Fall 2009
Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 10:00 – 10:50 am; Smith 232
Stephen D. Cooper, Ph.D.
Smith Hall 246
(304) 696-2733
Monday 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Tuesday 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Thursday 1:00 – 3:30 pm
Friday 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Other times by appointment.
Communication is among the most fundamental of human activities. Much of our communication, both deliberate and unintended, occurs in the context of our professional lives.
This course offers you the opportunity to develop communication skills which will be valuable throughout your working life. It will include a set of conceptual tools to better understand business and professional communication, and practical experience with the kinds of presentations you will make in a professional context.
When you look over this syllabus there might be some tasks which scare you a bit; you’ll wonder if you’ll be able to handle them. Relax and trust the Force. Know that your insecurities can be excellent indicators of the things you need to work on.
Keep in mind that opportunities often present themselves as challenges. Look ahead to the time when you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of having taken your skills to a level you used to think you could not attain.
So what’s the payoff, exactly, for all your hard work in this course?
· A conceptual understanding of the nature of communication in a professional context.
· Skill in analyzing the audience and situation for a formal presentation.
· Skill in developing and writing the text of the presentation.
· Skill in delivering the presentation extemporaneously.
In plain language, you learn the craft of making a presentation at a professional level. The way this works is that first you hit the textbook to learn the necessary ideas about this kind of business communication, then you apply those ideas by making presentations in class. When you put the work in, you earn the ability to do it at a high level.
Your success in this course is in your own hands. As in so many other activities, your commitment is crucial. At one level, this is simple: come to class, be prepared for the class, and participate fully in the class. At a deeper level, this is complex: only you can promise you will do that, and then keep that promise to yourself.
DiSanza, J. R., & Legge, N. J. (2009). Business and professional communication, 4th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Brammer, C. A., & Greenwood, K. L. (2009). CMM 207 student workbook. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
The development of the World Wide Web has opened a great many wonderful opportunities to all of us. It has also made it easier than ever to misrepresent someone else’s work as our own.
Don’t do it.
Plagiarism is a fool’s shortcut. Not only do you cheat yourself of the opportunity to learn and grow, but you expose yourself to severe academic penalties.
Plagiarism is dishonest. In the I Ching there is a saying that sincerity inspires respect. Earn your self-respect through your own efforts.
Try this four-step technique for reading course materials. It’s probably different from what you’re used to doing, but you might find it very helpful in deepening both your comprehension and recall of the material.
· First browse the entire section you’ve been assigned. Let your eyes go where they want to: check out the headings, bold-faced terms, diagrams and figures, whatever paragraphs catch your attention. Don’t make any marks in your book or take any notes at this point. Just get a sense of how the section is put together, and what the main ideas are.
· Next, look for summary materials the book might include. There may be a chapter summary at the end. There may be a preview, or a bullet list of important ideas, or a glossary of key terms. Whatever forms the summary materials may be in, read them slowly and carefully. Let those ideas sink in.
· Then read through the assignment in sequence. Highlight passages, make margin notes, write things in your notebook. Take your time with this reading, and let the familiarity you gained by browsing guide your highlighting and note taking.
· Finally, jot down reminders to yourself about things in the reading you don’t feel solid about understanding. Ask about those things in class.
This four-step process won’t require much more time, but I think you’ll find you have a far better grasp of the readings and your presentations will be much stronger as a result. Try it and see.
· Reading assignment for this class: the syllabus, and chapter 1.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 2.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 4.
September 2—Audience Analysis.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 6.
· Writing assignment for this class (#2): analyze your fellow students as an audience for the presentations you’ll make in this course. Address each of the questions in the audience analysis checklist (Figure 6.4 on p. 114) as well as you can, without having a particular presentation in mind. (Skip predisposition toward the topic; do everything else.)
September 4—The Fundamentals of Making a Presentation.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapters 7 and 8. Bring notes on things you want explained in class.
F Marshall is closed on September 7.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 9, and workbook pp. 15-25.
· Writing assignment for this class (#3): a bullet list describing your technical presentation. Identify the subject, your information sources for it, and the organizational pattern you plan to use. Explain why you chose that pattern for this presentation, and analyze your audience using the bottom half (listener analysis) of Figure 6.4.
· Get rolling on your technical presentation. Be sure it meets the specifications on workbook p. 15, with the changes we discussed in class. Be sure your preparation outline follows the format on pp. 17-19. Bring all your materials to class, including sources and a draft outline.
· Writing assignment for this class (#4): if you presented in the last class, write three comments on your presentation by the Coach, and three by the Reaper. (Use bullet points, not a narrative.) If you didn’t present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments on each of the presentations you watched. Be specific. Say precisely what the Coach and Reaper noticed about the presentations.
· Writing assignment for this class (#5): if you presented in the last class, write three comments on your presentation by the Coach, and three by the Reaper. (Use bullet points, not a narrative.) If you didn’t present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments on each of the presentations you watched. Be specific. Say precisely what the Coach and Reaper noticed about the presentations.
· Writing assignment for this class (#6): if you presented in the last class, write three comments on your presentation by the Coach, and three by the Reaper. (Use bullet points, not a narrative.) If you didn’t present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments on each of the presentations you watched. Be specific. Say precisely what the Coach and Reaper noticed about the presentations.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 11.
· Writing assignment for this class (#7): on p. 225 of your reading there’s a paragraph about the three common fears which make a potential customer reluctant to buy a product or service. Write a one page narrative describing a time when you were considering buying something and experienced one or more of those fears. What, if anything, did the sales representative do to address your fears about buying the product or service? Be specific, and stay focused on those three fears; this ain’t a free-write.
September 25—Workshop: Sales Presentation.
· Reading assignment for this class: workbook p. 47 for the requirements (with the changes we discussed in class), and pp. 33-39 for organizational patterns you can use.
· Writing assignment for this class (#8): a bullet list describing your sales presentation. Describe the product or service you are selling, the company you represent, the company you are pitching to, the organizational pattern you plan to use, why you chose that pattern, and the fears (specific to this situation) your potential client probably feels. Analyze your audience using the bottom half (listener analysis) of Figure 6.4.
· Writing assignment for this class (#9): if you presented in the last class, write three comments on your presentation by the Coach and three by the Reaper, and say why you did or didn’t get the sale. If you didn’t present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments on each of the presentations you watched, whether the presentation made the sale, and why or why not. (Be specific!)
· Writing assignment for this class (#10): if you presented in the last class, write three comments on your presentation by the Coach and three by the Reaper, and say why you did or didn’t get the sale. If you didn’t present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments on each of the presentations you watched, whether the presentation made the sale, and why or why not. (Be specific!)
October 5— Debriefing the Sales Presentations.
· Writing assignment for this class (#11): if you presented in the last class, write three comments on your presentation by the Coach and three by the Reaper, and say why you did or didn’t get the sale. If you didn’t present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments on each of the presentations you watched, whether the presentation made the sale, and why or why not. (Be specific!)
October 7—Getting Ready for the Midterm.
· Reading assignment for this class: review all the textbook and workbook material we’ve covered so far.
· Writing assignment for this class (#12): for each textbook chapter we’ve read so far, write one brain-melter multiple-choice exam question and one easy-schmeazy multiple-choice exam question. (Uh—label which is which, K?)
October 9—Tutoring Session
· There’s no assignment to turn in, but bring notes about textbook and workbook material you want explained.
October 12—The Dreaded Midterm Exam.
October 14—Employment Interviews.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 5, and workbook p. 59.
· Writing assignment for this class (#13): a draft of your resume.
October 16—Workshop: Employment Interview.
· Get ready for your interview. Fine tune your resume, if you need to. Bring all your materials to class, including the ad or announcement for the job, and drafts of the cover letter and thank-you note.
October 19—Employment Interviews, Part 1.
October 21—Employment Interviews, Part 2.
· Writing assignment for this class (#14): if you interviewed in the last class, write a half page about why you think you got the job, or why you didn’t. (Talk about how the employer perceived you, in other words.) If you didn’t interview, write two comments by the Coach and two by the Reaper about each interview you watched, and say why the applicant did or did not get a job offer. (Be specific!)
October 23—Employment Interviews, Part 3.
· Writing assignment for this class (#15): if you interviewed in the last class, write a half page about why you think you got the job, or why you didn’t. (Talk about how the employer perceived you, in other words.) If you didn’t interview, write two comments by the Coach and two by the Reaper about each interview you watched, and say why the applicant did or did not get a job offer. (Be specific!)
October 26—Debriefing the Employment Interviews.
· Writing assignment for this class (#16): if you interviewed in the last class, write a half page about why you think you got the job, or why you didn’t. (Talk about how the employer perceived you, in other words.) If you didn’t interview, write two comments by the Coach and two by the Reaper about each interview you watched, and say why the applicant did or did not get a job offer. (Be specific!)
October 28—Work Groups: Concepts.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 3.
· Writing assignment for this class (#17): write a two page bullet list describing a task group in which you participated. Cover the task, the membership, the time frame the group had to accomplish its task, how conflict was managed (see figure 3.7 on p. 47), and leadership behaviors you saw people display in the group (see figure 3.1 on p. 31). Identify three strengths of the group (the Coach’s preoccupation) and three weaknesses (the Reaper’s obsession), choosing applicable concepts from the chapter reading.
October 30— Proposals.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapter 10 and workbook p. 51.
· Writing assignment for this class (#18): a bullet list describing the proposal you will make. Describe what action you will propose, identify the decision-makers you will present to, name the organizational pattern you will use, say why you chose that pattern, and list the appeals you plan to make. Analyze your audience using the bottom half (listener analysis) of Figure 6.4.
November 2—Workshop: Proposal.
· Get rolling on your proposal. Be sure you meet the requirements on workbook p. 51, with the changes we discussed in class. Bring all your materials to class, including sources and a draft outline.
November 4—Proposals, Part 1.
November 6—Proposals, Part 2.
· Writing assignment for this class (#19): if you presented at the last class, write three comments by the Coach and three by the Reaper, plus a full paragraph about the appeals you made—what they were, why you chose them, and how effective they were. If you did not present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments about each presentation you watched, predict whether the proposal would have been adopted, and say why (be specific!) you think so.
November 9—Proposals, Part 3.
· Writing assignment for this class (#20): if you presented at the last class, write three comments by the Coach and three by the Reaper, plus a full paragraph about the appeals you made—what they were, why you chose them, and how effective they were. If you did not present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments about each presentation you watched, predict whether the proposal would have been adopted, and say why (be specific!) you think so.
November 11—Debriefing the Proposals.
· Writing assignment for this class (#21): if you presented at the last class, write three comments by the Coach and three by the Reaper, plus a full paragraph about the appeals you made—what they were, why you chose them, and how effective they were. If you did not present, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments about each presentation you watched, predict whether the proposal would have been adopted, and say why (be specific!) you think so.
F I’ll be on the road, at a conference, so we won’t meet on Friday of this week...
F ...And I won’t get home until late, so we won’t meet on Monday.
November 18—Risk and Crisis Communication.
· Reading assignment for this class: chapters 12 and 13, workbook p. 55.
· Writing assignment for this class (#22): a bullet list describing the crisis presentation you will make. Identify the nature of the crisis, the audience you will address, the crisis communication strategies you will employ, and your reason for choosing those strategies. Analyze your audience, using the bottom half (listener analysis) of Figure 6.4.
November 20—Workshop: Crisis Presentation.
· Reading assignment for this class: workbook p. 55 for the requirements (with the changes we discussed in class), and textbook pp. 276-279 for an illustration of the N-R-A pattern used in a crisis situation.
· Get rolling on this thing. Bring all your materials to class: news clippings about the crisis, and draft copy for the statement you’ll read.
November 30—Crisis Presentations, Part 1.
December 2—Crisis Presentations, Part 2.
· Writing assignment for this class (#23): if you presented at the last class, write three comments by the Coach and three by the Reaper, say whether you’d have been successful in restoring your organization’s image, and why or why not. If you did not present at the last class, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments about each of the presentations you watched, and name all the image restoration strategies the presenter used.
December 4—Crisis Presentations, Part 3.
· Writing assignment for this class (#24): if you presented at the last class, write three comments by the Coach and three by the Reaper, say whether you’d have been successful in restoring your organization’s image, and why or why not. If you did not present at the last class, write two Coach comments and two Reaper comments about each of the presentations you watched, and name all the image restoration strategies the presenter used.
December 7—Hail and Farewell.
· Writing assignment for this class (#25): one page identifying the three most important things you learned from this course, and how you expect that knowledge might benefit you in your professional career.
Your presentations are important to your grade in the course. So are the midterm and final exams. And even though they’re short, so are the written assignments.
In other words, everything in the course is important to your grade. The reason is simple: everything in the course contributes significantly to your growth as a professional.
To put it bluntly, it’s unwise to blow off any of the class meetings or any of the work. That said, here are the numbers which add up to your course grade.
A = 900 or better
B = 800—899
C = 700—799
D = 600—699
F = below 600
I reserve the right to reject assignments or presentations after their deadlines pass. If you know you’ll have trouble making a due date on any of the work, get in touch with me before the deadline so we can make some arrangement. The key to success in this course is simple: take the course seriously, and think ahead.
That makes the attendance policy obvious: if you take this course, come to class. The worst penalty for not showing up is losing the knowledge you would have gained from our activity that day, but you’ll also lose the points you would have earned toward your course grade that day.
OK--that’s the tough part. Here’s the love part: if something is going on in your life that knocks you off your game, contact me in advance of a deadline so we can work something out. Keep in mind, though, that missing a deadline and making lame excuses afterward just won’t cut it. If you blow it, admit it—and get it right, the next time.
You can understand what I mean, then, by calling this tough love. I want you to do well in this course. But if I were to let you get away with doing less than your best, or to give you the impression that life is about doing the minimum necessary to get by, I’d be devaluing you. Again, sincerity inspires respect. I want to earn your respect, and I hope you want to earn mine.
Remember that you are a student at a first-class state university, and this is a professional context for all of us. Be sure that the papers you turn in reflect your professionalism. All your written work must be typed, double spaced, with normal margins and font size. Be sure your name, the course number, and the assignment number are on the top of the page. Written work is written work; unless we make arrangements before the deadline passes, email is not acceptable as a way to submit an assignment.
When you’re having trouble with an assignment or a presentation, don’t suffer in silence. Call me! That’s what I’m here for. My office hours are listed on this syllabus, and we can meet other times by appointment.
Here’s what it all comes down to:
My job is to create an environment in which you can succeed.
Your job is to succeed.
but wait! there’s more...
The University wants to be sure you know about these things:
academic dishonesty policy
http://www.marshall.edu/president/Board/Policies/MUBOG%20AA-12%20Academic%20Dishonesty.pdf
computing services acceptable use policy
http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/CS/accptuse.asp
weather closings
http://www.marshall.edu/www/policy_07.html
accomodations for students with disabilities
http://www.marshall.edu/disabled
Policy for Students with Disabilities: Marshall University is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students, including those with physical, learning and psychological disabilities. University policy states that it is the responsibility of students with disabilities to contact the Office of Disabled Student Services (DSS) in Prichard Hall 117, phone 304 696-2271 to provide documentation of their disability. Following this, the DSS Coordinator will send a letter to each of the student’s instructors outlining the academic accommodation he/she will need to ensure equality in classroom experiences, outside assignment, testing and grading. The instructor and student will meet to discuss how the accommodation(s) requested will be provided. For more information, please visit http://www.marshall.edu/disabled or contact Disabled Student Services Office at Prichard Hall 11, phone 304-696-2271.
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