COMD 358

Professional Communication
Week 2 - Introduction to Communication and Professionalism

COMD358 | Professional Communication

Course Book:
Business and Professional
Communication (3rd Edition)
Steven A. Beebe
Timothy P. Mottet

Chapter 1
Communicating and Leading at Work

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 1. What is Professional communication?
Please write a short definition and write
Some questions down its components.

before we begin... 2. Who is a Professional?

3. Do you consider yourself to be a good

communicator?

● Listener
● Presenter
● Speaker

https://www.communication-styles.com/
COMD358 | Professional Communication
COMD358 | Professional Communication
Some
Non-Professional
Communication
Examples…

COMD358 | Professional Communication

COMD358 | Professional Communication
COMD358 | Professional Communication
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

What is wrong with these slides?

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Look at how these changed...

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Why are we here?

The art of communication is the
language of leadership.
James Humes
author and former presidential speechwriter

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

Communication (from Latin ”communicare”, meaning "to

share")

● Sending and receiving information or the

transmission of information and meaning from one
party to another through the use of symbols

● Communicate the right information, in the right way.

● Human communication is the process of making

sense out of the world and sharing that sense with
others by creating meaning through the use of verbal
and nonverbal messages.
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION?

Professional Communication

● Written, oral, visual & digital communication within a workplace context.

● Apply communication skills to lead in the workplace.

● How to be able to communicate effectively and appropriately to influence others in positive and
ethical ways.

● Communication skills are leadership skills & will make you competitive in a global marketplace
 ● Research shows that we spend from 80-90 % of
our typical day communicating with others.

● Communication is the most valued workplace

If you can’t not skill. In a recent survey of recruiters from

companies with more than 50,000 employees,
communication came out as the single most

communicate… important decisive factor in choosing

managers.

YOU HAVE TO! ● A survey by University of Pittsburgh points out

that communication skills (including written and
oral presentations), and ability to work with
others, are the main factors to job success.

● In a national survey of employers, the lack of

basic oral/written skills and business
communication skills were a major stumbling
block for new entrants into the job market.

● Employers ranked the leadership skills of

graduates as deficient, noting their inability to
collaborate, work in teams or groups, and
problem-solve.

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Some examples from the professional world

Jack Welch | Chairman of General Electric:

“the key characteristic he looked for in a leader

was her or his ability to communicate well.
Specifically, he wanted ‘someone who is
comfortable talking to anyone—anybody in the
world, in New Delhi, Moscow, Cairo,
Beijing—anywhere!’ “
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Some examples from the professional world

Warren Buffet | American Investor:

“one of the richest persons on the planet, once announced to
MBA students at his alma mater, Columbia University, that he
would offer $100,000 to any student in the audience in return
for 10 percent of future earnings. He then added that if the
student would take a communication skill development
course or public speaking training, he would increase his
offer to $150,000. Buffet is a major advocate of
communication skill training and has noted that taking a
communication training course was one of the best
investments he had ever made!”
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

About Howard Schultz: Owner of the Starbucks Company

«(…)Rather than communicating to employees, shareholders, and customers through
advertising and mediated messages, Schultz prefers face-to-face communication.
According to Schultz, Starbucks is successful not because of its high-gloss and expensive
Madison Avenue advertising campaigns, but because of its grassroots word-of-mouth
advertising based on the relationships that Starbucks employees form with customers.
He even states, “Word of mouth, we discovered, is far more powerful than advertising.”

How do you take your coffee?

Howard Schultz takes his with both excellent communication skills and visionary leadership. In summarizing
his success as a communicator, Schultz notes, “We’re not in the coffee business serving people, but in the
people business serving coffee.”
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Communication: Making Sense and Sharing Sense

● The Nature of Communication

● Making sense
● Sharing sense
● Creating meaning
● Occurs through verbal and Non-verbal messages
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Communication: Making Sense and Sharing Sense

● The Components of Communication

● Source
● Channel
● Receiver
● Feedback
● Context
Shannon and Weaver
Mathematical Model of Communication (1954)

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 Sender : The originator of message or the
information source selects desire message
Encoder : The transmitter which converts the
message into signals
Mathematical Model Decoder : The reception place of the signal which
converts signals into message. A reverse process of

of Communication encode
Receiver : The destination of the message from

(1954) sender
Noise: The messages are transferred from encoder
to decoder through channel. During this process the
messages may distracted or affected by physical
noise like horn sounds, thunder and crowd noise or
encoded signals may distract in the channel during
the transmission process which affect the
communication flow or the receiver may not receive
the correct message

COMD358 | Professional Communication https://www.communicationtheory.org/shannon-and-weaver-model-of-communication/

+ the Communication
CONTEXT

Communication
as Transaction –
happening
simultaneously

COMD358 | Professional Communication

Of course, the
communication
process is not always
so smooth.

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Some examples of communication noise:

● Talking on the phone during a commercial

on television.

● Driving while listening to the radio.

● Scanning a newspaper for articles to read.

● Scrolling past Internet ads without looking at

them.
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

The Principle Points from Beeble and Timothy

Principle 1: Be Aware Principle 2: Use and Interpret

Be aware of your communication with yourself Effectively use and interpret verbal messages.
and others.
● Use verbal messages: stating desired results,
● Be aware of how others perceive you in terms of establishing guidelines, providing resources, clarifying
interpersonal attraction, similarity, and status.
accountability, and describing consequences.
● Be aware of the types of communication you use in
your various workplace relationships with
supervisors, subordinates, coworkers, and
customers.

● Be aware of your own and others’ conflict styles

when relating in the workplace.
 Know yourself – assess your skills as
a Communicator

The KEYS Process Evaluate the Professional context –

Quintanilla & Wahl, 2020 audience, needs, situation

Your communication interaction – how you

communicate and how is the audience reacting

Step back and reflect – evaluate the

process

Please think of a communication challenge

you encountered and apply the KEYS process
to it.

COMD358 | Professional Communication

What does “ethics” mean to you?

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Ethics in Communication

Ethics are the beliefs, values, and moral principles

by which we determine what is right or wrong.

● An ethical communicator is one who considers

the thoughts, feelings, and considerations of
the people with whom a communicator is
interacting.
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Ethics in Communication

The National Communication Association has developed a Credo for Communication

Ethics: Ethical communication is fundamental to responsible thinking, decision making,
and the development of relationships and communities within and across contexts,
cultures, channels, and media. Moreover, ethical communication enhances human worth
and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and respect
for self and others.
 COMD358 | Professional Communication

What’s your Ethics Credo?

● What’s your personal ethics credo? What are key ethical principles that guide you in
communicating with others?

● Imagine you are being interviewed for a job and the interviewer asks you what your
ethical principles are. What would you say?
Assignment:
Ethics Credo ● 20 minute group assignment

● In groups of 3-4 come up with 5 most

important ethical principles required
in a Professional setting.

● Please submit your Ethics Credo on

Moodle.

COMD358 | Professional Communication

 COMD358 | Professional Communication

Homework 1:
Find an example of
“Professional Communication”

● Find an example of what you consider to be “Professional Communication”

● Print it and bring it to class
● Also upload on Moodle
● Deadline: Monday
COMD 358
Professional Communication
Week 2 - Week 13

COMD358 | Professional Communication