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Chapter 1:Why Writing Skills Matter More Than Ever- Today's workplace revolves around communication- Stay connected through spoken and written messages- Businesses today generate a wide range of messages in a variety of mediaWhat Employers Want: Professionalism- Soft Skills: communication, working well with others, solve problems, make ethical decisions, and appreciate diversityHow Your Education Drives Your IncomeAdvancing in a Challenging World of Work- Heightened global competition- Flattened management hierarchies- Increased emphasis on self-directed work groups and virtual teams- Innovative communication technologies- Anytime, anywhere and nonterritorial offices- Renewed emphasis on ethicsUnderstanding the Communication Process1. Sender has an idea2. Sender encodes the idea in a message3. Message travels over a channel4. Receiver decodes the message5. Feedback travels to the senderOvercoming Barriers to Effective Listening1. Physical Barriers2. Psychological Barriers3. Language Problems4. Nonverbal Distractions5. Thought Speed6. Faking attention7. GrandstandingBuilding Powerful Listening Skills- Stop Talking- Control your surroundings- Establish a receptive mind set- Keep an open mind- Listen for main points- Capitalize on lag time- Listen between the lines- Judge ideas, not appearances- Hold your fire- Take selective notes- Provide FeedbackYour Body Sends Silent Messages- Eye Contact- Facial Expression- Posture and GesturesTime, Space, and Territory Send Silent Messages- Time: How we structure and use time- Space: How we order space around us- Territory: Certain area that is our own territoryAppearance sends silent messages- Eye appeal of business documents- Personal appearanceBuilding Strong Non Verbal Skills- Establish and maintain eye contact- Use posture to show interest- Improve your decoding skills- Probe for more information- Avoid assigning non verbal meanings out of context- Associate with people from diverse cultures- Appreciate the power of appearance- Observe yourself on video- Enlist friends and familyUnderstanding How Culture Affects Communication- Context- Individualism- Formality- Communication Style- Time OrientationConquering Ethnocentrism and Stereotyping- Ethnocentrism: Superiority of one's own culture- Stereotypes: Oversimplified perception of a behavioral pattern or characteristic applied to entire groups- Tolerance: Flexible attitudesSuccessful Oral Communication With Intercultural Audiences- Use simple English- Speak slowly and enunciate clearly- Encourage accurate feedback- Check frequently for comprehension- Observe eye messages- Accept blame- Listen without interrupting- Smile when appropriate- Follow up in writingSuccessful Written Communication with Intercultural Audiences- Consider local styles- Consider hiring a translator- Use short sentences and short paragraphs- Avoid ambiguous wording- Cite numbers carefullyTips for Communicating with Diverse Audiences on the Job- Understand the value of differences- Seek training- Learn about your cultural self- Make fewer assumptions- Build on similaritiesChapter 11:Defining Professional Behavior- Civility- Polish- Business and Dining Etiquette- Social Intelligence- Soft SkillsSix Dimensions of Professional Behavior- Courtesy & Respect- Appearance & Appeal- Tolerance & Tact- Honesty & Ethics- Reliability & Responsibility- Diligence & CollegialityKnowing What Recruiters Want- Team Skills- Strong Verbal and Written Communication Skills and presentational skills - Interpersonal, organizational, and teamwork skills- Required competencies- People SkillsChapter 2:Understanding Business Writing Goals and the Writing Process- Purposeful- Persuasive- Economical- Audience oriented Following a Writing Process for Better Messages and Presentations- Prewriting: Analyzing and anticipating how an audience will react- Writing: Researching, organizing, and composing the message- Revising: Proofreading and evaluating the letterScheduling the Writing Process- Prewriting: 25%- Writing: 25%- Revising: 50% (45% revising and 5% proofreading)Analyzing Your Purpose- Identifying your purpose- Selecting the Best Channel- Switching to faster channelsAnticipating the Audience- Profiling the audience- Responding to the profileAdapting to the Task and Audience- Stressing audience benefits- Cultivating the "You" viewDeveloping Skillful Writing Techniques- Being conversational but Professional- Expressing yourself positively- Being courteous- Choosing bias-free language- Using plain language and familiar words- Employing precise, vigorous wordsChapter 3:Composing Messages on the Job- Formal Research Methods- Search manually- Access electronically- Go to the source- Conduct scientific experiments- Informal Research and Idea Generation- Look in the files- Talk with your boss- Interview the target audience- Conduct an informal survey- Brainstorm for ideasOrganizing to Show Relationships- The Direct Strategy- Saves the readers time- Sets a proper frame of mind- Prevents frustration- The Indirect Strategy- Respects the feelings of the audience- Encourages a fair hearing- Minimizes a negative reactionConstructing Effective Sentences- Using Four Sentence Types to Achieve Variety- Simple Sentence- Compound Sentence- Complex sentence- Compound-complex sentence- Controlling sentence Length- Avoiding three common sentence faults- Fragments- Run on (fused) sentences- Comma-splice sentencesImproving Writing Techniques- Developing Emphasis- Using active and passive voice- Achieving parallelism- Avoiding dangling and misplaced modifiersDrafting Powerful Paragraphs- Crafting topic sentences- Developing support sentences- Building paragraph coherence- Controlling paragraph lengthComposing the First DraftChapter 4:Managing the Process of RevisionRevising for Conciseness- Eliminating flabby expressions- Limiting long lead ins- Dropping unnecessary there is/are and it is/was fillers- Rejecting redundanciesRevising for Clarity- Dumping trite business phrases- Avoiding jargon and slang- Dropping clichésRevising for Vigor and Directness- Unburying verbs- Controlling exuberance- Choosing clear, precise words- Plain writing movementDesigning Documents for Readability- Employing white space- Understanding margins and text alignments- Choosing appropriate typefaces (fonts)- Capitalizing on type fonts and sizes- Numbering and bulleting lists for quick comprehension- Adding headings for visual impact- Category headingsRecording Proofreading Edits Manually and


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DREXEL COM 270 - Chapter 1

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