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Discussion Questions
Chapter 1: Business and Professional Excellence in the Workplace
1. What are the contexts for business and professional excellence?
2. Why is it important to study communication?
3. Why must a speaker consider all the elements in the communication model for
communication with excellence?
4. Discuss the KEYS process introduced in this chapter. What are the four KEYS features?
5. Work through a personal example--something you either encountered in the past or are
presently experiencing--to help you make sense of the KEYS process. Does it help you get
more familiar with the situation? Are there changes you need to make considering this
particular situation?
Chapter 2: Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
1. What two rules guide communication? Why is appropriateness important when
communicating? Share an example of a time when you experienced inappropriate
communication. Who was the communicator? Why was it inappropriate?
2. Ethical consideration: In a workplace, when, if ever, is it appropriate to verbally
communicate something that is not true? Does this apply to your personal relationships?
Ask three people this same question, and note their responses.
3. What are the principles of nonverbal communication? Discuss at least two nonverbal
communication codes. Which codes discussed in this chapter are the most important to you
as a professional?
4. Name three reasons why nonverbal communication is important. Work through a
personal example of a time when you needed to improve your verbal or nonverbal
communication. What changes would you have made in the situation?
5. Step back and reflect on a time when you received criticism at work or school. How did
you respond verbally? How did you respond nonverbally? How did the environment
contribute to your communication?
Chapter 3: Listening
1. What is the difference between hearing and listening, and why does it matter?
2. List three barriers to listening. Which barriers most frequently affect your ability to
listen? List the steps you will take to improve your ability to avoid these barriers.
3. What is listening bias, and how has it affected your communication interactions in the
past? What can you do to avoid it in future interactions?
4. List and define the four listening styles. Which style do you most relate to? Will this
change now that you know how listening affects your professional excellence?
5. What is the difference between active and passive listening? Conversational and
presentational listening?
Chapter 4: Résumés, Interviews, and Negotiation
1. Discuss the experiences you’ve had interviewing. How did the interviews go? Were you
nervous? What will you strive to do differently in preparation for future interviews?
2. Take a moment to reflect on your dream job. Have you conducted an electronic search of
the organization? What is it about the organization that makes you want to work there?
3. What are the qualities you’re looking for in an employer? Related to some of the
information in this chapter, how could you retrieve information to see if those qualities
exist?
4. Discuss the resources your campus has in place to support the job-seeking process. Do
you plan to use these resources?
5. Take an inventory of your email address and any virtual networks such as Facebook or
Instagram where you have a membership or maintain a profile. Is there any information an
employer could retrieve from the internet that may be perceived as negative?
Chapter 5: Getting to Know Your Diverse Workplace
1. Discuss the attitude or mindset you have about work and finding a job. What are the
primary factors (e.g., family, prior work history) that have influenced your attitude? Do you
think these factors will positively or negatively influence you as you assimilate into your
new organization?
2. How would you describe the organizational culture at your college or university? How
were you assimilated into the culture?
3. What artifacts, rituals, language/jargon, and narratives/stories have you observed in
your workplace?
4. Can cultural diversity be fostered in the workplace through employee education and
training? What experiences have you had, if any, concerning diversity training or
education?
5. Related to organizational culture, what are your impressions of companies such as
Starbucks and Zappos? What, if anything, stands out to you about their organizational
cultures that makes them different in comparison with others? What other companies
stand out to you as having a unique culture?
Chapter 6: Interpersonal Communication at Work
1. What are your strengths when it comes to interpersonal communication? What areas do
you plan to develop?
2. Make a list of several positive customer service experiences you’ve had. Did
interpersonal communication impact your service experience? If so, what makes the
difference in these experiences compared with others?
3. As a manager or leader, what steps would you take, if any, to educate your employees
about interpersonal communication?
4. Do you believe companies should have policies that forbid dating among employees?
Why or why not? Should companies have policies forbidding supervisors and subordinates
to have nonromantic relationships outside work? Why or why not? Should companies have
policies that forbid coworkers to develop nonromantic relationships outside work? Why or
why not?
5. Make a list of private topics that you believe should not be discussed in professional
settings, and then think of a time when your privacy was violated by someone. Was it an
invasion of your private space or of your private information? How did the invasion make
you feel, and how did you react?
Chapter 7: Strengthening Teams and Conducting Meetings
1. Think about the last project you worked on with others. Would you define that as a
group or a team experience? Why would you use that label?
2. Step back and reflect on some meetings in which you have participated. How did the
environment, topics, and participants contribute to the communication in those meetings?
3. During meetings, do you share in the leadership? What roles do you play? When you
have a designated leadership title, do you act as a coach? What norms do you use to help
facilitate effective communication and shared leadership?
4. When it comes to innovative problem solving, in which role (explorer, artist, judge, or
warrior) do you excel, and which role must you work to develop?
5. How do you handle conflict? Have you ever tried a unite approach? Why or why not?
Chapter 8: Technology in the Workplace
1. Discuss an example of a time when you misunderstood another person in a text message,
an email, or an instant message. How did you respond to the misunderstanding? Did you
and the other person clear things up in person, or was it done electronically?
2. Do you have a Facebook, Twitter, or related account? Is there anything posted in your
profile that you think could potentially harm your credibility as a professional?
3. How do you express emotion when communicating with various forms of technology
covered in this chapter?
4. Can the drawbacks and risks associated with communication and technology be
alleviated with employee education and training? What experiences have you had, if any,
concerning training or education related to security, privacy, and professional etiquette?
5. Have you ever experienced information overload? If so, what are some strategies you
implement to help you with time management, filtering spam and email forwards,
excessive text messages, and other distractions? RMS
Chapter 9: Business and Professional Writing
1. Discuss an example of a time when you were offended by written communication. How
did you respond? Did you use written communication for your response, or did you
respond in person?
2. Do you have concerns about other forms of written communication not covered in this
chapter? As a professional, what steps would you take if you were asked to use a form of
written communication with which you were not familiar? Would you delegate the task to
someone else? Would you be honest that you were not comfortable with the project?
3. What steps do you or will you take on the job that will help you strive for professional
excellence with written communication? What strategies do you have, if any, that work for
you?
4. Take a moment to reflect on your experiences with written communication. Have you
ever been caught in an email or letter exchange that crossed the line from professional to
uncivil? What can organizations do to prevent uncivil written communication?
5. Some scholars are concerned about the negative impact of text messaging and other
forms of technology on written communication. Do you share this concern? Do you think
technology encourages you to be less professional in your written communication? Why or
why not?
Chapter 10: Leadership and Conflict Management
1. What type(s) of power do you have as a student? How does that source of power
influence communication with other students, professors, and administrators?
2. How can you use the information you have learned about leadership theories to develop
your leadership skills?
3. Think about the last job interview in which you participated. How effective was the
interviewer? What could he or she have done differently to improve the interview process?
4. What goals have you developed for yourself in your career and/or in your workplace?
What motivates you to reach these goals? In what ways does your motivation differ from
that of other people you know?
5. Have you ever worked with a difficult person? If so, how did you communicate with this
person? Was your communication effective or ineffective? Based on what you have learned
in this chapter, how would you change your communication in this situation?
Chapter 11: Informing and Persuading
1. Can you think of a time when a presentation would have been a more effective channel
for delivering a message than an email or a memo? Why do you think it would have been
more effective?
2. Take a moment to think about someone whom you view as an excellent presenter. What
are the qualities of this person’s verbal and nonverbal communication? Does this speaker
incorporate Aristotle’s appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos)?
3. Take a moment to think about someone whom you view as a bad presenter. What are the
qualities of this person’s verbal and nonverbal communication while presenting? Does this
speaker neglect to incorporate Aristotle’s appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos)?
4. Discuss the qualities of an excellent presentation. In your view, what factors make a
presentation memorable?
5. Reflect on an occupation that interests you or one in which you are currently working.
What are some situations that might require you to give an informative or persuasive
presentation?
Chapter 12: Speech Design
1. How would you go about taking an inventory of your audience before presenting? What
are some examples of ways to retrieve information about an audience before a
presentation?
2. Have you ever seen a speaker make an error when analyzing the audience or context?
How did it affect the presentation?
3. How do you typically go about gathering research? Is your method effective? Is it
thorough? How could it be improved?
4. Think about someone whom you find to be an excellent speaker. What makes this
speaker excellent? How does he or she structure introductions and conclusions? Does he or
she give attention to language and/or supporting aids? Are his or her speeches memorable?
Why?
5. Review the organizational patterns discussed in this chapter. Considering this
information, what preference do you have related to the way you organize information for
a presentation?
Chapter 13: Delivering a Speech With Professional Excellence
1. Have you ever seen a speaker reading a speech? What was your impression of that
speaker? How did you feel as an audience member?
2. When a professor presents a PowerPoint slide that is loaded with text, how do you, as a
listener, respond?
3. Think about the speeches you have given in the past. How much time did you spend
practicing the speech? Do you think it was an adequate amount of time? Why or why not?
4. Have you ever given a team presentation? Did the team members develop their
presentations as a team or as individuals? Was your overall presentation cohesive?
5. How do you respond to the adrenaline rush that accompanies your public speaking?
What can you do to overcome or deal with these responses?
Chapter 14: Work–Life Balance
1. Discuss a time when you felt burned out or overloaded. How did you respond? How did
burnout influence your communication with other people?
2. Have you ever experienced or observed bullying? How did you respond to the bullying?
As a professional, what steps would you take to address workplace bullying?
3. How do you manage stress and emotions such as anger? What strategies do you have, if
any, that work for you?
4. Can the risks and health consequences (for individuals and organizations) associated
with difficult customers and coworkers be alleviated with employee education and
training? What experiences have you had, if any, concerning training or education related
to uncivil workplace behavior?
5. Do you use ICTs to manage time between your school, work, and family life? Do these
devices help you achieve balance? If so, what technologies work for you? If not, what
traditional life organizers do you recommend?
