During a presentation, which of the following is most likely to be true regarding a Q &
A session?
A) It makes your presentation less interactive.
B) It does not allow you to express your expertise in the area.
C) It does not allow a chance to emphasize and expand important points.
D) It invariably leads to increased criticism and objections.
E) It may make the presenter nervous if required to speak spontaneously.
Answer:
When conducting the audience analysis for a persuasive message, which of the
following is one of the recommended questions?
A) How should you organize the persuasive message?
B) What information does the audience need to know and why?
C) How should I design the format and delivery?
D) Does the content ensure complete information?
E) How will I benefit from my idea or proposal?
Answer:
After reading the ________ of your proposal, your audience should understand your
main ideas without having to read the entire proposal.
A) analysis
B) introduction
C) overview
D) context
E) requirements
Answer:
Using email to communicate bad news ________.
A) is never a good choice
B) doesn’t give your audience time to analyze the bad news before replying
C) makes it more likely that the person communicating will sugarcoat the bad news
D) frees the communicator from worrying about being confronted by an angry audience
E) has been unanimously justified by human resource professionals in the case of
firings and layoffs
Answer:
Documenting or citing your sources ________.
A) undermines the audience’s confidence in the strength of your data
B) demonstrates that you are creative
C) gives your audience the ability to find information mentioned in your report
D) makes your writing seem less impressive because it indicates that the ideas are not
original
E) undermines the credibility of your writing
Answer:
You are most likely to have articulated an answer to the interviewer’s question, “Why
should we hire you?” in your ________.
A) résumé
B) cover letter
C) email confirming the interview appointment
D) business card
E) candidate application form
Answer:
David has flown from California to New York for an interview. He arrives at the
company’s headquarters and meets his interviewer, who tells David they’ll be going out
for lunch.
The interviewer says that two colleagues will be joining them for lunch and they get
ready to depart. David should ________.
A) refrain from conversation on the way to the restaurant
B) be prepared to engage in discussions about politics and religion
C) avoid small talk as this is a professional business lunch
D) not participate in conversations about current events in the news and business world
E) ask about New York and try to learn about volunteer opportunities and professional
networks available in New York
Answer:
Dan Schawbel, an authority on personal and professional branding, recommends doing
a people search instead of a job search. Discuss what he means and whether or not you
agree with this idea.
Answer:
Which of the following reports is designed to inform others quickly about the work you
have done and to provide documentation for future use?
A) feasibility report
B) progress report
C) evaluation report
D) recommendation report
E) formal report
Answer:
A(n) ________ résumé is a traditional format that organizes the content in sequential
order, starting with the most recent and working backward.
A) chronological
B) integrated
C) functional
D) distributive
E) unformatted
Answer:
Active listening ________.
A) is the same as hearing
B) is an innate skill that involves “reading between the lines”
C) is a learned skill that requires focusing on the speaker
D) never involves feedback on the information
E) decreases the chances of correctly understanding the information
Answer:
Which of the following questions is used to identify the level of persuasion necessary
for the proposal, as well as its appropriate form?
A) What are the benefits of my proposal for the audience?
B) What content must I include?
C) How can I establish credibility?
D) Is my proposal solicited or unsolicited?
E) What are the possible objections to this proposal?
Answer:
The indirect approach ________.
A) is the better choice for most requests
B) includes a request at the beginning of the message
C) is easier to understand than the direct approach
D) is more time-consuming for your audience to process than the direct approach
E) is impolite and never appropriate for requests
Answer:
Which of the following mediums for reports is appropriate only for internal audiences?
A) memo report
B) email report
C) letter report
D) formal report
E) presentation report deck
Answer:
Because a proposal is a(n) ________ document, it must not only provide information
but also motivate your audience to act.
A) formal
B) persuasive
C) solicited
D) informative
E) noncompetitive
Answer:
In the ACE process for communication, the first step is ________.
A) adapting
B) adjusting
C) analyzing
D) addressing
E) authoring
Answer:
Searching through which of the following is most likely to yield the narrowest search
results?
A) Lexis/Nexis
B) Standard and Poor’s
C) New York Times Index
D) Hoover’s
E) Ebsco Business Source Premier
Answer:
You have lunch with a friend and she tells you that her office recently implemented
flex-time hours. It has been a positive change at your friend’s workplace, and you think
that it would be great to have flex-timing at your office too. You decide to approach
your boss about this possibility.Which of the following would be best to include in an
email to your boss suggesting the idea?
A) I think a flex-time schedule would be good for me.
B) Flex-time would give me more free time.
C) I bet everyone would love having a more flexible schedule instead of the forced 9-5
work schedule.
D) In other offices, the flex-time schedule has increased productivity and decreased
turnover.
E) It would make people happy if they could leave work early.
Answer:
Julian is applying for a position at a publishing company, and organizes his résumé to
emphasize the skills he has that are related to the position before his work experience.
His work experience to date has been in food service and retail environments. He
documents this experience but doesn’t provide detailed descriptions of his duties, as
they don’t support his objective of getting the publishing position. Which of the
following résumé formats is used by Julian to create his résumé?
A) chronological
B) traditional
C) functional
D) combined
E) plain text
Answer:
Which of the following guidelines must be followed during a business lunch?
A) Follow your host’s lead while ordering food.
B) Put your accessories like briefcase and portfolio on the table.
C) If you excuse yourself temporarily and plan to return to the table, fold your napkin
and place it on your plate.
D) If you are not able to finish your food then get the remaining food packed and take it
with you.
E) Put used silverware on the table, not on your plate.
Answer:
In the context of the ACE process, the ________ questions help you develop what to
say in a bad-news message whereas the ________ questions focus on how to say it.
A) composing; analyzing
B) analyzing; composing
C) composing; evaluating
D) evaluating; composing
E) analyzing; evaluating
Answer:
After you’ve done all you can to make a persuasive case for your program, which of the
following is most appropriate to include in your message as part of your call to action?
A) a request to tell other schools about your program.
B) an invitation to observe one of your classes
C) a fact sheet about a competitor’s program
D) an authorization sheet for your audience to sign
E) additional statistics about the importance of exercise
Answer:
Which of the following statements is true regarding report decks?
A) A report deck is a cost effective way to fill the need of a written report and a
presentation.
B) While costlier and more time-consuming to produce, report decks are highly
effective.
C) Report decks can only be used for certain kinds of reports, but they do them
extremely well.
D) Compared to word processing software, placing pictures, tables, and graphs in
precise locations is more difficult in report decks.
E) Report decks can be used only for informational reports but not for long analytical
reports.
Answer:
The primary audience of your message is ________.
A) the direct recipient of your message
B) anyone who hears about your message
C) anyone who receives a copy of your message
D) anyone who is forwarded a copy of your message from the secondary audience
E) the first person who agrees with your idea
Answer:
A ________ is recorded without an audience, posted on a website or a social media site
such as YouTube or Vimeo, and distributed through website or social media links.
A) slide
B) webcast
C) web post
D) seminar
E) podcast
Answer:
Dexter is delivering a presentation on a new project that is perceived as risky by some
members of his audience. He opens his presentation with the following words: “Nothing
ventured, nothing gained.” This is an example of capturing attention by ________.
A) stating a fact
B) telling an anecdote
C) quoting a familiar saying
D) asking a question
E) sharing a secret
Answer:
If Simon is asked about his salary expectations, which of the following would be his
best response?
A) “My research showed a range of A-B thousand dollars for this job what is your
salary range?”
B) “My minimum salary requirement is C thousand dollars.”
C) “I’m hoping to get D thousand dollars.”
D) “I feel that my skills and experience, coupled with my enthusiasm to work for your
company, make E thousand dollars appropriate.”
E) “Why don’t you tell me how much you think I’m worth?”
Answer:
Cassie is putting together a standalone presentation. Which of the following criteria
should be satisfied by this presentation?
A) Cassie’s slide deck needs to be very comprehensive and include every word Cassie is
planning to say.
B) Cassie must create slides that can be understood by the audience only with the help
of a presenter.
C) Cassie must not include an agenda slide.
D) Cassie must include message headlines summarizing the key point of each slide.
E) Cassie must include all the material on a single slide.
Answer:
Dave and his team are creating a proposal to recommend to their supervisor that the
company’s database should be redesigned.
Dave is working on a succinct description of the database proposal, which encapsulates
in it the opportunity for cost savings and increased functionality the new system
presents, as well as its other key ideas. He is struggling to create content that, while
being brief, will enable his audience to understand the proposal’s main ideas without
having to read the whole document. Dave is working on the proposal’s ________.
A) introduction
B) executive summary
C) body
D) references
E) closing
Answer:
When an interviewer asks you what questions you have, ________.
A) not having any demonstrates a thorough understanding of the job and all that it
entails
B) you should ask a minimum of ten questions that demonstrate your interest in the job
C) you should avoid asking questions about health insurance or the retirement plan as
they are inappropriate at this stage
D) you should ask questions about where company headquarters are located and how
many employees they have because these questions demonstrate your interest in the
company
E) avoid asking about next steps until the interviewer brings them up
Answer:
The contact information on your résumé ________.
A) does not require a postal mailing address in this increasingly technological age
B) should not include links to your social media sites
C) should omit your email address
D) should include a phone number that has a professional voice mail greeting
E) needs to be all-inclusive: all your email addresses, permanent and present addresses
if applicable, as well as your landline and mobile phone numbers
Answer:
If a new employee doesn’t know what is expected of her when asked to review the P&L,
a ________ is interfering with effective communication.
A) psychological barrier
B) semantic barrier
C) language barrier
D) physiological barrier
E) mixed message
Answer:
A(n) ________ is written in response to an advertisement or posting that requests
applications.
A) solicited cover letter
B) unsolicited cover letter
C) memorandum
D) letter of reference
E) recommendation
Answer:
Communication typically occurs ________.
A) in a vacuum
B) between exactly two people
C) between people with identical concerns
D) among multiple people with different contexts
E) among multiple people who encode and decode messages in exactly the same way
Answer:
“You made mistakes in these documents and you must correct them by the end of the
day.”
The statement above uses “you” in a negative way. Which of the following best revises
this statement?
A) I’d appreciate it if you’d fix the mistakes that you made in these documents by the
end of the day.
B) Please correct the mistakes in these documents by the end of the day.
C) The mistakes that you made in these documents must be corrected by the end of the
day.
D) Revise these documents by the end of the day, and please, no mistakes this time.
E) Please don’t make any more mistakes in the documents when you revise them.
Answer: