common errors with apostrophes focus on the placement of the punctuation. Writing the plural form of a noun in which an apostrophe precedes the plural s, such as when taxi’s is written instead of taxis, is a common error. Additionally, pronouns are followed by an apostrophe and s only as contractions (for example, he’s). A pronoun should never use an apostrophe to indicate possession. Apostrophes are also not typically used to make words plural. If you want to make a word plural, you usually just slap an s on the end of it and leave it at that. 4. Be able to identify errors with subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, split infinitives, double negatives, faulty comparisons, and misplaced modifiers Subject-verb agreement is important when it comes to agreeing on the number. Verb tense are used to figure out when the action takes place such as in the past, present, or future. In faulty writing, there is presence of inconsistent verb forms. Split infinitives occur when there's an adverb between two parts of an infinitive. Double negative is using two negative to indicate a single idea. Two negatives often cancel each other out to create a positive. They can also cause error in logic. Faulty comparisons are illogical constructions, which often means that the ideas you intend to convey may not come through to your reader and may render the argument ineffective.When you compare two objects, you should not use ‘est’ for comparison. Misplaced modifiers are when the modifiers are in the wrong place, causing misinterpretations in the sentence. 5. Be able to identify different style revisions needed in a business document. There are several strategies to revise a business document. You can break up long sentences to add clarity. You can assess long prepositional phrases to make sure the sentence is meaningful. You can delete words that add repetition. You can avoid using archaic references or expressions so your writing is up to date and clear. You can avoid fillers as they do not serve any purpose. You can eliminate slang as it is not appropriate for a business context. You can evaluate the cliches used in writing to make sure they have an impact. You can use precise words instead of abstract writing. You can make sure that you are using parallel construction in sentences so your writing promotes unity. You can avoid obscured words. Lastly, you need to conduct a professionalism test to make sure you business document is professional and clearly conveys the message. 6. What are strategies on how to communicate when evaluating someone’s work? “You” v “I” language, phrasing disagreement, focusing on the document as a product When you deliver the evaluation after following the five-step process to evaluate someone’s work, there are several things to keep in mind. You should use “I” statements when describing the revisions so the author does not see him/her as a bad writer. You should avoid using “you” as it can seem like a personal attack on the writer. You should phrase your disagreement as a question so you can focus on the sentence and not the author. Lastly, you should view the document as a product and focus on improving it. You should not associate the author or authors with the document.

Chapter 9 - Text, Email, Netiquette https://www.linkedin.com/learning/writing-email/welcome?u=70198226) 1. What makes a good subject line? A good subject line is specific and complete. It should use clear, routine wording. It should be brief and concise. 2. Why and when do you use direct opening? What does a direct opening look like? You use direct opening after having a subject line that identifies a positive or important message. The direct opening is used to state the purpose and context behind the message. It should be direct and specific to the point. Direct openings should save time for the reader, provide pertinent information, and engender a positive response. 3. How do you craft the main purpose? How do you craft message appearance? How do you craft tone? In order to craft the main topic, you should narrow your message to one topic. Hence, the sender should research the topic to choose and its subpoints. It should also state any necessary actions so the reader can respond quickly. In order to craft the appearance of a message, it should have around 5-6 lines in a paragraph. It should also include blank lines between paragraphs to increase the appeal of the information. Lastly, the subpoints should be numbered or listed as bullets to help organize the information. In order to craft the tone of the message, you should personalize the message by knowing your audience. It is important to write the message by keeping the reader in mind so you can understand how the reader might react. 4. How do you open and close an email professionally? You should include your reader’s name at the beginning of the email to add a personal touch and your name at the end of the email along with an appropriate complimentary close. 5. What are texting best practices at work and with recruiters? Some best practices at work and with recruiters are listed below - It is important to know your recipient so you can relay information correctly - Understand the misinterpretations that come with texting - Use texting when appropriate and needed - Take a break from texting once in awhile - Do not text and drive Chapter 17.1 - Delivering a negative news message 1. What are direct v. indirect strategies? What type of messages/audiences do you use each strategy for? Direct strategies are when you present the negative news in person. This strategy is good for communication that requires immed...