Fifth Edition BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION PLANS, PROCESSES, AND PERFORMANCE James R. DiSanza Idaho State University Nancy J. Legge Idaho State University Allyn & Bacon Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo
CONTENTS Preface xiii Chapter 1 THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS AND THE PROFESSIONS 1 What Is Communication? 3 Meaning 3 The Flow of Messages 6 Goals of Communication 9 Shared Meaning Is the Objective of Most Business and Professional Communication 9 Ambiguity Is the Objective of Some Business and Professional Communication 10 Effective Communication Is Audience Centered 10 Effective Communication Is Strategic 11 Summary 12 Part I Dyadic and Croup Communication 15 Chapter 2 LISTENING AND FEEDBACK IN ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 15 Recall Listening 16 Invite People to Talk 16 Motivate Yourself to Listen 17 Attend With Your- Entire Body 17 Focus on Content Rather Than Delivery 17 Defer Judgment 18 Take Advantage of Thought Speed 18 Listen for Meaning 18 Probe With Open-Ended Questions 19 Take Notes 21 Empathic Listening 21 Develop an Attitude of Acceptance 21 Provide Feedback 23 Summary 26 VII
viii Contents Chapter 3 COMMUNICATING IN ORGANIZATIONAL GROUPS AND TEAMS 28 The Leadership Role 29 Leaders Organize the Team's Work 30 Leaders Define the Team's Focus 32 Membership Competencies in Groups and Teams 34 Decision Making in Group and Team Meetings 36 Preparing and Conducting Meetings 36 Decision-Making Agendas 38 Discussion Techniques for Enhancing Creativity 41 Conflict in Groups and Teams 45 Too Little Conflict 45 Too Much Conflict 45 Summary 48 Chapter 4 INTERPERSONAL DYNAMICS IN ORGANIZATIONS 52 Interpersonal Power and Politics 53 The Nature of Organizational Power 53 The Nature of Organizational Politics 54 Creating a Power Base for Political Action 58 Building Interpersonal Networks: The Experience of Women and Minorities 60 Barriers to the Interpersonal Network 60 Overcoming Interpersonal Network Barriers 62 Sexual Harassment: A Gross Imbalance of Power 64 Formal Strategies for Managing Sexual Harassment 66 Informal Strategies for Managing Sexual Harassment 66 " Summary 68 Chapter 5 PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEWS 71 The Employment Interview 72 The Pre-lnterview Stage 72 The Interview Stage 85 The Post-Interview Stage 92 Performance Appraisal Interviews 93 The Performance-Planning Interview 94 The Performance Appraisal Interview 96 Summary 97
Contents IX Part II Creating a Professional Presentation 99 Chapter 6 CONSIDERING AUDIENCE FEEDBACK 99 Analyze the Situation 100 Occasion 100 Size 101 Organizational Culture 102 Physical Environment 102 Time 103 Analyze Listener Characteristics 103 Demographics 103 Captivity 104 Predisposition Toward the Speaker 104 Predisposition Toward the Topic 105 Techniques for Analyzing the Audience 111 Summary 113 Chapter 7 PREPARING AND DELIVERING PRESENTATIONS 116 Decide on the General Purpose 117 Select a Topic 117 Develop the Specific Purpose Statement 118 Develop the Main Idea Statement 119. /. Gather Supporting Material 120 Examples 120 Statistics 121 Testimony 121. Research the Topic 122 Using the Library 122 Using the Internet 123 Conducting Interviews 125 Apply the Information Learned From the Audience Analysis 126 Structure the Main Ideas in the Body of the Speech 128 Chronological Structure 128 Spatial Structure 129 Cause-Effect and Effect-Cause Structures 129 Problem-Solution Structure 130 Topical Structure 130
Contents Outline the Speech 130 The Preparation Outline 131 The Delivery Outline 135 Develop the Introduction and Conclusion 137 The Introduction 137 The Conclusion 140 Rehearsal and Delivery Considerations 141 Summary 143 Chapter 8 CREATING AND USING VISUAL AIDS 145 Types of Visual Aids 146 Objects 146 Models 146 Whiteboard or Flip Chart 147 Handouts 147 Photographs 147 Computer-Generated Charts, Graphs, and Visuals 147 Presenting Visual Aids to the Audience 161 Summary 164 Part III Types of Business and Professional Presentations 167 Chapter 9 TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS 167 Understanding the Audience for Technical Information 168 General Guidelines for Communicating Technical Information 170 Make Appropriate Word Choices 170 Make Frequent Use of Examples and Analogies 171 Translate Measurement Scales Into Useful Analogies 172 Create Relevant Visual Aids 173 Overcoming Obstacles to Shared Meaning 173 Difficult Concepts 173 Difficult Structures or Processes 175 Structuring the Technical Presentation 186 Summary 186
Contents xi Chapter 10 PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS 189 Audience Analysis for Persuasive Proposals 190 Proposal Structures 190 The Problem-Solution Structure 191 Monroe's Motivated Sequence 192 The N-A-R Structure 194 The Balance Structure 195 Developing Persuasive Arguments 197 Deductive Arguments 197 Inductive Arguments 202 Refutation Tactics 205 Outlining Your Points to Show Logical Relationships 206 Developing Effective Credibility Appeals 207 Developing Effective Emotional Appeals 207 Summary 212 Chapter 11 SALES PRESENTATIONS 214 The Significance of Sales Presentations in Business and the Professions 215 Audience Analysis for Sales Presentations 219 Asking Questions 219 Listening for Metaphors 220 Adapting to Different Decision Styles 221 Content Considerations for Sales Presentations 221 Delivering the Sales Presentation 225 Structuring the Sales Presentation 225 Summary 227 Chapter 12 RISK COMMUNICATION 229 The Significance of Risk Communication in Business and Government 230 The Scientific Process of Risk Analysis 232 The Goals of Risk Analysis 232 Risk Analysis as an Inexact Science 235 Audience Perceptions of Risk 237 Credibility and the Process of Risk Communication 238 Individual Credibility 239
xii Contents Process Cred i b i I ity 240 Institutional Credibility 243 Creating Risk Messages 243 Informative Risk Communication 244 Persuasive Risk Communication 246 Best Practices in Risk Communication 248 Infuse Risk Communication Into Policy Decisions 248 Account for Uncertainty Inherent in Risk Assessment 248 Involve the Public in Dialogue 249 Account for Stakeholder Perceptions 249 Present Messages Honestly and With Compassion 249 Plan Carefully and Evaluate Efforts 249 Summary 249 Chapter 13 CRISIS COMMUNICATION 253 The Significance of Crisis Communication in Business and the Professions 255 The Components of Crisis Communication 263 Forming a Crisis Management Team and Precrisis Planning 263 Communication Responses to Organizational Crisis 265 Emergency Response Communication 266 Image Restoration Messages 267 Effectively Employing Crisis Communication Strategies 274 Use Multiple Strategies in Concert With One Another 275 Support All Strategies With Strong Reasoning and Evidence 275,A-r Exercise Visible Leadership From the Highest Executives 275 Identify the Target Audience and Select Strategies Accordingly 276 Recognize the Limits of Persuasive Communication 278 Structuring the Organizational Image Briefing 278 Summary 283 Index 289 Credits 301