Professional Communication
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Professional Communication explores the principles and practices necessary for effective exchange of information in workplace and organizational settings. This course covers a variety of communication contexts, including interpersonal, intercultural, group, and public communication, as well as written, verbal, and non-verbal forms. Students will develop skills in crafting clear messages, delivering presentations, negotiating, and utilizing digital communication platforms. Emphasis is placed on practical strategies for collaboration, conflict resolution, and ethical communication, preparing students to succeed in diverse professional environments.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Business Communication 7th Canadian Edition by Mary Ellen Guffey
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Career Success Begins With Communication Skills
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Sample Questions
Q1) One effect of modern communication technologies, such as instant messaging, is that communication is often synchronous and is more often interrupted.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Amina meets with Joan, an employee in the Accounts Receivable Department, who is having some difficulty with her manager. Joan seems hesitant about sharing her problem. At one point, Amina feels that Joan may not be expressing all that she wants to say. Amina stops and asks Joan whether she feels anxious about discussing the problem. Joan says no, but her eyes, face, posture, and gestures seem to contradict what she says. What is likely the most accurate indicator of her feelings?
A)her eyes
B)her facial expression
C)her posture
D)her hand gestures
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Before You Write
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Q1) Business writing should be audience-oriented, purposeful, and as long as possible.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Positive language generally conveys more information than negative language.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) As human resources manager for Staples, you must tell an employee that his position is being terminated. What is the best communication channel for this message?
A)telephone call
B)text message
C)e-mail
D)in-person meeting
Answer: D
Q4) ____________ has become the communication channel of choice for corporate communicators.
Answer: E-mail
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Writing and Revising
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Q1) Conducting an original survey is an example of _____________ research.
Answer: formal
REF PAGE 55
Q2) As he thinks about organizing his e-mail message to Alyson, Thom remembers reading in his business communications textbook about the benefits of using the direct pattern in a message. Which of the following benefits identified in your text might Thom be considering when he decides to use the direct pattern?
A)It encourages a fair hearing.
B)It prevents reader frustration.
C)It minimizes a negative reaction.
D)It respects the feelings of the reader.
Answer: B
Q3) Design techniques such as effective use of white space, typefaces, and numbered and bulleted lists improve the appearance of a document, but your text says that they do not enhance a reader's ability to understand a message.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: E-Mails, Instant Messages, Memos
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Q1) Which of the following sentences correctly introduces a list?
A)Follow these steps to submit your expense claim for payment:
B)Follow these steps to submit your expense claim for payment.
C)Follow these steps to submit your expense claim for payment,
D)Follow these steps to submit your expense claim for payment;
Q2) You are writing a memo to all employees explaining the benefits that have been written into the latest contract. Which one of the following four items in your list needs to be revised so that it is in a parallel form to the other three?
A)claiming disability benefits
B)sick leave
C)professional development allowance
D)annual paid vacation
Q3) A _________ is a digital media file that is distributed over the internet and downloaded on portable media players and personal computers.
Q4) Using all capital letters when writing an e-mail is equivalent to shouting in a conversation.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The rules of polite online interaction are known as _______________.
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Chapter 5: Letters
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Q1) Which of the following is one reason for including a subject line in a business letter?
A)It can eliminate the need to state your main idea in the opening.
B)It makes the letter appear more official.
C)It helps the reader to recall earlier correspondence.
D)It helps you to keep the main point of the letter in mind.
Q2) Will you please send me a monthly sales report on the last Friday of each month is an example of a polite command.
A)True
B)False
Q3) If you want to increase the likelihood that a reader will see the main points in your message, which part of a letter should you put them in?
A)the body paragraphs
B)the headings
C)the graphic elements
D)the opening and/or closing
Q4) Rather than bluntly demanding information or action, business writers often soften commands by disguising them as ___________.
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Chapter 6: Persuasive Messages
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Q1) Twitter and Facebook are examples of ____________________ media
Q2) The opening paragraph of a sales letter is an appropriate place for an open-ended suggestive question.
A)True
B)False
Q3) While writing a sales message, you are trying to come up with an effective opening. Which sentence would be most effective?
A)Our newest copier, model XK244, has many more functions than the model it replaces.
B)Office Depot and Staples both report that they sell more of our new model XK244 photocopiers than any other make or model and that it receives high customer approval ratings.
C)I hope you find the information in this letter interesting.
D)I am certain that your company would like to reduce photocopy costs.
Q4) Which writing technique will be most effective for an online sales message?
A)Use abstract language to cover as many points as you can in general terms.
B)Use emotional appeals exclusively.
C)Highlight one or two central selling points.
D)Emphasize as many product features as possible.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Negative Messages
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Q1) You are writing to refuse a request. However, instead of stating your refusal explicitly, you cushion the bad news by implying your refusal. You re-read your message, remembering an important caution mentioned in your text about using this strategy. What is that caution?
A)When the refusal isn't explicitly stated, the reader may assume that you believe he/she was at fault.
B)Implying the refusal generally makes the tone of the message unnecessarily harsh.
C)The refusal may be so subtle that the reader may not understand that you are refusing the request.
D)The reader may be offended because the refusal was indirect.
Q2) Most readers will find it inappropriate and offensive if you include resale or sales promotion material in a bad-news message, even if the bad news is fairly insignificant.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A ____________-________ letter or e-mail is important when personal contact is impossible. (hyphenated word)
Q4) The most important part of a bad-news message is the _____________________.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Informal Reports
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Q1) Discussion of Findings is an example of a ____________________ heading.
Q2) What is the most important advice the textbook offers to help you decide on appropriate headings for your routine monthly production and sales report?
A)Use at least three levels of headings for short reports.
B)Make sure all headings of the same level are balanced and grammatically consistent.
C)Enclose headings in quotation marks so that they stand out on the page.
D)Vary the position and appearance of same-level headings to keep the reader's interest.
Q3) Minutes of meetings are always formal reports.
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to the textbook, what is the main purpose of progress reports?
A)They monitor and present data about routine projects.
B)They provide data and information but do not analyze it.
C)They tell management whether non-routine projects are on schedule.
D)They condense the primary ideas, conclusions, and recommendations of longer reports or publications.
Q5) ____________________________ reports determine if a plan is practical.
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Chapter 9: Proposals and Formal Reports
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Q1) Most proposals begin by discussing proposed methods for solving the problem.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following will make up the main section of Juliette's formal report?
A)summary
B)recommendations
C)discussion of findings
D)introduction and background
Q3) Why might Juliette need to prepare a proposal?
A)to meet government regulations
B)to deliver bad news to employees
C)to advertise job openings in the firm
D)to make an offer to provide legal services to a financial institution
Q4) Informal proposals are often presented in letter format containing six principal parts.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Informal proposals need to close with a request for approval or
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Chapter 10: Communicating in Person: Professionalism, Etiquette, Teamwork and Meetings
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Q1) The popularity of __________ __________ (two words) results from its ability to serve many functions, including storing messages.
Q2) Social Intelligence can be more difficult to acquire than etiquette.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Because today's business world is more complex than in the past and demands more highly developed technical skills, professional polish is becoming less important.
A)True
B)False
Q4) During a presentation, a speaker concentrates on saying words correctly and clearly. What aspect of her voice is she trying to control?
A)rate
B)tone
C)pitch
D)pronunciation
Q5) When you __________________________ the criticism you are hearing, you re-state it objectively and in your own words.
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Chapter 11: Oral Presentations
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Q1) Personal anecdotes have no place in a professional presentation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which strategy would be most likely to help you to deliver an effective presentation to Gillespie Homes' suppliers?
A)Wing it! You'll come across as a confident speaker.
B)Memorize the entire oral presentation so that you don't have to use notes.
C)Refer to notes or outlines of your main points and ideas.
D)Read the entire oral presentation from a hard copy so that you don't forget to say something important.
Q3) You are very nervous before you begin your presentation to Gillespie Homes' suppliers because you have never met most of them and you know many of them are annoyed with the new proposal procedures. According to your text, what will reduce your stage fright?
A)Know your subject thoroughly.
B)Picture your audience without any clothes on.
C)Wear a professional outfit that makes you feel confident.
D)Have a PowerPoint presentation that uses sound and graphics extensively.
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Chapter 12: The Job Search, Résumés, and Cover Letters
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Q1) Sarah wants to use her résumé for three different purposes: she wants to be able to submit it to recruiters in printed form, she wants recruiters to be able to transfer it easily to a company's electronic résumé database, and she wants to be able to e-mail it and post it online. What will Sarah most likely have to do?
A)Save three different versions of the same résumé.
B)Write three different résumés from scratch.
C)Use the same font and formatting for all three purposes.
D)Create one version of her résumé to use for all three situations.
Q2) When preparing a plain-text résumé for e-mailing, you should align all text with the _______________ margin.
Q3) You should limit your résumé to one page whether or not the company you are sending it to uses scanning software.
A)True
B)False
Q4) You will need a(n) ________________ version of your résumé when you know a potential employer uses software to upload résumés into an electronic, searchable database.
Q5) Most employers want proof of the _________________ you have listed in your résumé.
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Chapter 13: Interviews and Follow-Up
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Q1) What are your weaknesses? is an example of a(n) __________________ question.
Q2) When you submit employment applications, what kind of hiring/placement interview does your textbook say you are most likely to face?
A)stress interview
B)panel interview
C)one-on-one interview
D)sequential interview
Q3) It is never appropriate to ask current employees of a company to provide information before your interview.
A)True
B)False
Q4) You can expect interviewers to ask questions about _________________ areas on your résumé.
Q5) _________________ interviews are often conducted to decide which applicants to bring in for face-to-face interviews.
Q6) _________________ interviews are meant to test a candidate's reactions to rapid-fire questions from many directions.
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