On the day of your interview, you should arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the
scheduled appointment.
a. True
b. False
All businesses deal with unhappy customers at some point, and they typically follow
this pattern in these situations: call the customer, describe the problem and apologize,
offer an explanation and resolution, and
a. follow up with a message that documents the phone call and promotes goodwill.
b. suggest a facetoface meeting to resolve any remaining issues.
c. come to an agreement on a refund or compensation.
d. provide resale information or promote products and services.
Secondary data come from reading what others have published, experienced, or
observed.
a. True
b. False
You can often reduce flabby expressions to single words.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following is the best tip for replying to email messages?
a. Reply to an email message immediately because reading additional email messages
before replying might confuse you.
b. If you can’t reply immediately, acknowledge receipt of the message and tell the
sender when you’ll be able to reply.
c. Include the sender’s entire original message in the body of your reply to clarify the
meaning of your response.
d. Retain the original subject line to identify a conversation thread even if the topic
shifts.
Messages to management are more persuasive when they include words such as “you
must” or “we should.”
a. True
b. False
You should present your first sentence from memory to establish rapport with the
audience through eye contact.
a. True
b. False
Although you may worry about using the indirect strategy to communicate bad news,
one benefit it has is
a. demonstrating your writing abilities.
b. ensuring that your reasoning will be read while the receiver is still receptive.
c. disguising the bad news.
d. placing the bad news before the explanation.
Which type of hiring/placement interview is the most common?
a. Sequential interview
b. Online interview
c. Panel interview
d. Oneonone interview
All of the following messages to subordinates would use the indirect strategy except
a. instructions to operate the new phone system installed in all offices.
b. suggestions to begin an exercise program in conjunction with the new health
insurance plan.
c. requests to contribute to the organization’s United Way campaign goal.
d. discussion of their opportunities to participate in a companysponsored charity event.
One of the most important steps in effective interviewing is researching the target
company.
a. True
b. False
Panel interviews are typically conducted by people who will be your supervisors and
colleagues. An important advantage of the panel interview is
a. allowing the company to measure the candidate’s leadership and communication
skills.
b. saving company money on repeated interviews and related costs.
c. determining the best candidate through multiple interviews.
d. testing the reactions of a candidate during nerveracking situations.
If you receive constructive criticism on the job, you should focus on your feelings as
much as possible.
a. True
b. False
A record of the proceedings of a meeting is called
a. a progress report.
b. an analytical report.
c. a summary.
d. the minutes.
If your rsum or application generates no response within a reasonable time, you should
consider sending a short followup email or letter to emphasize your qualifications or to
add new information.
a. True
b. False
Communication noise
a. occurs only with the sender in the communication process.
b. includes only environmentally produced sounds that prevent the message from being
transmitted.
c. is anything that interrupts the transmission of a message.
d. describes the medium over which the message travels.
Progress reports are written for only internal readers.
a. True
b. False
You can improve the effectiveness of a claim message by
a. using a few threatening words to get your point across.
b. providing a detailed timeline of what happened and the specific person who is to
blame for the problem.
c. explaining the problem with necessary details.
d. including a subtle reference to your attorney or to the Better Business Bureau.
One advantage of podcasts is that they can broadcast repetitive information that does
not require interaction.
a. True
b. False
When you expect a reader of your message to be uninterested, unwilling, displeased, or
hostile, you should
a. put the bad news first.
b. begin with the main idea.
c. explain all background information first.
d. send the message via email, text message, or IM.
Irina will make her presentation to a large audience of members whose negative
attitudes range from displeased to outraged. What advice should Irina follow in
preparing her presentation for this audience?
a. Include plenty of personal stories, several anecdotes, and lots of jokes or humor.
b. Use facts, statistics, and expert opinions along with an energizing, upbeat delivery
style.
c. Be humorous, add colorful visuals and startling statistics, and keep the presentation
brief.
d. Present objective data and expert opinion in a calm, controlled delivery style.
Courteous business messages
a. avoid using words that sound demanding or preachy.
b. often turn demands into rhetorical questions.
c. avoid hostility or anger.
d. All answer choices are correct.
When a company is dealing with an internal crisis, the best way for the company to
handle this crisis is to let employees and stakeholders find out about the problem
through the office grapevine.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following is the most important element to consider when selecting an
appropriate graphic for a report?
a. Your communication channel
b. Your word processing abilities
c. Your report’s organizational pattern
d. Your objective
A database is a collection of information stored digitally so that it is accessible by
computers and mobile electronic devices.
a. True
b. False
North Americans consider time a precious commodity and correlate it with productivity,
efficiency, and money.
a. True
b. False
Connor opened his presentation to an audience of business owners with this statement:
If you want to reduce employee benefit costs by at least 15 percent without hurting
employee morale or impacting your work environment, please stand up right now. By
asking them to stand, Connor is
a. identifying himself and establishing credibility.
b. previewing the main points of his presentation.
c. capturing listeners’ attention and getting them involved.
d. misleading his audience.
Business writing should be purposeful. In this context purposeful can best be defined as
a. presenting ideas clearly and concisely.
b. concentrating on the receiver’s perspective instead of your own.
c. solving problems and conveying information.
d. getting your audience to believe and accept your message.
As long as you use privacy settings on social networking sites, you do not need to
worry about personal sensitive information being shared.
a. True
b. False
Paraphrasing is
a. restating an original passage in your own words.
b. repeating the grammatical structure of the original passage.
c. replacing original words with appropriate synonyms.
d. indicating the source of the original work.
What should be included in the staffing section of an informal proposal?
a. Credentials and expertise of project leaders
b. List of projected costs
c. Copy of the RFP
d. Schedule or timetable of activities
You should motivate action in the ____________________ of a persuasive request.
The term ____________________ means that websites and Web applications have
moved from “read only” to “readwrite,” thus enabling users to participate, collaborate,
and network in unprecedented ways. It is one of many new communication
technologies that is reshaping the world of work.
To reply efficiently to email messages, you should practice ____________________,
which involves inserting your responses to parts of the incoming message.
One of the best ways to improve the tone of a message is through the use of
____________________ language.
Effective businesspeople use ____________________ mail to intercept and screen
incoming calls.
List and describe two techniques to improve your chance of being understood when
writing to someone from a different culture.
Revise the following sentence to avoid trite business phrases:
Pursuant to your request, enclosed please find a copy of our current catalog.
Interpersonal skills such as working in teams, possessing a positive attitude, prioritizing
work tasks, listening, and demonstrating workplace manners are all examples of
____________________ skills.
____________________ an audience can help a writer determine appropriate language
use and tone, along with the need for background information.
____________________ messaging is a popular means for exchanging brief messages
in real time using a short message service (SMS) supplied by a cell phone service
provider or a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service.
A ____________________ modifier results when the word or phrase the modifier
describes is missing from its sentence.
The introduction of a speech should capture the listeners’ attention and get them
involved, preview the main points of the speech, and establish the speaker’s
____________________.
Most workplace communications will involve routine messages that are positive or
neutral. Therefore, they should be organized using the ____________________
strategy.
Many companies now use ____________________ interviews to save time and money
by eliminating lessqualified candidates before scheduling facetoface interviews.
