Management communication 1st (Ed) and Contemporary public speaking 1st Short answers for each exercise listed. 8.1.1 Visit a major news Web site and view a video of a commentator such as Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) or Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly (Fox News). Identify the commentator’s point of view. If you were giving a presentation to inform, would you express your point of view in a similar style? 8.1.2 On the same network news Web site, view a video reporting a news event (as opposed to a commentator’s commentary). Do you feel that the reporter’s approach conveys a point of view, or is it neutral? Explain your view. 8.1.3 What is the difference between an informative presentation and a persuasive one? Provide an example in your response. 8.2.1 Compare and contrast two television programs, noting how each communicates the meaning via visual communication rather than words or dialogue. 8.3.1 Visit an online news Web site such as CNN, MSNBC, or ABC News 24. Select a news video on a topic that interests you and watch it a few times. Identify the ways in which the speaker(s) adapt the presentation to be informative and frame the topic. Record you results. 8.3.2 Watch a news program and write down the words that could be considered to communicate values, bias, or opinion. 8.3.3 How can an audience’s prior knowledge affect a speech? What percentage of an informative presentation do you expect an audience to remember? Why? 8.4.1 How do you learn best? What works for you? 8.5.1 Find an example of reciprocity in a television program and write two to three paragraphs describing it. 8.5.2 Find an example of honesty in a television program and write two to three paragraphs describing it. 8.5.3 Find an example of exploitation depicted in the media. Describe how the exploitation is communicated with words and images and record your findings. 8.6.1 Write a brief summary of a class or presentation you personally observed recently. Include what you learned. 8.6.2 Search online for an informative speech or presentation that applies to business or industry. Indicate one part or aspect of the presentation that you thought was effective and one you would improve. Provide a link to the presentation in your entry. 8.6.3 Pick a product or service and come up with a list of five points that you would address in a two minute informative speech. Place them in rank order and indicate why. 9.1.1 Think of a social issue, widely held belief, or political position where change has occurred in your lifetime, or where you would like to see change happen. What kinds of persuasion and motivation were involved – or would need to happen – to produce measurable gain? Record your thoughts. 9.1.2 Think of a time when someone tried to persuade you to do something you did not want to do. Did their persuasion succeed? Why or why not? 9.2.1 Think of a real-life example of the principle of scarcity being used in a persuasive message. Were you the one trying to persuade someone, or were you the receiver of the scarcity message? Was the message effective? Record your thoughts. 9.2.2 Do you think the principle of consensus often works – are people often persuaded to buy things because other people own that item, or are going to buy it? Are you susceptible to this kind of persuasion? 9.2.3 Do people always use reason to make decisions? Support your opinion. 9.3.1 Select a commercial for a product or service you do not believe you would ever buy. Evaluate the commercial according to the principles of persuasion described in the readings. Does it use more than one principle? Is any principle effective on you as an audience member? If you could change the commercial to increase its persuasive appeal to yourself as a customer, what changes would you make? 9.3.2 Which do you think is a more difficult challenge, discontinuance or deterrence? Why? Give some examples. 9.4.1 Consider your life in relation to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. To what degree do you feel you have attained the different levels in the hierarchy? Two or three years ago, were you at the same level where you currently are, or has your position in the hierarchy changed? In what ways do you expect it to change in the future? 9.4.2 Think of a conversation you have had within the past day. What were the reasons for having that conversation? Can you relate it to the reasons for engaging in conversation listed in Table 14.1 “Reasons for Engaging in Communication” in the reading? 9.4.3 Write a brief paragraph about getting to know someone. Discuss whether, in your experience, it followed the social penetration theory. 9.5.1 Think of a time when you have experienced emotional resistance. Write two or three paragraphs about your experience. 9.5.2 Which is the more powerful, appeal to reason or emotion? Include an example in your response. 9.5.3 Find an example of an appeal to emotion in the media. Review and describe it in two to three paragraphs. 9.6.1 Can persuasion be ethical? Why or why not? 9.6.2 Find an example of a fallacy in an advertisement. 9.6.3 Find an example of an effective argument in an advertisement. 9.6.4 Write a two to three paragraph description of a persuasive message that caused you to believe or do something. 9.8.1 Pick a product or service and prepare an elevator speech (less than a hundred words, no more than thirty seconds). Rehearse the draft out loud to see how it sounds and record your thoughts. 9.8.2 Find an example of an elevator speech online and review it. Post the link and a brief summary of strengths and weaknesses. 10.1.1 Does it limit or enhance our understanding of communication to view nonverbal communication as that which is not verbal communication? Explain your answer. 10.1.2 Choose a television personality you admire. What do you like about this person? Watch several minutes of this person with the sound turned off, and make notes of the nonverbal expressions you observe. Turn the sound back on and make notes on their tone of voice, timing, and other audible expressions. 10.1.3 Search for information on the reliability and admissibility of results from polygraph (lie detector) tests. Record your findings. 10.2.1 What kind of value do you have for time, and what is truly important to you? Make a list of what you spend your time on, and what you value most. Do the lists match? Are you spending time on what is truly important to you? Relationships take time, and if you want them to succeed in a personal or business context, you have to make them a priority. 10.2.2 To what degree is time a relevant factor in communication in the information age? Give some examples. 10.4.1 Explore PowerPoint or a similar slideware program (such as OpenOffice Presentation) and find your favourite feature. Write a series of steps on how to access and use it. 10.5.1 Watch a television program without the sound. Can you understand the program? Write a description of the program and include what you found easy to understand, and what presented a challenge. 10.5.2 What do you think are the assumptions (explicit and underlying) about nonverbal communication in the readings? 11.1.1 Choose a product or service that you find appealing. Try to come up with several sound bites, slogans, or quotes that meet all four criteria. You may look to company sales materials or interviews as a source for this activity, and if you pull a quote from an online interview, please include the link in your response. 11.2.1 Think of a phone conversation you had recently. Write a brief summary and include at least one example of what worked or what did not. 11.3.1 Create a sample agenda for a business meeting to discuss the quarterly sales report and results from the latest marketing campaign. Decide what information is needed, and what position might normally be expected to produce that information. 11.4.1 You are called upon to propose a toast to your team leader after your group has just completed a large contract. Work on this project wasn’t always easy, but now it is the time for celebration and recognition. Write a sample toast in no more than thirty words. 11.5.1 How does the press interview serve the business or organisation? List two ways and provide examples. 11.5.2 Consider the following scenario. Your large company is opening a new office in a new town and you have been designated to be part of the team that will be on the front lines. You want to establish goodwill, but also recognise that, being an outsider, you and your company may not be welcomed with open arms by the local business community. Your company produces a product and provides a service (feel free to choose; a coffee shop for example) that is currently offered in the area, but your organisation perceives room for market growth as well as market share. Describe how you would handle relations with the local media. 11.5.3 Observe a press interview. How do they take turns? Does the interviewee ever look nervous? What could he or she have done to improve their performance? Write a brief suggestion and provide a link to the interview. 11.5.4 Find at least one example of an interview gone bad. It may involve a misquotation, expressions of frustration or anger, or even an interview cut short. What happened? Provide a brief summary and provide the link to the interview. 11.6.1 Watch an introduction of a speaker – televised award ceremonies offer plenty of examples – and not one example that you consider effective, and one that you consider ineffective. Explain why you rated them this way. Report your response and provide links. 11.6.2 List five facts, points, or things about yourself and your career that you would want an audience to know. 11.7.1 Find one example of an award acceptance speech that you perceive as particularly effective. Indicate why and share the link. 11.7.2 Find one example of an award acceptance speech that you perceive as particularly ineffective. Indicate why and share the link. 11.9.1 Consider a message you passed along recently. Write a brief description and include discussion on why you passed it along. 11.9.2 What motivates you to pay attention? Make a list of five ideas, images, or words that attract your attention. 12.1.1 When should you use an indirect approach in delivering a negative news message? Explain. 12.1.2 Sales have decreased for two consecutive quarters at your business. You have been instructed to inform your sales team that their hours, and base pay, will be reduced by 20 percent. While you have a few members of your sales team that are underperforming, you want to retain the entire team. Write a negative news message in a direct or indirect approach informing your sales team of the news. 12.2.1 Describe a time when you received negative feedback in time to correct your error. How did you feel about the correction at the time? Looking back, how do you feel about it in retrospect? 12.3.1 Locate a crisis communication plan online. Briefly describe the overall plan and please note at least one part, element, or point of emphasis not covered in the Watch or Read sections above. 12.3.2 When people don’t know what to do in a crisis situation, what happens? How can you address probably challenges before the crisis occurs? 13.1.1 Describe what you are doing, pretending you are another person observing yourself. Write your observations down. 13.1.2 Think of a time when you have used self-talk – for example, giving yourself “I can do this!” messages when you are striving to meet a challenge, or “what’s the use?” messages when you are discouraged. Did you purposely choose to use self-talk, or did it just happen? 13.2.1 Examine your academic or professional resume. According to the dimensions of self described in this module, which dimensions contribute to your resume? 13.2.2 How would you describe yourself in terms of the dimensions of self shown in Figure 16.1 “Luft and Ingram’s Dimensions of Self” in the reading? 13.3.1 Think of two or more different situations and how you might express your personal needs differently from one situation to the other. Have you observed similar variations in personal needs in other people from one situation to another? Record your thoughts. 13.4.1 Write down five terms that describe your personal self, and five terms that describe your professional self. 13.4.2 Think of someone you trust and who trusts you. How did you come to have a mutually trusting relationship? Did it take effort on both people’s part? 13.4.3 How important do you think self-disclosure is in business settings? Give some examples. 13.5.1 How does the employment interview serve both interviewer and interviewee? 13.5.2 What employment related resources are available on your campus or in your community? 13.6.1 Write a description of a situation you recall where you came into conflict with someone else. It may be something that happened years ago, or a current issue that just arose. Using the principles and strategies in this section, describe how the conflict was resolved, or could have been resolved. 13.6.2 Of the strategies for managing conflict described in this section, which do you think are the most effective? Why? 13.6.3 Can you think of a time when a conflict led to a new opportunity, better understanding, or other positive result? If not, think of a past conflict and imagine a positive outcome. Write a two to three paragraph description of what happened, or what you imagine would happen. 14.1.1 Please list five words to describe your dominant culture. Please list five words to describe a culture with which you are not a member, have little or no contact, or have limited knowledge. Now, compare and contrast the terms noting their inherent value statements. 14.3.1 Compile a list or group of pictures of symbols that characterise some of the cultural groups you belong to. 14.3.2 Compile a list of pictures or symbols that your group or community finds offensive. 14.4.1 Take a business letter or a page of a business report from an Australian or U.S. organisation and try rewriting as someone from a highly indirect, relational culture may have written it. Reflect on the changes that you have made. 14.4.2 Conduct an online search for translated movie titles. Provide examples where culture (rather than trademark issues) may have prompted the change. 14.5.1 hink of an ethical aspect of the recent global financial crisis that involved you or your family. For example, did you or a relative get laid off at work, have difficulty making mortgage or rent payments, change your spending habits, or make donations to help those less fortunate? Is there more than one interpretation of the ethics of the situation? 14.6.1 Imagine that you are a manager in charge of approximately a dozen workers. Would you prefer to rely primarily on Theory X, Y, or Z as your management style? Why? Write a short essay defending your preference, giving some concrete examples of management decisions you would make. 14.7.1 Conduct a search on expat networks including online forum. Briefly describe your findings. 14.7.2 What would be the hardest part of an overseas assignment for you and why? What would be the easiest part of an overseas assignment for you and why? 15.1.1 What are some of the primary groups in your life? How do they compare with the secondary groups in your life? Write a two to three paragraph description of these groups. 15.1.2 Are there times when it is better to work alone rather than in a group? Why or why not? 15.2.1 Is it possible for an outsider (a nongroup member) to help a group move from the storming stage to the norming stage? Explain your answer. 15.2.2 Think of a group of which you are a member and identify some roles played by group members, including yourself. Have your roles, and those of others, changed over time? Are some roles more positive than others? Discuss. 15.2.3 Think of a group you no longer belong to. At what point did you become an ex-member? Where you ever a marginal group member or a full member? Write a two to three paragraph description of the group, how and why you became a member, and how and why you left. 15.3.1 Think of a problem encountered in the past by a group of which you are a member. How did the group solve the problem? How satisfactory was the solution? In view of the seven-step framework, which steps did the group utilise? Would following the full seven-step framework have been helpful? 15.3.2 Think of a decision you will be making some time in the near future. Apply the cost-benefit analysis framework to your decision. Do you find this method helpful? 15.5.1 Do you prefer working in a group or team environment, or working individually? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? 15.5.2 Imagine that you could choose anyone you wanted to be on a team with you. Who would you choose, and why? Write a two to three paragraph description. 15.5.3 Think of a leader you admire and respect. How did this individual become a leader – for example, by appointmen democratic selection, or emergence? How would you characterise this leader’s style – is the leader autocratic or laissez-faire, a technician, or a coach?
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