Fundamentals of Business Communication

Preliminary Contents I. Communicating in Business 1. Understanding Business Communication Communicating in Organizations The Components of Communication Verbal Communication Nonverbal Communication Barriers to Communication 2. Contemporary Issues in Business Communication Four Issues Affecting Contemporary Business Communication Work-Team Communication Communicating in a Diverse Environment Communication Technology Legal and Ethical Considerations 3. Basic Sentence Structure Parts of Speech Parts of a Sentence Sequence of the Sentence Parts Functions of the Sentence Complexity of Sentences II. Developing Your Business Writing Skills 4. Writing with Style: Individual Elements What Do We Mean by Style? Choosing the Right Words Writing Effective Sentences Developing Logical Paragraphs 5. Writing with Style: Overall Tone What Do We Mean by Tone? The Writing Process Planning Drafting Revising Formatting (Includes formatting business letters, memos, and email) Proofreading Portfolio Project 1: Routine Informational Message 6. Punctuation Periods Commas Semicolons Colons Apostrophes Hyphens Quotation Marks Underscores (or Italics) III. Basic Correspondence 7. Routine Emails, Letters, and Memos Planning the Routine Message Routine Requests Routine Replies Routine Claims Routine Adjustments Portfolio Project 2: Routine Claim 8. Persuasive and Negative Emails, Letters, and Memos Planning the Persuasive Message Organizing the Persuasive Message Common Types of Persuasive Messages Planning the Negative Message Organizing the Negative Message Common Types of Negative Messages Portfolio Project 3: Persuasive Message Portfolio Project 4: Negative Message 9. Verbs and Subject-Verb Agreement Kinds of Verbs Verb Voice and Mood Verb Tenses Basic Rule of Agreement Regular Versus Irregular Verbs Compound Subjects Pronouns and Measurements Special Subjects IV. Business Report Writing 10. Planning the Business Report Characteristics of Business Reports Audience Analysis What Data Is Already Available? Collecting Needed Data Constructing Tables and Charts 11. Writing the Business Report Interpreting Data Planning Drafting Revising Formatting (Includes sample annotated report pages) Proofreading Portfolio Project 5: Situational Report 12. Pronouns, Adjectives, and Adverbs Antecedents Personal Pronoun Person Pronoun Case Basic Functions of Adjectives and Adverbs Degrees Modifiers That Require Special Attention V. Oral and Employment Communication 13. Business Presentations Planning the Presentation Organizing the Presentation Developing Appropriate Visual Aids Practicing and Delivering the Presentation Work-Team Presentations Portfolio Project 6: Videotape of Oral Business Presentation 14. Employment Communication Preparing Your RÉsumÉ Writing Job-Application Letters Preparing for a Job Interview Communicating After the Interview Portfolio Project 7: RÉsumÉ, Cover Letter, and Videotape of Practice Interview 15. Mechanics Capitalization Number Expression Abbreviations Spelling Appendix Portfolio Project 8: Comprehensive Assessment of Grammar, and MechanicsOber, Scot is the author of 'Fundamentals of Business Communication' with ISBN 9780618073726 and ISBN 0618073728.