This document outlines the key points of a business communication course. It discusses the ground rules for the course, including no distractions, active participation, and punctuality. It describes the course goals as improving business writing skills, understanding basic business message patterns, and using feedback to enhance communication. The document defines communication and explains the communication process. It emphasizes the importance of listening skills and identifies barriers to effective listening. Finally, it provides tips to avoid misunderstandings during communication.

1. BUS230
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
L1
SECTION ONE
DANIEL CHUNG

2. GROUND RULES
 No eating, drinking, smoking, meditating,
chatting (except discussion), listening to music,
playing video games, reading newspaper, playing
card games…
 Active participation
 Be punctual
 Based on RESPECT

3. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to
prepare business students to
communicate more effectively,
emphasizing communications
through letters and written
reports. Preparation of oral
communications, in conjunction
with oral reports, will be taught
to students.
Prerequisite EN101

4. COURSE GOAL
Upon completion of this course, you should be
able to:
 demonstrate competency in the fundamentals of
business writing and report writing by producing
documents that are grammatically correct and in
an appropriate style to accomplish an objective or
objectives.
 demonstrate an understanding of the basic
patterns of business messages and be able to
select the appropriate content and detail for
varied situations.
 demonstrate the ability to edit, provide and accept
feedback, and use feedback to improve
communication messages.

5. ABOUT THAT COURSE
Please Read the Course Oultine

6. ASSIGNMENT
 You will be graded on both the quantity
and quality of your work.
 You must do each assignment completely
and hand it in on time to receive full
credit.
 Penalty will be imposed for late
assignments:
30% for 1 for week, 50% for 2 weeks, 70% for
3 weeks, 100% for more than 3 weeks.
 The assignment should go by the format
we discussed or points will be deducted.

7. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
ASSIGNMENTS
Unless specified in your respective Exercise Brief,
for every
piece of work submitted should:
 show your English name and full name, class
code. (at the left hand corner) and “BUS230
Assignment I…” (at the right hand corner)
 be typed with page no.
 error free
 use Microsoft word format
 use size 12 characters (Times New Roman)
 in double-line spacing
 hand in on or before the deadline

8. PLAGIARISM
 A very serious offence. Just like drugs, don’t even
think about or try it!
 If you are caught plagiarizing, you could receive
an F for the whole course.

9. WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
 Without giving due credit to the originality of
others and acknowledge an indebtedness
whenever you do any of the following:
Quotes another person’s actual words, either
oral or written;
Paraphrases another person’s words, either
oral or written;
Uses another person’s idea, opinion, or
theory, or
Borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative
material, unless the information is common
knowledge

10. GROUPING
 In business world, teamwork is really importance
to fulfill synergy.
 In this course, you will have many group works
to do such as group interview, group
presentation, and so on.
 Now, you have to form a group of not more than
3, and after submitting your group list, you
CANNOT change group.
 You have to hand in your group list by the end of
this lesson.
 Think twice, I WILL NOT accept any complain
on the laziness or any irresponsibility of your
group member as you are the one who chose your
member not me!

11. BUS230
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
L1
SECTION TWO
DANIEL CHUNG

12. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION
 Definitions of Human Communication:
In 1973 Frank Dance and Carl Larson found
126 definitions of communication. Even more
have been formulated since then.

13. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION
 Some definitions:
 Communication is the discriminatory response of
an organism to a stimulus. (Steven 25)
 Communication…is an “effort after meaning,” a
creative act initiated by man in which he seeks to
discriminate and organize cues so as to orient
himself in his environment and satisfy his changing
needs. (Barnlund 25)
 Speech communication is a human process through
which we make sense out of the world and share
that sense with others. (Masterson 5)
 Communication: the transmission of information,
ideas, emotions, skills, etc. by the use of symbols…
(Berelson 24)
 Communication is a process by which a source
transmits a message to a receiver through some
channel. (Trenholm 4)

14. THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
 A Linear View

15. THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
 A Transactional View

16. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION
 Summary of the definition of Communication:
Communication is a continuous, transactional
process involving participants who occupy
different but overlapping environments and
create relationships through the exchange of
messages, many of which are affected by
external, physiological, and psychological
noise. (Adler 14)

17. LISTENING
 Poor listening is a major cause of
miscommunication
 Listening involves sensing, filtering, and
remembering

18. LISTENING
 Sensing
 How we sense spoken words is determine by
 Our ability to sense sounds
 Our attentiveness
 Filtering
 Is the process of giving symbols meanings through
the unique contents of each person’s mind.
 Remembering
 What we hear is a part of listening.

19. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE
LISTENING
 External distractions
 Not separating fact from opinion
 Lack of interest in the subject
 Letting personality conflict
 Excessive note taking

20. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
OF LISTENING
 Stop talking
 Put the talker at ease
 Show the talker you want to listen
 Remove distraction
 Empathize with the talker
 Be patient
 Hold your temper
 Go easy on argument and criticism
 Ask questions
 Stop talking!!!

21. AVOID MISUNDERSTANDING
 When you are unsure of the other person’s
meaning, ask for clarification.
 When you feel misunderstood, ask the
other person to explain what he or she
thinks you meant.
 Keep an open mind while listening to the
other person.
 Hold off on your judgments, personal,
opinions, and expectations while listening
to other person.

22. AVOID MISUNDERSTANDING
 Make an effort to make increased eye contact
while the other person is speaking.
 If you don’t understand something, ask.
 Observe the nonverbal messages behind the
content.
 Listen for feelings as well as words.
 Stay in the present moment.
 Control distractions that may interfere with the
message.