The Modern Language Association of America recommends compiling the list of
references after you’ve written your report.
Answer:
If you find graphics, photos, videos, and other elements online, you can use them in
your own documents without worrying about copyright violations.
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When delivering presentations online, it is especially important to ask the audience for
frequent feedback.
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The buffer for a negative message should be positive.
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The close of a proposal is the right place to discuss any costs associated with your
recommendations.
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Your writing approach for a proposal should be similar to that used for persuasive
messages.
Answer:
When organizing a speech, use the indirect approach if your purpose is to ________
and the audience is ________.
A) entertain; resistant
B) motivate; receptive
C) persuade; resistant
D) inform; receptive
Answer:
________ data provides information about an individual’s personality, attitudes,
lifestyle, and other psychological characteristics.
A) Demographic
B) Ideographic
C) Psychographic
D) Lithographic
Answer:
The business advantages of today’s diverse workforce include
A) a wider range of views and ideas.
B) a broader talent pool from which to recruit.
C) a better understanding of diverse, fragmented markets.
D) all of the above.
Answer:
Ethnocentrism can be overcome in part by
A) avoiding assumptions.
B) judging other groups according to your own standards.
C) ignoring the distinctions among cultures.
D) remembering people from other cultures communicate in ways that are inferior to
your own.
Answer:
A ________ suggests an individualized solution for a potential customer and requests a
purchase decision.
A) grant proposal
B) sales proposal
C) solicited proposal
D) project proposal
Answer:
Using “teasers” in electronic media as a way to pull readers or listeners into a story or
other document is
A) unethical and should always be avoided.
B) appropriate only when large purchases are not involved.
C) acceptable, as long as the payoff is valuable and legitimate.
D) never appropriate for microblogging sites.
Answer:
According to your textbook, lines of text that are justified are
A) set flush or aligned vertically on both the right and left.
B) presented in bold and italics.
C) set flush left and ragged on the right.
D) set flush right and ragged on the left.
Answer:
Which of the following would be an appropriate handout to accompany an oral
presentation?
A) An interesting but unrelated news article
B) A list of relevant websites
C) A photo of you, with a caption listing all of your qualifications
D) Any of the above
Answer:
As an approach to resolving conflict during team activities, a ________ proposes that
both sides can satisfy their goals (at least to some extent) and seeks to minimize losses
for everyone involved.
A) lose-win strategy
B) lose-lose strategy
C) win-win strategy
D) break-even strategy
Answer:
________ are the particular advantages that readers will realize from the features of a
product.
A) Benefits
B) Optimizations
C) Utilization points
D) Selling points
Answer:
The backchannel can present challenges for business presenters because
A) listeners can build support for your message.
B) audience members who disagree with you can have more leverage.
C) you can get feedback during and after the presentation.
D) supporters can spread your message to a larger audience in a matter of seconds.
Answer:
Many interviewers begin making a decision about the applicant
A) within the first 20 seconds of the interview.
B) during the question-and-answer stage.
C) during the final minutes of the interview.
D) after the candidate has left.
Answer:
Whereas traditional Business Communication tends to emphasize ________, Business
Communication 2.0 focuses more on ________.
A) discussion; lecture
B) collaboration; isolation
C) control; influence
D) permission; intrusion
Answer:
Use a more ________ for longer reports, especially those dealing with controversial or
complex information and those that will be sent to other parts of the organization or to
outsiders.
A) formal tone
B) conversational tone
C) informal tone
D) collaborative tone
Answer:
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.
Answer:
Friendly notes with no direct business purpose, such as those conveying congratulations
or thanks, are called ________ messages.
A) salutary
B) recognition
C) goodwill
D) congratulatory
Answer:
The Communication Close-Up AT ATK explores the emerging field of ________,
which uses statistical modeling to help a company align its business needs and
employee skill sets.
A) employee engagement diagnostics
B) online human resource management
C) proactive knowledge management
D) predictive workforce analytics
Answer:
The most popular visual aids for business presentations are
A) flip charts.
B) whiteboards.
C) slides.
D) overhead transparencies.
Answer:
When preparing a message to someone from another culture, you should
A) never write more than a single paragraph.
B) assume the audience is familiar with common U.S. phrases and references.
C) be sure to remove all graphics, in case they might offend someone.
D) be careful to express numbers and dates in the format used in that person’s culture.
Answer:
Selecting the right medium for your presentation is
A) easy you’re simply giving a speech.
B) an important decision since technology offers a number of choices.
C) only an issue when addressing audiences from other cultures.
D) not something you need to think about early on.
Answer:
You need to consider ________ when you’re sending a video to someone who will view
it on a smartphone.
A) screen size and resolution
B) data usage and operational costs
C) bandwidth, speed, and connectivity limitations
D) all of the above
Answer:
Employees who observe illegal or unethical behavior in the workplace may resort to
________, if they’re unable to resolve the problems through normal channels.
A) ‘shuffling the deck”
B) “calling the game”
C) “blowing the whistle”
D) “breaking the mold”
Answer:
The best type of visual for showing that annual consumer spending has decreased over
the past ten years would be
A) a table.
B) a pie chart.
C) a line chart.
D) an organization chart.
Answer:
An executive summary
A) is shorter than a synopsis.
B) presents a fully developed “mini” version of the report.
C) provides additional information (not covered in the report) that executives will need.
D) is unnecessary if the report is not intended for executives.
Answer:
Stakeholders affected by the quality of business communication include
A) customers.
B) employees.
C) suppliers.
D) all of the above.
Answer:
________ are the accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior within a society.
A) Ethics
B) Expectations
C) Choices
D) Customs
Answer:
If you have a great deal of detailed, specific information to present to allow users to
find specific data point values in decimal form, the best visual to use would be a
A) table.
B) pie chart.
C) diagram.
D) Gantt chart.
Answer:
You can do all of the following except ________ when you paraphrase material from a
secondary source.
A) maintain a consistent tone
B) minimize the choppy feel of too many quotations
C) avoid giving credit to the originator of the information
D) present information with vocabulary that’s more familiar to your readers
Answer:
Clip art cluttering a bar chart is an example of
A) a pictogram.
B) chartjunk.
C) a good way to grab reader interest.
D) all of the above.
Answer:
________ is the process of making informal connections with a broad sphere of
mutually beneficial business contacts.
A) Networking
B) Canvassing
C) Interviewing
D) Surveying
Answer:
________ are informal standards of conduct that members share and that guide member
behavior.
A) Norms
B) Expectations
C) Dynamics
D) Responsibilities
Answer:
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.
Answer:
All of the following except ________ are best practices when using phones at work.
A) being positive and professional when you answer the phone
B) varying your vocal pitch and inflections so people know you’re interested
C) enabling your voicemail, even if you don’t check messages regularly
D) ending your calls with courtesy and clarity
Answer:
To hold your audience’s attention during the body of your speech
A) make at least seven or eight main points.
B) include numerous abstract ideas.
C) relate your subject to your audience’s needs.
D) do all of the above.
Answer:
How are Gantt charts used in business documents?
Answer:
Compare and contrast marketing messages and sales messages.
Answer:
A colleague uses dozens of clip art images in almost every presentation. She asks you
for advice on how to improve the quality of her slides. What advice would you give her
on using clip art, and how would you explain it?
Answer:
What four guidelines should you follow in writing effective closings to negative
messages?
Answer:
What is professionalism? Why is communication important to professionalism?
Answer:
Describe the main sections or elements that are included on most résumés.
Answer:
List at least three general categories of nonverbal communication.
Answer:
Identify six ‘stock” questions you can expect to hear repeatedly during your interviews.
Briefly discuss strategies for responding to them.
Answer:
You are scheduled to discuss a negative performance evaluation with one of the
employees you supervise. How can you emphasize the positive during your
conversation?
Answer:
Explain the steps involved in editing documents for clarity.
Answer:
Identify and discuss the four elements of the production stage for business videos.
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If you’re called upon to create marketing or sales messages for mobile commerce, what
two things should you keep in mind?
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List at least two types of biased language and explain how to avoid each type.
Answer:
What is “chartjunk”?
Answer:
Describe some considerations to keep in mind in timing the distribution of your
handouts.
Answer:
What is the difference between locating information on a website and finding
information in a report or an email?
Answer:
Explain “data visualization” and give at least one example to support your explanation.
Answer: