Factors such as poor acoustics and uncomfortable meeting rooms can be annoying, but
they don’t affect communication.
Answer:
Transitional words and phrases such as, “Now that we’ve covered…” are generally less
important in oral presentations than in written reports.
Answer:
An unsolicited job application letter should begin with a statement designed to get the
reader’s attention.
Answer:
Compliance reports, progress reports, and monitor/control reports are all types of
informational reports.
Answer:
Generally speaking, a line chart should never contain fewer than 2-3 lines.
Answer:
There are no differences between English as written in the United States and English as
written in the United Kingdom.
Answer:
When responding to a customer’s request for a claim, companies usually accept his or
her explanation of the problem.
Answer:
The purpose of a typical screening interview is to measure a job candidate’s personality
and personal qualities.
Answer:
Face-to-face communication is the richest medium.
Answer:
A team consists of two or more people who share a mission and the responsibility for
working to achieve their goals.
Answer:
Using builds can help prevent your audience from reading ahead during your
presentation.
Answer:
One challenge in a screening interview is to keep your answers short while
distinguishing yourself from other candidates.
Answer:
A helpful way to test the thoroughness of your message is to use the journalistic
approach: asking yourself whether you have covered the who, what, where, when, why,
and how.
Answer:
When you’re closing a negative message delivered with the indirect approach, you
should repeat the bad news.
Answer:
Flatter organizational structures generally create less distortion when it comes to
internal communication.
Answer:
If the middle section of your request letter contains a series of questions, save the most
important question for last.
Answer:
An application letter should follow the AIDA format for persuasive messages.
Answer:
It is a good idea to use “company policy” as a cushion when presenting reasons for bad
news.
Answer:
Twitter is one example of a microblogging system.
Answer:
If you use MLA style, your in-text citations include the author’s last name and a page
reference.
Answer:
If you received written authorization to prepare a business report, you should respond
with a letter of acceptance.
Answer:
A good way to open a marketing or sales message would be “We here at Colbert
Corporation are proud to announce our new, improved all-weather tent.”
Answer:
The main purpose of a résumé is to list all your skills and abilities.
Answer:
In the workplace, readers will prejudge the quality of your products or services by the
proposal you submit.
Answer:
When requesting recommendations, you should use the indirect approach.
Answer:
If you expect a hostile audience, you should be careful to present all sides of an issue
before making the case for your own argument.
Answer:
Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to adjectives.
Answer:
Delivering your entire business presentation from memory is generally not very
effective.
Answer:
When listing work experience on a résumé, you should emphasize significant
achievements in each job.
Answer:
Online reference materials generally require more careful evaluation than other types.
Answer:
A synopsis or executive summary is usually less useful in a formal proposal than in
other types of formal reports.
Answer:
If you must give an employee a negative performance review, be sure to identify ways
for that employee to improve his or her performance.
Answer:
An effective paragraph deals with more than the main topic and shows that the writer
intends to be as efficient as possible.
Answer:
The direct approach is never used for negative messages.
Answer:
One example of an effective career objective is, “A fulfilling position that provides
ample opportunity for career growth and personal satisfaction.”
Answer:
Deductive reasoning moves from specific evidence to a general conclusion.
Answer:
Creating effective social media content in business means taking every opportunity to
promote your company’s products.
Answer:
Because many email programs display the first part of a message before it is opened, it
is often helpful to “tweetify” the opening lines to get your reader’s attention.
Answer:
Data visualization focuses on extracting broad meaning from data (rather than on
clarifying individual data points).
Answer:
Nonverbal signals play a vital role in communication because they can ________ a
verbal message.
A) strengthen
B) weaken
C) replace
D) supplement
E) all of the above
Answer:
Explaining negative news in the body of your message
A) is required in all negative messages.
B) adds unnecessary verbiage to the message.
C) is guaranteed to confuse even the most conscientious readers.
D) is required for external audiences but isn’t useful for internal audiences.
E) is often helpful when you’re writing to an important customer.
Answer:
An effective résumé design looks
A) cute and clever.
B) clean and professional.
C) colorful and decorative.
D) trendy and fashion forward.
E) elaborate and congested.
Answer:
________ is not a primary function of the preview section in the introduction to a
presentation.
A) Identifying your main supporting points
B) Giving you time to ease into your presentation
C) Summarizing the main idea of your presentation
D) Revealing the order in which you’ll develop your main points
E) All of the above
Answer:
The 2.0 approach to business communication differs from the traditional approach
because it encourages audiences to
A) become active participants in the communication.
B) listen compliantly and passively.
C) absorb the information the sender shares.
D) remain aloof when communicating in business.
E) use introspection as the pathway to success.
Answer:
The best time to distribute an agenda for a meeting is
A) before the meeting begins.
B) after the meeting ends.
C) during the meeting.
D) ten minutes after the meeting begins.
E) none of the above
Answer:
An advertisement stating that a new resort offers “freedom and comfort along with $50
savings each day” is using
A) an emotional appeal.
B) an analogy.
C) an inductive appeal.
D) both logical and emotional appeals.
E) circular reasoning.
Answer:
Which of the following media would be best for sending a brief internal message
(requiring no response from your audience) about an upcoming software update?
A) Podcast
B) Email
C) Blog
D) Videoconference
E) Formal Letter
Answer:
A crisis management plan
A) defines operational procedures for dealing with emergency situations.
B) is not helpful for small to mid-sized organizations.
C) shouldn’t limit who’s permitted to speak to the media on behalf of the organization.
D) is unnecessary if your organization has not faced any recent crises.
E) does all of the above.
Answer:
RSS feeds can benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from websites or
to aggregate feeds from many sites. However, a drawback to RSS feeds involves the
“fire-hose effect” of
A) having old messages purged by new messages.
B) being discouraged because it’s so hard to subscribe to RSS feeds.
C) getting so many feeds so fast that it’s impossible to manage them.
D) RSS feeds that separate trivial articles from those that are essential.
E) all of the above
Answer:
The social media and technological skills of ________ are helping to change business
communication practices.
A) Generation Y
B) Generation X
C) Generation Q
D) Generation Z
E) Generation T
Answer:
All of the following guidelines except ________ will help you avoid ethical lapses
when you’re creating visual support for a business message.
A) aggregating data carefully
B) oversimplifying complex situations
C) providing background information
D) avoiding emotional manipulation
E) considering all possible interpretations and misinterpretations
Answer:
In ________, communication breakdowns and delays can occur as messages move up
and down through multiple layers of management.
A) inverted organizational structures
B) tall organizational structures
C) reflexive organizational structures
D) open organizational structures
E) flat organizational structures
Answer:
The most common file format for uploading résumés directly to websites such as
Monster.com is
A) WordPerfect.
B) PDF.
C) Microsoft Word.
D) Microsoft Publisher.
E) HTML.
Answer:
When you’re responding to questions during an interview, you’re more likely to answer
them successfully if you
A) begin speaking before the employer finishes asking the question.
B) reply in a terse, matter-of-fact style throughout the interview.
C) pause for a moment before answering each question.
D) treat all questions as an opportunity to clarify your personal preferences.
E) do none of the above.
Answer:
An online survey is vulnerable to ________ because it captures only the opinions of
those who visit the site and choose to participate.
A) sampling bias
B) backchannel static
C) circular reasoning
D) emotional manipulation
E) transactional dysfunction
Answer:
The primary difference between a marketing message and a sales message is
A) so insignificant that the two can be used interchangeably.
B) that a sales message asks potential buyers to make a purchase decision right away.
C) that sales messages are longer.
D) that marketing messages are more aggressive.
E) that marketing messages are more difficult to compose.
Answer:
The term ________ is another name for a synopsis in a technical or professional report.
A) abstract
B) thesis
C) prospectus
D) quick view
E) outline
Answer:
In general, employers are looking for two things: proof that a candidate can handle the
responsibilities of the position and
A) excellent references.
B) high employment test scores.
C) evidence that the person will fit in with the organization.
D) long-term commitment to the organization.
E) advice on how their company can meet the candidate’s needs.
Answer:
A presenter who is using free-form slides is
A) free to read the presentation script word-for-word.
B) released from the constraints of place and time.
C) responsible for conveying more of the content.
D) able to rely on each slide to function as a multimedia teleprompter.
E) more likely to present complex subjects in a cohesive, integrated manner.
Answer:
Using white space in a document
A) means that you’re not including sufficient facts and details.
B) is only an option when you can’t use color.
C) makes your document look drab and unappealing.
D) provides visual contrast and important resting points for your readers.
E) is helpful only when you lack adequate information.
Answer:
During the question-and-answer stage of an interview
A) stick with one-word, yes-or-no answers.
B) let the interviewer lead the conversation.
C) respond to all questions immediately.
D) don’t ask any questions of your own.
E) be assertive and control the conversation.
Answer:
When employers find lies on an applicant’s résumé, most will
A) ignore it, since almost all applicants exaggerate their qualifications.
B) call the applicant to discuss it.
C) refuse to hire the applicant, even if it means withdrawing a formal job offer.
D) keep the application active, but continue looking for other promising candidates.
E) assume that the applicant simply made a mistake.
Answer:
Use ________ to organize a message if you believe your audience will be receptive to
what you have to say.
A) the direct approach
B) the didactic approach
C) the dialectical structure
D) the diametric paradigm
E) the divergent model
Answer:
When your message is complex and includes a large amount of information,
A) a variety of techniques (such as brainstorming) can help determine your main idea.
B) it is best to allow the audience to figure out the main idea on their own.
C) effective communicators realize that trying to find a single main idea is a waste of
time.
D) it is not necessary to determine a single main idea, as long as you are clear about
your topic.
E) audiences will not expect you to have only one main idea.
Answer:
The best email address to include on a résumé is
A) the one you have through your current employer.
B) a free personal address from one of the many services that offer them.
C) one that creatively includes the name of the company to which you are applying.
D) nonethat way employers will be forced to call you.
E) one that includes numbers only, since this will help protect your privacy.
Answer:
When you’re writing a persuasive message, you can encourage a positive response by
doing all of the following except
A) using positive, polite language.
B) taking steps to establish your credibility.
C) understanding and respecting cultural differences.
D) projecting your aspirations onto members of the audience.
E) none of the above.
Answer:
In the social media landscape, companies that ________ are likely to be ignored.
A) talk with customers, not at them
B) use a conversational approach
C) take a “we talk, you listen” approach
D) help customers gain a voice in marketplace
E) all of the above
Answer:
In the reasons section of a negative message, you should
A) present enough detail for the audience to understand your reasons.
B) explain what your decision is before you explain why you have reached it.
C) apologize for the negative decision.
D) clearly state that you and your company are not at fault, even if it is unclear who is
to blame.
E) do all of the above.
Answer:
When you need to show processes, transformations, and other activities, the most
effective visual choice would be
A) infographics
B) flowcharts and diagrams
C) animations and videos
D) data visualizations
E) word clouds
Answer:
In marketing and sales messages, the best way to handle potential objections is to
A) avoid mentioning them.
B) identify them up front and try to address as many as you can.
C) explain why the objections aren’t really important.
D) suggest that anyone who has them simply needs to do more research.
E) imply that they stem from remarkable ignorance.
Answer:
The connotative meaning of a word is
A) its dictionary meaning.
B) its literal meaning.
C) all the associations and feelings the word evokes.
D) its objective meaning.
E) the same as its denotative meaning.
Answer:
In computer graphics, a template
A) is a tool for creating curves and geometric shapes.
B) helps ensure an effective design and saves you the time of making numerous
decisions every time you create a chart or graphic.
C) is any kind of chart generated by a spreadsheet program.
D) is a tool for creating classic architectural views.
E) is helpful only for those who cannot use basic software functions.
Answer:
If you include an attention line in a business letter, you should place it
A) at the top of the page, centered under the letterhead.
B) below the salutation.
C) two lines below the complimentary close.
D) on the first line of the inside address.
E) none of the above.
Answer:
What is ethnocentrism? How can you overcome it?
Answer:
Explain why goodwill messages are important, and describe at least two characteristics
of effective goodwill messages.
Answer:
Explain what it means to take the initiative to find job opportunities, and why it is
necessary in today’s job market.
Answer:
What are seven guidelines to keep in mind when creating content for business-related
social media?
Answer:
List three strategies to become more sensitive to your audience’s needs.
Answer:
What three goals should you have when answering routine requests and a potential sale
is involved?
Answer:
Briefly explain how the components of a formal proposal often differ from those of
other formal reports.
Answer:
What are your five main goals when delivering bad news?
Answer:
Explain each phase of the three-step writing process.
Answer:
Briefly describe the three roles nonverbal signals play in communication.
Answer:
List at least three areas of nonverbal communication that can differ widely among
cultures.
Answer:
List the four steps involved in planning an oral presentation.
Answer:
When composing negative messages, what type of language should you use?
Answer:
List and briefly describe the five elements that usually are part of a formal work plan.
Answer:
What is telepresence?
Answer:
List two goals to achieve in the body of a business presentation.
Answer: