Essentials of business communication

Unit 1. Business communication in the digital age -- 1. Communicating in the digital-age workplace -- Mastering the tools for success in th twenty-first-century workplace -- Developing listening skills -- Learning nonverbal communication skills -Recognizing how culture affects communication -- Building intercultural workplace skills -- unit 2. The business writing process in the digital age -- 2. Planning business messages -- Understanding the communication process -- Using the 3/3 writing process as a guide -- Analyzing and anticipating the audience -- Using expert writing techniques to adapt to your audience -- Developing additional expert writing techniques -- 3. Organizing and drafting business messages -- Drafting workplace messages -- Organizing information to show relationships -- Composing the first draft with effective sentences -- Developing business writing techniques -- Drafting well-organized, effective paragraphs -- 4. Revising business messages -- Taking time to revise : applying phase 3 o the writing process -- Making your message clear -- Enhancing readability through document design -- Proofreading to catch errors -- Evaluating the effectiveness of your message -- unit 3. Workplace communication -- 5. Short workplace messages and digital media -- Preparing digital-age e-mail messages and memos -- Workplace messaging and texting -- Making podcasts and wikis work for business -- Blogging for business -- Web 2.0 : social networking -- 6. Positive messages -- Routine messages : e-mails, memos, and letters -- Typical request, response, and instruction messages -- Direct claims and complaints -- Adjustment messages -- Goodwill messages -- 7. Negative messages -- Communicating negative news effectively -- Analyzing negative news strategies -- Composing effective negative messages -- Refusing typical request and claims -- Managing bad news within organizations -- 8. Persuasive messages -- Understanding persuasion in the digital age -- Planning and writing persuasive requests -- Writing effective persuasive claims and complaints -- Crafting persuasive messages in digital-age organizations -- Creating effective sales messages in print and online --

Unit 4. Business reports

9. Informal reports - Reporting in the digital age

Report formats and heading levels

Defining the purpose and gathering data

Writing short informational reports

Preparing short analytical reports

10. Proposals and formal reports

Preparing business proposals

Writing and editing formal business reports

Conducting primary and secondary research

Documenting and citing sources in business reports

Incorporating meaningful visual aids and graphics

Understanding report components

unit 5. Professionalism, teamwork, meetings, and speaking skills

11. Professionalism and business etiquette skills at the office and online

Communicating face-to-face on the job

Following professional telephone and voice mail etiquette

Adding value to professional teams

Planning and participating in face-to-face and virtual meetings

12. Business presentations

Preparing effective business presentations

Organizing content for impact and audience rapport

Understanding contemporary visual aids

Preparing engaging multimedia presentations

Polishing your delivery and following up

unit 6. Employment communication

13. The job search and résumés in the digital age

Job searching in the digital age

Developing a job-search strategy focused on the open job market

Pursuing the hidden job market with networking

Creating a customized résumé

Optimizing your job search with today's digital tools

Creating customized cover messages

14. Interviewing and following up

Purposes and types of employment interviews

Before the interview

During the interview

After the interview

Preparing additional employment documents

Appendix A. Correction symbols and proofreading

Appendix B. Document format guide

Appendix C. Documentation formats

Grammar/mechanics handbook.