BA300  Business Communication

Essential Links

Assignments Described, Spring 2011

Associations, Professional (by major)
Business Careers/Resumes

Business Data

Business News/Publications

Web Page Construction & Design

Writing Resources


Syllabus =  2011, Spring, Tuesday


Newsletter Examples

PowerPoint Guidelines

Comm Theory, Communication Model, etc.

.

2014, What Happened to the News? (scary video)

 

Other Important Links
Writing Resources
Business News
Business Careers/Resumes
Professional Associations
Web Page Construction and Design

Online Resources from a textbook publisher (Ober): Outlines, Quizzes...



Course Objectives Matrix (PDF file)
Grading Criteria and Standards for Written Work (PDF file)
Mutual Expectations/Responsibilities (PDF file) Examples of Reports


 

 

Exercises:

NEWSLETTER
Newsletter example: Feb. 2005 (in PDF)
Newsletter EXERCISE (Feb. 2005, in Publisher) -- Puzzle: put the pieces back together.

Newsletter example #2: April, 2005 (PDF)

GOOD EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW FOR NEWSLETTER ASSIGNMENT

Newsletter example #2 (April 2005, in Publisher)

 

Example #2 above is a good example to follow, generally, for the newsletter assignment.

For this assignment, please read carefully all related material and instructions

on the "ASSIGNMENTS DESCRIBED" page, under 'Newsletter.' 

Newsletter exercise (backup plan only; rename .txt to .pub)

 

 

 

 

GRAPH EXERCISE (EXCEL)
1.  Chart exercise, spreadsheet (SAVE to your local drive to work on this file)
2.  Chart exercise (hints)  [from here, highlight all data & headings, then use the Excel Chart Wizard]

3.  Bar chart exercise, one possible (pretty good) solution (PDF) [Suggest you use this title for your bar chart]

Helpful Guidelines When Creating Graphs

Summary:  A graph (continuous variable on the X axis) or chart should be able to stand alone--to be self-explanatory. Provide a clear, descriptive title; if their meaning is not obvious, label your axes.  With a few exceptions, axes should typically represent only one metric, one unit of measure. Text should be readable, with no inappropriate overlap of visual elements. Contrast and color selection should be easy on the eyes (e.g., no red against blue). The meaning of a graph or chart should be very clear to your audience; the graphic should aid your explanation, simplify your message, not complicate it.  See Ober, Chapter 11, and below:

Graphing, Charting, and Presenting Data

Using Graphs (good basic information; note "Four Guidelines" at the bottom)

Gallery of Data Visualization (historical milestones; examples of good and bad graphs)

 

NOTE:  I am only asking for your graph; I don't need the Excel datasheet. Due as discussed in class (beginning of class).  You may want to emulate my solution, or devise one of your own.  If you try something along the lines of what I did, you need to make sure the "Drawing Toolbar" is visible so you can make use of the 'textbox' feature.  Otherwise, learning the graph function of Excel involves right-clicking on various graph elements (once created by the wizard) and examining your options.

Use of Graphs and Tables in Technical Writing



 

PowerPoint Guidelines:


Read through the information provided on these Websites.

Avoid violation of basic guidelines in your own presentation.

Simply put, failure to adhere to the guidelines discussed in class and provided by the links

below will result in a grade significantly lower than you might otherwise have earned.

 

See "Assignments Described"

Grading Template STUDY the template by which you will be graded
"Death by PowerPoint" READ this short article by communication consultant Anne Miller (no excessive text!)
Ten Tips for Using PowerPoint  READ these ten tips
   
Basic PowerPoint Guidelines Recommend:  Nine slides
   
Getting Your Point Across (in PowerPoint) Recommended:  Harvard Medical (PDF, 7 pages)
   
Using PowerPoint Tutorials, commentaries, & advice; provided by Harvard University
   
PowerPoint is Evil  Interesting counter-view, by Edward Tufte ["Tuff-Te"]
Gettysburg Address Gettysburg Address on PowerPoint

            

The Business Presentation (Selected Resources)


 

Related_Links of Interest:

The Communication Model
Shared Meaning   (Diagram and discussion)
The basic Shannon-Weaver model
"Transmission Models", criticism of...

More on Shannon-Weaver

A Mathematical Theory of Communication (1948), C. E. Shannon [PDF, on the Web]
A Mathematical Theory of Communication (1948), C. E. Shannon [PDF, local file]
Bell Labs [System] Technical Journal, on Shannon's information theory paper, from Wikipedia

Article on Claude Shannon (1916-2001)
A Bit More on the Late Dr. Shannon
Claude Shannon biography (Wolfram Research)

Communication Theory  (Basic discussion at Wikipedia)

 

Articles
Time to Fix the SBA
Inc.com (e-zine)

 

Marketing-Related
Community Information by ZIP code (CSUN)
American Factfinder US Census Bureau--Note Census 2000 Gateway and Economic Census, 2002
Values and Lifestyles (VALS)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (survey)
Myers-Briggs Types explained

Communicating Across Cultures
Researching Japan (UCLA)
Ernst & Young, Selected Global News
Ernst & Young's Doing Business Series (Search "Doing Business" or specific country)