Intro To Business Communications: Tools for Leadership

DESCRIPTION:
Everybody agrees that good communication skills are vital to career success.

Now there's a way to improve your writing, speaking and presenting abilities for more effective personal and professional communications.

In Introduction to Business Communication: Tools for Leadership , you'll see how people interact in real world business situations and learn how to:

• Use verbal and non verbal communications
  
• Deal with different communication styles
  
• Overcome stage fright
  
• Shine at meetings
  
• Develop and deliver business presentations
  
• Improve your team's working relationships
  
• Negotiate effectively
  
• Argue persuasively
  
• Write memos, letters and other materials that communicate clearly and effectively.
  
  To build solid communication skills, you'll do your own presentation, complete business writing projects, and create career management plans.

  Closed Captioning available

  LESSONS:
  
  1 - Communication is Power
  This program presents an overview of the role communication plays in today's constantly changing work environment. It defines communication as a complex two-way interaction that uses a variety of symbols, styles, and channels to transmit messages. Also included is a description of the basic components of the communication system to help you evaluate your own communication experiences and create more powerful outcomes.
  
  In this program, you will visit the oldest newspaper in the nation and observe how they use new management communication techniques to become more productive. You will also go behind the scenes of the NBC hit television show Frasier , to see how communication is essential in a fast-paced, Hollywood production. Finally, a story on a national Personnel Service company is included to help you further apply some of Dr. Kiely's key points.
  
  2 - Planned Communication
  Planned Communication introduces the four questions to ask before beginning the communication process. The program explains the reasons for the proper sequencing of ideas and points out that the mind processes words in actuals and positives, rather than negatives. The difference between suasion and persuasion, and why one is ethical and the other is not, is explained. The program presents two models of influence for achieving a desired outcome.
  
  Students visit the 911 dispatch center of the Los Angeles County Fire Department to see how skills used in emergency communication can be used in every day life. A professional mediator is also interviewed. A clothing manufacturer discusses the importance of effective communication to his business.
  
  3 - The Five Senses
  This program explores the way people use the five senses to send and receive information. It introduces the three types of information processing that help to determine a person's communication style. The program also presents the ADEPT model of communication, a conversational structure that helps people disclose feelings, listen effectively, and give and receive feedback.
  
  In The Five Senses , students meet a professional artist and learn how a work of art can communicate ideas that can change human behavior. They walk the beat with the Los Angeles Police Department, learning how to connect with neighborhoods through community policing. Then the camera visits Los Angeles restaurant to see how artfully-presented, well-prepared food-coupled with professional service-communicates to all of our senses.
  
  4 - Speeches & Presentations - Part I
  According to a nationwide survey, people listed public speaking as their number one fear, ranking above divorce, going blind, and even death. Yet, the ability to give an effective presentation or speech is vital to a person's career success.
  
  Program Four, the first of two on this subject, explores the psychological aspects of stage fright and suggests techniques for overcoming this fear. The program also introduces the main types of presentation. It examines speaker and message credibility, introduces the four elements of a memorable speech and describes the need for careful preparation. Finally, Part One defines the three types of proof speakers can use to support their messages: ethos, logos, and pathos.
  
  In this segment, students see how a top executive of Hughes Electronics works with a professional speechwriter to create the powerful speeches he delivers to corporate audiences around the world. The CEO of another Fortune 500 company, Flowserve, discusses how he uses public speaking to manage employee expectations after a large corporate merger. Debra Bowen, a California State Assembly representative, cleverly tailors her messages to specific audiences.
  
  5 - Speeches & Presentations - Part II
  Program Five expands upon the four elements of a memorable speech presented in Part One, while focusing on the importance of calibrating the audience and effective delivery. Dr. Kiely demonstrates how to structure a speech and outlines the order in which a speech should be written.
  
  The program contains compelling excerpts from the speeches of several of the 20th Century's most influential leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Ronald Reagan. These clips are used to demonstrate the styles and tools used by our nation's most effective speakers.
  
  Part Two revisits California State Assemblywoman Debra Bowen, to observe how she uses her knowledge of public speaking to deliver powerful messages to her constituents and fellow legislators. Another professional speaker demonstrates the four elements of a memorable speech.
  
  6 - Group Dynamics
  Everyone, at one time or another, has to work with a group to achieve a common goal. This program focuses on the importance of groups and teams in today's workplace. It looks at the common pitfalls that prevent groups from operating effectively, such as hidden agendas and insufficient time or talent. The video also explores the complexities of collaboration and consensus, and the manner in which groups evolve into teams.
  
  Examples such as the Abilene Paradox, the Calvetti Exercise, and the Roads to Boston help illustrate the need for clarification, flexibility, and an open, supportive communication style in successful group interaction. Documentary stories of a leading California winery and a high tech communications firm are used to explain why communication is critical to successful teams.
  
  Students also observe one of the nation's foremost Jury consultants (a key member of the O.J. Simpson defense team) to observe how her teams use communication to achieve consensus and work toward a common goal.
  
  7 - Teamwork
  Teamwork explores the six elements of an effective team. It also presents a new tool known as a Workout Session, which helps teams identify problems, prioritize objectives, formulate action plans, and take ownership of proposed solutions to see them through to completion. In addition, the program contrasts the role of a facilitator versus a leader and looks at the concept of power and empowerment in the team process.
  
  To help apply these concepts, you will tour a leading manufacturing company to observe how teams from different departments work together to produce quality products more efficiently. You will visit the Hartford Courant, to see how managers use the Workout Session to empower employees. Finally, you'll visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles, to observe how a team of scientists and engineers relied on open communication and cooperation to successfully land the project.
  
  8 - Meetings
  Inefficient meetings waste time and money. This program examines the critical nature of meeting management in the workplace. It helps viewers learn how to prepare for and lead meetings effectively, and how to listen participatively. Meetings also introduces students to the LAWS model of collaborative disagreement, and helping them recognize the four types of meeting participants: teller, seller, dweller, and compeller.
  
  The LAWS model of listening is then applied during development meetings at The Getty Center, one of the most celebrated new museums in the world. Students observe the different roles architects, contractors, designers, accountants and office workers play during meetings at the Getty, as well as the ways different personality styles impact meeting dynamics. The set of Frasier is revisited to observe production meetings led by the show's executive producer.
  
  9 - Diversity
  This program explores the nature of cultural diversity in today's organizations and its impact on the way we communicate. It describes how the Eight Dimensions of Culture shape people's values, actions and communication styles, and explores the value and development of hybrid work cultures in the global economy. Marketing blunders caused by cultural miscommunication illustrate the need for informed decision-making as it relates to diversity.
  
  Students tour an apparel manufacturing company to see how they cope with different communication styles and cultural issues on a daily basis. A Japanese auto parts company in California draws upon the best qualities of Eastern and Western cultures to create its own corporate style. The Ballet Folklorico shows how the many cultures of Mexico are combined and communicated through music and dance.
  
  10 - Business Writing
  This program focuses on the importance of written communication in business. It demonstrates why writing must be clearer and leaner than oral communication, making the point that written communication cannot rely on vocal tones, facial expressions, and gestures to help clarify messages. Dr. Kiely presents the five types of business writing: memos, correspondence, reports, proposals, and e-mail. He then describes the rules, formats, and styles appropriate to each.
  
  Students learn the Six C's test of effective business writing. Is the writing clear, consistent, complete, courteous, correct, and does it connect? Finally, the program presents the eight steps to Writing Right. Demonstrations of writing techniques from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a business writing expert are also included.
  
  11 - Winning Negotiation
  This program defines negotiation as a communication process. It explores the six essentials of effective negotiation: positive attitude, knowledge of the negotiation process, knowledge of human behavior, preparation, creative problem solving skills, and strong communication skills.
  
  Negotiation also introduces viewers to the elements that drive the choice of negotiation tactics and strategy: outcomes, relationships, time, and transaction costs. Finally, the program contrasts the basic differences between two types of negotiation strategies: positional bargaining versus principled bargaining.
  
  A Los Angeles landmark hotel demonstrates successful negotiation techniques with core vendors. A feature on Hughes Electronics illustrates how this Fortune 500 company handles negotiation in international markets. Finally, a segment on Operation Hope provides viewers with an overview of negotiation from a small business perspective.
  
  12 - Managing Your Career Lesson
  This program describes how students can use the information presented in previous videos to continually develop their careers and maintain viable presences in the marketplace.
  
  Managing Your Career Lesson presents the best ways to search for job opportunities and prepare a resume. It also discusses the common reasons for success and failure in job interviews and how to prepare for interviews using communication tools.
  
  Viewers then go behind the scenes with the President of Act One Personnel Service, a large national employment agency, to see which qualities she looks for in a potential employee. Finally, students learn the right way to approach and develop a career plan.