Business & Professional Communications

1. Business & Professional Communications • Agenda for this Evening • Get Acquainted • Course Expectations • Syllabus • Personal Branding • In-Class Exercise • Communication Basics

2. For Your Consideration….. • Who is directly involved in communications? • Who regards themselves as a “Good Communicator?

3. Corporate Branding Defined: A company’s total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by their target market. Question: What the elements of a strong corporate brand?

4. Corporate Branding

5. Personal Branding Your Personal Brand Defined: Your total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by your audience.

6. Personal Branding Elements of your Personal Brand: • Personal Appearance - Including clothing, hygiene and attractiveness. • Personality - Your values, goals, identity and behavior. • Competencies - These are cognitive, business, communication and technical skills that enable you to perform your job responsibilities. • The Differentiator - Offering a unique value proposition or benefit to your target audience.

7. Personal Branding • Growing Your Brand • Personal Branding is an ongoing development that exists throughout an entire lifecycle. • Corporate branding and personal branding are very well connected. The only apparent difference is that instead of marketing a product or service, a person is being promoted and sold to a recruiter. • Treat yourself as the product and sell yourself everyday!

8. Personal Branding Personal Brand Touch Points • Eye Contact • Hand Shake • E-Mail Messages • Wardrobe • Voice Mail Message • Response to Greetings • Public Speaking Opportunities • You Network and Associations

9. In Class Assignment Introducing your Personal Brand • In no more than 30 seconds, describe to the class – in the form of a personal brand statement – your competencies, your experience, your physical and/or emotional attributes. In short, what you bring to the table.

10. Communication Basics

11. Why is Communication So Difficult? • People don’t see the world in the same way….. • ….. Therefore, being a better communicator means being a better understander.

12. Definition of Communication • Process of establishing common understanding. • Process of sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings with each other in commonly understandable ways.

13. All business communication has 3 basic purposes • To inform (explain) • To request or persuade (urge action) • To build goodwill (make good image) • Most messages have more than one purpose

14. For Your Consideration……. • Consider a situation in which you have experienced a communication breakdown. What factors were responsible for the miscommunication? What could have been done to assure successful communication?

15. What is Success? • Success = results you want, when you want them • Evaluate feedback you get • If message fails, find out why • If message succeeds, find out why

16. The Communication Process SOURCE ---- ENCODE ---- DECODE ------RECEIVE ----FEEDBACK

17. The Communication Process SOURCE ---- ENCODE ---- DECODE ------RECEIVE ----FEEDBACK Noise

18. The Communication Process SOURCE ---- ENCODE ---- DECODE ------RECEIVE ----FEEDBACK Noise Fidelity

19. The Communication Process SOURCE ---- ENCODE ---- DECODE ------RECEIVE ----FEEDBACK Noise Fidelity Setting

20. The Communication Process SOURCE ---- ENCODE ---- DECODE ------RECEIVE ----FEEDBACK FEEDBACK Noise Fidelity Setting

21. The Communication Process • SOURCE • The person who is sending the message

22. The Communication Process • ENCODING 1. Formulating the message 2. Choosing the appropriate symbols to use 3. Choosing the correct channel

23. The Communication Process Formulating the message.

24. The Communication Process Choosing the Appropriate Symbols • Language used, such as English, jargon, sign, code etc. • Paralanguage - vocal elements, such as tone, pitch, rate, emphasis, etc. • Non-verbal - intentional or unintentional means of sending a message other than through writing or speaking - not just a hand gesture - appearance, posture, arrival time, eye contact

25. The Communication Process Choosing the Appropriate Channels • Media is a channel or mechanism for transmitting information or messages from point to point. • Each form of communication - each medium - conveys a message. For example, a cheap medium such as a handwritten note or a cheap photocopy might say to the recipient:

26. The Communication Process • This message isn't very important - if it were I would have presented it more formally. • You are not important enough for a phone call. • I am too busy to convey this message personally • The matter is so urgent - the sender had to sacrifice professionalism • This is routine information that you will readily understand.

27. The Communication Process Other types of media include: • Written: memo, letter, proposal • Oral: phone, in person, video conferencing • Electronic: voice mail, email, fax, television, radio, videoconferencing

28. The Communication Process • Urgency of Feedback • Relationship of person to whom you are addressing • Need for documentation • Efficiency vs. Effectiveness Some Criteria for Choosing Your Medium:

29. The Communication Process Use Face to Face (Oral) When: • Immediate feedback needed • Permanent record not needed • Exact wording is not important • Topic is emotional or complex • Confidence or trust needs developing • Convenient or economical to assemble audience • Nonverbal cues are needed

30. The Communication Process Send Written Messages When: • Immediate feedback is not needed • Message takes time to compose and deliver • Permanent record is needed • Exact wording is important • Follow-up to face to face is needed • Content is more important than feelings • Audience is large and dispersed

31. The Communication Process Send Electronic Message When: • Immediate feedback not needed • Speed is important • Explicit message - little interpretation needed - Don't get too detailed on an e-mail • Information needed to support face to face mtg • Speed, cost and convenience is crucial • Audience is large and dispersed

32. The Communication Process Use Mass Media when: • Newspaper • Radio • Television

33. The Communication Process Which would be the most appropriate channel for the following situations? • Employee needs to communicate the details of his job prior to leaving for vacation • Employee’s performance has not been up to par lately and supervisor needs to correct matters • Employee job performance has not been corrected, even after several warnings • You need approval on a project that you have just completed - Deadline is 5:00 pm • You have received poor treatment from a vendor and wish to express your displeasure

34. The Communication Process • In verbal communication, there is often discussion between communication effectiveness vs. efficiency. • Efficiency is how inexpensive it costs to send a message - Effectiveness is how successfully the message was communicated.

35. The Communication Process DECODING • Assign meaning to what was just heard • Consider the frame of reference, such as educational background, race, sex, where the person grew up, what their parents were like, past experiences • Decoding requires empathy

36. The Communication Process FIDELITY • Fidelity is the quality of a reproduction. • The Goal of Communication is to ensure that a message is reproduced as honestly as possible. • The level of fidelity varies depending upon the importance of the message. • In communication, one must determine the level of fidelity necessary to ensure all information is received and understood.

37. The Communication Process NOISE • Any interruption in the communication process. Examples of noise include decibel level, sleep deprivation, biases --- anything that interferes with the flow of information

38. The Communication Process SETTING • Important when delivering a message or creating a spin.

39. The Communication Process FEEDBACK • Feedback refers to verbal and visual responses to messages. • Usually, the sender expects a certain type of response, depending upon the message. Once the message is delivered, sender analyzes the response based on his expectations.

40. The Communication Process Difficulties with Feedback • Causes people to feel under attack. May feel that feedback feels negative. Should be more concerned with no feedback. • Feedback is difficult to elicit - Many people seek feedback by asking - Are there any questions? or Do you understand? • Feedback is time consuming. If you don't have time to do the job correctly the first time, where will you find the time to do it correctly the second time. • Some are reluctant to speak because of previous negatives experiences.