Business Communications

1. Business Communications Standard BCS - BCP - 1

2. Welcome • EQ: Why take Business Communications? • Agenda Message: • Bring in a spiral notebook tomorrow. • Bring in your signed syllabus tomorrow.

3. Who are you? • Answer one of the following when you catch the ball… • What is the best Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza gift you received? • If you went of state over the holidays where did you go? • Why are you in Business Communications?

4. Cosmos • Your first presentation will be about YOU. • “Show” and “tell” who you are.

5. Day 2Thursday, January 8 • Logon to computer. • Submit signed portion of syllabus for a homework grade. • Complete pre-test over Standard 1 (Chapters 1 & 9). • Complete Cosmos activity • HOMEWORK: Bring in one (1) form of communication. It has to fit inside your notebook.

6. Day 3Friday, January 9 • Agenda Message: Syllabus may be turned in Monday for a 75. • Warm-up: Write the following questions in your notebook. We will answer them at the later in class. • What is the subject of the communication? • Who is the audience? • What is the purpose of this communication?

7. Communication & Books • Attach your form of communication to your notebook page with the questions. • I will assign books during this time.

8. Communicating at Work Chapter 1 Business Communications

9. What is communication? • It is the transfer or exchange of thoughts, information, ideas, and feelings by speech, writing, or signals between at least two people. • In today’s workforce, the quality of your communication will have direct bearing on your success on the job.

10. Communication takes many forms • Look at the six (6) documents provided. • Using the handout, answer the following about each type… • What is the subject? • Who is the audience? • What is the purpose?

11. What are employers looking for? Chapter 1

12. Read… • Take a moment to read the job advertisement for an Administrative Assist on page 6. • The skills underlined in the ad are called transferable skills.

13. Transferable Skills • Transferable skills are Skills that allow employees to adapt to changes in the organization, technology, and requirements. They are skills that transfer from job to job.

14. Examples of Transferable Skills • Knowing how to learn • Reading, writing, and math enable you to learn • Information technology is also becoming a basic skill • Self-management and team work • Come to work on time every day, solve problems, and take personal responsibility • Know how to get along with customers as well as co-workers, supervisors, suppliers, etc. • #1 reason people are fired is because they cannot get along with other employees!

15. Activity • Form a team of 3-4 neighbors. • Decide on a job that interests you all. • Now, list as many communication tasks you can think of related to the job.

16. Example of Activity – HS Teacher • Phone to parents • Email parents • Explain assignments to students • Write memos/emails to admin. • Discuss issues with other teachers • Write tests • Explain procedures to new teachers • Communicate daily announcements to students • Listen to a student • Complete forms requesting supplies • Writing notes to students

17. Form of Communication • Go back to your homework. Answer the three questions you wrote at the beginning of class. • Define the following terms: situation, sender, receiver, message, and purpose in your notebook.

18. Day 41/12/2009 • Agenda message: Mrs. Rogers will be out tomorrow, Tuesday, 1/13/2009 • Warm-up: Define the following terms on Day 4 of your notebook: • situation, • sender, • receiver, • message, • purpose

19. Elements of Communication at Work Chapter 1

20. What is the situation? • The situation of communication includes what is happening and where it is happening. • Classroom • Church • Dinner table • Telephone • Blog

21. Who is the sender? • The sender is the person who is speaking, writing, or typing. • The background and experiences of the sender always affect the message. • You • Your mom • The teacher • Your BFF • Boyfriend/girlfriend • Principal • Boss

22. Who is the receiver? • The receiver of the message is the audience. • The audience could be one person or thousands. • Two groups of audiences: • Specialists • Principal to teacher(s) • Nurse to doctor(s) • Computer tech to computer tech(s) • Generalists • Computer tech to teacher(s) • Doctor to patient(s) • Principal to parent(s)

23. What is the message? • The message is the information and ideas relayed by the sender to the audience. • If the message is communicated in an unclear manner, it can cause workers to waste time, materials, and money.

24. Examine the list of types of messages below. Suggest a heading for each column that groups the list. Then, add five (5) more related items. Memos Letters Manuals Catalogs Books Signs Pamphlets Activity • Conversations • Phone calls • Discussions • Meetings • Voice mail • Speeches • Radio announcements • Photographs • Drawings • Graphs • Cartoons • IMs • Facial expressions

25. What is the purpose? • While there are many purposes to consider, the basics are: • Socialize • Inform • Persuade

26. Effect of the Audience on the Message Chapter 1: Communicating Messages Effectively

27. Message Feedback Effective Communication • Communication is effective if something happens as a result. • Effective communication is an interactive process

28. Analyze and Adapt • Sender must analyze (study) the audience. • THEN… • Sender must adapt (adjust) the message.

29. www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/ • You will look up the following phrases. Read the definition, then correctly write the phrase in a sentence. • Bad workers always blame their tools • Bean Counter • Glass ceiling • On the line • Pointy-heads • It’s an ill wind that blows no good • All that glitters is not gold • In spades • Seed money • Come up roses

30. What do I consider when preparing to send a message? • The region of the country or world where raised. • Where parents or grandparents are from. • Religion • Race • Gender • Age • Level of education • Workplace and type of job • Economic situation • Styles of food, clothing, and housing. • Attitudes about family and friendships • Beliefs and values • Ways of celebrating holidays and other special occasions • Attitudes about school and work • Attitudes about men and women • Reactions to technology

31. How do I learn about other cultures? • Read their literature. • Sample foods at ethnic restaurants. • Read magazines and/or newspapers from other countries. • Examine your own cultural stereotypes • Keep an open mind.

32. How do I adapt for my audience? • What form should the message take? • How will the audience use the message? • Will the audience want to hear, read, or listen to my message? • Will a visual help? • How can I design a user-friendly page? • How can I convince the audience to do what I want?

33. Day 51/13/2009 • Agenda Message: Mrs. Rogers is out today at an honor’s luncheon for Accounting. Be respectful of the sub and each other. • Warm-up: In teams of 2, using MS Word, type at least 30homophones(words that sound alike but are spelled differently.) • See / sea • Tee / tea

34. Communicating Messages Effectively Chapter 1

35. Objective • Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to name orally all three stages of the writing process using the following presentation.

36. Three Main Stages of Writing

37. The Planning Stage • Written messages are planned so that the sender says exactly what they want to say to the receiver. • Do your planning before you begin writing

38. Planning a Document • Requires the following: • Analyzing the audience • Determining the purpose • Collecting information • Selecting and organizing information

39. The Writing Stage • The secret to success is… do it wrong the first time. • Professional writers prepare many drafts with the help of editors and proofreaders.

40. When writing the first draft… • Write without breaks • Stopping to edit breaks your train of thought • Don’t stop to read what you have written • If you don’t know how to spell a word, do your best and correct it later • If you don’t know the right word, use the wrong one – you can fix it later JUST KEEP WRITING TO THE END Edit and revise later!

41. The Revising Stage • Writing effective messages requires that you edit: check, proofread, and revise. • If you use a word processing program (such as MSWord) editing is easier using Spell Check and Grammar Check.

42. The Revising Stage • Let time pass between writing and revising because your eyes will see what your brain wants on the paper, not what may actually be there. • Read messages aloud to yourself. Sentences may look fine but sound wrong. • Ask teachers, parents, and friends to read your work so that they can also supply feedback and corrections.

43. Does Spelling Count? • If you write a message to your bass asking to leave early on Thursday so that you may go to the denist and permission is granted, you have communicated successfully—even if your message contained a spelling error. • However, poorly written messages can give the audience the impression that the writer is incompetent or uncaring. • Audience perception of you will be lowered if you do not take the time to correct spelling errors. • Yes, I spelled boss and dentist wrong on purpose.

44. Does Punctuation Count? • Punctuation in writing is like expression in speaking. A misplaced comma can change the meaning of a sentence. • Woman without her man is nothing. What does sentence mean? • Now read the same statement with punctuation: Woman—without her, man is nothing.

45. Proofreading Marks • Proofreading marks are symbols or codes that indicate what kind of changes need to be made to writing.

46. Activities • Practice 1-8: Using a Spelling Checker, #1. • Practice 1-8: Homophones handout • Practice 1-9: Using Punctuation to Convey Meaning • Practice 1-10: Using Proofreading Marks

47. Punctuation to Convey Meaning • No, children are allowed in the pool • Juan, thinks his teacher, is a genius • Ms. Krause, your client, just came in • Aaron, my boss, always puts the customer first

48. Day 61/14/2009 • Agenda Message: We have a guest speaker today from DeVry. In your notebook, write her name, the name of the school and 5 things you have learned. • Warm-up: On Monday, we discussed analyzing and adapting our message for our audience. Complete the following activity…

49. Activity • Write 3 sentences describing your personal characteristics to a five year old child. • Same thing to someone you would like to date. • Same thing to someone you want to give you a job. • How did the audience and purpose affect your choice of words?

50. Day 71/15/2009 • Agenda Message: Stories will be read to the class today! • Warm-up: Using page 17, write in your notebook what four things must be done when planning a document.