Module 25

Module 25 was about using visuals. Here the author teaches us how to identify stories for business visuals, select visuals for stories, apply principles for good design, and how to apply principles for effective color and clip art use. He also explains how to apply principles for accurate and ethical visuals, synthesize visuals with text, and prepare print visuals for use in presentations. In your rough draft, you should use visuals to see that ideas are presented completely and to find relationships. In the final presentation or document, use visuals to make points vivid, to emphasize material, to present materials more compactly and with less repetition, and to focus on information that decision makers need. Typical design conventions that you should follow include tables, pie charts, bar charts, and line graphs.

Module 3

The topic of Module 3 is Communicating Across Cultures. Here the author explains how to define culture through context, compare and contrast dimensions of culture, and apply strategies for international communication success. He also goes in depth about how to identify differences among generations, apply strategies for workplace discrimination solutions, and lastly how to apply strategies for bias-free documents. There are two different types of cultures, one of high-context and one of low-context. In high-context cultures, most of the information is inferred from the context of the message. In low-context cultures, context is less important; most of the information in explicitly spelled out. In order to make your documents bias-free, you must make language nonsexist, non-racist, and non-ageist. You must also be careful when talking about people with disabilities and diseases as well as choosing bias-free photos and illustrations. Culture affects business communication in the following ways: Values, beliefs, and practices; nonverbal communication; body language; space; time; oral communication; and in writing to international audiences.

Module 24

This chapter talks about Long Reports. The author goes in depth about organizing time for report writing, applying strategies for report section writing, and lastly comparing and contrasting formats and styles for long reports. When writing a long report, write parts as soon as you can and spend most of your time on sections that support your recommendations. There are several parts to a long report including a title page, letter or memo of transmittal, table of contents, list of illistrations, executive summary, introduction, background or history, and lastly conclusions and recommendations. Conclusions summarize points made in the body of the report; recommendations are action items that would solve or partially solve the problem.

Module 23

In Module 23, the author talks about Short Reports. In this chapter you will learn how to select patterns for short business report organization, apply strategies for short business report organization, apply principles for good business report style, and lastly apply stratregies for specific and polite question use. Different kind of reports use different patterns of organization. For example, an informative or closure report summarizes work or research that does not result in action or recommendation. Feasability reports evaluate several alternatives and commend one of them. Lastly, justification reports recommend or justify a purchase, investment, hiring, or change in policy. There are also basic strategies for organizing information, seven basic patterns are: Comparison/Contrast; Problem-solution; Elimination of alternatives; General to particular or particular to general; geographic or spatial; functional; and chronological. Lastly, there are three main points to apply to any kind of writing, but particular to reports, being say what you mean, tighten your writing, and use blueprints, transititions, topic sentences, and heading to make your organization clear to your reader.

Module 27 & 28

Module 27 goes into talking about Resumes for potential jobs. In this chapter, the author demonstrates reasons for employers to read your resume, applys principles for resume design with computers, selects resumes for different situations, and contrasts differences among resumer features. He also talks about how to compare similarities among resume features, apply principles for appropriate resume length, apply principles for electronic resume design, and lastly to apply principles for video resume design.

Module 28 dives into job application letters. Here the author talks about how to select job application letters for different situations, contrast differences among job application letters, compare similarities among job application letters, and examine methods for specific company targeting. He also describes how to apply principles for T-letters, apply principles for appropriate job application letter length, apply principles for good job application letter tone, and lastly apply principles for e-mail job application letters.

Module 21

Module 21 was about Proposals and Progress Reports. In this chapter, the author explains how to define reports in the workplace, estimate time for business proposal writing, identify sections for business proposal organization, identify "hot buttons" for business proposal strategies and beyond, and lastly identify sections for progress report organization. There are three levels of reports. Information only reports include sales reports and quarterly reports. Information plus analysis reports include annual reports, audit reports, and make-good or pay-back reports. Information plus analysis plus a recommendation reports inculde feasibility reports, justification reports, and problem-solving reports. When creating a proposal for a class project, there are nine different steps to take in order to create an effective proposal: Summarize the topic and your purpose; what problem exists; feasibility of the problem; who your audience is; topics to investigate; methods/procedure; qualifications/facilities/resources; work schedule; and lastly a call to action. Other types of proposals include proposal for funding, sales proposals, and figuring the budget and costs. Lastly, items you should include in a progress report need to be things that will enhance your image, float trial balloons, and minimize potential problems.

Module 17 and 18

Module 17 consists of Listening. In this chapter the author tells how to explain good listening strategies for the workplace, apply strategies for active listening, apply techniques for acknowledgement responses, recognize value in leadership through listening, and lastly recognize value in active listening during disagreements. Good listeners consciously follow four practices: Pay Attention, Focus on the Other Speaker(s) in a Generous Way, Avoid Making Assumptions, and Listen for Feelings as Well as Facts.

Module 18 has to do with Working and Writing in Teams. Here the author writes about to identify message types for the group’s attention, classify roles for group members, apply strategies for leadership without arrogance, apply strategies for conflict resolutions, and lastly apply strategies for co-authorship of documents. Different messages are appropriate at different points in a group’s development. Informational messages focus on content, procedural messages focus on method and process. And interpersonal messages focus on people, promoting friendliness, and group loyalty.