Tips for Using Text Features

Your Turn Features

Business Communication, 16e,continues to offer a unique information delivery system that involves your students in an active way by seamlessly integrating text and web. The popular Your Turn features chunk content by providing regular reaction points that invite student involvement. Chapter reading becomes interactive, as the student encounters frequent Your Turn opportunities to apply, practice, and assess learning. The following five Your Turn elements in each chapter draw the student into active learning.

Miscue

Miscommunications occur in the real world, often with embarrassment or even disastrous results. The Miscue feature in each chapter deals with a real-world communication snafu that produced serious consequences. Students are encouraged to think about how the situation and similar ones could be avoided.

You’re the Professional

Students find themselves in the driver’s seat as they justify their responses to a variety of business scenarios. Is it ethical to . . .? Should. . .? What about. . .? The You’re the Professional feature presents a work-related communication dilemma and asks students to apply chapter concepts to choose an appropriate response.

Career Portfolio

Documenting one’s communication abilities is becoming more important to the hiring process as employers look for evidence beyond the resume. The Career Portfolio guides students to amass a collection of documents and work samples that showcase professional communication capabilities.

Assessment

Instructors, institutions, and accrediting bodies want to know that students have achieved course objectives. Each Assessment feature is designed to engage students in the evaluation of essential communication skills and interpretation of the results.

Electronic Café

Technology is integral in business communication course content. The Electronic Café feature enable students to use various technologies to apply their understanding of key technology topics, such as instant and text messaging, discussion boards, intranets, and web pages, to reinforce chapter concepts. Students learn more about each café theme through exploration using the Companion website at They are instructed to read additional erichment content and complete activities related to the Café theme for each chapter.

The Instructor’s Resource Guide contains teaching suggestions (with PowerPoint slide support) and suggested solutions when appropriate. The themes for the Your Turns are outlined below.

Themes of “Your Turn” Feature by Chapter
Ch. # / Electronic Cafe / Assessment / You’re the Professional / Career Portfolio / Miscue
1 / Instant
messaging / Cultural awareness quiz / Inflated credentials / Career field communication / Poor directions cause rider death
2 / Secure email / Listening quiz / Leadership style / Communication style survey / Confused doctor’s orders
3 / Translation challenges / Vocabulary quiz / Doublespeak / Inductive and deductive presentation outlines / Workplace profanity
4 / Intranets / Writing anxiety blog / Negative employee feedback / News article on importance of clear communications / Plane crashes due to incomplete work orders
5 / Paperless office / Netiquette quiz / Email and privacy / Creation of web page / Derogatory blog about employer
6 / Personal webpage / Interpersonal Communication quiz / Bad News Announcement / Inductive/deductive memo / Arrest affidavit process
7 / Discussion boards / Human relations test / Confidential information / Bad news letter / Public disclosure of bad news
8 / Interactive websites / Ethics quiz / Effective persuasion advice / Persuasive email / Sales message faux pas
9 / E-research / Plagiarism quiz / Report types / Questionnaire / Use of wrong research procedure
11 / Extranets / Soft skills quiz / Proposal format / Referenced research report / Too high reading level
13 / Time management / Entrepreneurial quiz / Application message candor / Résumé and application message / Résumé lies
14 / Technology’s downside / Nonverbal interview quotient / Interview followup / Answers to difficult interview questions / Online photos cause dismissal