14 Jan Executive Presence and

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 2 Discussion

Optimize Your Business Writing

Scenario: You are a salesperson, customer service agent, or small business owner. You have received an email from a customer who is very unhappy with a recent interaction with someone from your organization and is threatening to take their business to your competitor.

First, share a few details with your peers about what occurred. Then, draft an email response that will validate their concern, maintain company integrity, and retain their business.

Use the tips below to craft an effective response:

Before you respond, put yourself in the customer’s place to fully understand their complaint or concern

Use a clear, descriptive Subject line

Use a Salutation suitable for business communication

Say “Thank you” for their feedback at the start of the email

Apologize (even if you don’t agree or if it was the customer’s fault)

Explain what happened truthfully and politely

Tell the customer what you will do to help

Keep your message succinct, brief, and on topic

Use a Closing suitable for business communication

Finally, keep in mind that this task involves important leadership values that constitute Executive Presence: respect for others, the ability to diffuse anger and focus on positive outcomes, showing empathy for another, and the willingness to be candid about an error or poor performance. These values lead to the ability to build trust — the foundation of leadership.

Share with us your strategy for this email and explain how your email will retain them as a customer, applying course materials and/or other resources to further the discussion.

In your responses to peers, discuss what works well in their email message and why, applying course materials and/or other resources to further the discussion. Suggest changes that will make their response more effective as a business communication

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 3 Discussion

Asking the Right Questions

Convincing others to buy into an idea, a product, or an initiative requires listening and communicating effectively. Asking the right questions can help people to open up and to discuss upcoming changes more freely, while understanding that they have a voice in the process.

Scenario: Your company has developed a new initiative or product, or it is introducing a change to technology or personnel that will affect your team and its daily working environment. You are tasked with gathering buy-in from your team, as well as learning if they have any objections to this initiative.

You call a meeting with your team:

Briefly describe the new initiative and why it is important (e.g. a reorganization, a new product, a new technology, etc.)

Draft three (3) questions for your team designed to gain buy-in and support for this new initiative

Next, share your communication strategy with us:

How will you know if your questioning was effective?

Your team needs to know they have a voice – during this meeting, how did you let them know you are listening to them and that their opinion matters?

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 4 Discussion

Difficult Conversations

As you saw in the Penny’s Performance Review video, employees do not always understand they are not meeting expectations until it’s too late.

Scenario: The performance of your top employee has recently slipped. You had a conversation with the employee to address it. The employee improved for a period of time, but slipped again. Now your boss has noticed, which questions your leadership. You do not want to terminate this employee because you know the value of this person and his/her work, and you trust and respect this employee; however, you are starting to look bad.

It is time to take action, so you schedule a meeting with the employee.

Part One: Discuss your strategy (supported by sources) for the meeting, including:

How will you use candor to make your point clear during the conversation?

How will you remove your own personal emotion from the conversation, while still maintaining empathy and trust with the employee?

Considering the course materials for this week, what techniques for building effective working relationships will you employ, and why do you choose these techniques?

Part Two: Write a brief dialog recording the conversation between you and this employee that demonstrates your use of the strategies outlined above.

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.?

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 5 Discussion

The Art of Persuasion

Scenario: You are a budding entrepreneur with a great idea and you want to pitch it on the TV show, “Shark Tank.” Your product or service should be something the Sharks want to sink their teeth into. Draft a 1-2 minute pitch of your idea, using one of the techniques described in the Weekly Materials. Your pitch should contain a brief non-confidential description of your business product or service, explain any differentiating advantages, and end with a call to action. Then discuss the persuasive technique(s) you used and why you chose them.

NOTE: For those who have not watched the “Shark Tank” TV show, check it out here: Sample Shark Tank Pitches

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.?

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 6 Discussion

Communicating Bad News

Scenario: You are a middle manager at a large technology organization. You arrived at work today to find out that your organization is going through a reorganization. There will be mass downsizing – immediately. You met with your boss, who informed you that the company has been losing revenue for too long and immediate action is necessary. More decisions are to come.

Your job is not in jeopardy; however, you will lose team members in the downsizing. Your team members are panicked and you need to step up to address the issue with them. You also need to maintain productivity and the results.

You call a meeting to discuss this with your team. This is not an easy message to communicate, but a common one. Discuss your strategy with us by addressing these questions:

What is your communication strategy with your team?

How often will you provide communication to your team about updates? You need to keep them informed, but not panicked.

How will you get your key message across, while keeping your team productive?

What can you do to reduce the challenges of distraction and the rumor mill for your team?

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.?

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 7 Discussion

Crisis Communication Reflection

Find a current event, within the last year, that involved a crisis or scandal. Give a brief synopsis of the company and the issue, and then answer the questions below:

What was the company’s communication approach to the crisis?

Do you feel the company’s communication approach was effective? Why or why not?

What would you have done the same and what would you have done differently?

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.?

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 8 Discussion

Jaw-Dropping Moment

Have you ever attended a meeting or speech where you dozed off because you were bored?

Why did you get bored (Was the speaker monotone? Did the speech run on too long? Was the content dry? Another reason?)

Have you ever experienced a “Jaw Dropping Moment” (see Ch. 5, Talk Like Ted)? Why was it a “Jaw Dropping Moment?”

In Week 9, you will have a presentation to complete. Share with us the topic that you have decided on. What are 1-2 things you can do to deliver a “Jaw-Dropping Moment” in your presentation?

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.?

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 9 Discussion

Presentation Preparation

You are ready to give your presentation and feel confident about your topic. However, as you read this week, some people fear public speaking more than death! There are techniques you can employ to remain confident and to have clear, concise, and impactful communication.

How will you keep your nerves calm? How will you make sure you cover each point you want to make? How will you use effective hand gestures, exert the right tone, and speak with confidence? To avoid getting too nervous or losing your train of thought, choose a strategy from Chapter 7 of Guide to Managerial Communication or Chapter 6 of Talk Like Ted that you will use to help get you back on track and discuss why you chose that strategy.

JWI505 Business Communications

Week 10 Discussion

Executive Presence and Communication Skills

Reflect on how your Executive Presence and communication skills have grown this term. Use the prompts below to organize your thoughts:

Reflecting on your first video in the course, what changes did you make for Assignment 3, to improve your Executive Presence?

What have you learned this term about how you communicate in the workplace? Include both positive and negative aspects of your communication style.

In what ways have you improved your communication skills during this term?

What will you do going forward, to continue to improve your communication skills and Executive Presence?