Q&A Hero

Q: When leaving a phone message, you should give only your name and number to improve efficiency.

Q: A company's intranet and extranet restrict access only to visitors who have authorization.

Q: Describe each of the four phases of the AIDA model for persuasive messages.

Q: Whereas affinity involves liking, respect involves esteem.

Q: Most text, instant, and e-mail messages are now able to present nonverbal cues about a speaker's feelings that are equivalent to face-to-face encounters in terms of their clarity.

Q: List three categories of common persuasive business messages.

Q: Most companies prohibit the use of wikis among employees as a form of internal communication.

Q: An event that generates facilitative self-talk for one person might stimulate debilitative thinking for someone else.

Q: A good rule of thumb when composing web pages is to use as many graphics as possible, and the bigger the better.

Q: What are three methods of reasoning you can use when making a logical appeal?

Q: Lies may help us avoid embarrassment.

Q: Anonymous blog postings can lead to irresponsible behavior, harassment, and gossip.

Q: If you're called upon to create marketing or sales messages for mobile commerce, what two things should you keep in mind?

Q: The communication climate in a relationship is determined by the a. roles each person has in the relationship. b. similarities of the parties. c. degree to which each person feels valued. d. amount of self-disclosure that occurs. e. listening and perceptual skills that each individual brings to the relationship.

Q: Repeating the information in the subject line in the first sentence of an email is redundant and should be avoided.

Q: When your AIDA message uses an indirect approach and is delivered by email, what are two goals to keep in mind as you write the subject line?

Q: Those with good nonverbal communication skills benefit in a number of areas, including career success and popularity.

Q: When writing a business message, you generally should generally a. write at the exact grade level of the receiver. b. manually calculate the readability level of every message. c. write well within the reading level of the audience. d. write what you need to say and not consider readability.

Q: One of the best ways to gain credibility for your message is to support it with objective evidence.

Q: Fortunately, for people who want to hide their emotions, all the physical changes that accompany emotions are internal.

Q: Which of the following is FALSE concerning readability level? a. A readability level of 10 means that a person would need to be able to read at the tenth-grade level to understand the material. b. The two factors that affect the readability level are the number of words in the passage and the complexity of the sentences. c. Many word processing programs calculate readability measures automatically. d. The writer should use feedback on readability level to revise appropriately.

Q: Using simple language in persuasive messages usually increases your credibility with a skeptical audience.

Q: A secret that has never before been shared with anyone would qualify as a deep disclosure.

Q: If you possess little authority in your organization, the direct approach will generally be best for the persuasive messages you send to colleagues.

Q: In which situation would a communicator use an inductive outline? a. To explain how to get optimum performance from a smart phone b. To outline procedures for logging into a network c. To tell employees that a two-week furlough is necessary for all employees. d. To respond positively to a request to replace a defective treadmill

Q: The term that describes the emotional tone of a personal relationship is a. mood. b. tone. c. climate. d. environment. e. foundation.

Q: Most persuasive messages take the direct approach.

Q: Which of the following is an adequate reason for choosing passive voice? a. To emphasize the "you" focus b. To avoid assessing blame c. To make the sentence more emphatic d. To make the sentence more descriptive

Q: Metacommunication is a destructive substitute for real communication.

Q: As a logical fallacy, ________ involves attempting to support your claim by restating it in different words. A) collapsing complexity B) deductive postulation C) circular reasoning D) oversimplification

Q: Which of the following sentences illustrates passive voice? a. The clerk made five errors. b. Susan had been in sales for five years. c. She asked for an adjustment. d. The report was completed by the entire team.

Q: Your text defines nonverbal communication as "messages expressed by nonlinguistic means."

Q: Which of the following sentences reflects the use of active voice? a. The new product line was developed by the Research and Development department. b. The secretary was promoted by her supervisor to an assistant position. c. The land developer signed the contract yesterday. d. It was determined that sales have fallen significantly.

Q: The process of ________ works from a generalization to a specific conclusion. A) intuitive reasoning B) deductive reasoning C) conventional reasoning D) inductive reasoning

Q: When sharing your feelings, it's not necessary to accept responsibility for them because so often others cause them.

Q: "When you complete the assignment" is an example of a. an independent clause. b. a dependent clause. c. passive voice. d. deductive statement.

Q: All of the following except ________ will help to boost a company's marketing efforts on social media. A) facilitating community building B) using a "we talk, you listen" approach C) providing information that people want D) using conversation marketing

Q: Cliches are the most revealing type of communication.

Q: Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning sentence and paragraph length in business writing? a. A two-word sentence is acceptable, as is a 60-word sentence, as long as the message is clear. b. While compound sentences should be used along with simple sentences, complex sentences should be avoided in business writing. c. The first and last paragraphs are typically shorter than other paragraphs. d. Paragraphs in business letters, memos, and e-mail messages are typically shorter than paragraphs in business reports.

Q: Evaluative language is also described as a. "me" language. b. "it" language. c. "you" language. d. "neutral" language.

Q: Persuasive messages often follow a specialized four-phase format called the A) PDQ plan. B) AIDA model. C) ASAP model. D) DEFF approach.

Q: There are two types of relational control: decision control and conversation control.

Q: When writing a persuasive claim letter, you should A) assume the other person has no interest in helping you. B) use a confident and positive tone. C) mention as many additional complaints as possible about the company. D) say you have already contacted an attorney (even if you really haven't).

Q: In business documents, a general rule for readability is that paragraphs normally should be a. 6 lines or less in length. b. 7 to 12 lines in length. c. no longer than 20 lines. d. any desired length, as the number of lines is not important.

Q: "The training session was worthwhile; it was worthwhile because employees learned to do the task correctly." is an example of which of the following techniques used for emphasis? a. Position b. Repetition c. Words that label d. Passive voice

Q: If deceivers feel confident and not guilty, their deception is more likely to be found out.

Q: When writing a persuasive request for action, you should A) use the hard-sell approach. B) demonstrate that helping you will solve a significant problem. C) ask for more than you actually want so that you'll have a cushion for negotiation. D) avoid flattery.

Q: Which of the following is NOT a technique for linking sentences? a. Repeat a word used in a preceding sentence. b. Use a pronoun representing a noun from the preceding sentence. c. Use the passive voice. d. Use connecting words.

Q: When preparing a persuasive request for action, it is vital to A) show you understand and respect the audience's concerns. B) emphasize how you will benefit if the request is fulfilled. C) emphasize the negative consequences of not complying with the request. D) make yourself look good in the reader's eyes.

Q: In the workplace, it might be a better idea to withhold information than to lie or intentionally deceive.

Q: The readability level of a passage is affected by the length of the sentences and difficulty of the words.

Q: According to research findings about defensiveness, when one person in a dyad acts in a defensive manner a. a counterattack is appropriate. b. the partner will be supportive. c. a defensive spiral usually results. d. perceptions are not realistic. e. self-disclosure usually takes place.

Q: One way to overcome audience resistance to your message is to A) use the hard-sell approach. B) address possible concerns that your audience has. C) emphasize the positive. D) do all of the above.

Q: In the sentence "Even though your work was late, we completed the project on time," the negative information is in a de-emphasized position.

Q: The person who exercises the greatest amount of conversational control doesn"t always make the decisions in interpersonal relationships.

Q: When writing persuasive messages, one way to avoid faulty logic is to A) avoid induction. B) avoid deduction. C) avoid praising your opponent. D) avoid hasty generalizations.

Q: For emphasis, one should place an idea in an independent clause; for de-emphasis, place an idea in a dependent clause.

Q: By making another person wait, you could be sending messages about status, whether you intend to or not.

Q: Which of the following uses a deductive approach to persuasion? A) Because the stock market has been falling lately, share prices of our company stock will probably also decline. B) Because the stock price of our company fell, the entire market will probably also decline. C) Our stock price is like a marathon runner, slowly making progress towards our goal. D) None of the above.

Q: The imagery in a passive voice sentence is less distinct than it would be if the sentence was in active voice.

Q: The United States is known internationally as a "culture of cheerfulness."

Q: An analogy lets you A) reason from one specific piece of evidence to another specific piece of evidence. B) reason from one specific piece of evidence to a general conclusion. C) reason from a generalization to a specific conclusion. D) do all of the above.

Q: Active voice is used in the following sentence: "The report on current fundraising efforts was made available to the committee."

Q: An advertisement stating that a new resort offers "freedom and comfort along with $20 savings per month" is using A) an emotional appeal. B) an analogy. C) an inductive appeal. D) both logical and emotional appeals.

Q: Selectively "friending" only people who stroke your ego can lead to a distorted self-concept.

Q: Automated speech recognition software currently involves training the product to recognize the speaker's voice and has poor accuracy rates when creating entire documents.

Q: The AIDA approach for persuasive messages should be used with A) the direct approach only. B) the indirect approach only. C) either the direct or the indirect approach. D) neither the direct nor the indirect approach.

Q: Passive voice is used in the following sentence: "The stockholders read the annual report."

Q: The key to a successful action phase in the AIDA model is A) getting readers to change their minds. B) increasing the audience's awareness of your product or service. C) making the action you propose simple and easy. D) creating a win-lose situation, with you as the winner.

Q: Slow, deliberative writing is recommended when drafting a business message.

Q: Your instructor tells you how poor your writing ability is and how wrong it is for you not to work harder on it. That instructor used the Gibb category of a. description. b. . c. problem orientation. d. equality. e. provisionalism.

Q: An effective ending for a persuasive message would be: A) Simply take the enclosed coupon to any of our service centers by June 15 for your free oil and filter change. B) Please respond as soon as possible because this offer is not likely to last very long. C) Wouldn't you like to save some money? D) Be sure to tell all your friends about this exciting offer.

Q: All sentences in a business message should be of approximately the same length.

Q: Immediacy only occurs through nonverbal behavior such as eye contact and facial expressions.

Q: When using the AIDA approach to persuasion, the closing should A) urge the audience to take the action you are requesting. B) provide additional evidence and detail not covered in the desire section. C) explain the steps needed to implement your ideas. D) do all of the above.

Q: To emphasize a word or an idea, position it first or last in a sentence, clause, paragraph, or document.

Q: Messages about status can be conveyed through clothing and use of time.

Q: The purpose of the interest section of a persuasive message is to A) capture attention. B) show that your product is well-suited to your audience. C) increase the audience's desire to take the action recommended in the message. D) get the reader to act immediately.

Q: Business writers normally use active voice more frequently than passive voice because active voice conveys ideas more vividly.

Q: Social rules discourage too much expression of negative emotion, but there are really no social limits to expressing positive emotions.