2Wayne State University - Department of Communication Communication 3300: Business and Professional Presentations OVERVIEW Unit 4 Managerial Communication Assignments · Oral Presentation 100 Points · Visual Aid [PowerPoint] 50 Points · Final Report Submitted to Safe Assignment 150 Points Investigate a business topic through a "perspective" of communication. Choose a topic that is interesting to you, informative and contributes to your class members' understanding of one of the perspectives. These include ethical, technological, social & political, legal, global and cross-cultural, socialization for success and skills (See page 2 for details). Prepare an informative and persuasive oral presentation (Between five & six minutes, presentations that exceed six and half minutes are subject to point deductions for overtime), incorporating professional visual aids (PowerPoint) and planning for a Q&A session. The presentation should identify a current workplace issue that can be defined through communication with some theoretical underpinning, informed by research and practical business experience and suggest ways of addressing it. Topic Selection Frame your topic for the oral presentation and the final written report by focusing on a single issue or problem. A productive approach is to work towards a suitable title while narrowing and focusing upon your subject area. References and Research The Presentation and the Final Report requires a minimum of five sources. You must include one each of the following · Journal Article (That is not the Wall Street one) · A newspaper or news website · Book or edited book that relates to the topic (Guffey Text and other business texts do not count towards minimum of five) This report needs be on a current management communication issue. As more weight will be given to named references, you should be limit your selection of websites that do not provide author(s). General http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/articles_databases/index.php Accounting, Taxation, & Business Law http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/databases/subject.php?id=6 Communication & Journalism http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/databases/subject.php?id=8 This database is a good link to issues in Marketing and or Advertising and PR management You may consult business textbooks, including the Guffey text, but a business text will not count toward the minimum five sources. Other limitations will be discussed in class. This will include general website, dictionaries, and Wikipedia. It is important that you provide credible references. I am looking for reliable and credible sources to support your ideas and thesis. If in doubt discuss with your instructor before you present. Consider using an interview as a primary source. Sample Topics Ethical Perspective Ethical issues in communication situations. This can include how organizations respond to crisis, such as the government or other organizations such .

1. 2Wayne State University - Department of Communication
Communication 3300: Business and Professional Presentations
OVERVIEW
Unit 4 Managerial Communication Assignments
· Oral Presentation
100 Points
· Visual Aid [PowerPoint]
50 Points
· Final Report Submitted to Safe Assignment
150 Points
Investigate a business topic through a "perspective" of
communication. Choose a topic that is interesting to you,
informative and contributes to your class members'
understanding of one of the perspectives. These include ethical,
technological, social & political, legal, global and cross-
cultural, socialization for success and skills (See page 2 for
details).
Prepare an informative and persuasive oral presentation
(Between five & six minutes, presentations that exceed six and
half minutes are subject to point deductions for overtime),

2. incorporating professional visual aids (PowerPoint) and
planning for a Q&A session. The presentation should identify a
current workplace issue that can be defined through
communication with some theoretical underpinning, informed
by research and practical business experience and suggest ways
of addressing it.
Topic Selection
Frame your topic for the oral presentation and the final written
report by focusing on a single issue or problem. A productive
approach is to work towards a suitable title while narrowing and
focusing upon your subject area.
References and Research
The Presentation and the Final Report requires a minimum of
five sources. You must include one each of the following
· Journal Article (That is not the Wall Street one)
· A newspaper or news website
· Book or edited book that relates to the topic (Guffey Text and
other business texts do not count towards minimum of five)
This report needs be on a current management communication
issue. As more weight will be given to named references, you
should be limit your selection of websites that do not provide
author(s).
General
http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/articles_databases/index.ph
p
Accounting, Taxation, & Business Law
http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/databases/subject.php?id=6

3. Communication & Journalism
http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/databases/subject.php?id=8
This database is a good link to issues in Marketing and or
Advertising and PR management
You may consult business textbooks, including the Guffey text,
but a business text will not count toward the minimum five
sources. Other limitations will be discussed in class. This will
include general website, dictionaries, and Wikipedia.
It is important that you provide credible references. I am
looking for reliable and credible sources to support your ideas
and thesis. If in doubt discuss with your instructor before you
present. Consider using an interview as a primary source.
Sample Topics
Ethical Perspective
Ethical issues in communication situations. This can include
how organizations respond to crisis, such as the government or
other organizations such as BP, Johnson & Johnson etc.
Technological Perspective
New technological advances that affect our ability to
communicate in the business environment. This can include
using desktop videoconferencing, participating in Groupware on
a corporate Intranet, preparing an electronic resume or aspects
of social networking sites.
Social and Political Perspectives
Because business communication is a social and political
activity, always grounded in a particular context and situation,
social issues are particularly relevant. Specific social and

4. political issues, such as communicating with hearing-impaired
clients/customers or how organizations deal with handicapped
people.
Legal Perspective
Currently the most significant legal impact on language is the
1998 Presidential Memorandum requiring that all Federal
documents communicating with the American people must be
revised in Plain Language. Although many businesses have
revised their documents in Plain Language over the past two
decades, many firms still write in bureaucratic, dense prose that
is difficult for clients and customers to read.
Global and Cross-cultural
You may select any topic in this genre that was not covered by
members of the class in Unit 3.
Socialization for Success Perspective
Sharpening your own skills for business career success, this can
be expressed in such small details as learning how to introduce
yourself effectively. Specific socialization-for-success topics
include interacting at business social events, networking,
business etiquette and dressing for success.
Skills Perspective
Many of the objectives of the course represent essential
business skills. For example, writing high-impact memos,
resume writing, mock interviews, participating in self-managed
group meetings, and delivering persuasive presentations.
The following sample topics are listed to provoke your thinking.
Although you may choose one of the topics listed below, you
are strongly encouraged to develop an idea of your own. Just

5. remember that your topic must focus on a management
communication issue and why we need to understand how it
affects us.
Miscellaneous Communication Topics, such as
· A comparison of two websites (They need to be business ones)
· A critique of a Business Power Point presentation (I will find
them for you)
· Advantages and disadvantage of distance communication
· Challenges for Global organizations
· Changes in management- The History of Ford
· Communication issues with patient care
· Companies Annuals Reports ( I can provide)
· Corporate Espionage
· Drug Policies – Are they an infringement of our civil rights
· Ethical Behavior for Organizations
· Ethics in Advertising
· Global challenges, opportunities and best practices
· How a businessperson restructures his/her image
· How an organization portrays its image on the web
· How an organization restructures its image (Bank of America,

6. GM etc)
· How organizations deal with crisis.
· How to deal with employees that access inappropriate websites
at work.
· Humor in advertising
· International companies doing business in the US
· Issues in PR
· Leadership’s Images that impress you and why
· Mergers – Management challenges
· Negotiation – Uses for management
· NGO’s role during a crisis
· Opinion Polls - What do they do for us
· Organizational Apologia (How companies apologize)
· PR is the new advertising
· Response to Disaster – Company Focus
· Risk Management
· Romance in the workplace
· Speech Writing
· Teaming in the 21st century

7. · The do’s and don’ts of Social Networking
· The Job Interview – Communication Strategies
· The media’s role in framing a crisis
· Trust in Management
· What to do in an emergency – Examples of good and bad
· Workplace assessment methods
· Workplace Bullying
· Any communication theory and how it impacts the work place.
You may select any other topic as long as it has at its core
communication issues the managers are facing today. Make
sure your advise your instructor what your final topic is going
to be.
EVALUATION OF ORAL PRESENTATION
These will include the following
· Presented potentially useful information about workplace
communication issue to future managers?
· Adapted the material to the audience in an engaging way?
· Spoke conversationally (without memorizing or reading),
speaking loudly enough and with variety?
· Communicated non-verbally with eyes, face, hands and body?
· Highlighted the talk with appropriate and effective visuals?
· Interacted with Power Point or Website

8. · Conducted Q&A session effectively?
Please review the evaluation sheets on Blackboard for full
details.
EVALUATION OF TEXTUAL VISUALS [PowerPoint]
Overall Visual Guidelines
· Creates an impact with one major message per slide
· Presents readable text (24 pt. or larger) applying document
design and readability principles (e.g., avoiding solid caps,
italics, wrap-around lines and all bold)
· Expresses meaning in concrete, concise, and correct language,
using key terms for audience. Not a page of text.
· Provides Images, diagrams etc. that support the message
· Supports message with design and color (avoiding
distractions)
· Use of headings on each slide

9. · Use of bulleted or numbered list
· Provides references on each page not a list at the end of the
report (Name and date)
Please review the evaluation sheets on Blackboard for full
details.
MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION REPORT –
ASSIGNMENT 150 Points
Write an informative report (approximately five pages, that
includes a summary page, the report and a reference page.
Single-spaced and formatted [include charts, bulleted list etc]))
that corresponds with your presentation.
The report should look like this:
Page 1
Title and Summary
Page 2-4
The report – Make sure you include the title and your name at
the top of page 2.
Page 5
Reference Page
The short formal report, addressed to the class as an audience of
current and future managers, should provide practical value to
managerial communicators or managers of subordinates'
communication initiatives.
Audience and Purpose

10. Write the report to this class as representative audience of new
and future managers. Your purpose is to inform them about a
significant managerial communication topic. Focus on a topic
that receives attention in academic journal articles, trade
literature for managers or trade books. Using your report, your
readers should be able to apply practical advice that is research-
based for dealing with managerial communication problem or
issue.
Information
Use whatever is relevant in each publication to support your
argument, mainly synthesizing, but paraphrasing, quoting
sparingly and citing appropriately. Develop the information
from your reading and your practical experience into a resource
that is of potential value to your peers. Frame a point of view
your audience can understand and critique. For example, "How
employees use story telling (fantasy) during times of
uncertainty.” Literature on why many employees reject
deductive writing and communication might inform the story-
telling topic.
Format
Present your materials as a modified formal report. Do not
include a cover page. The first page should include your name
the title and a brief summary. Please see Blackboard for
examples. (This is not a term paper)
The body of the report should be heavily formatted with
headings and subheadings, white space, with lists and charts as
needed. Use deductive organization overall and on the section
and paragraph level so that reader can glance over it rather than
reading it carefully--and still grasp the message and main
points.
The text should include citations for references, using the

11. author and year (APA) method in parentheses, for example
(Smith & Johnson, 1988). The references should be listed
alphabetically according to APA format on an attached separate
page entitled "References."
Suggestions
Prepare a report plan--Prepare a tentative outline for the report
and a reference list. Plan to discuss your progress or any
problems you encounter along the way with your instructor at
least once before the due date. When outside class, plan on
communicating with the instructor during office hours. Draft
copy should be discussed while consulting with your instructor.
Draft copy includes, outlines, headings, references, introductory
material and rough drafts.
This report is to be submitted to Safe Assignment on the date
shown in the syllabus
EVALUATION OF MANAGEMENT REPORT
These will include
· Introduction covers purpose. Bottom line first:
forecasts/previews the contents, deductive
· Headings and subheadings reflect the forecast/preview and
indicate contents of sections
· Short paragraphs focus on one topic and begin with the
"Bottom line.”
· Provides reasoning why this is an issue that we need greater
understanding, Focuses on developing reader's
understanding/acceptance/action/negotiation. (Why should we
care)
· Supports claims with adequate evidence and explanation

12. (research)
· Provides charts, graphs and images to support overall claims
as needed
· References are cited in APA format (Name & Date)
· References Page in APA format
· Overall, arrangement is "top-down" with claims presented
before supporting evidence
Please review the evaluation sheets on Blackboard for full
details.
Communication 3300: Business and Professional Presentations
List of Business Communication Publications
ADE Bulletin
ADE Bulletin
Alabama English
AlaE
American Biology Teacher

13. AmBT
American Journal of Nursing
AmJN
American Journal of Physics
AmJPhys
American Journal of Psychology
AmJPsy
AVideo

14. AVideo
Bulletin of the Association for Business Communication
BABC
The Balance Sheet
BalS
College Composition and Communication
CCC
College English
CE
Chemtech

15. Chemtech
Communication Education
ComEd
Communication Monographs
ComM
Communication Review
ComR
Community Technical and Junior College Journal
CTJCJ
Corporate Video Decisions

16. CVD
English for Specific Purposes
ESP
Et Cetera
Et Cetera
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
IEEETPC
Information Management Review
IMR
International Journal of the Sociology of Language
IJSL

17. Journal of Advanced Composition
JAC
Journal of Business Communication
JBC
Journal of Business Ethics
JBusEth
Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing
JConENursing
Journal of College Science Teaching
JCST
Journal of Documentation

18. JDOC
Journal of Educational Research
JER
Journal of Educational Psychology
JEPsych
Journal of Educational Technology Systems
JetSys
Journal of Research in Science Teaching
JRST
Journal of Research on Computing in Education

19. JRComputE
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
JTWC
Linguistics and Education
Linguistics and Education
Management Communication Quarterly
MCQ
Photomethods
Photomethods
Public Opinion Quarterly

20. POQ
Presentation Products Magazine
Products
Quarterly Journal of Speech
QJS
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
RSQ
Rhetoric Review
RR
Research in the Teaching of English

21. RTE
Southern Communication Journal
SCJ
Technical Communication
TC
Teaching English in the Two-Year College
TETYC
Technological Horizons in Education
THE
The Technical Writing Teacher

22. TWT
Written Communication
WC
Western Journal of Speech Communication
WJSC
WPA: Writing Program Administration
WPA