Eight Steps for Successful Events

In today's competitive environment the event remains one of the most powerful tools available to communicators. Events are powerful because they provide a physical connection between you and the people you need to reach. You can use an event to raise awareness of your services or products, generate support for a cause or introduce employees to work practices.

Crawshaw, Bob. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Planning

The Emerging Role of Emotional Intelligence in Business Communication Classes  

Communication is a major component of emotional intelligence models. While we teach persuasive writing, presentations, bad news, good news, and you orientation in our business communication classes, to date we have not looked at the effects emotional intelligence has on our teaching. Emotional intelligence encompasses all areas that we teach in business communication. The purpose of this paper is to show how emotional intelligence is a part of what makes some people good business communicators and others poor ones. If we knew which students had a high-level or which had a low level of emotional intelligence, hypothetically that information could help us teach business communication concepts more efficiently in our classrooms.

Martin, Jeanette S. Association for Business Communication (2004). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Emotions

Emotional Factors for Mobile Business Success

How do emotion, meaning and identity shape the design and rapid adoption of mobile devices and services? China is a wonderful place to study this topic.

Braiterman, Jared and Yue Yu. uiGarden (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Emotions>China

Emotions Trigger The Right Moves

We pump out a lot of information about product features and benefits on the Web, but have you taken a look at how much -- or maybe how little -- we use emotional appeals to help customers buy our products? Take a look at how customers make purchase decisions.

Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2001). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Emotions

The Emotive Value of Professional Communication and Use of Emotional Intelligence in Mangement

Now there is a growing body of science in the field of Emotional Intelligence (EI), indicating that the proper understanding and use of emotions can help us to be more effective professionals and better communicators for the overall development of a learning organization. This paper provides an overview of this topic and includes commentary from EI experts Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey, and others to prove how one can effectively manipulate EI. This paper also highlights the components of EI and how they can be used to help employees create more productive working relationships inside and outside their organization. Through an analysis of various models of EI competencies available, this paper argues how they can be combined with other knowledge and technical capabilities to increase one’s overall effectiveness on the job.

Kumar Panda, Prasanta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Emotions

Employee Communications in an Ever-Changing World  

Communications are continually changing in the business environment. Now more than ever, managers must be more culturally aware when communicating with the younger and older generations for all ethnicities. We, as employees, must also be aware of communicating with younger bosses and co-workers. Global communications, whether written or face-to- face, require different skills that each of us should aspire to understand in working with different groups. This paper covers the U.S. workforce statistics, seven communication principals, and cultural communications; provides you with a glimpse into discovering your communication style; and finally talks about how to communicate with younger bosses and co-workers.

Damrau, Jackie. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Discrimination

Employee Conferences That Matter

A troupe of disco dancers in gold bodysuits was about to hit the stage. Several of our corporate leaders—dressed as famous pop stars from the 1970s—milled around nervously in the wings. And I remember thinking, “What the heck have we got ourselves into?” I was part of the employee communication team for a government-owned financial institution: Farm Credit Canada (FCC). We were about to open our 2005 corporate office conference before a crowd of 500 people, many of them accountants. A campy musical opening could be seen as a risky choice. But here's what brought me peace of mind: I knew that behind the glitz, we had built our conference on a solid foundation of business thinking.

Mayne, Peter. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Interviewing

Employees Tune In to Web Radio

The recent buzz regarding corporate web logs (blogs) may have deflected attention from another effective, low-cost medium: corporate web radio. The following article offers a few tips and “lessons learned” for the corporate professional who would like to start web radio within his or her firm—or for the PR agency, another value-added service for your clients.

Loper, Larry. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Audio>Podcasting

Empowerment: A Manager's and Professional's Perspective  

In today's dynamic business environment, management gurus claim that corporate survival depends upon visionary leadership. The visionary leadership term bandied about most frequently is empowerment. Seminars, courses, books, and corporate communications are educating managers in this concept. The managers return to their jobs charged up and ready to make changes. But how can managers translate abstract concepts into practice? This presentation explores empowerment form a technical communicator and a manager's perspective, giving concrete examples.

Scroggs, Debbie L. and M.L. Eschen. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Business Communication

Review: English for the Energy Industries: Oil, Gas, and Petrochemicals

Not only people preparing to work in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, but also students of industrial chemistry and chemical engineering can immensely benefit from the material provided in this coursebook and supplementary CDs.

Kumar Panda, Prasanta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Reviews>Business Communication>Engineering

An Ethical Gamble  

Are the ethical issues affected by a vendor's status as an offshore operation? By the prospect of Internet gambling becoming illegal in the U.S. (bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives)? By the presumption of shady morals in the gambling industry? Should one's choices be affected by his/her rocky employment history?

Bryan, John G. Intercom (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Ethics

Ethics and Accountability in the New Media Environment

In May, I had the pleasure of participating in the IABC Newfoundland & Labrador 20/20 Visionary Communications conference. Jo-Anne Polak of Hill & Knowlton, while presenting her thoughts about contemporary crisis communication, made a comment that I haven’t stopped thinking about since her presentation. Jo-Anne pointed out that after September 11th, journalists have had to become more competitive and aggressive because media sources have exploded in number, and technology has provided immediate electronic delivery.

Hattori, Todd. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Risk Communication>Multimedia

Etiquette for Globetrotters

Ever wonder why your last business trip abroad was a bust? Maybe it was something you didn't say. Learn what not to do when travelling in a foreign country.

Hansson, Tomas. Writer's Block (1999). Articles>Business Communication>International

Evaluating Your Online Reputation

One of the primary concerns of public relations practitioners is reputation management. Traditionally, PR professionals measured the perception of their brand, products or services through media coverage; whatever was written or broadcast about a company was viewed as indicative of public opinion. The Internet has vastly changed the dynamics of how communicators assess and evaluate public opinion.

Murphy, Allison and Howard Kaushansky. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Public Relations>Online

Every Email You Send is a Customer Service Email

If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two. The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories. Each of these three types of emails requires a slightly different approach. Their purposes are different, and each should be optimized to perform their respective tasks.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email

Expressive Practices: the Local Enactment of Culture in the Communication Classroom    

As students participate in corporate communication classes, they may, on occasion, use the term culture to make sense of their experiences. The authors use Mino's idea of a learning paradigm to shift the emphasis away from teaching traditional theories of culture and use student-centered experiences to teach culture as an expressive practice. Using instances drawn from their own classrooms, the authors show how students can recognize the value of understanding their role in creating culture each time they choose how to act, how to evaluate others' behavior, and whether to label what is going on as cultural.

Wolf, Karen, Trudy Milburn and Richard Wilkins. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Cultural Theory

Facing Facebook

Technological changes keep happening, and every time a new phenomenon occurs, employers seem to react the same way. Questions that were asked about phones, e-mail, mobile phones and blogs in the workplace are now being asked about online social networks. Why do we keep repeating history? In my view, it’s because we can get so overwhelmed by the possibilities of the tools that we lose focus on the basic functions of communication and how these tools can help us with them.

Barbaro, Geoff. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Community Building>Social Networking

Final Check: Dotting Those i’s and Crossing Those t’s

You’ve worked long and hard on your article, newsletter, press release, promo brochure or report. Now it’s time to move your baby off your screen and into the world. Not so long ago your baby would have gone either onto a printed page or onto the Web. These days, your words will probably head for both. Even materials such as newsletters, white papers, reports and advertorials that are first published on paper are quite likely to be reprinted, archived or otherwise reused on the Web, perhaps even as an audio file or podcast. People may even blog about your content. What does this mean for you as a business communicator?

Canavor, Natalie and Claire Meirowitz. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Editing>Writing

Five Facets of Successful Global Communication

Managing internal communication across a global organization is an exciting and challenging task. How this task is approached will vary widely depending on the culture and structure of the particular organization, as well as the location of its headquarters.

Samuels, Paul. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>International

Five FAQs About Business Writing

A few style guide tips for novice business writers.

ULiveandLearn.com (2005). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Business Communication

Five Steps to Improve Your Communication Audit

Communication audits are like relatives from New Jersey: They never show up at an opportune time—even when you know they are coming. Like that obnoxious uncle leading the Jersey clan, communication audits can occupy all of your time and become an overwhelming task to get rid of, or to complete. Performing an effective audit is the first step in moving yourself from being a communicator who informs about business to being a businessperson who communicates.

Mikorenda, Jerry. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Communication

Five Tips for Measuring Public Relations and Catching the CEO's Attention

Measuring the effectiveness of PR is critical to moving PR from a tactical function to a strategic component of your company's plan for success. But the old ways of counting clips just aren't good enough to convince today's management executives that their investment in PR and overall communications is paying off. Here are 5 Tips about how to measure PR in ways that will catch the CEO's attention and increase the stature of PR in any organization:

McNamara, Julie. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Public Relations>Assessment

Flexing Your Marketing Muscles: Tactics for the Reluctant Marketer  

I don’t like to market myself. Sometimes I think, 'Heck, I’m good at what I do. I've been doing this for thirty years. Why don’t people come to me?' Then I get over it, consult my marketing plan, and get on with it. (See my previous column, 'Building a Marketing Plan,' in the May 2004 issue of Intercom.) I don't like to market my services, but I like to have marketedmy services. And I keep one thought foremost in the process: 'Marketing is like swimming: If you stop, you sink!'

Frick, Elizabeth G. 'Bette'. Intercom (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing

Forming Perceptions of Entrepreneurial Discourse: The Effectiveness of Oral or Transcribed Communication  

This paper explores the possibility that trained business communication professionals might perceive differentially the quality of the identical entrepreneurial presentations, depending on whether they are in audio or print form. By conducting a comparative analysis of heard and read versions of these speeches, we uncovered evidence which frames the following discourse. Results point to the variables which shape either (1) oral communication with an immediately- present audience, or (2) written transcripts with a distanced or imagined set of readers. This has aided us in identifying the funding for new ventures.

Sokuvitz, Sydel and Stephen Spinelli. Association for Business Communication (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Genre