11
25) By forecasting the audience’s probably reaction, a writer can better determine
A) who key decision makers are.
B) when to state conclusions and recommendations.
C) level of understanding.
D) attitudes and experiences.
E) best medium for delivery.
purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
26) Even if nothing will change because of your message, you should send it if you believe it is
important.
purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
27) When analyzing your audience, you should ignore everyone except the key decision makers.
purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
12
28) Describe at least three of the tasks involved in developing an audience profile.
purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
29) List at least three helpful questions to ask in evaluating the purpose of a message.
purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
30) A knowledge-management system
A) helps companies limit the amount of information employees store on the network.
B) enables organizations to test employees periodically to ensure they are doing adequate
research.
C) is a centralized database of experiences and insights of employees throughout an organization.
D) is a tool for creating a bibliography when writing long reports.
E) is an expensive scan-and-save system for converting paper documents to electronic files.
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
13
31) Informal techniques for gathering insights and focusing your research efforts do not include
A) listening to the community.
B) asking the audience for input.
C) distributing questionnaires and surveys.
D) reviewing reports and other company documents.
E) talking with supervisors, colleagues, and customers.
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Application
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
32) When gathering information for a business message, keep in mind that audiences respond
best to information that
A) they could have found by doing their own research.
B) has not been categorized or grouped in any way.
C) has been filtered and prioritized according to their needs.
D) pertains to a broad cross-section of possible scenarios.
E) is confidential in nature.
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
14
33) When meeting your audience’s informational needs, you should emphasize ideas
A) that will be of greatest interest to the audience.
B) that won’t cause controversy.
C) that will have the least impact on the audience.
D) that don’t need supporting evidence.
E) that the audience doesn’t know.
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
34) A good way to test the thoroughness of your business message is to check it for
A) a main idea.
B) a purpose.
C) the who, what, when, where, why, and how.
D) accuracy.
E) contradictory opinions.
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
15
35) After sending project cost estimates to a longtime client, you realize you failed to include
information on some discount options. The best thing to do is
A) take no action.
B) blame someone else.
C) contact the primary audience immediately and correct the error.
D) start looking for a new job.
E) send a follow-up message, but explain that you just received the information.
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Synthesis
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
36) A good way to test the thoroughness of your message is to use the ________ to ask whether
the message answers who, what, when, where, why, and how.
A) contrarian approach
B) journalistic approach
C) rhetorical approach
D) storytelling approach
E) free writing approach
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
16
37) When gathering information based on reports and company documents, a ________ is
useful.
A) library database
B) product enthusiast
C) conversation with a supervisor
D) journalistic approach
E) knowledge management system
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
38) When determining what an audience needs in order to move forward with a
recommendation, a writer is
A) considering the audience’s perspective.
B) listening to the community.
C) accessing a knowledge management system.
D) engaging in free writing.
E) finding their focus.
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
17
39) The idea of free writing can be used as a(n) ________ during the planning phase of the
writing process.
A) audience analysis tool
B) discovery technique
C) journalistic approach
D) gathering technique
E) way to determine form
of quality information.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
40) One effective informal method for learning more about your audience’s information needs is
to ask them directly for input.
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
41) Messages can be unethical simply because certain details have not been included.
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
18
42) You’ve been asked to prepare a report on whether your company should consider other health
insurance providers. List four informal techniques for gathering information to include in your
report.
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Application
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
43) How can the journalistic approach help you include all required information in your business
messages?
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
44) Briefly describe how to meet an unfamiliar audience’s informational needs.
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
19
45) List at least three strategies to help ensure the accuracy of information you include in
business messages.
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
46) How can your audience’s level of understanding help you determine the appropriate amount
of information to include in a business message?
of quality information.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Creative Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
47) Choosing the right medium for your message
A) is not important as long as the content of your message is accurate.
B) is important only when communicating with managers and supervisors.
C) is vital for external communication, but not important for internal communication.
D) can make an important difference in how your message is perceived.
E) is easier since electronic media are always the best option.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
20
48) Which one of the following is the “leanest” communication medium?
A) podcasts
B) text messaging
C) telephone conversations
D) multimedia presentations
E) infographics
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages
49) Despite your numerous emails and voicemail messages, a normally dependable vendor has
not responded to your important question. Which of the following would be a sensible next step?
A) Consider sending a printed message.
B) Broadcast “high-priority” or “urgent” emails at ten-minute intervals.
C) Use social media to vent your frustrations with the vendor.
D) Bombard the vendor with text messages until he responds.
E) Develop a podcast to be shared with the vendor.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages