Which of the following should be avoided when closing a negative news message?
A) Optimism
B) Uncertain conclusions
C) Final decisions
D) Sincerity
E) Available alternatives
Which of the following is the most fundamental design choice to make when creating
slides?
A) How many slides to use
B) What information to put on the slides
C) Whether to use structured or free-form slides
D) Color palette
E) How to make the slides interactive
All of the following EXCEPT ________ will make your business messages more
effective.
A) providing practical information
B) clarifying expectations and responsibilities
C) presenting information concisely and efficiently
D) discussing personal issues and complaining about problems
What is the “quality inspection” stage of the revision process called?
A) Design
B) Proofreading
C) Mechanics
D) Haptics
E) Consistency
As a key business skill, visual literacy involves
A) being conversant with the latest image-editing software.
B) understanding how visual representations have evolved over the ages.
C) the ability to create effective visuals and interpret them correctly.
D) sharing smartphone photos on social media.
E) being able to read and interpret visuals in a document.
Which type of presentation organization would be most effective if a presenter wants to
move back and forth between topics and levels of detail?
A) Nonlinear
B) Indirect
C) Linear
D) Persuasive
E) Direct
Which rsum format is dominated by work experience, which is placed near the top of
the rsum?
A) Keyword
B) Chronological
C) Functional
D) Combination
E) Skills-based
Which of the following is one of the advantages of a diverse workforce?
A) Local markets are no longer confined to national borders
B) There are fewer communication breakdowns in the international business sector
C) Legal requirements for a diverse workforce are fulfilled
D) Companies can benefit from a wider range of employee talents
E) Salaries are often less and are easier to control
Any space in a message that doesn’t contain text or artwork, both in print or online, is
considered to be
A) ambiguous.
B) unnecessary.
C) neutral noise.
D) white space.
Which of the following can an organization do to promote the use of its internal social
network?
A) Use a private social network
B) Make the system a standalone system
C) Separate the system from any broader collaboration and communication system
D) Have top executives be active on the network
E) Discourage meetings on the network
Should you mark every print or digital message you send as “urgent” to make sure
people pay attention?
A) No, because most networking systems ignore the urgent tag these days
B) Yes, because people are so overloaded anymore they review only the most-urgent
messages
C) Yes, because most corporate email systems are configured to treat non-urgent
messages as spam
D) No, because you’ll annoy readers and damage your reputation
E) Yes, because to get anywhere in business you need to be seen as “high energy”
What is one of the advantages of creating a message using a visual medium with a
digital channel?
A) Complex ideas can be broken down by steps
B) The message creates a permanent, legal record
C) Complex ideas can be effectively described
D) The screen size is easy to adjust
E) The message has a more formal impression
When preparing review sections in a report
A) always write them in narrative form, not as lists.
B) use multiple review sections if the report is long and complex.
C) introduce new facts and information to support the review points.
D) avoid headings and subheadings.
E) avoid restating technical information found in the report.
Which of the following is/are the simplest form(s) of virtual meetings?
A) Videoconferencing
B) Telepresence
C) Virtual whiteboards
D) Online brainstorming
E) Instant messaging and teleconferencing
When making claims or requesting adjustments, you should begin by
A) complimenting the company for past service.
B) providing a detailed description of the faulty merchandise.
C) providing a straightforward explanation of what the problem is.
D) threatening legal action if you do not receive a favorable adjustment.
E) providing a detailed explanation of what you expect the company to do.
The term ________ refers to a line of communication created by people in an audience
to connect with others inside or outside the room, with or without the knowledge of the
speaker.
A) cloud surfing
B) backchannel
C) blogosphere
D) Twitterverse
E) tag cloud
Which of the following is a measure of the combination of forces that drive people to
satisfy their needs?
A) Demographics
B) Psychographics
C) Motivation
D) Appeal
E) Self-actualization
The three primary steps involved in preparing a business message are
A) planning, writing, and completing.
B) informing, persuading, and collaborating.
C) defining the purpose, the main idea, and the topic.
D) satisfying the audience’s informational, motivational, and practical needs.
What channel and medium combination is used in the majority of business
communication efforts?
A) Visual medium, print channel
B) Written medium, digital channel
C) Visual medium, digital channel
D) Written medium, print channel
E) Oral medium, digital channel
Companies are wrestling with the ________, in which employees want to use their
personal tablets and smartphones to access company networks and files.
A) BAPD phenomenon
B) BMSP phenomenon
C) BYOD phenomenon
D) BCNU phenomenon
Which of the following is one way to put the results of a meeting to effective use?
A) Make sure the task assignments are clearly communicated
B) Set an agenda
C) Keep the meeting on track
D) Decide the purpose
E) Encourage participation
In addition to legal systems that vary by culture, which other standard differs by culture,
making international business more complicated?
A) Ethical
B) Judgmental
C) Flexibility
D) Technological
E) Ability
In the direct approach to writing a routine request, state the main idea
A) in the closing of the message.
B) in the middle of the second paragraph.
C) in the opening of the message.
D) at the bottom of the first paragraph.
E) at the end of the second paragraph.
Which of the following would be the most effective way to deliver a report that you’ve
prepared for a small group of managers in your local office?
A) Delivering the report to them in person
B) Texting them to download the report from your personal webpage
C) Spending extra money to hire a professional courier to deliver the report
D) Saving the report in an open-source format on a USB drive and sending it to them
via snail mail
E) Delivering the report to the key decision maker and allowing them to distribute the
report to the rest of the group
By definition, a rsum is a
A) personal journal about a person’s education, employment background, and job
qualifications.
B) structured summary of a person’s education, employment background, and job
qualifications.
C) random sample of a person’s education, employment background, and job
qualifications.
D) comprehensive catalog of a person’s education, employment background, and job
qualifications.
E) description of the type of work they would like to do.
When analyzing numerical data, which of the following is shown by the mean average?
A) The midpoint in a series of numbers
B) The numerical pattern indicated by the data set
C) The number with the strongest cause-and-effect linkage
D) The number that most often occurs in the data set
E) The sum of all items divided by the number of items
Which type of communication includes comments about others that are FALSE and
potentially damaging?
A) Defamation
B) Transparency
C) Auditing
D) Employment
E) Intellectual
When you’re writing promotional messages for social media, use ________ to initiate
and facilitate discussions in your networked community.
A) traditional promotions
B) bait-and-switch tactics
C) conversation marketing
D) opt-in scenarios
E) banner ads and embedded links
Why are support sentences important in a paragraph?
A) They create a transition to the topic sentence
B) They explain or justify the topic sentence
C) They eliminate unity in the paragraph
D) They explain denotative terms
E) They extend the length of simple sentences
Which of the following statements does the best job of delivering bad news clearly and
kindly?
A) I am sorry to have to tell you that we rejected your application.
B) Because you do not have the experience we clearly listed in the job posting, we
cannot offer you the position.
C) There were many highly qualified applicants and the chosen candidate already has a
CPA license.
D) Several other applicants were far more qualified for the position than you were, so
we cannot offer you the job.
E) We have already offered the position to a more qualified candidate.
A letter declining a job offer follows the organizational model for ________ messages.
A) positive
B) transactional
C) recursive
D) negative
E) persuasive
When leaving a voicemail message, which of these should you be sure to include?
A) The best time to return your call
B) Detail questions or instruction
C) Who else you are calling
D) A list of all issues that need to be covered
E) A specific date and time when you will try to call again
The term ________ refers to the interactions and processes that take place among the
members of a team.
A) group dynamics
B) process reconciliations
C) interpersonal rotations
D) cross-functional interlocutions
Which of the following should be used to increase your audience’s interest in a
message?
A) The “you” attitude
B) An emphasis on negative news
C) Words such as “I,” “me,” and “mine”
D) Negative emotional reactions
E) Personal appeals