BC 355: Business Communication Contexts

Overview

Successful business communication involves many considerations that are called “communication contexts": You (the messenger), your audience, the environment and medium used for the communication, your message, and your objectives. During the course, we will be covering each of the contexts in a variety of business situations.

The course is designed to be highly interactive with lots of discussion and activities to keep you intrigued with the art of business communication. You will be participating in a course-long simulation at a virtual business, Ashton Consulting. Here, you will experience life as an internal company communicator and external consultant, working in areas such as Human Resources, Operations, Accounting, Customer Service, Marketing, and Sales. You will learn about communicating from within the various circumstances you will face in the business world.

You will experience every communication situation as an opportunity to sell your ideas. You will work alone and with partners, as you will in your real business life.

Throughout the course, you will practice your communication skills on defined audiences, either co-workers at Ashton Consulting or its clients. You will exercise your best judgment on communication approaches to meet your audiences' needs and expectations.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify the main building blocks (contexts) and skills (competencies) required for successful business communication.
• Integrate oral and written communication methods to present reports and proposals using appropriate persuasive strategies.
• Identify differences and similarities of communicating orally, in writing, face to face, and via technology.
• Build complementary presentations using oral and written modes, and determine when each is beneficial.
• Use audience analysis of types, styles, and experience to improve communication decision making related to organizing information, selecting appropriate style and tone, developing the argument, selecting content, and building audience rapport.
• Develop information based on evidence and inference to build persuasive presentations.
• Communicate effectively within specific business organizations using appropriate communication strategies, including communicating for Human Resources, Operations, Administration, Customer Service, Marketing, and Sales.
• Use business writing formats to build persuasive arguments and convey information efficiently and effectively.
• Select appropriate organization structures in writing to convey information effectively to the reader.
• Edit written material for precision, conciseness, and clarity.
• Organize oral material to achieve a successful integration with written content.
• Select appropriate visual material to support both oral and written presentations.
• Follow a business problem through a variety of communication development processes, including outlines, drafts, and final reports or proposals.
• Develop a longer report or proposal using appropriate business communication methods, including an executive summary, main report, and oral presentation design.

Required Texts
BC 355 texts are available from the JIU/MBS bookstore