In today's competitive workplace, your ability to communicate is your most important business skill. This valuable handbook to better business communication can help you develop the skills you need to succeed. Using real-life examples, it offers practical, easy-to-use instruction in writing effective memos and reports, making memorable presentations, and leading productive meetings. It also introduces key telephone skills, shows you how to interpret body language and personal communication styles -- and teaches you the critical listening and questioning skills you need to get ahead. Whether you're a top manager trying to lead a large organization or one of the millions of people who actually get the work done, Communicating at Work can help you be more effective, get more of what you want out of work, and improve your chances for success.
Klaus Krippendorff is an influential figure in communication studies widely known for his award-winning book Content Analysis. Over the years, Krippendorff has made important contributions to the ongoing debates on fundamental issues concerning communication theory, epistemology, methods of research, critical scholarship, second-order cybernetics, the social construction of reality through language, design, and meaning. On Communicating assembles Krippendorff’s most significant writings – many of which are virtually unavailable today, appearing in less accessible publications, conference proceedings, out-of-print book chapters, and articles in journals outside the communication field. In their totality, they provide a goldmine for communication students and scholars. Edited and with an introduction by Fernando Bermejo, this book provides readers with access to Krippendorff’s key works.
Communicating for Success, 2nd edition, focuses student learning on the key communication competencies recommended by the National Communication Association. With a vibrant and engaging design, this introductory volume is packed with applied examples, features, and exercises; the text and accompanying Web content offer practical scenarios, key terms, discussion questions, sample activities, learning objectives, and more. A concentrated focus on the influence of communication on careers in business, education, and healthcare is highlighted near the end of each chapter and takes lessons beyond the classroom. This new edition features broader discussion of communication’s relation to social media and technology, culture, gender, and ethics.
In this book, W. John Smith enlarges ethology's perspective on communication and takes it in new directions. Traditionally, ethological analysis has focused on the motivational states of displaying animals: What makes the bird sing, the cat lash its tail, the bee dance? The Behavior of Communicating emphasizes messages. It seeks to answer questions about the information shared by animals through their displays: What information is made available to a bird by its neighbor's song, to a cat by its opponent's gesture, to a bee by its hivemate's dancing? What information is extracted from sources contextual to these displays? How are the responses to displays adaptive for recipients and senders? What evolutionary processes and constraints underlie observed patterns of animal communication? Smith's approach is deeply rooted in the ethological tradition of naturalistic observations. Detailed analysis of observed displays and display repertoires illuminates the theoretical discussion that forms the core of the book. A taxonomy and interpretative analysis of messages made available through formalized display behavior are also developed. Smith shows that virtually all subhuman animal displays may be interpreted as transmitting messages about the communicator--not the environment--and, more specifically, that messages indicate the kinds of behavior the displaying animal may choose to perform. The most widespread behavioral messages are surprisingly general, even banal, in character; yet they make public information that is not readily available from other sources and that would otherwise be essentially private to the communicator. Taken along with information from sources contextual to the displays, the messages made available may permit responses that are markedly specific. By taking advantage of contextual specificity, a species expands the capacity of its display behavior to be functional in numerous and diverse circumstances. After developing the concept of messages and discussing their forms, the responses made to them, and the functions engendered, Smith turns to the evolution of display behavior--the ways in which acts become specialized for communication and the nature of the evolutionary constraints affecting the ultimate forms of displays. He revises the traditional ethological concept of displays, and in a final chapter develops the further concept of formalized interactions. Here he extends the discussion to formal patterns of behavior that, unlike displays, are beyond the capabilities of individual performers. Human nonverbal communication, which is considered from time to time throughout the book, provides the richest examples of communication flexibly structured at this level of complexity.
The best leaders know how to communicate clearly and persuasively. How do you stack up?If you read nothing else on communicating effectively, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you express your ideas with clarity and impact—no matter what the situation. Leading experts such as Deborah Tannen, Jay Conger, and Nick Morgan provide the insights and advice you need to: Pitch your brilliant idea—successfully Connect with your audience Establish credibility Inspire others to carry out your vision Adapt to stakeholders’ decision-making style Frame goals around common interests Build consensus and win support
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, bestselling author of Peace is Every Step and one of the most respected and celebrated religious leaders in the world, delivers a powerful path to happiness through mastering life's most important skill. How do we say what we mean in a way that the other person can really hear? How can we listen with compassion and understanding? Communication fuels the ties that bind, whether in relationships, business, or everyday interactions. Most of us, however, have never been taught the fundamental skills of communication—or how to best represent our true selves. Effective communication is as important to our well-being and happiness as the food we put into our bodies. It can be either healthy (and nourishing) or toxic (and destructive). In this precise and practical guide, Zen master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh reveals how to listen mindfully and express your fullest and most authentic self. With examples from his work with couples, families, and international conflicts, The Art of Communicating helps us move beyond the perils and frustrations of misrepresentation and misunderstanding to learn the listening and speaking skills that will forever change how we experience and impact the world.
“Dean Nelson is one of the best interviewers around.” —Anne Lamott From respected journalist, professor, and founder of the Writer's Symposium by the Sea, an indispensable guide to the subtle art of the interview guaranteed to afford readers with the skills and confidence they need the next time they say, "talk to me." Interviewing is the single most important way journalists (and doctors, lawyers, social workers, teachers, human resources staff, and, really, all of us) get information. Yet to many, the perfect interview feels more like luck than skill—a rare confluence of rapport, topic, and timing. But the thing is, great interviews aren’t the result of serendipity and intuition, but rather the result of careful planning and good journalistic habits. And Dean Nelson is here to show you how to nail the perfect interview every time. Drawing on forty-years of award-winning journalism and his experience as the founder and host of the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, Nelson walks readers through each step of the journey from deciding whom to interview and structuring questions, to the nitty gritty of how to use a recording device and effective note-taking strategies, to the ethical dilemmas of interviewing people you love (and loathe). He also includes case studies of famous interviews to show readers how these principles play out in real time. Chock full of comprehensive, time-tested, gold-standard advice, Talk to Me is a book that demystifies the art and science of interviewing, in the vein of On Writing Well or How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
The actor and founder of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science traces his personal quest to understand how to relate and communicate better, from practicing empathy and using improv games to storytelling and developing better intuitive skills.
In one recent survey of 400 companies with at least 100,000 employees, the companies cited an average loss per company of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees.\ \In another survey, 80 percent of HR professionals reported interpersonal communication as very important when advancing their careers. Perhaps more telling, directors and C-suite executives placed an even higher value on the need for interpersonal skills in the HR role: A total of 87 percent of directors and 83 percent of C-suite executives identified these skills as primary for success.\ \The HR practitioner with strong communication skills will be strategically positioned to have a great impact in the workplace. The role of HR professionals has become increasingly complex--and is likely to become even more complicated in the foreseeable future. Today's HR professionals have taken on a more strategic role that has increased their visibility throughout their organizations. \\As strategic business partners, HR professionals interact with executives, line managers, rank-and-file employees, and outside stakeholders. With this increased visibility comes an opportunity to influence the organization and its strategic objectives. This opportunity, however, depends in large part on the HR professional's ability to effectively communicate up (to superiors), down (to subordinates), and sideways (to peers).\ \Up, Down, and Sideways: High-Impact Verbal Communication for HR Professionals was written to help HR practitioners--at all levels--become better verbal communicators, thereby making them better at their jobs and more valuable to their companies. In addition to general public and interpersonal speaking tips sprinkled throughout, the book specifically addresses the many hats of the HR professional. Whether in a generalist or specialist role, HR practitioners' wide range of responsibilities can only be effectively met with strong communication skills. Staffing the firm, training employees, developing and implementing policies, and integrating HR needs with the overall organization are all responsibilities that require effective communication.\ \Just as the SHRM's HR Competency Model helps individuals "develop a road map to achieve your HR professional goals," this book draws on the application of those competencies to assist the HR professional in making a measurable impact on the organization's goals and outcomes.\ \- See more at: http://www.shrm.org/Publications/Books/Pages/Up-Down-and-Sideways.aspx#sthash.4kqMAUU8.dpuf.
