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LESSON PLAN FOUNDATIONS FOR
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION ESSENTIALS, 8TH EDITION
These lesson plan foundations from the Bovée and Thill QuickSwitch textbook transition system are
included here for your convenience. Each of the 10 lesson plan foundations covers roughly a week’s
worth of teaching material, and you can mix and match pieces of the plans to create a new lesson plan or
enhance an existing lesson plan.
Lesson Plan Foundation
1. Introducing Students to Professional-Grade Communication
These lesson plan foundations provide core materials that you can integrate into an existing
lesson plan or use to build a new plan. Each foundation covers roughly a week’s worth of
subject matter, which you can adapt to your course schedule, teaching style, and other
individual requirements. The material is based on a specific Bovée & Thill edition, making it easy
to assign the suggested readings and activities from the text. Comprehensive lecture notes and
answers to student activities from the text are available in the Instructor’s Resource Manual.
Overview
This lesson plan foundation corresponds to Chapter 1, Professional Communication
in a Digital, Social, Mobile World, which introduces communication as a professional
skill, discusses the continuing revolutions in communication technology, and prepares
students for the ethical challenges they will face as business communicators.
Core Messages for Students
• Improving your communication skills may be the single most important step you can take in your career.
Whether you’ll be working as an employee, an entrepreneur, a freelancer in the “gig economy,” or a
corporate manager, your success depends on your ability to communicate.
Learning Objectives
The objectives for this lesson align with the objectives from Chapter 1:
1. Define communication, and explain the importance of effective business communication.
3. Describe the communication process model, and explain how social media are changing the nature of
business communication.
5. Define ethics, explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse, and list six
guidelines for making ethical communication choices.
7. List four general guidelines for using communication technology effectively.
8. Identify six related skills that you will have the opportunity to develop as you work on your
communication skills in this course.
Learning Objectives: Check Your Progress on page 29 of Chapter 1 summarizes the learning objectives for students.
For Business
Communication
Essentials, 8th edition
Assumptions
As the first lesson that most instructors will use in the course, this lesson doesn’t assume any specific knowledge or
experience from students, other than the prerequisites that you have established for the course.
Resources
In the Instructor’s Resource Manual (available online at the Pearson Instructor Resource Center; see below):
• Lecture notes, keyed to the learning objective from each major section in the chapter
On Bovée & Thill’s Business Communication Blog
• Original articles on teaching business communication
• A wide variety of free media resources, from videos to infographics, available via Real-Time Updates
• Business communication instructor communities on LinkedIn and Facebook
On Pearson’s Instructor Resource Center
• Instructor’s Resource Manual
Readings from the Text
Here are the major sections in the chapter, each linked to a learning objective. If you want to reduce the time you
spend on this lesson, the easiest way is to drop a learning objective and its associated readings (and end-of-
Learning Objective 1: Define communication, and explain the importance of effective business communication.
• Communication Matters, page 3
• Why Communication Is the Most Important Business Skill (overview), including Figure 1.1 (on page 5),
page 4
Learning Objective 2: Explain what it means to communicate as a professional in a business context.
• Communicating as a Professional (overview), page 6
Learning Objective 3: Describe the communication process model, and explain how social media are changing the
nature of business communication.
• The Basic Communication Model, including Figure 1.4, pages 9–10 (Figure 1.4 is based on the classic
Learning Objective 4: Outline the challenges and opportunities of mobile communication in business.
• The Rise of Mobile as a Business Communication Platform, pages 12–13
• How Mobile Technologies Are Changing Business Communication, pages 13–14
Learning Objective 5: Define ethics, explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse, and
list six guidelines for making ethical communication choices.
Learning Objective 6: Explain how cultural diversity affects business communication, and describe the steps you
can take to communicate more effectively across cultural boundaries.
• Communicating in a World of Diversity (overview), including Figure 1.8 (on page 17), page 16
• The Advantages and Challenges of a Diverse Workforce, page 17
Learning Objective 7: List four general guidelines for using communication technology effectively.
• Using Technology to Improve Business Communication (overview), page 23
• The four-page feature, Powerful Tools for Communicating Effectively, pages 24–27
• Keeping Technology in Perspective, page 23
Learning Objective 8: Identify six related skills that you will have the opportunity to develop as you work on your
communication skills in this course.
• Developing Skills for Your Career, page 28
Instructional Sequence
Here is a suggested sequence of discussions and activities. You can supplement this with personal anecdotes,
communication examples “ripped from the headlines” (including media materials available on Real-Time Updates),
and additional questions and activities from the end of the chapter.
1. Opening hook: You might open by asking students to recall (and optionally discuss) an episode of failed
communication that was extremely frustrating, such as when a teacher, parent, partner, or boss “just
3. Lecture: Depending on your course objectives, instructional mode, and available face-to-face time, you
4. Discussion: The Apply Your Knowledge questions at the end of the chapter can be assigned as homework,
but you can also use them to encourage discussion during your lecture time. They are keyed by learning
5. Concluding activity: Complete Activity 1-16 (writing four tweets that highlight the benefits of taking this
course) as an in-class group activity. This activity reinforces the personal benefits students will realize
The table of suggested questions and exercises on the next page lists all the student activities from Chapter 1,
Suggested Questions and Exercises
Here are the student activities from Chapter 1, sorted by learning objective. Use this table to find activities that
encourage specific types of learning experiences, communication tasks, or media choices.
Note: The Syllabus Assistant in the Bovée & Thill QuickSwitch system offers a comprehensive set of assessment
criteria for all three aspects of student performance: written communication, oral communication and
presentations, and professionalism/participation.
LO
Question/Exercise
Learning Experience
Communication Task
Medium/channel
1
1-1
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
1-9
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
1-15
Practice
Writing
Email, blogging, or social
networking
1
1-16
Practice
Writing
Microblogging
1
1-17
Practice
Writing
Blogging
1
Critique the
Professionals
Review, analysis, practice
Writing
Instructor choice
1
1-63
Review
Writing
MyBCommLab
2
1-2
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
1-10
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
1-18
Reflective thinking, practice
Writing
Email or blogging
2
1-19
Practice
Writing
Email
2
1-20
Practice, writing
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
1-3
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
1-11
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
1-21
Review, reflective thinking
Writing
Email
3
1-22
Review, application, practice
Writing
Email
4
1-4
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
1-12
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
1-23
Analysis, application
Writing
Mobile
4
Sharpening Your
Career Skills Online
Analysis, application
Writing
Instructor choice
5
1-5
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
1-6
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
1-13
Analysis, ethical understanding
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
1-24
Analysis, ethical understanding
Writing
Instructor choice
5
1-25
Analysis, ethical understanding
Writing
Email
5
1-26
Analysis, ethical understanding
Writing
Email or blogging
5
1-27
Analysis, ethical understanding
Writing
Instructor choice
6
1-7
Review, analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
1-8
Review, analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
1-14
Analysis, reflective thinking
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
1-28
Review, analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
1-29
Analysis, teamwork
Writing
Email or blog
6
1-30
Analysis
Writing
Reports
6
1-31
Analysis
Writing
Email or blog
LO
Question/Exercise
Learning Experience
Communication Task
Medium/channel
7
1-32
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
7
1-64
Review
Writing
MyBCommLab
n/a
1-33 through 1-47
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
n/a
n/a
n/a
1-48 through 1-62
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
Revising
Instructor choice
n/a
Document Critique
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
Revising
Instructor choice
Lesson Plan Foundation
2. Collaboration, Interpersonal Communication, and Business Etiquette
These lesson plan foundations provide core materials that you can integrate into an existing
lesson plan or use to build a new plan. Each foundation covers roughly a week’s worth of
subject matter, which you can adapt to your course schedule, teaching style, and other
individual requirements. The material is based on a specific Bovée & Thill edition, making it easy
to assign the suggested readings and activities from the text. Comprehensive lecture notes and
answers to student activities from the text are available in the Instructor’s Resource Manual.
Overview
This lesson plan foundation corresponds to Chapter 2, Collaboration, Interpersonal
Communication, and Business Etiquette, which explores multiple aspects of
interpersonal communication: communicating in teams, collaborating, making
meetings more productive, using meeting technologies, and improving the skills
involved in listening, nonverbal communication, and business etiquette.
Core Messages for Students
• No matter what career path you pursue, it’s a virtual guarantee that you will need to collaborate in at
least some of your work activities.
• Collaboration often involves communication projects, from writing reports to giving presentations, so it’s
essential to learn how to work together using all the tools at your disposal.
• Much of your workplace communication will occur during in-person or online meetings, and your ability
to contribute and to be recognized for your contributions will depend on your meeting skills.
Learning Objectives
The objectives for this lesson align with Chapter 2:
2. Offer guidelines for collaborative communication, identify major collaboration technologies, and explain
how to give constructive feedback.
4. Identify the major types of listening, describe the listening process, and explain how good listeners
overcome barriers at each stage of the process.
6. Explain the importance of business etiquette, and identify five key areas in which good etiquette is
essential.
Learning Objectives: Check Your Progress on page 54 of Chapter 2 summarizes the learning objectives for students.
For Business
Communication
Essentials, 8th edition
Assumptions
Lesson 2 builds on the fundamentals presented in Lesson 1 (particularly the communication process), so it should
follow that lesson. However, Lesson 2 can easily be moved to a later point in the course if you want to transition
directly into writing topics after the first lesson.
Resources
In the Instructor’s Resource Manual (available online at the Pearson Instructor Resource Center; see below):
• Lecture notes, keyed to the learning objective from each major section in the chapter
• Class discussion questions (embedded in the lecture notes)
On Bovée & Thill’s Business Communication Blog
• Original articles on teaching business communication
• A wide variety of free media resources, from videos to infographics, available via Real-Time Updates
• Business communication instructor communities on LinkedIn and Facebook
• Curated online magazines
On Pearson’s Instructor Resource Center
• Instructor’s Resource Manual
• PowerPoint slides for classroom use
Readings from the Text
Here are the major sections in the chapter, each linked to a learning objective. If you want to reduce the time you
spend on this lesson, the easiest way is to drop a learning objective and its associated readings (and end-of-
Learning Objective 1: List the advantages and disadvantages of working in teams, and describe the characteristics
of effective teams.
• Communication Matters, page 35
• Communicating Effectively in Teams (overview), page 38
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams, page 38
• Characteristics of Effective Teams, page 39
• Conflict Resolution in Team Settings, page 39
Learning Objective 2: Offer guidelines for collaborative communication, identify major collaboration technologies,
and explain how to give constructive feedback.
Learning Objective 3: List the key steps needed to ensure productive team meetings, and identify the most
common meeting technologies.
• Preparing for Meetings, including Figure 2.3 (on page 44), page 43
Learning Objective 4: Describe the listening process, and explain how good listeners overcome barriers at each
stage of the process.
• Improving Your Listening Skills (overview), page 47
Learning Objective 5: Explain the importance of nonverbal communication, and identify six major categories of
nonverbal expression.
• Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills, pages 49–50
Learning Objective 6: Explain the importance of business etiquette, and identify four key areas in which good
etiquette is essential.
• Developing Your Business Etiquette (overview), page 50
• Workplace Etiquette, page 51
• Telephone Etiquette, pages 51–52
Instructional Sequence
1. Opening hook: With its multiple subjects, this chapter offers several options for a thought-provoking
opening question to students, including episodes of internal conflict when working in teams,
communication breakdowns related to listening, nonverbal signals that get in the way of effective
communication, and disagreements about etiquette. Mobile phone etiquette is a particularly good choice;
2. First activity: A listening/memory test can be a good way to demonstrate how fragile the listening process
is. Without calling attention to what you’re doing, share a brief personal anecdote or some other episode
3. Lecture: Depending on your course objectives, instructional mode, and available face-to-face time, you
4. Discussion: The Apply Your Knowledge questions at the end of the chapter can be assigned as homework,
5. Concluding activity: You can tie together the listening and etiquette components of the lesson by having
Table 2.2 did they find themselves slipping into, and what steps could they take to avoid these problems?
Suggested Questions and Exercises
Here are the student activities from Chapter 2, sorted by learning objective. Use this table to find activities that
encourage specific types of learning experiences, communication tasks, or media choices.
LO
Question/Exercise
Learning Experience
Communication Task
Medium/channel
1
2-1
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
2-2
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
2-8
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
2-13
Practice, teamwork
Writing, design
Presentations
1
2-14
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
2
2-15
Research, practice, teamwork
Writing
Blogging
2
2-16
Research, practice, teamwork
Writing
Blogging
2
Critique the
Professionals
Review, analysis, practice
Writing
Instructor choice
2
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
2
2-55
Review
Writing
MyBCommLab
3
2-3
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
2-9
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
2-17
Analysis, practice
Writing
Presentations or blogging
3
2-18
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
3
2-19
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
3
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
4
2-4
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
2-5
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
2-20
Reflective thinking
Writing
Reports
4
2-21
Reflective thinking
Writing
Email
4
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
5
2-6
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
2-9
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
2-10
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
2-22
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email or blogging
5
2-56
Analysis, practice
Writing
MyBCommLab
5
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
6
2-7
Review, reflective thinking
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
2-11
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
2-12
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
6
2-23
Analysis, practice
Oral communication
Instructor choice
6
2-24
Analysis, practice
Writing
Memos
LO
Question/Exercise
Learning Experience
Communication Task
Medium/channel
6
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email
n/a
2-25 through 2-39
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
n/a
n/a
n/a
2-40 through 2-54
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
Revising
Instructor choice
n/a
Document Critique
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
Revising
Instructor choice
Lesson Plan Foundation
3. Planning Business Messages
These lesson plan foundations provide core materials that you can integrate into an existing
lesson plan or use to build a new plan. Each foundation covers roughly a week’s worth of
subject matter, which you can adapt to your course schedule, teaching style, and other
individual requirements. The material is based on a specific Bovée & Thill edition, making it easy
to assign the suggested readings and activities from the text. Comprehensive lecture notes and
answers to student activities from the text are available in the Instructor’s Resource Manual.
Overview
This lesson plan foundation corresponds to Chapter 3, Planning Business Messages,
the first of three chapters on the three-step writing process. It introduces the three-
step writing process and covers the tasks in the planning step: analyzing the situation,
gathering the information needed to craft an effective message, choosing the best
combination of media and communication channels, and organizing the information.
Core Messages for Students
• Following a proven process for crafting your messages will save time, energy, and frustration while
producing more effective messages.
• A simple way to organize the necessary tasks is grouping them into three steps: planning, writing, and
completing.
• The planning step includes analyzing the situation to define your purpose and understand your audience,
gathering the information you’ll need, choosing the best combination of media and channels, and
Learning Objectives
The objectives for this lesson align with Chapter 3:
8. Explain what it means to analyze the situation when planning a message.
10. Identify the six basic combinations of media and channels, and highlight the unique challenges of
communication on mobile devices.
11. Explain why good organization is important to both you and your audience, and explain how to organize
any business message.
For Business
Communication
Essentials, 8th edition
Assumptions
The lesson builds on the ideas of audience-centered communication and the communication process model, so it
should come after Lesson 1/Chapter 1. Other than that, Lessons 3 and 4 (representing Chapters 3 through 5)
should be covered in sequence and as early as possible in the course, as they present the three-step writing
process than underpins much of the rest of the book.
Resources
In the Instructor’s Resource Manual (available online at the Pearson Instructor Resource Center; see below):
• Lecture notes, keyed to the learning objective from each major section in the chapter
• Class discussion questions (embedded in the lecture notes)
• Answers to highlight box questions
On Bovée & Thill’s Business Communication Blog
• Original articles on teaching business communication
• A wide variety of free media resources, from videos to infographics, available via Real-Time Updates
• Business communication instructor communities on LinkedIn and Facebook
• Curated online magazines
On Pearson’s Instructor Resource Center
• Instructor’s Resource Manual
• PowerPoint slides for classroom use
Readings from the Text
Here are the major sections in the chapter, each linked to a learning objective. If you want to reduce the time you
spend on this lesson, the easiest way is to drop a learning objective and its associated readings (and end-of-
chapter activities, which are all keyed by learning objective). We’ve highlighted some of the most important figures
Learning Objective 1: Describe the three-step writing process, and explain why it will help you create better
messages in less time.
• Communication Matters, page 59
• Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process, including Figure 3.1, pages 64–65 (Figure 3.1 presents the
three-step process used throughout the book and adapted to a variety of communication scenarios)
Learning Objective 2: Explain what it means to analyze the situation when planning a message.
Learning Objective 3: Describe the techniques for gathering information for simple messages, and identify three
attributes of quality information.
• Gathering Information, pages 67–68
• Uncovering Audience Needs, page 68
• Providing Required Information, page 68
Learning Objective 4: Identify the six basic combinations of media and channels, and highlight the unique
challenges of communication on mobile devices.
• Selecting the Best Combination of Media and Channels (overview), page 68
Learning Objective 5: Explain why good organization is important to both you and your audience, and explain how
to organize any business message.
• Organizing Your Message (overview), page 73
• Defining Your Main Idea, page 76
• Limiting Your Scope, page 77
Instructional Sequence
Here is a suggested sequence of discussions and activities. You can supplement this with personal anecdotes,
communication examples “ripped from the headlines” (including media materials available on Real-Time Updates),
and additional exercises and activities from the end of the chapter.
1. Opening hook: You might open by asking students to volunteer business events and stories that are stuck
in their memories for some reason. It might be the story of an entrepreneur who prevailed against
2. First activity: From the opening hook, segue into a discussion of why some messages stick and some
don’t. The Communication Matters vignette at the beginning of the chapter presents the results of the
3. Lecture: As this is one of the foundation lessons for the entire course, we recommend covering all
4. Discussion: The Apply Your Knowledge questions at the end of the chapter can be assigned as homework,
5. Concluding activity: You can tie together the key concepts from this lesson with a brainstorming session
designed to outline a story, as described in Building Reader Interest with Storytelling on page 79. You
could pick something from recent events on campus (such as a major athletic win or loss, a scandal, or a
controversy) or something from the business headlines (such as an ethical cautionary tale or an
Suggested Questions and Exercises
Here are the student activities from Chapter 3, sorted by learning objective. Use this table to find activities that
encourage specific types of learning experiences, communication tasks, or media choices.
LO
Question/Exercise
Learning Experience
Communication Task
Medium/channel
1
3-1
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
1
3-2
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
3-3
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
3-12 through 3-16
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
3-17 through 3-21
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
3-22 through 3-36
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
2
3-47
Analysis, practice
Writing or presentation
Reports or presentations
2
3-48
Analysis, practice, teamwork
Presentation
Presentations
3
3-4
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
3-8
Analysis, ethical understanding
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
3
3-48
Analysis, practice, teamwork
Presentation
Presentations
4
3-5
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
3-6
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
3-9
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
3-10
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
3-22 through 3-36
Analysis, practice
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
3-49
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
4
3-50
Analysis, application
Writing
Email
4
Critique the
Professionals
Review, analysis, practice
Writing
Instructor choice
4
3-83
Analysis, application
Writing
MyBCommLab
5
3-7
Review
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
3-11
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
3-37 through 3-41
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
3-42 through 3-46
Analysis
Writing or discussion
Instructor choice
5
3-51
Analysis, application
Writing
Report
5
3-52
Analysis, application, ethical
understanding
Writing or oral
communication
Blogging or podcasting
5
Sharpening Your Career
Skills Online
Analysis, practice
Writing
Email or blog
5
3-84
Analysis
Writing
MyBCommLab
n/a
3-53 through 3-67
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
n/a
n/a
n/a
3-68 through 3-82
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
Review
Instructor choice
n/a
Document Critique
Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,
and Usage exercises
Review
Instructor choice
Lesson Plan Foundation
4. Writing and Completing Business Messages
These lesson plan foundations provide core materials that you can integrate into an existing
answers to student activities from the text are available in the Instructor’s Resource Manual.
Overview
This lesson plan foundation corresponds to Chapter 4, Writing Business Messages,
and Chapter 5, Completing Business Messages. These two chapters cover the second
and third steps of the three-step writing process introduced in Chapter 3 and Lesson
Plan 3. The writing step includes two tasks: adapting to the audience and composing
the message. Completing contains four tasks: revising, producing, proofreading, and
distributing messages.
Core Messages for Students
• The writing step of the three-step process involves two key tasks: adapting to your audience and
composing the message.
• Adapting to an audience includes using the “you” attitude, maintaining good standards of etiquette,
emphasizing the positive, using bias-free language, establishing your credibility, projecting your
company’s image, and controlling your style and tone.
For Business
Communication
Essentials, 8th edition
