CHAPTER 1

Building
Your Career
Success With
Communication
Skills
Instructor Only Version
© 2007 Thomson South-Western
 Communication skills are essential for
 Job placement
 Job performance
 Career advancement
 Success in the new world of work

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 2

 “Businesses are crying
out—they need to have
people who write better.”

Gaston Caperton,
business executive and
president, College Board

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 3

 Build Your Career
Communication Skills

Textbook Your Guide

Instructor Your Coach

Your Guffey Companion and

Bonus
XTRA! Web Sites
Resources
(p. 23) http://guffey.swlearning.com
http://guffeyxtra.swlearning.com

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 4

 Projecting Professionalism When You Communicate

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 5

 Projecting Professionalism When You Communicate
(continued)

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 6

 Projecting Professionalism When You Communicate
(concluded)

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 7

 Flattened
management
Focus on hierarchies More
information
participatory
as a
management
corporate asset
Trends in
New the New Increased
work Workplace emphasis
environments on teams

Innovative Heightened
communication global
technologies competition

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 8

 The Process of Communication

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 9

The Process of Communication

Verbally or nonverbally.
How may the sender
By speaking, writing,
encode a message?
gesturing.

What kinds of Letters, e-mail, IM,

channels carry memos, TV, cell phone,
messages? voice, body. Others?

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 10

 How does a receiver Hearing, reading,
decode a message? observing.

When is When a message is

communication understood as the sender
successful? intended it to be.
How can a Ask questions, watch
communicator responses, don’t
provide for feedback? dominate the exchange.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 11

Barriers to Effective Listening

Physical Hearing disabilities, noisy

barriers surroundings
Psychological Tuning out ideas that counter
barriers our values
Language Unfamiliar or charged words
problems
Nonverbal Clothing, mannerisms,
distractions appearance

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 12

 Thought speed Our minds process thoughts
faster than speakers express
them

Faking attention Pretending to listen

Grandstanding Talking all the time or

listening only for the next
pause

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 13

 Ten Misconceptions
About Listening
1. Listening is a matter of intelligence.
FACT: Careful listening is a learned
behavior.
2. Speaking is more important than
listening in the communication process.
FACT: Speaking and listening are
equally important.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 14

 3. Listening is easy and requires little
energy.
FACT: Active listeners undergo the same
physiological changes as a person
jogging.
4. Listening and hearing are the same
process.
FACT: Listening is a conscious, selective
process. Hearing is an involuntary act.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 15

 5. Speakers are able to command listening.
FACT: Speakers cannot make a person
really listen.
6. Hearing ability determines listening
ability.
FACT: Listening happens mentally—
between the ears.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 16

 7. Speakers are totally responsible for
communication success.
FACT: Communication is a two-way
street.
8. Listening is only a matter of
understanding a speaker’s words.
FACT: Nonverbal signals also help
listeners gain understanding.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 17

 9. Daily practice eliminates the need for
listening training.
FACT: Without effective listening
training, most practice merely reinforces
negative behaviors.
10. Competence in listening develops
naturally.
FACT: Untrained people listen at only 25
percent efficiency.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 18

 Tips for Becoming an
Active Listener
 Stop talking.
 Control your surroundings.
 Establish a receptive mind-set.
 Listen for main points.
 Capitalize on lag time.
 Listen between the lines.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 19

  Judge ideas,
not
appearances.
 Hold your fire.
 Take selective

notes.
 Provide
feedback.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 20
 Nonverbal Communication
 Eye contact, facial expression, and
posture and gestures send silent
messages.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 21

  Time, space, and
territory send silent
messages.
• Time (punctuality
and structure of)
• Space
(arrangement of
objects in)
• Territory (privacy
zones)

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 22

 Four Space Zones for Social
Interaction Among Americans

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 23

 Four Space Zones for Social
Interaction Among Americans

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 24

  Eye contact, facial expression, and
posture and gestures send silent
messages.
 Time, space, and territory send silent
messages.
 Appearance sends silent messages.
• Appearance of business documents
• Appearance of people

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 25

 Tips for Improving
Your Nonverbal Skills

 Establish and maintain eye contact.

 Use posture to show interest.
 Improve your decoding skills.
 Probe for more information.
 Avoid assigning nonverbal meanings
out of context.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 26

  Associate with people from diverse
cultures.
 Appreciate the power of appearance.
 Observe yourself on videotape.
 Enlist friends and family.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 27

 Culture and Communication

Good communication
demands special
sensitivity and skills
when communicators
are from different
cultures.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 28

 Culture and Communication
Key North American Beliefs

Belief Examples
Individualism Initiative, self-assertion,
personal achievement
Informality Little emphasis on rituals,
ceremonies, rank; preference
for informal dress

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 29

 Belief Examples

Direct Impatient, literal, suspicious

Communication of evasiveness
Style
Importance of Precious, correlates with
Time productivity

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 30

 Comparing U.S. and
International’s Views

U.S. Persons’ Views Internationals’ Views

of Themselves of U.S. Persons
Informal, friendly, Undisciplined, overly
casual personal
Egalitarian Insensitive to status
Direct, aggressive Blunt, rude, oppressive

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 31

 U.S. Persons’ Views Internationals’ Views
of Themselves of U.S. Persons
Efficient Obsessed with time;
opportunistic
Goal/achievement- Promise more than they
oriented deliver
Profit-oriented Materialistic
Resourceful, ingenious Work-oriented; deals
more important than
people

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 32

 U.S. Persons’ Views Internationals’ Views
of Themselves of U.S. Persons
Individualistic, Self-absorbed, equating
progressive “new” with “best”

Dynamic, find identity in Driven

work
Enthusiastic, prefer Deceptive, fearsome
hard-sell
Open Weak, untrustworthy

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 33

 Proverbs Reflect Culture

What do these U.S. proverbs indicate

about this culture and what it values?
1. “The squeaking wheel gets the grease.”
2. “Waste not, want not.”
3. “He who holds the gold makes the rules.”
4. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
5. “The early bird gets the worm.”

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 34

 What do these Chinese proverbs
indicate about the Chinese culture and
what it values?
1. “A man who waits for a roast duck to fly into
his mouth must wait a very, very long time.”
2. “A man who says it cannot be done should
not interrupt a man doing it.”
3. “Give a man a fish, and he will live for a day;
give him a net, and he will live for a lifetime.”

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 35

 What do these proverbs indicate about
their respective cultures and what they
value?
1. “No one is either rich or poor who has not
helped himself to be so.” (German)
2. “Words do not make flour.” (Italian)
3. “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.”
(Japanese)

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 36

 High-Context and
Low-Context Cultures
High Context
Japanese
Arab
Latin American
Spanish
English
Italian
French
North American
Scandinavian
German
Swiss
Low Context
Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 37
 Comparison of High- and
Low-Context Cultures
High-Context Low-Context
Cultures Cultures
Relational Linear
Collectivist Individualistic
Intuitive Logical
Contemplative Action-oriented

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 38

Improving Communication With
Multicultural Audiences
 Oral Messages
• Use simple
English.
• Speak slowly and
enunciate clearly.
• Encourage
accurate
feedback.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 39
  Oral Messages (continued)
• Check frequently for comprehension.
• Observe eye messages.
• Accept blame.
• Listen without interrupting.
• Remember to smile!
• Follow up in writing.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 40

  Written Messages
• Adapt to local formats.
• Consider hiring a translator.
• Use short sentences and short
paragraphs.
• Avoid ambiguous wording.
• Strive for clarity.
• Cite numbers carefully.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 41

 Effective Communication With
Diverse Workplace Audiences
 Understand the value of differences.
 Don’t expect total conformity.
 Create zero tolerance for bias and
stereotypes.
 Practice focused, thoughtful, and open-
minded listening.
 Invite, use, and give feedback.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 42

  Make fewer workplace assumptions.
 Learn about your own cultural self.
 Learn about other
cultures and
identity groups.
 Seek common
ground.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, 7e Chapter 1, Slide 43