Rsums are skimmed by employers to determine whether to discard it or whether to
further scan it electronically.
Recommendation progress reports organize information under various tasks one has
worked on during a project.
Reports can be termed as persuasive messages if they recommend action.
While designing power point slides, it is important to use clip art to make the material
more interesting, irrespective of whether the art is apt for the points mentioned.
When preparing a budget for a proposal, it is important to ask for the least amount of
requirements which helps the funder think that one understands the scope of the project.
Formation, coordination, and formalization are the three stages in the life of a task
team.
Making a message clear and unambiguous helps in handling an audience which may
oppose a message.
After the question period in an oral presentation, the speaker should summarize the
main point once more.
It is ideal to use the word “you” in reports to help readers identify with one’s
recommendations.
The best way to handle the thinking type of audience is to use emotion and personal
scenarios to show how one’s ideas value the needs of the people in the organization.
The designing process needs to be planned and implemented only when one has
completed writing a document.
A subordinate can prepare for an appraisal interview by listing his/her achievements
and goals and accomplishment made during the appraisal period.
Employers review rsums and cover letters knowing that the applicants can probably do
much better than what appears in the rsum.
When one knows a reader’s name but not the gender, it is good to use the reader’s first
name in the salutation.
Job letters can be seen as evidence of your written communication skills.
A document which looks appealing always works well with an audience.
While writing progress reports, it is essential to present every detail as equally
important instead of emphasizing on specific ones.
It is good to use more politeness if one is asking for something that will inconvenience
the audience.
It is important to avoid using a salutation and close that remind an audience of their
membership in a group if everyone in an audience shares the same experiences, goals,
and values.
Common errors which weaken arguments in a message are known as logical fallacies.
A presenter tends to sound more natural if he talks from memory and does not refer to
notes.
It is best to spend at least 75% of one’s time writing a document in order to get the best
results.
Feasibility reports provide information but not analysis to support a recommendation.
Good design is important only for brochures and newsletters and is irrelevant for
announcements, memos, and one-page letters.
In order to ensure that a photograph is bias-free, one should check relationships and
authority figures as well as numbers.
A buffer is a statement that allows a communicator to present bad news in the beginning
of a message.
A solicited letter is written by a job seeker who is trying to tap into the hidden job
market.
Progress reports can simply summarize an applicant’s income and other credit
obligations.
Major requests that require great effort or changes in values, culture, or lifestyles should
ideally be made in e-mail messages.
To maintain a good image of the communicator and the communicator’s organization is
a secondary purpose of a negative message.
Job duties get more emphasis in a vertical list than in a paragraph.
A good way to handle a negative audience is by using condescending or hostile phrases
which will make them realize their mistake.
You must use key words very carefully in your Summary of Qualifications section.
Chronology of events is an example of a buffer statement in a message.
Rachel Reed is writing a report on “Impacts of Deforestation in the Amazon.” Among
the many impacts, she wants to emphasize on global warming as the most critical one.
She wants to place this information in the most important part of the page. In which
quadrant of her report should Reed place this information?
A. Top right
B. Centre
C. Lower centre
D. Top left
E. Lower left
A job application letter can be made effective in convincing the reader that an applicant
is knowledgeable of the company by:
A. providing relevant evidence from what the applicant has done in the past to support
claims that this person can do the job.
B. presenting information about the company as if it will be news to the reader.
C. discussing 10 to 12 specific details to demonstrate the applicant’s knowledge.
D. making the job application letter general enough so that it can be sent to a number of
different companies.
E. repeating the knowledge learnt from the company website and other sources.
Which of the following guidelines need to be followed while preparing a proposal?
A. Defining a problem as one sees it, instead of as the audience sees it
B. Avoiding suggestions for predicted consequences if a problem is currently unsolved
C. Provide an ambiguous schedule that shows overall work instead of work completed
in each phase
D. Showing that money, time, health, or social concerns do not solve a problem
E. Specifying topics that will be investigated and how data will be gathered
Green Cross, an environmental non-governmental organization, is planning on starting
a Sustainable Agriculture Campaign in Ireland. The Campaign directors now need to
decide on an interpersonal leader for the campaign. Which of the following roles should
the leader be able to undertake?
A. Disagree with all solutions put forward
B. Take every opportunity to be the first to speak
C. Make jokes and help divert the team from the task
D. Insist on his way of undertaking tasks
E. Monitor the team’s tasks and resolve conflicts
Which of the following is an example of a simple sentence?
A. The new Bradshaw store on Hutchins Road sells recycled products.
B. The new Bradshaw store sells clothes but is yet to introduce footwear.
C. The new Bradshaw store sells a range of items though the old store does not.
D. The new Bradshaw is popular even though the customer service is not great.
E. I will visit the Bradshaw store today only if my class ends early.
Which of the following is true of ethics in business communication in today’s world?
A. Ethical concerns are no more a part of the business environment.
B. Business ethics comprise exclusively of international pacts.
C. Basic communication decisions do not have an ethical component.
D. Employees nowadays have limited means for whistleblowing.
E. Activities at the heart of business may be ethical or manipulative.
Which of the following represents the relating conversational style?
A. Seeing questions as requests for information and offering solutions
B. Seeing aggressiveness as a way of organizing the flow of conversation
C. Interpreting statements about other issues as efforts to change the topic
D. Not requiring new comments to relate explicitly to last speaker’s comment
E. Tending to define topics gradually and progressively
E-mails that try to lure receivers to send sensitive information are known as _____.
A. phishing messages
B. greylisting
C. honeypots
D. spamtraps
E. tarpits
Sally Mitchell is preparing a report on “The Rate of Urban Development in different
cities of Guinea.” Which of the following is she most likely to include in the appendix
of the report?
A. Analysis of causes and possible solutions
B. Information that directly relates to the discussion in the body
C. Information that is essential for the proof of the report
D. Supporting data that will be scrutinized by specialists
E. Crucial statistics on development rates in different cities
Which of the following visuals can be used to show schedules for projects?
A. Bar chart
B. Pie chart
C. Gantt chart
D. Line graph
E. Dot chart
_____ is an external document granting or denying customer request to be given credit
for damaged goods.
A. 10-K Report
B. Quarterly report
C. Policy and procedure bulletin
D. Transmittal
E. Claims adjustment
Which of the following should be undertaken while providing refusals in a message?
A. Deemphasize the refusal by placing it in a different paragraph from that of the reason
B. Ensure the implication is ambiguous so that the reader is not easily offended
C. Ensure that another message need not be written to convey the same message again
D. Emphasize the refusal by putting it in a separate paragraph by itself
E. Present both strong and weak reasons to a refusal and let the audience choose from
them
Which of the following should be undertaken while revising a collaborative piece of
writing?
A. Evaluate the content and discuss possible revisions as a team
B. Ensure several good writers make changes for a consistent style of writing
C. Ensure one team member evaluates the organization for possible revisions
D. Avoid running the document through a spell check because it is never reliable
E. Ensure it aligns with one’s writing style irrespective of business writing conventions
Which of the following is true of claims in a business communication?
A. They should always be conveyed through a paper trail instead of a phone call.
B. They should invariably start with a buffer to ensure they are seen as a strong claim.
C. They should include supporting facts such as what went wrong and the extent of
damage.
D. They should be free from identifiers because they tend to cloud a reader’s judgment.
E. They should ambiguously project the problem at the end of a message.
Which of the following might be an interpretation of the color yellow in a visual in
Western culture?
A. Warm, earthy, and mature
B. Strong, brave, and passionate
C. Happy, friendly, and optimistic
D. Clean, innocent, and pure
E. Jealous, inexperienced, and greedy
Which of the following does a background section of a report cover?
A. Recommendations to solve a problem or issue
B. Title of the report and name of the person it is created for
C. Arguments backed with essential evidence and data
D. Insight for people reading the document in years to come
E. Analysis of causes of a problem and its possible solutions
Which of the following steps should be undertaken in a campus interview?
A. Avoid following standard protocols which prevents one from standing out
B. Focus on one main selling point that one wants the interviewer to remember
C. Schedule the interview late in the day if one is given a choice about the schedule
D. Have good professional stories about one’s work to help stand out in the crowd
E. Avoid mentioning selling points because they distract the interviewer and disrupt the
process
Alice Turner needs to write a report for a class assignment and she has already finished
planning and gathering all the necessary information for the report. She now wants to
start writing and is planning on using a font which makes all letters use an equal
amount of space. Which of the following should Turner use?
A. Roman
B. Palatino
C. Helvetica
D. Courier
E. Arial
_____ of a message provides the logical and emotional links that move an audience
from their first flicker of interest to the action that is wanted.
A. History
B. Recommendations
C. Illustrations
D. Executive Summary
E. Body
Which of the following best helps build emotional appeal?
A. Statistics
B. Graphs
C. Numbers
D. Stories
E. Tables
Lisa Edwards is an advertising executive and needs to give a presentation on launching
a line of spring clothing. She knows that her presentation needs to present important
statistics and figures to support her arguments. However, she intends to convince her
audience primarily by using emotional appeal. Which of the following sentences can
help her in connecting with the audience through emotional appeal?
A. “We will save 20 percent labor costs if we launch our line by mid-September."
B. “We have a total of 20 years of experience in advertising in the country."
C. “We will use eco-friendly raw materials to help conserve the environment."
D. “We have an experience of working with companies like Campbell and Co."
E. “We strive to achieve a profit of $85,000 from our spring line of clothing."
Sandra Collins needs to send out the annual campaign report to the board of directors.
She needs to collect various project reports from the campaign managers, consolidate
them before sending them out by the end of the month. Which of the following should
she say in her communication to the managers which will help Collins get them to act
promptly?
A. “Please send in the campaign reports as soon as possible."
B. “Is it possible for you to send me the campaign reports?"
C. “Please send the campaign reports immediately."
D. “Please send the campaign reports by February 20, 5 pm."
E. “Can you send the reports by March 1?"
Which of the following parts of a negative message allows one to delay a negative with
the help of a neutral or positive statement?
A. Subject line
B. Buffer
C. Reason
D. Alternative
E. Ending
Ruella Morris, a sales manager at Orbit Bank, is preparing a report on details of new
accounts opened in the previous financial year. She is writing the report based on
accounts opened on a monthly basis which will help in evaluating productive and
non-productive months for the company. Which of the following is Morris using?
A. Spatial
B. Chronological
C. Geographic
D. Elimination of alternatives
E. Pro-and-con
Which of the following best represent noncompetitive proposals?
A. They often lose out on resources against other proposals.
B. They consist of applications for research funding.
C. They have no real competition from other proposals.
D. They are always awarded to the lowest bidder.
E. They rarely get accepted to be implemented.
Frances Woods is a forest preservation expert and needs to attend a videoconference
interview with a rainforest conservation organization today. In the past week, she has
managed to prepare well for the position she is applying for and undertaken substantial
research on the organization. Which of the following should she undertake in the
videoconference interview which will help her perform well in it?
A. Ensure she answers questions in a manner which shows she has memorized them
well
B. Be thorough with her answers because her employer cannot ask follow-up questions
C. Ensure her answers are over four minutes each which elaborate on all related details
D. Avoid asking the interviewer if they want more information about one’s answers
E. Do a practice video ahead of time and check her posture, gestures, and facial
expressions
A good _____ gives a communicator 30 to 60 seconds to motivate an audience to read
the rest of the message.
A. Conclusion
B. Recommendations
C. Opener
D. References
E. Background
Beverly Vaughn recently gave a presentation on “The Benefits of Investing in Frank
Middleton Mutual Funds.” The seminar was a big success and Vaughn gives its credit to
careful analysis of the audience’s psychographic characteristics. Which of the following
characteristics does the analysis most likely indicate?
A. Over 40 percent of the audience believes in ensuring security during old age.
B. Over 70 percent of the group members are scientists with Ph.D. degrees.
C. At least 20 percent of the audience members are nearing retirement age.
D. Nearly 35 percent of the participants are from Asian backgrounds.
E. Approximately 25 percent of the audience’s participants are women.
Anthony Evans is a professor at Montfort University and recently divided his class into
two teams to work on an assignment. When he received the assignment submissions, he
noticed that though team A comprised of more intelligent students than Team B, Team
B’s strong team skills contributed to better quality of their assignment. Which of the
following did team B undertake which made them more capable than the other team?
A. They avoided interactions to discuss progress because it wasted crucial time.
B. They undertook their tasks independently instead of together as a team.
C. They rationalized criticism and took individual contributions for granted.
D. They had a large number of passive members and set ambiguous goals.
E. They dealt directly with conflicts and paid attention to members’ emotions.
Which of the following is a danger of groupthink?
A. Too many alternatives will emerge, making it impossible to reach a consensus.
B. Members will test and analyze their assumptions against those of others in the team.
C. Each person will believe that he or she is right and make it hard to reach a
consensus.
D. Members will fail to prepare contingency plans to cope with foreseeable setbacks.
E. Members will make decisions that are riskier than the initial inclination of its
members.
Which of the following is a purpose of wikis?
A. Promoting products and adding visibility of a brand
B. Bookmarking and summarizing web pages
C. Informing clients of terms and conditions in a transaction
D. Recruiting prospective employees to an organization
E. Establishing a good relationship with customers
Which of the following is a way to deemphasize negatives?
A. Focusing on limitations to solve a problem efficiently
B. Justifying negative information by giving a reason
C. Using hidden negative in place of negative connotations
D. Avoid linking negative information to an audience benefit
E. Placing negative information in the beginning
Ally Fisher works as communications executive at a non-governmental child right
organization. She has finished compiling the annual report for the current year and now
needs to send it out to all the campaign managers in the organization. Which of the
following would be the most appropriate subject line to send out the report?
A. Annual Report for your reference
B. Annual Report for the current year
C. Objectives, Milestones and Lessons learned in 2011
D. 2011 Annual Report
E. Details of our Annual Campaigns
What are some key elements that a good agenda should comprise of?
Identify the guidelines you should follow when submitting an e-mail letter with an
attached rsum.
Explain when is it appropriate to use each of the following types of visuals: table, bar
chart, pie chart, and line graph.
List out some negative roles and actions that hurt a team’s product and process.
What should you do in the first paragraph of a job prospecting letter?
What is the importance of emotional appeal in a message?
What is the best way to organize a cover letter for a long sales proposal?
Explain with an example, the work schedule section of a proposal.
Explain how a primary audience differs from a secondary audience?
How should one handle questions while giving an oral presentation? What are the key
points to keep in mind?
List out some common tips for time management.
What are the five guidelines for designing presentation slides?
What are some of the key points to keep in mind about hidden negatives?
What are topic headings and talking heads and how are they different from each other?
How should one organize a message while conveying bad news to superiors?
What is the importance of tone in a negative message?
List three tips for properly designing a bar chart as a visual in a document.
Ally Hale needs to prepare a presentation to motivate members of the sales team to
achieve their monthly target of selling a savings banking account. The savings account
is popular among high-end customers and large corporate houses. What steps should
Hale adopt which will help her achieve this objective?