Changes and Improvements in the Thirteenth Edition 1
CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE 14TH EDITION
Significant Content Additions and Upgrades
Here are the major changes in the 14th Edition of Business Communication Today. Please
see page 3 for a detailed, chapter-by-chapter list of changes.
14)
o WPP’s use of web interactivity to create one of the most readable annual reports ever
published (Chapter 15)
o Gina Barnett’s “whole–body” public speaking advice, which can help all business
professionals improve their onstage presence (Chapter 16)
Copyright © 2018 Bovée and Thill LLC
8), and effective and ethical apologies (Chapter 11)
• 24 new communication cases
• More than three dozen new end-of-chapter questions and exercises
Changes and Improvements in the Thirteenth Edition 3
Chapter by chapter changes and improvements
Feature
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter-opening
vignette
Retained: JetBlue’s in-
novative use of social
media to forge relation-
ships with passengers
and resolve customer
service issues
Retained: How the Mex-
ican materials manufac-
turer Cemex uses col-
laboration tools to help
its global workforce
communicate
New: Kaiser Perma-
nente’s strategic ap-
proach to communi–
cating with its diverse
stakeholder groups
New: Wolff Orlis’s use
of storytelling in busi-
ness communication, in-
cluding using an award-
winning novelist as its
chief storytelling officer
Retained: Blogger/au-
thor Natalie MacNeil’s
rise to global fame with
her web property “She
Takes On the World”
Chapter content
(subject areas that
were added, clarified,
expanded, stream-
lined, or updated for
this edition)
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication: Haptic
Communication
Updated: Advantages
and Disadvantages of
Teams
Updated: Characteris-
tics of Effective Teams
Replaced: Overcoming
Resistance
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication: Real-
Time Translation
Expanded: Gender Dif-
ferences
Expanded: Building
Reader Interest with
Storytelling Techniques
Annotated model
documents and
other exhibits
Updated: Fig 1.2
Effective Professional
Communication
New: Fig 1.3 Elements
of Professionalism
New: Fig 1.8 Mobile
Communication Tools
New: Fig 1.9 Wearable
Technology
New: Fig 1.10 Mobile
Communication:
Opportunities and
Challenges
Updated: Fig 1.11
Unethical
Communication
Updated: Fig 1.12
Unethical
Communication
Updated feature:
Powerful Tools for
Communicating
Effectively
New: Fig 2.2 Shared
Online Workspaces
New: Fig 2.3 Collabora-
tion on Mobile Devices
New: Fig 2.5 Capturing
Key Decisions and Dis-
coveries from a Meeting
New: Fig 2.6 Virtual
Meetings
New: Fig 2.8 Nonverbal
Signals
New: Fig 3.3 Mobile
Language Tools
Updated: Fig 3.5 Writing
for Multilingual Audi-
ences
New: Fig 4.4 Media and
Channel Choices:
Written + Digital
New: Fig 4.5 Mind
Mapping
Updated: Fig 4.8
Improving the Organiza-
tion of a Message
New: Fig 5.4 Making
Effective Word and
Phrase Choices
New: Fig 5.5 Topic
Sentences
End of chapter
exercises
3 new questions on
audience-centered com-
munication, overuse of
social media, and critical
thinking
2 new questions on
parliamentary procedure
and conflict resolution
2 new questions on
cultural competence and
cultural pluralism
4 new questions on the
disadvantages of printed
messages, readability
challenges on mobile
devices, wiki writing,
and when perceived
disadvantages of email
may in fact be beneficial
2 new questions on
reading comprehension
on small screens and
etiquette breakdowns in
digital media
Changes and Improvements in the Thirteenth Edition 4
Chapter by chapter changes and improvements (continued)
Feature
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter-opening
vignette
New: Type Together’s
contemporary typeface
designs, emphasizing
readability in business
documents and other
messages
New: Slack’s workplace
messaging system,
which is changing the
way many organiza-
tions communicate
Retained: Starbucks’
use of multiple social
media platforms to build
a sense of community
among its global cus-
tomer base
Retained: GoPro’s wildly
successful strategy of
using consumer-gener-
ated content and online
video to promote its line
of rugged cameras
New: Technology writer
Jill Duffy’s advice for
handling the daily del-
uge of routine mes–
sages more productively
Chapter content
(subject areas that
were added, clarified,
expanded, stream-
lined, or updated for
this edition)
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication: Haptic
Communication
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication:
Telepathic
Communication
Updated: Email
Updated: Messaging
(formerly Instant Mes-
saging and Text Mes-
saging)
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication:
Augmented Reality and
Virtual Reality
Expanded: Business
Communication Uses of
Social Networks
Updated: Content
Curation Sites
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication:
Gestural Computing
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication:
Communication Bots
Annotated model
documents and
other exhibits
New: Fig 7.1 Composi-
tional Modes: Status
Updates and Announce-
ments
New: Fig 7.2
Augmented Reality
New: Fig 7.5 Reader-
Friendly Web Design
New: Fig 7.6 Writing for
the Web
New: Fig 7.7 Mobile
Podcasting
New: Fig 8.1
Community Building via
Social Media
New: Fig 8.3 Business
Applications of
Microblogging
Updated feature:
Business Communica-
tors Innovating with
Social Media
New: Table 12.2 Select-
ing the Best Visual
New: Fig 9.10 Data
Visualization
New: Fig 9.12
Geographic Information
Systems
New: Fig 9.14 Visual
Displays on Mobile
Devices
New: 9.17 Framing
Your Shots: Finding the
Right Balance
New: Fig 10.6 Announc-
ing Good News
New: Fig 10.7 Goodwill
Messages
End of chapter
exercises and cases
2 new questions on for-
matting messages for
mobile devices and the
use of sentence variety
to improve flow and
readability
3 new cases
1 new question on over-
use of email
3 new questions on
writing effective social
media headlines, social
networking, and viral
marketing
2 new questions on
selecting which points to
illustrate and creating
business video
4 new cases
1 new question on
good-news messages
Changes and Improvements in the Thirteenth Edition 5
Chapter by chapter changes and improvements (continued)
Feature
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter-opening
vignette
Retained: On a nega-
tive-news message sent
by the Hailo taxi-hailing
service to inform cus-
tomers of higher fares
Retained: On the com-
munication strategy
used by entre-preneur
Sarah Calhoun to
launch Red Ants Pants
New: Strategyzer’s
revolutionary alternative
to the traditional annual
report, now embraced
by thousands of entre-
preneurs
New: Warby Parker’s
whimsical and audi-
ence-focused approach
to annual reports
New: WPP’s use of web
interactivity to create
one of the most reada-
ble annual reports ever
published
Chapter content
(subject areas that
were added, clarified,
expanded, stream-
lined, or updated for
this edition)
Expanded: Providing
Reasons and Additional
Information (regarding
apologies)
New highlight box:
The Future of
Communication:
Emotion Recognition
Software
Annotated model
documents and
other exhibits
New: Fig 12.5 Persua-
sive Message Using the
AIDA Model
New: Fig 12.6 Promo–
tional Messages in
Social Media
New: Fig 14.3 Executive
Dashboards
New: Fig 14.8 Internal
Proposal
New: Fig 15.2 Executive
Summary
End of chapter
exercises and cases
4 new cases
1 new question on
employee whistle–
blowing
4 new cases
3 new questions on
promotional ethics and
balancing emotional and
logical appeals
2 new questions on
conducting research for
reports
1 new question on
responding to RFPs
4 new cases
1 new question on the
close in reports and
proposals
Feature
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter-opening
vignette
New: Gina Barnett’s
“whole–body” public
speaking advice, which
can help all business
professionals improve
their onstage presence
New: Nancy Duarte’s
timeless advice for cre-
ating audience-friendly
presentation slides
New: Burning Glass’s
application of artificial
intelligence to the critical
job-search challenge of
matching employer
needs and employee
skill sets
New: VMWare’s enthu-
siastic embrace of social
media to transform its
approach to employee
recruiting
Chapter content
(subject areas that
were added, clarified,
expanded, stream-
lined, or updated for
this edition)
Annotated model
documents and
other exhibits
New: Fig 18.2 Mobile
Job Search Tools
Updated: Fig 19.2
Unsolicited Application
Letter: Ineffective and
Effective
New: Fig 19.3 Comple-
menting Your Résumé
With an Application
Message
Updated: Fig 19.6
Follow-Up Message:
Ineffective and Effective
Updated: Fig 19.7
Request for a Time
Extension: Ineffective
and Effective
End of chapter
exercises and cases
2 new questions on
selecting a presentation
topic and impromptu
speaking
3 new cases
4 new questions on
designing visuals for
presentations and plan-
ning presentation pro-
jects
interview and applica-
tion letters
1 new question on
writing the “story of you”
1 new case
2 new questions on
blanking out during an