Business Communication Bovee_im_lesson_plan_foundations Questionexercise Learning Experience Communication Task Mediumchannel Through Improve Your Grammar Mechanics

Chapter 11

LO

Question/Exercise

Learning Experience

Communication Task

Medium/channel

n/a

11-30 through 10-44

Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,

and Usage

n/a

10-45 through 10-59

Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,

and Usage

Revising

Instructor choice

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Level 3: Document

Critique

Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,

and Usage

Revising

Instructor choice

Lesson Plan Foundation

9. Presentations

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 12, Developing and Delivering

Business Presentations, which covers all phases of planning, developing, and

delivering business speeches and presentations.

Core Messages for Students

• Presentations give you the opportunity to put all your communication skills on display, from audience

analysis and research to the design of presentation materials to public speaking.

• Organizing a presentation is much like organizing most other business messages, but pay close attention

to the scope of your presentation; keep it as short as you can while still accomplishing your goals.

• You can chose linear (slide-based, such as PowerPoint) or nonlinear presentation visuals (such as Prezi).

• You rarely write out a presentation word for word, but you should work through the stages of developing

a compelling opening, body, and close to your presentation so that you have a good idea of what you will

say at each stage.

• Remember that slides and other visuals are meant to support you and your spoken message; they aren’t

your presentation.

key points of your presentation. Use handouts to give people supporting details.

• The prospect of giving a presentation can make anyone nervous, but remember that nerves are a natural

sign that you care about the outcome—and you can control the outcome with thoughtful planning and

thorough preparation.

• Think about how you will handle questions; you may not have control over when questions are asked, but

be sure you are ready to handle questions that are likely to come up.

For Business

Communication

Essentials, 8th edition

Learning Objectives

The objectives for this lesson align with Chapter 12:

2. Describe the tasks involved in developing a presentation.

4. Outline four major tasks involved in completing a presentation.

5. Describe four important aspects of delivering a presentation in today’s social media environment.

Learning Objectives: Check Your Progress on page 351 summarizes the learning objectives for students.

Assumptions

This lesson adapts the three-step writing process to business presentations, so ideally it should come after Lessons

3 and 4. However, if you want to cover presentations earlier in the course, a quick overview of the three-step

model will be sufficient to help students follow the structure of Chapter 12.

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

and tables to discuss in each section as well. Note that page numbers here refer to the standard edition; if you use

a custom edition, your page numbers will likely differ.

Learning Objective 1: Highlight the importance of presentations in your business career, and explain how to adapt

the planning step of the three-step process to presentations.

• Planning a Presentation (overview), page 328

• Analyzing the Situation, including Figure 12.1 and Table 12.1, pages 328–329

• Selecting the Best Media and Channels, page 329

• Organizing a Presentation, including Figures 12.3 and 12.4, pages 329–333

Learning Objective 2: Describe the tasks involved in developing a presentation.

• Creating Effective Handouts, page 345

• Choosing Your Presentation Method, pages 345, 347

• Practicing Your Delivery, page 347

Learning Objective 5: Describe four important aspects of delivering a presentation in today’s social media

environment.

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: This lesson offers lots of options for engaging students with the content. You can have

14.12 on page 352 offers a wide variety of topics if you don’t already have topics in mind.

4. Discussion: An interesting option for class discussion is to contrast the mental states of presenters and

audience members. In the worst-case scenario, the presenter is overcome with nerves to the point of

being terrified, and the audience members are bored and distracted. In the best-case scenario, everyone

is engaged with the material, and the experience is more like a bidirectional conversation than a

unidirectional presentation. In the former, the emotional distance between the presenter and the

audience is vast, and in the latter there is practically no distance at all.

5. Concluding activity: Two good options for wrapping up the lesson sequence: Have students work on

slide/Prezi designs or give brief impromptu speeches on topics picked from a hat.

The tables of suggested questions and exercises on the following pages list all the student activities from Chapter

12, sorted by learning objective and other instructional parameters.

Suggested Questions and Exercises

Here are the student activities from Chapter 12, 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

12-1

Review

n/a

1

12-2

Review

n/a

1

12-8

Analysis

Writing or discussion

Instructor choice

1

12–12

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

1

Critique the Professionals

Analysis

Writing

Instructor choice

1

Sharpen Your Career

Skills Online

Analysis, practice

Writing

Email or blogging

1

12–19

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–20

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–21

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–22

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–23

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–24

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–25

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations, mobile

1

12–26

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

1

12–57

Analysis

Writing

MyBCommLab

2

12-3

Review

n/a

2

12-4

Review

n/a

2

12-5

Review

n/a

2

12–13

Practice, teamwork

Writing, discussion

Presentations

2

12–14

Analysis, practice

Writing, design

Presentations

2

Critique the Professionals

Analysis

Writing

Instructor choice

2

Sharpen Your Career

Skills Online

Analysis, practice

Writing

Email or blogging

2

12–19

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

2

12–20

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

2

12–21

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

2

12–22

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

2

12–23

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

2

12–24

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

2

12–25

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations, mobile

2

12–26

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12-9

Analysis

Writing or discussion

Instructor choice

3

Critique the Professionals

Analysis

Writing

Instructor choice

3

Sharpen Your Career

Skills Online

Analysis, practice

Writing

Email or blogging

3

12–19

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12–20

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12–21

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12–22

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12–23

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12–24

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

3

12–25

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations, mobile

3

12–26

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–10

Analysis

Writing or discussion

Instructor choice

4

12–11

Analysis

Writing or discussion

Instructor choice

4

12–15

Practice

Design

Presentations

4

12–16

Practice

Design

Presentations

4

Critique the Professionals

Analysis

Writing

Instructor choice

4

Sharpen Your Career

Skills Online

Analysis, practice

Writing

Email or blogging

4

12–19

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–20

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–21

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–22

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–23

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–24

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations

4

12–25

Practice

Writing, design

Presentations, mobile

4

12–26

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design

Presentations

5

12-6

Review

n/a

5

12-7

Review

n/a

5

12–17

Analysis

Writing or discussion

Instructor choice

5

12–18

Practice, teamwork

Writing, design, discussion

Presentations, microblogging

5

Critique the Professionals

Analysis

Writing

Instructor choice

5

Sharpen Your Career

Skills Online

Analysis, practice

Writing

Email or blogging

5

12–58

Analysis

Writing

MyBCommLab

n/a

12–27 through 12–41

Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,

and Usage

n/a

12–42 through 12–56

Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,

and Usage

Revising

Instructor choice

n/a

Document Critique

Improve Your Grammar, Mechanics,

and Usage

Revising

Instructor choice

Lesson Plan Foundation

10. Employment 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 13, Building Careers and Writing

Résumés, and Chapter 14, Applying and Interviewing for Employment, which

together cover the full spectrum of job-search communication.

Core Messages for Students

• Thinking about where you’ve been in your life and career so far and where you want to go will help focus

your job search.

• Employers judge their recruiting success by quality of hire, so take steps to present yourself as a high–

quality hire.

• Unconventional tools such as infographic résumés can be useful additions to your job-search package, but

make sure you meet the employer’s information needs.

• Make sure your résumé is perfect; recruiters who are inundated with applications will look for any reason

to shrink the pile by rejecting résumés with errors.

• Whenever you submit a résumé, you should include an application letter/message to let readers know

what you’re sending, why you’re sending it, and how they can benefit from reading it.

• To prepare for behavioral and situational questions, review your work and college experiences to recall

several instances in which you demonstrated an important job-related attribute or dealt with a challenge.

• Be sure to practice answers to common interview questions and come ready with questions of your own.

• Listen carefully to the interviewer’s questions and take a second if needed to prepare thoughtful answers.

Learning Objectives

For Business

Communication

Essentials, 8th edition

The objectives for this lesson encompass the learning objectives from Chapters 13 and 14. To compress the

material to fit your available class time, you can emphasize particular objectives based on your course goals and

student skill levels. Here are the learning objectives for the two chapters, tagged for two options:

Option A: If you want to focus more on résumé preparation

Option B: If you want to focus more on interview preparation

A

B

Chapter 13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés



19. List eight key steps to finding the ideal opportunity in today’s job market.



20. Explain the process of planning your résumé, including how to choose the best résumé organization.



21. Describe the tasks involved in writing your résumé, and list the sections to consider including in your résumé.



22. Characterize the completing step for résumés, including the six most common formats in which you can produce

a résumé.



23. Identify nine tips for creating a successful LinkedIn profile.

A

B

Chapter 14: Applying and Interviewing for Employment



18. Explain the purposes of application letters, and describe how to apply the AIDA organizational approach to them.



19. Describe the typical sequence of job interviews, the major types of interviews, and the attributes employers look

for during an interview.



20. List six tasks you need to complete in order to prepare for a successful job interview.



21. Explain how to succeed in all three stages of an interview.



22. Identify the most common employment messages that follow an interview, and explain when you would use

each one.

Learning Objectives: Check Your Progress on page 385 of Chapter 13 and on page 417 of Chapter 14 summarize the

learning objectives for students.

Assumptions

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

• Business Communication Headline News

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 Chapters 13 and 14, 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 and tables to discuss in each section as well. Note that page numbers here refer to the standard edition; if

you use a custom edition, your page numbers will likely differ.

Chapter 13

Learning Objective 1: List eight key steps to finding the ideal opportunity in today’s job market.

• Finding the Ideal Opportunity in Today’s Job Market (overview), page 362

• Writing the Story of You, including Figure 13.1 (on page 363), page 362

• Learning to Think Like an Employer, page 362

• Analyzing Your Purpose and Audience, pages 367–368

• Gathering Pertinent Information, page 369

• Organizing Your Résumé Around Your Strengths, pages 369–370

• Addressing Areas of Concern, page 370

Learning Objective 3: Describe the tasks involved in writing your résumé and list the major sections of a traditional

• Distributing Your Résumé, pages 382

Learning Objective 5: Identify nine tips for creating a successful LinkedIn profile.

• Building an Effective LinkedIn Profile, including Figure 13.7 (on page 384), pages 382–383

Chapter 14

Learning Objective 1: Explain the purposes of application letters, and describe how to apply the AIDA

• Preemployment Testing and Background Checks, page 405

Learning Objective 3: List six tasks you need to complete to prepare for a successful job interview.

• Learning About the Organization and Your Interviewers, including Table 14.3, page 406

• Thinking Ahead About Questions, including Tables 14.4 and 14.5 (on page 408), pages 406–407

• Boosting Your Confidence, page 407

• Follow-Up Message, including Figure 14.6 (on page 414), page 413

• Message of Inquiry, pages 414–415

• Request for a Time Extension, including Figure 14.7, page 415

• Letter of Acceptance, page 416

• Letter Declining a Job Offer, page 416

Instructional Sequence

Here are two suggested sequences of discussions and activities, one that focuses on routine messages and one

that focuses on negative messages. You can supplement either of them 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.

Focusing on résumé preparation (Option A)

1. Opening hook: One good way to open this lesson is to challenge students to view themselves as an

employer might, specifically regarding the common metric of quality of hire (page 362). Can they present

themselves as quality hires? If they’re not sure, now is the time to develop the communication package

2. First activity: The opening statement of a résumé is a good way to get students thinking about their

3. Lecture: If you present employment communication at the end of the course, this lesson is a great

4. Discussion: A great discussion topic for this lesson is the challenge of presenting oneself in a way that is

5. Concluding activity: Inviting students to “pitch” themselves to the class is a good way to encourage them

Focusing on interview preparation (Option B)

1. Opening hook: For a bold opening to this lesson, you could call on students at random and ask, “Why

should I hire you?” The point isn’t to put anybody on the spot, but rather to get students thinking about

2. First activity: Have students draft a short, clear, and compelling answer to the “Why should I hire you”

3. Lecture: You can focus the lecture around the challenge of standing out from the competition during the

4. Discussion: Good discussion topics include the challenge of preparing for an interview when you don’t

5. Concluding activity: You can revisit the opening hook and ask students to volunteer why they should be

hired, now that they are more knowledgeable and confident with their answers.