Write about an example of communication that could be improved by applying the visual design principles

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7 Digital Media LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you will be able to

1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003083) Identify the major digital media formats available for business messages, and list nine compositional modes used in digital media.

2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FE) Describe the evolving role of email in business communication, and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to email messages.

3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D2) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of business messaging systems.

4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003239) Explain why organizing website content is so challenging, and explain the concept of information architecture.

5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032C1) Explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to podcasting.

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COMMUNICATION CLOSE-UP AT Slack slack.com (http://slack.com)

If there’s a business award for accidental success, Stewart Butter�ield would surely be a leading contender for it. He has the unusual distinction of being the cofounder of two different video game companies that didn’t succeed at their original missions but wound up spinning off secondary software features that

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became massive business successes on their own. The �irst turned into the photo-sharing web service Flickr, which was once just a feature inside an online role- playing game.

After selling Flickr to Yahoo! for a tidy sum, Butter�ield cofounded another video game company. Again, the game business didn’t work out, but he and his partners commercialized an instant messaging function the company had developed for internal use. That capability was expanded and became the Slack messaging system, and it is leading an upheaval in the world of business communication.

Slack cofounder and CEO Stewart Butter�ield guides the development of a workplace messaging system that thousands of companies are using to improve team communication.

REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files

Slack offers several communication and information-management tools, but at its heart it is a workplace messaging system. Teams can set up a variety of channels to manage communication on speci�ic topics, and individuals can con�igure alerts to make sure they get the messages they need without getting �looded by messages they don’t (one of the banes of email). All communication is automatically archived, so it’s easy for everyone on a team to �ind information. A key feature that Butter�ield promotes with Slack is transparency, in that communication threads are no longer lost or hidden in private email exchanges but out in the open for everyone on a team to see and share.

To understand the appeal of Slack, one needs to understand the love/hate relationship many business professionals have with email. Email is so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget what a revolutionary and disruptive medium it once was. In a world where internal memos could take hours to deliver and external letters could take days, nearly instantaneous email changed business communication forever, and it remains a vital communication tool.

However, email has long suffered from a serious case of too-much-of-a-good-thing. Many professionals complain of drowning in a �lood of messages, with some getting dozens or hundreds of messages a day—even as they miss vital information when colleagues neglect to include them in message threads. Moreover, email is poorly suited to some of the tasks people use it for, such as project management, collaboration, information management, and other processes that require group communication and shared information access.

A variety of technologies that aim to overcome the disadvantages of email have recently entered the market, from basic instant messaging to full-featured collaboration systems. But few have caught on as quickly as Slack. Within a year of its 2013 launch, Slack had a half million daily users in 60,000 teams around the world and laid claim to being the fastest-growing business app in history. Within two years, the service had more than 2 million active users. Some describe it as more than a mere communication tool, calling it a radical way to transform how they work.

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For many business communicators, Slack is clearly �illing an unmet need. A majority of customers report greater productivity, more transparency, improved team culture, easier access to information, and a reduced need for meetings. On average, users say it has cut email use in their organizations almost in half, and many say it has nearly eliminated email entirely. By enabling communication and collaboration in ways that support how today’s professionals want and need to work, Slack and other corporate messaging systems might �inally be taming the dreaded email monster.1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003433)

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7.1 Digital Media for Business Communication LEARNING OBJECTIVE

1 Identify the major digital media formats available for business messages, and list nine compositional modes used in digital media. The runaway success of Slack (pro�iled in the chapter-opening Communication Close-Up) highlights two important considerations in using digital media: choosing the best tools for the task at hand and using each tool wisely. This chapter offers advice on using tools you’re likely to encounter in any profession: email, messaging, websites, and podcasting. (Digital media with a social component are covered in Chapter 8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003454#P7001012451000000000000000003454) .)

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIONS The considerable range of digital media available for business messages continues to grow as communication technologies evolve:

Business communicators use the full range of digital media options, from conventional email and messaging to social networking tools.

Email. Conventional email has long been a vital medium for business communication, although in many instances it is being replaced by other tools that provide better support for instant communication and real-time collaboration. Messaging. From basic text messaging on mobile devices to multifunction group systems such as those offered by Slack, messaging in various forms now rivals or exceeds email in many companies. Web content. Websites are one of the most important digital media types, from small-business sites with a few pages to large corporate sites with hundreds or thousands of pages. Podcasting. Businesses use podcasts to replace or supplement some conference calls, newsletters, training courses, and other communication activities. Social networks. Social networks have evolved into a major business communication technology, from well-known public networks to the private, internal networks that many companies now use. Information- and content-sharing sites. In addition to social networks, a variety of systems have been designed speci�ically for sharing content, including user-generated content sites, media curation sites, and community Q&A sites. Wikis. The collaborative nature of wikis—websites that can be expanded and edited by teams, user communities, or the public at large—make them a natural �it for aggregating the knowledge of groups ranging from individual departments to the public at large. Blogging and microblogging. The ability to update content quickly and easily makes blogs and microblogs (such as Twitter) a natural medium when communicators want to get messages out in a hurry. Online video. Digital and online video have transformed what used to be a fairly specialized tool into a mainstream business communication medium.

The �irst four of these—email, messaging, web content, and podcasting—are covered in this chapter. Digital media with a strong social element, from social networks to microblogs, are addressed in Chapter 8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003454#P7001012451000000000000000003454) . Online video, along

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with other visual media, is covered in Chapter 9 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003806#P7001012451000000000000000003806) .

Note that the lines between these media often get blurred as systems expand their capabilities or people use them in new ways. Moreover, the mobile variants of all these technologies add another layer of challenges and opportunities for business communicators. For example, the ability to scan coded labels such as barcodes or the similar Quick Response (QR) codes attached to printed materials, products, or store windows (or the ability to pick up radio signals from near- �ield communication tags) gives smartphone users a way to get more information—from companies themselves and from other consumers providing reviews on social websites.

Most of your business communication is likely to be via digital means, but don’t overlook the bene�its of printed messages. (For more on formatting printed letters and memos, see Chapter 6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002ade#P7001012451000000000000000002ADE) and Appendix A (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000070ad#P70010124510000000000000000070AD) .) Here are several situations in which you should consider using a printed message rather than digital alternatives:

Even with the widespread use of digital media, printed memos and letters still play an important role in business communication.

When you want to make a formal impression. For special messages, such as sending congratulations or condolences, the formality of printed documents usually makes them a much better choice than digital messages. When you are legally required to provide information in printed form. Business contracts and government regulations sometimes require that information be provided on paper. When you want to stand out from the �lood of digital messages. If your audience’s computers are over�lowing with Twitter updates, email messages, and messaging noti�ications, sometimes a printed message can stand out enough to get noticed. When you need a permanent, unchangeable, or secure record. Letters and memos are reliable. Once printed, they can’t be erased with a single keystroke or surreptitiously modi�ied the way some digital messages can be. Printed documents also require more effort to copy and forward.

REAL-TIME UPDATES

LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE

Should you email, text, or pick up the phone?

These tips will help you make the best choice in various business situations. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

COMPOSITIONAL MODES FOR DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

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As you practice using various media and channels in this course, it’s best to focus on the fundamentals of planning, writing, and completing messages, rather than on the speci�ic details of any one medium or system.2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003435) Fortunately, the basic communication skills required usually transfer from one system to another. You can succeed with written communication in virtually all digital media by using one of nine compositional modes:

Communicating successfully with digital media requires a wide range of writing approaches.

Conversations. Messaging is a great example of a written medium that mimics spoken conversation. And just as you wouldn’t read a report to someone sitting in your of�ice, you wouldn’t use conversational modes to exchange large volumes of information or to communicate with more than a few people at once. Comments and critiques. One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the opportunity for interested parties to express opinions and provide feedback, whether by leaving comments on a blog post or reviewing products on an e-commerce site. Sharing helpful tips and insightful commentary is also a great way to build your personal brand. To be an effective commenter, focus on short chunks of information that a broad spectrum of other site visitors will �ind helpful. Rants, insults, jokes, and blatant self-promotion are of little bene�it to others. Orientations. The ability to help people �ind their way through an unfamiliar system or subject is a valuable writing skill and a talent that readers greatly appreciate. Unlike summaries (see the next item), orientations don’t give away the key points in the collection of information but rather tell readers where to �ind those points. Writing effective orientations can be a delicate balancing act because you need to know the material well enough to guide others through it while being able to step back and view it from the inexperienced perspective of a “newbie.” Summaries. At the beginning of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a miniature version of the document, giving readers all the key points while skipping over details. At the end of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a review, reminding readers of the key points they’ve just read. A series of key points extracted from an article or webpage can also serve as a summary. Reference material. One of the greatest bene�its of the Internet is the access it can provide to vast quantities of reference materials—numerical or textual information that people typically don’t read in a linear way but rather search through to �ind particular data points, trends, or other details. One of the challenges of writing reference material is that you can’t always know how readers will want to access it. Making the information accessible via search engines is an important step. However, readers don’t always know which search terms will yield the best results, so consider an orientation and organize the material in logical ways with clear headings that promote skimming. Narratives. The storytelling techniques covered in Chapter 4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000001f59#P7001012451000000000000000001F59) can be effective in a wide variety of situations. Narratives work best when they have an intriguing beginning that ignites readers’ curiosity, a middle section that moves quickly through the challenges that an individual or company faced, and an inspiring or instructive ending that gives readers information they can apply in their own lives and jobs. Teasers. Teasers intentionally withhold key pieces of information as a way to pull readers or listeners into a story or other document. Teasers are widely used in marketing and sales messages, such as a bit of copy on the outside of an envelope that promises important information on the inside. In digital media, the space limitations and URL linking capabilities of Twitter and other microblogging systems make them a natural tool for the teaser approach. Although they can certainly be effective, teasers need to be used with respect for readers’ time and information needs. Be sure that the payoff, the information a teaser links to, is valuable and legitimate. You’ll quickly lose credibility if readers think they are being tricked into clicking through to information they don’t really want. (Tweetables are Twitter-ready bites of information extracted from a blog post or other messages. They often serve as teasers, although a series of them can make an effective summary as well.)

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Status updates and announcements. If you use social media frequently, much of your writing will involve status updates and announcements (see Figure 7.1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P70010124510000000000000000030CA) ). However, don’t post trivial information that only you are likely to �ind interesting. Post only those updates that readers will �ind useful, and include only the information they need. Tutorials. Given the community nature of social media, the purpose of many messages is to share how-to advice. Becoming known as a reliable expert is a great way to build customer loyalty for your company while enhancing your own personal value.

REAL-TIME UPDATES

LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE

Telling compelling stories on social media

Storytelling is an effective business communication strategy, and social media can be the ideal platform for it. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

As you approach a new communication task using digital media, ask yourself what kind of information audience members are likely to need, then choose the appropriate compositional mode. Of course, many of these modes are also used in written media, but over time, you may �ind yourself using all of them in various digital and social media contexts.

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Figure 7.1 Compositional Modes: Status Updates and Announcements

Contests, such as this one featuring Fender musical equipment, are a popular message form on Facebook and other social media.

Courtesy Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

OPTIMIZING CONTENT FOR MOBILE DEVICES Chapters 5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002445#P7001012451000000000000000002445) and 6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002ade#P7001012451000000000000000002ADE) offer tips on writing and formatting messages for mobile devices. While keeping the limitations of the small screens of mobile devices and alternative input methods in mind, look for opportunities to take advantage of mobile-speci�ic capabilities via apps and mobile-friendly websites. Mobile expands your options as a content creator, and it gives your audience members a wider range of engaging ways to consume your content:

Mobile offers a range of exciting ways to enhance the audience experience.

Location-based services. Location-based social networking links the virtual world of online social networking with the physical world of retail stores and other locations. As mobile web use in general continues to grow, location-based networking promises to become an important business

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communication medium because mobile consumers are a signi�icant economic force—through the purchases they make directly and through their ability to in�luence other consumers.3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003437) Gami�ication. The addition of game-playing aspects to apps and web services, known as gami�ication, can increase audience engagement and encourage repeat use. The highlight box on page 27 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000001390#page_27) has more on this intriguing business tool. Augmented reality. Superimposing data on live camera images can enrich experiences for consumers and supply useful information to business users (see Figure 7.2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P70010124510000000000000000030E9) on the next page). The Future of Communication (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003243) box on page 213 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000353f#page_213) has more on augmented reality and virtual reality. Wearable technology. From virtual-reality goggles to smartwatches to body-movement sensors, wearable technology pushes the radical connectivity of mobile to the next level. Some of these items work as auxiliary screens and controls for other mobile devices, but others are meant for independent use. One of the key promises of wearable technology is simplifying and enhancing everyday tasks for consumers and employees alike.4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003439) Mobile blogging. Smartphones and tablets are ideal for mobile blogs, sometimes known as moblogs. The mobile capability is great for workers whose jobs keep them on the move and for special-event coverage such as live-blogging trade shows and industry conventions.

Figure 7.2 Augmented Reality

The Maintenance Augmented Reality feature in Panasonic’s computer-integrated manufacturing software is a great example of using augmented reality for business communication. By simply pointing a mobile device at a machine, technicians can get detailed information needed for maintenance and repair.

Panasonic Corporation of North America

Mobile podcasting. Similarly, smartphone-based podcasting tools make it easy to record audio on the go and post �inished podcasts to your blog or website. Cloud-based services. Mobile communication is ideal for cloud-based services—digital services that rely on resources stored in the cloud.

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7.2 Email LEARNING OBJECTIVE

2 Describe the evolving role of email in business communication, and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to email messages. Email has been a primary medium for many companies for several decades, and in the beginning it offered a huge advantage in speed and ef�iciency over the media it frequently replaced (printed and faxed messages). Over the years, email began to be used for many communication tasks simply because it was the only widely available digital medium for written messages and millions of users were comfortable with it. However, as Slack’s growth illustrates, other tools are taking over speci�ic tasks for which they are better suited.

Overuse is one of the major complaints about email.

In addition to the widespread availability of better alternatives for many communication purposes, the indiscriminate use of email has lowered its appeal in the eyes of many professionals. In a sense, email is too easy to use—it’s too easy to send low-value messages to multiple recipients and to trigger long message chains that become impossible to follow as people chime in along the way. And because it is such a general-purpose tool, email gets used for everything from critically important messages to automated updates and con�irmations with little or no value.

Email also suffers from an enormous problem with spam (unsolicited bulk email) and security risks such as computer viruses and phishing (fraudulent messages that prompt unwary users to divulge sensitivity information or grant access to protected networks). Spam accounts for roughly half of all email and requires great effort to keep it from �looding users’ inboxes.5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000343D) Most systems use spam and threat �ilters, but these �ilters are never 100 percent accurate and can also reject messages that are legitimate.

In spite of its shortcomings, email remains a major business communication medium.

Even with these drawbacks, email still has compelling advantages that will keep it in steady use in many companies. First, email is universal. Anybody with an email address can reach anybody else with an email address, no matter which systems the senders and receivers are on. Second, email is still the best medium for many private, short- to medium-length messages, particularly when the exchange is limited to two people. Unlike with microblogs or messaging, for instance, midsize messages are easy to compose and easy to read on email. Third, email’s noninstantaneous nature is an advantage when used properly. Email lets senders compose substantial messages in private and on their own schedule, and it lets recipients read those messages at their leisure.

PLANNING EMAIL MESSAGES The solution to email overload starts in the planning step, by making sure every message has a valid, business-related purpose. Also, be aware that many companies now have formal email policies that specify how employees can use email, including restrictions against using the company email service for personal

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messages, sending con�idential information, or sending material that might be deemed objectionable. In addition, many employers now monitor email, either automatically with software programmed to look for sensitive content or manually via security staff actually reading selected email messages. Regardless of formal policies, every email user has a responsibility to avoid actions that could cause trouble, from downloading virus-infected software to sending inappropriate photographs.

Cut down on message overload by making sure every email message you send has a valid business purpose.

Even with fairly short messages, spend a moment or two on the message planning tasks described in Chapter 4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000001f59#P7001012451000000000000000001F59) : analyzing the situation, gathering necessary information for your readers, and organizing your message. You’ll save time in the long run because you will craft a more effective message on the �irst attempt. Your readers will get the information they need and won’t have to generate follow-up messages asking for clari�ication or additional information.

WRITING EMAIL MESSAGES

Business email messages are more formal than the email messages you send to family and friends.

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Figure 7.3 Email for Business Communication

In this response to an email query from a colleague, Elaine Burgman takes advantage of her email system’s features to create an ef�icient and effective message.

MS Outlook 2013, © Microsoft.

Business email is a more formal medium than you are probably accustomed to with email for personal communication (see Figure 7.3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P7001012451000000000000000003116) ). The expectations of writing quality for business email are higher than for personal email, and the consequences of bad writing or poor judgment can be much more serious. For example, email messages and other digital documents have the same legal weight as printed documents, and they are often used as evidence in lawsuits and criminal investigations.6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000343B)

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The subject line is often the most important part of an email message because it can determine whether the message gets read.

The email subject line might seem like a small detail, but it is actually one of the most important parts of an email message because it helps recipients decide which messages to read and when to read them. To capture your audience’s attention, make your subject lines informative and compelling. Go beyond simply describing or classifying your message; use the opportunity to build interest with keywords, quotations, directions, or questions.7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000343F) For example, “July sales results” accurately describes the content of the message, but “July sales results: good news and bad news” is more intriguing. Readers will want to know why some news is good and some is bad.

In addition, many email programs display the �irst few words or lines of incoming messages, even before the recipient opens them. As noted by the social media public relations expert Steve Rubel, you can “tweetify” the opening lines of your email messages to make them stand out. In other words, choose the �irst few words carefully to grab your reader’s attention.8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003441) Think of the �irst sentence as an extension of your subject line.

Attitudes about emoticons in business communication are changing; you’ll have to use your best judgment in every case.

As a lean medium, email can present challenges when you need to express emotional nuances, whether positive or negative. For years, users of email (as well as messaging and text messaging) have used a variety of emoticons to express emotions in casual communication. For example, to express sympathy as a way to take some of the sting out of negative news, one might use a “frowny face,” either the :( character string or a graphical emoticon such as or one of the colorful and sometimes animated characters available in some systems.

DIGITAL + SOCIAL + MOBILE: TODAY’S COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT

Will Emoticons Give Your Career a Frowny Face?

Your project team has just been reprimanded by the boss for missing a deadline. Your colleagues left the meeting grumbling about being criticized in public after working nights and weekends, and you fear that morale will slip.

You could craft an inspirational message to soothe the bruised egos and get the team’s energy turned around in a positive direction. However, writing such a message could be risky because world-weary teammates might just brush it off as “happytalk” and resent you for trying to be a cheerleader.

Alternatively, you could suggest that your colleagues lighten up and stay focused on the ultimate goal of the project. However, you already know that telling grumpy people to cheer up is a sure�ire way to make most of them even grumpier.

Instead, you opt for a quick bit of gentle sarcasm, designed to help release the negative emotions in a collegial way. When you get back to your desk, you write the following instant message:

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Well, let’s pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on ;-)

The over-the-top phrasing is a subtle way to remind everyone that the criticism wasn’t all that traumatic, and that winking emoticon tells everyone to lighten up without actually saying so. The apparent sarcasm connects with people who are marinating in their negative emotions, but it’s really a pep talk disguised as sarcasm.

Then you worry that the emoticon will seem unprofessional, so you replace it with a simple period:

Well, let’s pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on.

Oops. That one minor change to make the message more professional turned it into a statement of resigned sadness. You search your keyboard for any acceptable symbol that might help:

Well, let’s pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on!

Great, now you’ve managed to sound bitter and demanding at the same time.

Given the dif�iculty of communicating emotional nuance in lean media such as messaging and email, are emoticons really all that bad? The answer depends on the situation, your relationship with your audience, and the company culture. Until emoticons become more widely accepted in business communication, it’s wise to err on the side of caution.

CAREER APPLICATIONS

1. As a manager, what reaction would you have to job applicants who use emoticons in their email messages? 2. Are emoticons just a generational difference in perspective, or is there more to the issue? Explain your answer.

In past years, the use of emoticons was widely regarded as unprofessional and therefore advised against in business communication. Recently, though, an increasing number of professionals seem to be using them, particularly for communication with close colleagues, even as other professionals continue to view them as evidence of lazy or immature writing.9 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003443) In the face of these con�licting perspectives, the best advice is to use caution. Avoid emoticons for all types of external communication and for formal internal communication, and avoid those bright yellow graphical emoticons (and particularly animated emoticons) in all business communication.

COMPLETING EMAIL MESSAGES Particularly for important messages, taking a few moments to revise and proofread might save you hours of headaches and damage control. The more important the message, the more carefully you need to proofread. Also, favor simplicity when it comes to producing your email messages. A clean, easily readable font, in black on a white background, is suf�icient for nearly all email messages. Take advantage of your email system’s ability to include an email signature (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000330A) , a small �ile that automatically includes such items as your full name, title, company, and contact information at the end of your messages.

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Think twice before hitting “Send.” A simple mistake in your content or distribution can cause major headaches.

When you’re ready to distribute your message, pause to verify what you’re doing before you click “Send.” Make sure you’ve included everyone necessary—and no one else. Don’t click “Reply All” when you mean to select “Reply.” The difference could be embarrassing or even career threatening. Don’t include people in the cc (courtesy copy or “carbon copy,” historically) or bcc (blind courtesy copy) �ields unless you know how these features work. (Everyone who receives the message can see who is on the cc line but not who is on the bcc line.) Also, don’t set the message priority to “high” or “urgent” unless your message is truly urgent. And if you intend to include an attachment, be sure that it is indeed attached.

To review the tips and techniques for successful email, see Table 7.1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P7001012451000000000000000003164) and “Checklist: Creating Effective Email Messages (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000031A0) ,” or select Chapter 7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003055#P7001012451000000000000000003055) at real- timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) .

TABLE 7.1 Tips for Effective Email Messages

Tip Why It’s Important

When you request information or action, make it clear what you’re asking for, why it’s important, and how soon you need it; don’t make your reader write back for details.

People will be tempted to ignore your messages if they’re not clear about what you want or how soon you want it.

When responding to a request, either paraphrase the request or include enough of the original message to remind the reader what you’re replying to.

Some businesspeople get hundreds of email messages a day and may need to be reminded what your speci�ic response is about.

If possible, avoid sending long, complex messages via email. Long messages are easier to read as attached reports or web content.

Adjust the level of formality to the message and the audience. Overly formal messages to colleagues can be perceived as stuffy and distant; overly informal messages to customers or top executives can be perceived as disrespectful.

Activate a signature �ile, which automatically pastes your contact information into every message you create.

A signature saves you the trouble of retyping vital information and ensures that recipients know how to reach you through other means.

Don’t let unread messages pile up in your inbox. You’ll miss important information and create the impression that you’re ignoring other people.

Never type in all caps. ALL CAPS ARE INTERPRETED AS SCREAMING.

Don’t overformat your messages with background colors, multicolored type, unusual fonts, and so on.

Such messages can be dif�icult and annoying to read on screen.

Remember that messages can be forwarded anywhere and saved forever. Don’t let a moment of anger or poor judgment haunt you for the rest of your career.

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Tip Why It’s Important

Use the “return receipt requested” feature only for the most critical messages.

This feature triggers a message back to you whenever someone receives or opens your message; many consider this an invasion of privacy.

Make sure your computer has up-to-date virus protection. One of the worst breaches of “netiquette” is infecting other computers because you haven’t bothered to protect your own system.

Pay attention to grammar, spelling, and capitalization. Some people don’t think email needs formal rules, but careless messages make you look unprofessional and can annoy readers.

Use acronyms sparingly. Shorthand such as IMHO (in my humble opinion) and LOL (laughing out loud) can be useful in informal correspondence with colleagues, but avoid using them in more formal messages.

CHECKLIST Creating Effective Email Messages A. Planning email messages

Make sure every email message you send is necessary. Don’t cc or bcc anyone who doesn’t really need to see the message. Follow company email policy; understand the restrictions your company places on email usage. Practice good email hygiene by not opening suspicious messages, keeping virus protection up to date, and following other company guidelines. Follow the chain of command.

B. Writing email messages Remember that business email is more formal than personal email. Recognize that email messages carry the same legal weight as other business documents. Pay attention to the quality of your writing and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Make your subject lines informative by clearly identifying the purpose of your message. Make your subject lines compelling by wording them in a way that intrigues your audiences. Use the �irst few words of the email body to catch the reader’s attention.

C. Completing email messages Revise and proofread carefully to avoid embarrassing mistakes. Keep the layout of your messages simple and clean, particularly for mobile recipients. Use an email signature �ile to give recipients your contact information. Double-check your recipient list before sending. Don’t mark messages as “urgent” unless they truly are urgent.

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7.3 Messaging LEARNING OBJECTIVE

3 Identify the advantages and disadvantages of business messaging systems. The Slack pro�ile at the beginning of the chapter highlights the rapid growth of messaging (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003310) , a category of communication tools whose core focus is conversational exchanges. In contrast to email, which is a digital alternative to printed memos and letters, messaging is best thought of as a digital alternative to live voice conversation. Messaging technologies include text messaging on mobile phones, conventional instant messaging (IM) systems, online chat systems (such as those used by many companies for customer support), and workplace messaging systems such as Slack and its competitors.

A variety of digital messaging solutions are now available, from text messaging on mobile devices to private group messaging systems.

Messaging is a diverse category, and various systems offer a range of capabilities. They range from semipublic systems such as standard text messaging on mobile phones, in which anyone with your phone number can send you a message, to private systems that are closed to anyone other than invited members. Slack and other enterprise messaging systems are catching on with many businesses because they do a better job of enabling and capturing the communication �lows that teams, departments, and other groups need in order to work together successfully. Messaging is also a function available on many collaboration platforms and social networks. And messaging isn’t strictly limited to human-to-human exchanges. As the Future of Communication box on page 278 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003f7a#page_278) in Chapter 10 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003e00#P7001012451000000000000000003E00) points out, automated messaging bots can participate in simple conversational exchanges and assist users with various business tasks.

MOBILE APP

Telegram is a free messaging app that offers one-on-one and group chat capabilities.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MESSAGING

Messaging offers several key bene�its over email:

The ability to mimic live conversation Improved security Instantaneous delivery

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Messaging offers several key bene�its over email for speci�ic communication purposes, so it’s not surprising that it has been steadily replacing email in many applications in recent years. First, because it mimics voice conversation to a high degree, it is better suited to back-and-forth exchanges than email and other digital formats. If you’ve ever tried to carry on a conversation via email or Facebook comments, you know how agonizingly slow it can be to wait for the other person to respond. Second, with closed systems such as Slack, administrators can choose who is allowed to participate, which means they can block out all outside distractions and threats.10 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003445) Unlike email, which has no centralized control mechanism on the Internet, these private messaging systems spare users from many of the overload problems and security threats that plague mail. Third, the instantaneous nature of messaging makes it the best choice when senders want messages to be seen and acted on immediately. (Email systems can be set up with alerts to tell receivers about incoming messages, but the email messages still need to be opened before they can be read.)

REAL-TIME UPDATES

LEARN MORE BY READING THIS ARTICLE

The security worries behind the surge in business messaging

Find out why mobile messaging apps can be security risks. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

Messaging does have several potential drawbacks. First, for real-time conversational exchange, users of all systems are at the mercy of other users’ typing speed and accuracy, which can make messaging annoyingly slow in some cases. Second, messaging systems vary widely in their levels of security and privacy, and public IM systems aren’t as secure as private, enterprise-level systems. But even closed messaging systems such as Slack are at risk from security attacks. Third, like email, messaging is a lean medium with little opportunity to convey nonverbal signals, which increases the chances of misinterpretation.11 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003447)

Messaging is vulnerable to other people’s typing skills, systems are vulnerable to security attacks (although generally less vulnerable than email), and it is a lean medium with potential for miscommunication.

GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESSFUL MESSAGING Although messages are often conceived, written, and sent within a matter of seconds, you can still apply key principles of the three-step process:

Although you don’t plan individual instant messages in the usual way, view important messaging exchanges as conversations with speci�ic goals.

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Planning instant messages. View every exchange as a conversation; while you may not deliberately plan every individual statement you make or question you pose, take a moment to plan the overall exchange. If you’re requesting something, think through exactly what you need and the most effective way to ask for it. If someone is asking you for something, consider his or her needs and your ability to meet them before you respond. And although you rarely need to organize instant messages in the sense of creating an outline, try to deliver information in a coherent, complete way that minimizes the number of individual messages required. Writing instant messages. As with email, the appropriate writing style for business messaging is more formal than the style you may be accustomed to with personal IM or text messaging. You should generally avoid acronyms (such as FWIW for “for what it’s worth” or HTH for “hope that helps”) except when communicating with close colleagues. In the exchange in Figure 7.4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031FC) , notice how the participants communicate quickly and rather informally but still maintain good etiquette and a professional tone. This style is even more important if you or your staff use messaging to communicate with customers and other outside audiences.

Figure 7.4 Instant Messaging for Business Communication

Instant messaging is widely used in business, but in most cases you should not use the same informal style of communication you probably use for messaging with your friends and family.

Completing instant messages. One of the biggest attractions of messaging is that the completing step is so easy. You don’t have to produce the message in the usual sense, and distribution is as simple as hitting “Enter” or clicking a “Send” button. However, don’t skip over the revising and proofreading tasks. Quickly scan each message before you send it, to make sure you don’t have any missing or misspelled words and that your message is clear and complete. Keep in mind that many corporate messaging systems store every message, and systems such as Slack make them easily searchable, too, so even brief messages that you send in a hurry become part of a permanent record.

Regardless of the system you’re using, you can make messaging more ef�icient and effective by following these tips:12 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003449)

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Successful messaging starts with being thoughtful and courteous.

Be thoughtful and courteous. People can be overloaded by messages just as easily as they can by emails and social media updates, so don’t waste time with chatter. When you want to start an exchange, ask the other person if he or she is free to chat, just as you would knock on someone’s of�ice door and ask if this is a good time to talk. Introduce yourself if you’re messaging someone in your company for the �irst time. Make yourself unavailable when you need to focus on other work. You can reset your availability when a messaging conversation or meeting is scheduled. If you’re not on a secure system, don’t send con�idential information. Your company’s security policies may prohibit certain types of communication on its messaging system. Be extremely careful about sending personal messages. They clutter communication channels meant for business, and they can embarrass recipients if they pop up at awkward moments. Don’t use messaging for impromptu meetings if you can’t verify that everyone concerned is available. You risk leaving important contributors out of the loop otherwise. Don’t use messaging for lengthy, complex messages. Email and other formats are better for those. Try to avoid carrying on multiple conversations at once. This minimizes the chance of sending messages to the wrong people or making one person wait while you tend to another conversation. Follow all security guidelines. These are designed to keep your company’s information and systems safe from attack.

To review the advice for effective messaging in the workplace, see “Checklist: Using Messaging Productively (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P7001012451000000000000000003227) ” or select Chapter 7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003055#P7001012451000000000000000003055) at real- timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) .

CHECKLIST Using Messaging Productively

Pay attention to security and privacy issues and be sure to follow all company guidelines. Treat messaging as a professional communication medium, not an informal, personal tool; avoid using messaging slang with all but close colleagues. Maintain good etiquette, even during simple exchanges. Protect your own productivity by making yourself unavailable when you need to focus. In most instances, don’t use messaging for complex or personal messages.

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7.4 Website Content LEARNING OBJECTIVE

4 Explain why organizing website content is so challenging, and explain the concept of information architecture. You probably won’t develop web content as often as you use email, social networks, and other media, but most companies have at least a basic website, and you might be involved in planning or expanding on it. Most of what you’re learning about using other digital media is relevant to website content as well, although the unique nature of websites presents some special challenges. (The information here applies to conventional web content. Blogs and wikis are covered in Chapter 8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003454#P7001012451000000000000000003454) .)

ORGANIZING WEBSITE CONTENT

MOBILE APP

Weebly offers a simple way to create mobile-friendly websites.

The versatility of websites can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because a single web presence can serve multiple purposes for multiple audiences. For example, a company website can have sections for potential employees, investors, future customers, current customers, business partners, the media, and members of the local community. Anyone who wants to learn more about the company can visit the website and �ind what he or she needs.

THE FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION

Telepathic Communication

Mental telepathy—sending and receiving messages purely through the power of the mind—has long been a staple of science �iction and the province of psychics. However, some rudimentary experiments in technology-enabled telepathy show at least a hint of promise that telepathy could add an intriguing element to business communication in the future.

Using existing medical technologies for sensing and stimulating brain activity, scientists at the University of Washington demonstrated a simple video game in which one user’s thoughts controlled a second user’s physical motions. When the �irst user saw something on his screen and made a decision about how to react (without actually moving his hand), that brain activity was detected and transmitted to a second user. Using essentially the reverse technology, the decision the �irst user made would stimulate the brain of the second user and cause him to move his hand to implement the decision via his game controller. In a separate test, an international team of researchers showed it was possible to send simple verbal messages using a similar concept of encoding and decoding.

If the technology has practical applications, it is years away from being ready for the market. The potential is mindboggling to consider, though. Imagine just thinking up a message and having it appear on a colleague’s mobile screen or, better yet, directly in his or her mind. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has

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speculated on this very possibility.

Even if it never achieves mainstream use, technological telepathy could be a boon for people with sensory or motor issues that prevent them from using existing modes of sending and receiving messages. They could put the full power of their creative and analytical minds directly to work without being stymied by layers of input/output technology.

WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION?

Look into the current research on technology-enabled telepathy. Is it getting close to practical application? Aside from the technological hurdles, what other hurdlers will need to be overcome to make this a practical tool for communication?

Sources: Caitlin Dewey, “Mark Zuckerberg Says the Future of Communication Is Telepathy. Here’s How That Would Actually Work,” Washington Post, 1 July 2015, www.washingtonpost.com (http://www.washingtonpost.com) ; University of Washington Neural Systems Laboratory, “Direct Brain-to-Brain Communication in Humans: A Pilot Study,” 12 August 2013, neural.cs.washington.edu; Corinne Iozzio, “Scientists Prove That Telepathic Communication Is Within Reach,” Smithsonian, 2 October 2014, smithsonianmag.com (http://smithsonianmag.com) .

That versatility can also be curse, however, because it makes websites more dif�icult to plan and organize than virtually any other type of communication. Each of the target audiences has unique information needs and possibly little interest in the other material that might be on the site. Visitors also enter the site at different points. Some will type in the top-level URL, some will link through to lower-level pages from other websites (a product review in a blog, for example), and many will land on speci�ic pages after using a search engine.

The versatility of websites can make them a challenge to organize because different visitors want different types of information.

Because the web is a multidimensional medium, readers move around in any order they please; there often is no beginning, middle, or end. When organizing a website, you need to anticipate the various paths your readers will want to follow and make sure you provide the right hyperlinks in the right places to help readers explore successfully. Professional website designers use the term information architecture (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000330D) to describe the content structure, labeling, and navigational �low of all the parts of a website.

Thinking through the information architecture of a website is essential to creating a rewarding experience for all visitors.

In a sense, the information architecture is a three-dimensional outline of the site, showing (1) the vertical hierarchy of pages from the homepage down to the lower level, (2) the horizontal division of pages across the various sections of the site, and (3) the links that tie all these pages together, both internally (between various pages on the site) and externally (between the site and other websites).

REAL-TIME UPDATES

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LEARN MORE BY VISITING THIS WEBSITE

Examples of effective one-page web design

One Page Love has a large gallery of single-page web designs. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

On simpler sites with few content categories, the information architecture is fairly straightforward. A recent trend toward one-page websites, in which all the content is presented on a single, scrolling page, represents the ultimate in website simplicity. These sites can be particularly good for mobile devices because navigating them requires nothing more than simple scrolling action by the user. Companies also use one-page designs for individual sections of a larger website.

However, on large corporate or organizational websites (such as your college or university’s website), the architecture can be extremely complex, and it is the information architect’s job to make each visitor’s experience as simple as possible.

To organize a site effectively, follow these tips:13 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000344B)

Start developing the information architecture by brainstorming how all your potential visitors will want to use the site.

Brainstorm all the likely usage scenarios—who will visit the site, where will they be coming from, what will they be looking for, and what terms will they use to identify the information they need? Identify all the likely entry points to the site and the target information for each visitor segment. Create a map or other visual tool (web designers refer to these as wireframes) that shows all the pathways between entry points and target information, then organize the content and links in the simplest, most direct way possible. Make sure visitors can always �ind their way back to the top level of the site, even if a search engine link plunked them onto a page deep within the site. Give visitors options for �inding what they want (see Figure 7.5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P700101245100000000000000000326E) ). Some will want to search by key terms, for example, whereas others will prefer to follow clearly de�ined paths that drill down into more speci�ic information (such as Products ▶ Consumer Products ▶ Tools ▶ Handheld Power Tools, for example).

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Figure 7.5 Reader-Friendly Web Design

This page from Zappos’s website shows how to organize content in ways that help readers �ind desired information quickly. The numbered list on the left side serves as both a high-level overview and a clickable table of contents, and selecting any item displays a one-sentence summary and a more detailed description. Readers can quickly explore all 10 values without bouncing around from page to page.

Courtesy of Zappos.

Be consistent with labels and link behaviors, and use commonly accepted terminology. For example, web visitors now expect information about a company to be on a page titled “About Us.”

REAL-TIME UPDATES

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LEARN MORE BY VISITING THIS WEBSITE

Intrigued by the challenge of designing effective websites?

The Information Architecture Institute can help you learn more about the IA profession. Go to real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real- timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Learn More in the Students section.

Think of your website as an information-delivery machine that visitors must learn how to operate in order to use ef�iciently. By making your machine as easy to use as possible, you’ll help visitors �ind what they want quickly and encourage them to come back for more.

DRAFTING WEBSITE CONTENT Everything you know about effective writing applies to web content, but keep these extra points in mind as well (see Figure 7.6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P700101245100000000000000000329A) ):

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Figure 7.6 Writing for the Web

This page from the Google Help feature for Gmail demonstrates several important points about effective web writing.

© Google. All rights reserved.

With the inverted pyramid style, summarize the key points at the beginning of a webpage, then move on to provide details.

Take special care to build trust with your intended audiences, as careful readers can be skeptical of online content. Make sure your content is accurate, current, complete, and authoritative. Wherever you can, use the inverted pyramid style, in which you brie�ly cover the most important information �irst and then gradually reveal successive layers of detail—letting readers choose to see those additional layers if they want to.

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Help readers absorb information by breaking it into small, self-contained, easily readable chunks that are linked together logically. Many readers don’t have the patience to read lengthy pages online. Present your information in a concise, skimmable format. Effective websites use a variety of means to help readers skim pages quickly, including lists, careful use of color and boldface, informative headings, and helpful summaries that give readers a choice of learning more if they want to. Use direct and concise link names that serve for both site navigation and content skimming. Above all else, clearly identify where a link will take readers. Don’t use cute wordplay that obscures the content, and don’t force readers to click through in order to �igure out where they’re going. As much as possible, adapt your content for a global audience. Translating content is expensive, however, so some companies compromise by localizing the homepage while keeping the deeper, more detailed content in its original language.

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7.5 Podcasting LEARNING OBJECTIVE

5 Explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to podcasting. Podcasting (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003313) is the process of recording audio or video �iles and distributing them online. Podcasting combines the media richness of voice or visual communication with the convenience of portability. Audiences can listen to or watch podcasts on a blog or website, or they can download them to phones or portable music players to consume on the go. Particularly with audio podcasts, the hands-off, eyes-off aspect makes them great for listening while driving or exercising.

UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS APPLICATIONS OF PODCASTING

Podcasting can be used to deliver a wide range of audio and video messages.

Podcasting is a good choice to replace existing audio and video messages, such as one-way teleconferences in which a speaker provides information without expecting to engage in conversation with the listeners. Training is another good use of podcasting; you may have already taken a college course via podcasts. Marketing departments can replace expensive printed brochures with video podcasts that demonstrate new products in action. Sales representatives who travel to meet with potential customers can listen to audio podcasts or view video podcasts to get the latest information on their companies’ products. Human resources departments can offer video tours of their companies to entice new recruits. Podcasts are also a useful feature on blogs to let audiences listen to or watch recordings of their favorite bloggers.

ADAPTING THE THREE-STEP PROCESS FOR SUCCESSFUL PODCASTING

The three-step process adapts quite well to podcasting.

Although it might not seem obvious at �irst, the three-step writing process adapts quite nicely to podcasting. First, focus the planning step on analyzing the situation, gathering the information you’ll need, and organizing your material. One vital planning step depends on whether you intend to create podcasts for limited use and distribution (such as a weekly audio update to your virtual team) or a podcasting channel (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003316) with regular recordings on a consistent theme, designed for a wider public audience. If you intend to create a podcasting channel, be sure to think through the range of topics you want to address over time to verify that you have a sustainable purpose.14 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000344D) If you bounce from one theme to another, you risk losing your audience.15

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(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P700101245100000000000000000344F) Maintaining a consistent schedule is also important; listeners will stop paying attention if they can’t count on regular updates.16 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003304#P7001012451000000000000000003451)

Steering devices such as transitions, previews, and reviews are vital in podcasts.

As you organize the content for a podcast, pay close attention to previews, transitions, and reviews. These steering devices are especially vital in audio recordings because audio lacks the headings and other elements that audiences rely on in print media. Moreover, scanning back and forth to �ind speci�ic parts of an audio or video message is much more dif�icult than with textual messages, so you need to do everything possible to make sure your audience successfully receives and interprets your message on the �irst try.

Plan your podcast content carefully; editing is more dif�icult with podcasts than with textual messages.

One of the attractions of podcasting is the conversational, person-to-person feel of the recordings, so unless you need to capture exact wording, speaking from an outline and notes rather than a prepared script is often the best choice. However, no one wants to listen to rambling podcasts that take several minutes to get to the topic or struggle to make a point, so don’t try to make up your content on the �ly. Effective podcasts, like effective stories, have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

MOBILE APP

Mobile Podcaster lets you record audio podcasts on your iOS devices and instantly post them on your WordPress blog.

For basic podcasts, your computer and perhaps even your smartphone might have the hardware you already need, and you can download free recording software.

The completing step is where podcasting differs most dramatically from written communication, for the obvious reason that you are recording and distributing audio or video �iles. Particularly for more formal podcasts, start by revising your script or thinking through your speaking notes before you begin to record. The closer you can get to recording your podcasts in one take, the more productive you’ll be.

Most personal computers, smartphones (see Figure 7.7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032DF) ), and other devices now have basic audio recording capability, including built-in microphones, and free editing software such as Audacity is available online. If you require higher

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production quality or greater �lexibility, you’ll need additional pieces of hardware and software, such as an audio processor (to �ilter out extraneous noise and otherwise improve the audio signal), a mixer (to combine multiple audio or video signals), a better microphone, more sophisticated recording and editing software, and perhaps some physical changes in your recording location to improve the acoustics.

Figure 7.7 Mobile Podcasting

Mobile podcasting apps make it easy to record podcasts on location.

Courtesy of bossjock studio, www.bossjockstudio.com (http://www.bossjockstudio.com) .

Podcasts can be distributed in several ways, including through media stores such as iTunes, by dedicated podcast hosting services, or on a blog with content that supports the podcast channel.

For a quick review of the key points of business podcasting, see “Checklist: Planning and Producing Business Podcasts (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032E9) .” For more news on podcasting, visit real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) and select Chapter 7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003055#P7001012451000000000000000003055) .

CHECKLIST Planning and Producing Business Podcasts

Consider podcasting whenever you have the opportunity to replace existing audio or video messages.

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If you plan a podcast channel with a regular stream of new content, make sure you’ve identi�ied a theme or purpose that is rich enough to sustain your effort. Pay close attention to previews, transitions, and reviews to help prevent your audience from getting lost. Decide whether you want to improvise or speak from a written script. If you improvise, do enough planning and organization to avoid �loundering and rambling in search of a point. Remember that editing is much more dif�icult to do with audio or video than with textual media, so plan your content and recording carefully.

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES AT Slack You work as a product manager in Slack’s San Francisco of�ices. In this role you lead a cross-functional team responsible for de�ining new features for the Slack platform and working with professionals in engineering, marketing, sales, and �inance to bring these new capabilities to market. These people are geographically dispersed, so much of your communication takes place via written team messaging, not in-person or online meetings. Apply what you’ve learned about messaging to address these two challenges.

INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE: Software companies usually keep wish lists of new features, combining requests from customers, ideas submitted by insiders, and capabilities that are part of a long-term product plan. Choosing which of these ideas to implement for a given software update is no simple task and often requires trade-offs among time, cost, market demand, competitive moves, staf�ing, and other variables. Earlier this week, someone from the sales department said customers are clamoring for a particular feature, but the engineers responded that it will take too long to implement for the next scheduled software update, so they proposed an interim capability that they acknowledge is a good but not truly great solution. The marketing people then chimed in with the concern that promoting a less-than-ideal feature set could dampen the product’s momentum in the marketplace. After this spirited discussion had been going on for several days, someone on the team from accounting wrote, quite bluntly, that it was time to stop all this chatter and make a decision already. He said he was under pressure to update the engineering and marketing budgets, and he couldn’t do his work if everyone else on the team was “wandering around in circles” without making a decision.

In your role as the leader of this team, write a brief response (no more than one paragraph). Be sure to consider the need to convey whatever information you intend to share and the need to smooth out the inevitable tension the accountant’s message has produced. Make up whatever information you need while imagining yourself in the role of a product manager.

TEAM CHALLENGE: With a team assigned by your instructor, discuss the scenario described in the individual challenge above and identify several other business scenarios in which important questions need to be batted around by various members of a team before they can reach a decision. As with many decision-making challenges, there is tension between needing to make a decision and making sure you’ve collected and analyzed all the information you need in order to make the best possible decision. Brainstorm a set of guidelines that teams in any company could use to handle these decision-making challenges. Produce a brief document that could be posted on a collaboration platform such as Slack.

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Quick Learning Guide

KEY TERMS

email signature A small �ile that automatically includes such items as your full name, title, company, and contact information at the end of your messages

information architecture Plan or map of the content structure, labeling, and navigational �low of all the parts of a website

messaging Category of communication system in which users’ messages appear on each other’s screens instantly, without the need to be opened individually, as with email; includes phone-based text messaging, conventional instant messaging, and workplace messaging

podcasting Process of recording audio or video �iles and distributing them online

podcasting channel Series of regular recordings on a consistent theme

SUMMARY OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1 Identify the major digital media formats available for business messages, and list nine compositional modes used in digital media. Major digital media for business messages include email, messaging, web content, podcasting, social networks, information- and media-sharing sites, wikis, blogging and microblogging, and online video. The nine compositional modes used in digital communication are conversations, comments and critiques, orientations, summaries, reference materials, narratives, teasers, status updates and announcements, and tutorials.

2 Describe the evolving role of email in business communication, and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to email messages. As the earliest widely available digital written medium, email was applied to a broad range of communication tasks—some it was well suited for and some it wasn’t. Over time, newer media such as instant messaging, blogs, and social networks have been taking over some of these tasks, but email remains a vital medium that is optimum for many private, short to medium-length messages.

The three-step process adapts easily to email communication. One of the most important planning decisions in crafting email is making sure every message has a valuable purpose. Any key planning decision should, in most instances, follow the chain of command in your organization; emailing over your boss’s head is a good way to stir up resentment. When writing email messages, bear in mind that the expectations of writing quality and formality are higher in business email. Also, pay close attention to the wording of an email message’s subject line; it often determines whether and when recipients open and read the message. Effective subject lines are both informative (concisely identifying what the message is about) and compelling (giving recipients a reason to read the message). Completing email messages is straightforward. Proof and revise messages (particularly important ones), stick with a clean design, make use of the email signature feature, and make sure you distribute the message to the right people.

3 Identify the advantages and disadvantages of business messaging systems. The bene�its of messaging include its ability to mimic conversational exchanges, the ability to avoid many of the distractions and security threats that affect email, and its instantaneous nature. Messaging’s disadvantages include its dependency on individual users’ typing skills during real-time exchanges, some vulnerability to security threats, and the general disadvantages of lean media.

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4 Explain why organizing website content is so challenging, and explain the concept of information architecture. The primary challenge in organizing website content is the medium’s extreme versatility. This versatility can be a blessing because a single web presence can serve multiple purposes for multiple audiences, but it also creates the challenge of providing an ef�icient and successful experience for all these unique visitors. The key to organizing a website is careful consideration of its information architecture, which is a map of the content structure, labeling, and navigational links and pathways in a website.

5 Explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to podcasting. Although you’ll be recording audio or video when creating podcasts, rather than writing messages, using the three-step process is an effective way to develop podcasts. Focus the planning step on analyzing the situation, gathering the information you’ll need, and organizing your material. If you plan to create a series of podcasts on a given theme (the equivalent of starting a radio or TV show), make sure you’ve identi�ied a range of topics extensive enough to keep your podcasts going over time. As you organize and begin to think about the words or images you’ll use as content, pay close attention to previews, transitions, and reviews so that audiences don’t get lost while listening or watching. Before you record, think through what you plan to say or shoot so that you don’t ramble while trying to make your key points. Finally, consider the necessary level of production quality; good-quality podcasts usually require some specialized hardware and software.

MyBCommLab

Go to mybcommlab.com (http://mybcommlab.com) to complete the problems marked with this icon .

Test Your Knowledge To review chapter content related to each question, refer to the indicated Learning Objective.

7-1. What are the situations in which a printed memo or letter might be preferable to a digital message? [LO-1] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003081)

7-2. How do the compositional modes of orientations, summaries, and teasers differ? [LO-1] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003081)

7-3. Why are subject lines important in email messages? [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC)

7-4. What are the bene�its of using messaging in business communication? [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D0)

7-5. Should you ever plan a messaging exchange? Explain your answer. [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237)

7-6. What is information architecture? [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237)

7-7. Why is it important to have a long-term, sustainable purpose in mind before you launch a podcast channel? [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF)

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7-8. Is it wise to speak “off the cuff,” with no notes or outline, when recording business podcasts? Why or why not? [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF)

Apply Your Knowledge To review chapter content related to each question, refer to the indicated Learning Objective.

7-9. What are three innovative ways you could optimize your college’s website for mobile devices? [LO-1] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003081)

7-10. If you wanted to get your employees’ attention about the need to reduce costs without starting up the rumor mill about the possibility of layoffs, would it be wise to send out an email with the subject line “To save everyone’s job, we must reduce costs now”? Explain your answer. [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC)

7-11. Should you ever use emoticons in business email messages? Explain your answer. [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC)

7-12. Communication on a major project is suffering because several team members are in the habit of writing cryptic or careless instant messages that often force recipients to engage in several rounds of follow-up messaging to �igure out what the sender had in mind. As project leader, you’ve spoken with these team members about the need to write clearer messages, but they respond that careful planning and writing defeats the whole purpose of instant messaging. How should you handle the situation? [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D0)

7-13. Your company’s webmaster has become a big fan of tagging, the practice of identifying web content with category labels to make it easy to later retrieve all the content on a particular topic. She thinks tags are so powerful, in fact, that there is no longer any need to organize a website in any conventional, structured way. By using tag �iltering, she claims, people can �ind whatever they need. In an email message, explain to her why information architecture is still necessary. [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237) , [LO-4] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237)

7-14. Imagine that you’ve been on the job for two or three decades, and you’ve amassed a deep store of leadership wisdom during the years. You’d like to share your wisdom with your 800 employees in a biweekly podcast. How should you go about planning this podcast series to make sure your employees will listen regularly? [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF)

Practice Your Skills 7-15. Message 7.A: Media Skills: Messaging, Creating a Busi- nesslike Tone [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D0)

Review this messaging exchange and explain how the customer service agent could have handled the situation more effectively.

Agent: Thanks for contacting Home Exercise Equipment. What’s up?

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Customer: I’m having trouble assembling my home gym. Agent: I hear that a lot! LOL Customer: So is it me or the gym? Agent: Well, let’s see ?g?. Where are you stuck? Customer: The crossbar that connects the vertical pillars doesn’t �it. Agent: What do you mean doesn’t �it? Customer: It doesn’t �it. It’s not long enough to reach across the pillars. Agent: Maybe you assembled the pillars in the wrong place. Or maybe we sent the wrong crossbar. Customer: How do I tell? Agent: The parts aren’t labeled so could be tough. Do you have a measuring tape? Tell me how long your crossbar is.

7-16. Message 7.B: Media Skills: Podcasting, Planning: Outlining Your Content [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF)

To access this message, visit real-timeupdates.com/bct14 (http://real-timeupdates.com/bct14) , select Student Assignments then Chapter 7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003055#P7001012451000000000000000003055) , Message 7.B to listen to this podcast. Identify at least three ways in which the podcast could be improved, and draft a brief email message that you could send to the podcaster, giving your suggestions for improvement.

Exercises

Each activity is labeled according to the primary skill or skills you will need to use. To review relevant chapter content, you can refer to the indicated Learning Objective. In some instances, supporting information will be found in another chapter, as indicated.

7-17. Collaboration: Working in Teams; Planning: Selecting Media [LO-1] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003081) Chapter 2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000015f4#P70010124510000000000000000015F4) For each of these message needs, choose a medium that you think would work effectively and explain your choice. (More than one medium could work in some cases; just be able to support your particular choice.)

a. A technical support service for people trying to use their digital music players b. A message of condolence to the family of an employee who passed away recently c. A message from the CEO of a small company to the employees of the �irm, explaining that she is leaving the company to join a competitor d. A series of observations on the state of the industry, intended mostly for professionals within the industry e. A series of messages, questions, and answers surrounding the work of a team on a con�idential company project

7-18. Media Skills: Writing Email Subject Lines [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) Using your imagination to make up whatever details you need, revise the following email subject lines to make them more informative:

a. New budget �igures b. Marketing brochure—your opinion? c. Production schedule

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7-19. Media Skills: Email [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) The following email message contains numerous errors related to what you’ve learned about planning and writing business messages. Using the information it contains, write a more effective version.

TO: Felicia August <�[email protected] (http://�[email protected]) >

SUBJECT: Those are the breaks, folks

Some of you may not like the rules about break times; however, we determined that keeping track of employees while they took breaks at times they determined rather than regular breaks at prescribed times was not working as well as we would have liked it to work. The new rules are not going to be an option. If you do not follow the new rules, you could be docked from your pay for hours when you turned up missing, since your direct supervisor will not be able to tell whether you were on a “break” or not and will assume that you have walked away from your job. We cannot be responsible for any errors that result from your inattentiveness to the new rules. I have already heard complaints from some of you and I hope this memo will end this issue once and for all. The decision has already been made.

Starting Monday, January 1, you will all be required to take a regular 15-minute break in the morning and again in the afternoon, and a regular thirty- minute lunch at the times speci�ied by your supervisor, NOT when you think you need a break or when you “get around to it.”

There will be no exceptions to this new rule!

Felicia August

Manager, Billing and Accounting

7-20. Media Skills: Messaging, Creating a Businesslike Tone [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D0) Your �irm, which makes professional-grade paint sprayers, uses messaging extensively for internal communication and frequently for external communication with customers and suppliers. Several customers have recently forwarded copies of messages they’ve received from your staff, asking if you know how casually some employees are treating this important medium. You decide to revise parts of several messages to show your staff a more appropriate writing style. Rewrite these sentences, making up any information you need, to convey a more businesslike style and tone. (Look up the acronyms online if you need to.)

a. IMHO, our quad turbo sprayer is best model 4U. b. No prob; happy2help! c. FWIW, I use the L400 myself & it rocks. d. Most cust see 20–30% reduct in fumes w/this sprayer—of course, YMMV.

7-21. Media Skills: Web Writing, Planning: Outlining Your Content [LO-4] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237) Find the website of a small company or nonpro�it organization; make sure it is a fairly small and simple website. Identify all the individual pages on the site, then as best you can, “reverse engineer” the site’s information architecture, identifying all the linkages between the individual pages. Draw a map of the architecture, showing how the various pages are linked together. (Hint: If the website has a “Site map” link, select that to see a hierarchical list of all the pages contained within the site.)

7-22. Media Skills: Podcasting, Planning: Outlining Your Content [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF) You began recording a weekly podcast to share information with your large and far-�lung staff. After a month, you ask for feedback from several of your

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subordinates, and you’re disappointed to learn that some people stopped listening to the podcast after the �irst couple of weeks. Someone eventually admits that many staffers feel the recordings are too long and rambling, and the information they contain isn’t valuable enough to justify the time it takes to listen. You aren’t pleased, but you want to improve. An assistant transcribes the introduction to last week’s podcast so you can review it. You immediately see two problems. Revise the introduction based on what you’ve learned in this chapter.

So there I am, having lunch with Selma Gill, who just joined and took over the Northeast sales region from Jackson Stroud. In walks our beloved CEO with Selma’s old boss at Uni-Plex; turns out they were �inalizing a deal to co-brand our products and theirs and to set up a joint distribution program in all four domestic regions. Pretty funny, huh? Selma left Uni-Plex because she wanted to sell our products instead, and now she’s back selling her old stuff, too. Anyway, try to chat with her when you can; she knows the biz inside and out and probably can offer insight into just about any sales challenge you might be running up against. We’ll post more info on the co-brand deal next week; should be a boost for all of us. Other than those two news items, the other big news this week is the change in commission reporting. I’ll go into the details in a minute, but when you log onto the intranet, you’ll now see your sales results split out by product line and industry sector. Hope this helps you see where you’re doing well and where you might beef things up a bit. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the most important bit. Speaking of our beloved CEO, Thomas is going to be our guest of honor, so to speak, at the quarterly sales meeting next week and wants an update on how petroleum prices are affecting customer behavior. Each district manager should be ready with a brief report. After I go through the commission reporting scheme, I’ll outline what you need to prepare.

Expand Your Skills Critique the Professionals

Check out the Twitter accounts of several companies that sell products or services you use or might use in the future. Find three teaser messages that attempt to persuade you to click through to another website. In a brief summary on your class blog or in an email message to your instructor, compare the effectiveness of the three teasers. Which was most effective, and which was least effective? Why? Were the payoffs for all three teasers satisfactory and in line with what you expected to see?

Sharpening Your Career Skills Online

Bovée and Thill’s Business Communication Web Search, at websearch.businesscommunicationnetwork.com (http://websearch.businesscommunicationnetwork.com) , is a unique research tool designed speci�ically for business communication research. Use the Web Search function to �ind a website, video, article, podcast, or presentation that offers advice on writing effective email and messages for mobile devices. Write a brief email message to your instructor, describing the item that you found and summarizing the career skills information you learned from it.

Cases For all cases, feel free to use your creativity to make up any details you need in order to craft effective messages.

EMAIL SKILLS

7-23. Media Skills: Email; Message Strategies: Routine Messages [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) , Chapter 10 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003e00#P7001012451000000000000000003E00)

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Team messaging apps are improving communication in all kinds of organizations, from small teams to entire companies to school groups and other nonbusiness entities.

Your task: Imagine that you are responsible for choosing an organization’s new messaging software. You can use an organization you are already a member of, such as a current or past employer, a nonpro�it where you volunteer, or a project team in one of your classes. Alternatively, choose any real or imaginary organization in which at least a few people would need to coordinate their efforts using text-centric messaging.

Research the capabilities of Slack and two of its competitors, identifying the three or four most important features of each system. Write an email message (no more than four paragraphs) comparing these key features and recommending one of the systems for your chosen organization.

EMAIL SKILLS

7-24. Media Skills: Email; Message Strategies: Negative Messages [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) , Chapter 11 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000004228#P7001012451000000000000000004228) Many companies operate on the principle that the customer is always right, even when the customer isn’t right. They take any steps necessary to ensure happy customers, lots of repeat sales, and a positive reputation among potential buyers. Overall, this is a smart and successful approach to business. However, most companies eventually encounter a nightmare customer who drains so much time, energy, and pro�its that the only sensible option is to refuse the customer’s business. For example, the nightmare customer might be someone who constantly berates you and your employees, repeatedly makes outlandish demands for refunds and discounts, or simply requires so much help that you not only lose money on this person but also no longer have enough time to help your other customers. “Firing” a customer is an unpleasant step that should be taken only in the most extreme cases and only after other remedies have been attempted (such as talking with the customer about the problem), but it is sometimes necessary for the well-being of your employees and your company.

Your task: If you are currently working or have held a job in the recent past, imagine that you’ve encountered just such a customer. If you don’t have job experience to call on, imagine that you work in a retail location somewhere around campus or in your neighborhood. Identify the type of behavior this imaginary customer exhibits and the reasons the behavior can no longer be accepted. Write a brief email message to the customer to explain that you will no longer be able to accommodate him or her as a customer. Calmly explain why you have had to reach this dif�icult decision. Maintain a professional tone and keep your emotions in check.

EMAIL SKILLS/TEAM SKILLS

7-25. Media Skills: Email; Collaboration: Team Projects [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) , Chapter 2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000015f4#P70010124510000000000000000015F4) Colleges and universities are complex organizations that try to optimize results for students while wrestling with budgetary constraints, staf�ing issues, infrastructure concerns, limitations on available space, and a host of other issues. Even in the best-managed and most generously funded institutions, there are aspects of campus life that could be improved.

Your task: With a team assigned by your instructor, choose an issue of campus life that you think could and should be improved. It can be anything from transportation to housing to personal safety. Draft an email message that could be sent to your school’s administration. In your message concisely

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describe the problem, speculate on why the problem or situation exists, offer suggestions on how it could be solved or improved, and explain how addressing it would improve campus life. (Don’t send the message unless your instructor directs you to do so.)

EMAIL SKILLS/TEAM SKILLS

7-26. Media Skills: Email [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) Studying real-life examples is a great way to get a feel for how various companies communicate with customers and other stakeholders.

Your task: With teammates assigned by your instructor, select �ive email messages from the Just Good Copy website at www.goodemailcopy.com (http://www.goodemailcopy.com) . Evaluate them based on the criteria for effective email discussed in the chapter. Rank them from most effective to least effective and summarize your analysis in a presentation to your class or a post on your class blog.

EMAIL SKILLS/MOBILE SKILLS

7-27. Media Skills: Email [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC) The size limitations of smartphone screens call for a different approach to writing (see page 144 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000027d4#page_144) ) and formatting (see page 168 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000002d6a#page_168) ) documents.

Your task: On the website of any company that interests you, �ind a news release (some companies refer to them as press releases) that announces the launch of a new product. Using Pages or any other writing app at your disposal, revise and format the material in a way that would be effective on smartphone screens.

MESSAGING SKILLS

7-28. Media Skills: Messaging; Compositional Modes: Tutorials [LO-1] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#P7001012451000000000000000003081) , [LO-3] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#P70010124510000000000000000031D0) High-de�inition television can be a joy to watch—but, oh, what a pain to buy. The �ield is cluttered with competing technologies and arcane terminology that is meaningless to most consumers. Moreover, it’s nearly impossible to de�ine one technical term without invoking two or three others, leaving consumers swimming in an alphanumeric soup of confusion. As a sales support manager for Crutch�ield, a leading online retailer of audio and video systems, you understand the frustration buyers feel; your staff is deluged daily by their questions.

Your task: To help your staff respond quickly to consumers who ask questions via Crutch�ield’s online IM chat service, you are developing a set of “canned” responses to common questions. When a consumer asks one of these questions, a sales adviser can simply select the ready-made answer. Visit www.crutch�ield.com/Learn/ (http://www.crutch�ield.com/Learn/) and conduct the research you need to write concise, consumer-friendly de�initions of the following terms: 1080p, HDMI, 4K, and 3D TV.

WEB WRITING SKILLS/TEAM SKILLS

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7-29. Message Strategies: Online Content; Collaboration: Team Projects [LO-4] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237) , Chapter 2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000015f4#P70010124510000000000000000015F4) If you’re like many other college students, your �irst year was more than you expected: more dif�icult, more fun, more frustrating, more expensive, more exhausting, more rewarding—more of everything, positive and negative. Oh, the things you know now that you didn’t know then!

Your task: With several other students, identify �ive or six things you wish you would’ve realized or understood better before you started your �irst year of college. These can relate to your school life (such as “I didn’t realize how much work I would have for my classes” or “I should’ve asked for help as sooner”) and your personal and social life (“I wish I would’ve been more open to meeting people”). Use these items as the foundation of a brief informational report that you could post on a blog that is read by high school students and their families. Your goal with this report is to help the next generation of students make a successful and rewarding transition to college.

WEB WRITING SKILLS/MOBILE SKILLS/PORTFOLIO BUILDER

7-30. Message Strategies: Online Content [LO-4] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237) Adapting conventional web content to make it mobile friendly can require rethinking the site’s information architecture to simplify navigation and content.

Your task: Choose the website of a company that makes products you �ind interesting. (Make it a conventional website, not one already optimized for mobile.) Analyze the section of the website that contains information about the company’s products and determine the best way to present that material on mobile device screens. Mock up at least two screens showing how you would reformat the content to make it mobile friendly. Create a brief presentation with “before” and “after” views to show how your redesign would bene�it mobile site visitors.

WEB WRITING SKILLS

7-31. Message Strategies: Online Content [LO-4] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237) As you probably experienced, trying to keep all the different schools straight in one’s mind while researching and applying for colleges can be rather dif�icult. Applicants and their families would no doubt appreciate a handy summary of your college or university’s key points as they relate to the selection and application process.

Your task: Adapt content from your college or university’s website to create a one-page “Quick Facts” sheet about your school. Choose the information you think prospective students and their families would �ind most useful. (Note that adapting existing content would be acceptable in a real-life scenario like this because you would be reusing content on behalf of the content owner. Doing so would de�initely not be acceptable if you were using the content for yourself or for someone other than the original owner.)

PODCASTING SKILLS

7-32. Media Skills: Podcasting; Career Management: Personal Branding [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF) , Prologue While writing the many letters and email messages that are part of the job search process, you �ind yourself wishing that you could just talk

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to some of these companies so your personality could shine through. Well, you’ve just gotten that opportunity. One of the companies that you’ve applied to has emailed you back, asking you to submit a two-minute podcast introducing yourself and explaining why you would be a good person to hire.

Your task: Identify a company that you’d like to work for after graduation and select a job that would be a good match for your skills and interests. Write a script for a two-minute podcast (roughly 250 words). Introduce yourself and the position you’re applying for, describe your background, and explain why you think you’re a good candidate for the job. Make up any details you need. If your instructor asks you to do so, record the podcast and submit the �ile.

PODCASTING SKILLS/PORTFOLIO BUILDER

7-33. Media Skills: Podcasting; Message Strategies: Marketing and Sales Messages [LO-5] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#P70010124510000000000000000032BF) , Chapter 12 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000004853#P7001012451000000000000000004853) With any purchase decision, from a restaurant meal to a college education, recommendations from satis�ied customers are often the strongest promotional messages.

Your task: Write a script for a one- to two-minute podcast (roughly 150–250 words), explaining why your college or university is a good place to get an education. Your audience is high school juniors and seniors. You can choose to craft a general message—something that would be useful to all prospective students—or you can focus on a speci�ic academic discipline, the athletic program, or some other important aspect of your college experience. Either way, make sure your introductory comments make it clear whether you are offering a general recommendation or a speci�ic recommendation. If your instructor asks you to do so, record the podcast and submit the �ile.

MyBCommLab Go to mybcommlab.com (http://mybcommlab.com) for Auto-graded writing questions as well as the following Assisted-graded writing questions:

7-34. Why has email become overused and inappropriately used in many situations? [LO-2] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#P70010124510000000000000000030FC)

7-35. How can you use the inverted pyramid style of writing to craft effective website content? [LO-4] (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#P7001012451000000000000000003237)

Endnotes 1 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003055#rP7001012451000000000000000003433) . Slack website, accessed 1 April 2016, slack.com (http://slack.com) ; Adrienne Lafrance, “The Triumph of Email,” The Atlantic, 6 January 2016, www.theatlantic.com (http://www.theatlantic.com) ; Harry McCracken, “With 500,000 Users, Slack Says It’s The Fastest-Growing Business App Ever,” Fast Company, 2 December 2015, www.fastcompany.com (http://www.fastcompany.com) ; Farhad Manjoo, “Slack, the Of�ice Messaging App That May Finally Sink Email,” New York Times, 11 March

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2015, www.nytimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com) ; Alyson Shontell and Eugene Kim, “Slack, a 2-Year-Old Messaging Platform, Is Raising $200 Million at Nearly a $4 Billion Valuation Led by Thrive Capital,” Business Insider, 11 March 2016, www.businessinder.com (http://www.businessinder.com) ; Ellis Hamburger, “Slack Is Killing Email,” The Verge, 12 August 2014, www.theverge.com (http://www.theverge.com) .

2 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#rP7001012451000000000000000003435) . Richard Edelman, “Teaching Social Media: What Skills Do Communicators Need?,” in Engaging the New In�luencers; Third Annual Social Media Academic Summit (white paper), accessed 7 June 2010, www.newmediaacademicsummit.com (http://www.newmediaacademicsummit.com) .

3 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#rP7001012451000000000000000003437) . Samantha Murphy, “Why Mobile Commerce Is on the Rise,” Mashable, 7 March 2012, mashable.com (http://mashable.com) .

4 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p700101245100000000000000000307f#rP7001012451000000000000000003439) . Christina “CK” Kerley, “Wearables,” AllThingsCK, accessed 6 April 2014, allthingsck.com (http://allthingsck.com) .

5 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#rP700101245100000000000000000343B) . Maria Vergelis, Tatyana Shcherbakova, Nadezhda Demidova, and Darya Gudkova, “Kaspersky Security Bulletin. Spam and Phishing in 2015,” Securelist, 5 February 2016, securelist.com (http://securelist.com) .

6 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#rP700101245100000000000000000343D) . Hilary Potkewitz and Rachel Brown, “Spread of Email Has Altered Communication Habits at Work,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 18 April 2005, labusinessjournal.com (http://labusinessjournal.com) ; Nancy Flynn, Instant Messaging Rules (New York: AMACOM, 2004), 47–54.

7 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#rP700101245100000000000000000343F) . Mary Munter, Priscilla S. Rogers, and Jone Rymer, “Business Email: Guidelines for Users,” Business Communication Quarterly, March 2003, 26; Renee B. Horowitz and Marian G. Barchilon, “Stylistic Guidelines for Email,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 37, no. 4 (December 1994): 207–212.

8 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#rP7001012451000000000000000003441) . Steve Rubel, “Tip: Tweetify the Lead of Your Emails,” The Steve Rubel Stream blog, 20 July 2010, www.steverubel.com (http://www.steverubel.com) .

9 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000030fa#rP7001012451000000000000000003443) . Judith Newman, “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Must I Know, Too?” New York Times, 21 October 2011, www.nytimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com) .

10 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#rP7001012451000000000000000003445) . Eugene Kim, “The CEO of $2.8 Billion Slack Says It Has One Big Advantage over Facebook or LinkedIn,” Business Insider, 11 February 2016, www.businessinsider.com (http://www.businessinsider.com) .

11 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#rP7001012451000000000000000003447) . Martin Zwilling, “Texting is Killing Real Business Communication,” Business Insider, 13 January 2012, www.businessinsider.com (http://www.businessinsider.com) .

12 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000031ce#rP7001012451000000000000000003449) . Syndi Seid, “12 Tips for Instant Messaging in the Workplace,” Advanced Etiquette, 1 June 2014, www.advancedetiquette.com (http://www.advancedetiquette.com) ; Leo Babauta, “17 Tips to Be Productive with Instant Messaging,” Web Worker Daily, 14 November 2007, webworkerdaily.com (http://webworkerdaily.com) ; John Pallato, “Instant Messaging Unites Work Groups and Inspires Collaboration,” Internet World, December 2002, 14.

13 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p7001012451000000000000000003235#rP700101245100000000000000000344B) . Based in part on Shel Holtz, Writing for the Wired World (San Francisco: International Association of Business Communicators, 1999), 28–29.

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14 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#rP700101245100000000000000000344D) . “Set Up Your Podcast for Success,” Feed For All website, accessed 4 October 2006, www.feedforall.com (http://www.feedforall.com) .

15 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#rP700101245100000000000000000344F) . “Set Up Your Podcast for Success.”

16 (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Bovee.7626.18.1/sections/p70010124510000000000000000032bd#rP7001012451000000000000000003451) . Nathan Hangen, “4 Steps to Podcasting Success,” Social Media Examiner, 14 February 2011, www.socialmediaexaminer.com (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com) .