Communication Skills: This course aims to provide better understanding of purposes and processes of communication in business. Cases and projects improving students` skills in a collaborative communication are provided. With the help of exercises, including videotaping, students have opportunities to improve and evaluate their oral communication skills. This course aims to provide better understanding of purposes and processes of communication in business. Cases and projects improving students` skills in a collaborative communication are provided. With the help of exercises, including videotaping, students have opportunities to improve and evaluate their oral communication skills.
Develop career-enhancing skills in business communication. Learn the three-step writing process and apply it to craft messages for digital channels, and to write routine messages, positive messages, negative messages, and persuasive messages. Learn how to develop and deliver business presentations.
| Week | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction & Orientation to the Course (19 Feb 2024) |
| 2 | CHAPTER 1 Professional communication in a digital, social, mobile world. Understanding why communication matters. Communicating as a professional. Exploring the communication process. Using technology to improve business communication. Committing to ethical and legal communication. (pg. 40-76) (26 Feb 2024) |
| 3 | Chapter 2 Interpersonal Communication Skills. Explain why listening is such a complex communication process, and describe three steps to becoming a better listener. Explain the importance of nonverbal communication, and identify six major categories of nonverbal expression. Outline an effective process for initiating, sustaining, and concluding workplace conversations. Explain the causes of workplace conflict, and identify five productive steps for resolving conflict. Describe the importance of negotiation as a communication skill, and explain how to prepare for and conduct a negotiation. (pg. 77-107) (4 March 2024) |
| 4 | Chapter 5-6-7 Applying the Three-Step Writing Process. Planning, writing, and completing business messages: The essentials. (pg. 177-402) (11 March 2024) |
| 5 | Chapter 11 Writing Persuasive Messages. Apply the three-step writing process to persuasive messages. Describe an effective strategy for developing persuasive business messages, and identify the three most common categories of persuasive business messages. Describe an effective strategy for developing marketing and sales messages, and explain how to modify your approach when writing promotional messages for social media. Identify steps you can take to avoid ethical lapses in marketing and sales messages. (pg. 372-401) (18 March 2024) |
| 6 | Chapter 12-13 Preparing Reports. Adapt the three-step writing process to reports and proposals. Identify the three most common ways to organize analytical reports. List the topics commonly covered in the introduction, body, and close of informational reports, analytical reports, and proposals. Discuss six principles of graphic design that can improve the quality of your visuals, and identify the major types of business visuals. Summarize the four tasks involved in completing business reports and proposals. (pg. 403-493) (25 March 2024) |
| 7 | National Holiday Catholic Easter (1 April, 2024) |
| 8 | Chapter 8 Messages for the Digital Channels. Identify the major digital channels used for brief business messages, and describe the nine compositional modes needed for digital media. Describe how companies use social networking platforms, and explain how to create effective content for these channels. Explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to email messages, and describe the importance of email subject lines. Identify the major types of business messaging, and list guidelines for effective messaging in the workplace. Describe the uses of blogging in business communication, and briefly explain how to adapt the three-step process to blogging. Describe the uses of Twitter and other microblogging systems in business communication, and offer tips on writing effective tweets. Outline the process of producing business podcasts. (pg. 267-308) (8 April 2024) |
| 9 | MIDTERM (25%) (15-20 April 2024) |
| 10 | Chapter 9-10 Writing Routine, Positive, and Negative Messages. Outline an effective strategy for writing routine business requests. Outline an effective strategy for writing routine replies, routine messages, and positive messages. Explain how to use the direct/indirect approach effectively when conveying negative news. List the important points to consider when conveying negative organizational news. Describe successful strategies for sending negative employment-related messages. (pg. 309-372) (22 April 2024) |
| 11 | Chapter 14 Developing and Delivering Presentations. Highlight the importance of presentations in your business career, and explain how to adapt the planning step of the three-step process to presentations. Describe the tasks involved in developing a presentation. Describe the six major design and writing tasks required to enhance your presentation with effective visuals. Outline four major tasks involved in completing a presentation. Describe four important aspects of delivering a presentation in today’s social media environment. (pg. 494-530) (29 April 2024) |
| 12 | National Holiday Orthodox Easter (6 May 2024) |
| 13 | Chapter 15-16 Writing Resumes and Interviewing for Employment. Explain the purposes of application letters, and describe how to apply the AIDA organizational approach to them. Describe the typical sequence of job interviews, the major types of interviews and interview questions, and the attributes employers look for during an interview. List six tasks you need to complete in order to prepare for a successful job interview. Explain how to succeed in all three stages of an interview. Identify the most common employment messages that follow an interview, and explain when you would use each one. (pg. 568-603) (13 May 2024) |
| 14 | Delivering Business Presentations + (Winners of Best Reel Awards) (19 May 2024) |
| Method | % Each | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Homework | 10 | 3 |
| Midterm Exam(s) | 25 | 1 |
| Presentation | 10 | 1 |
| Final Exam | 35 | 1 |
| Attendance | 0 |
Excellence In Business Communication, Global Edition, 14th edition, by John V. Thill and Courtland L. Bovee, Pearson (2023) https://www.pearson.com/en-gb/subject-catalog/p/excellence-in-business-communication-global-edition/P200000009918/9781292450124