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Q:
If you're making recommendations and they involve some potential risks
A) ignore the risks since they may discourage your audience.
B) downplay the risks and stay focused on reaching your objectives.
C) introduce the benefits and risks of following your recommendations.
D) explain how to achieve the benefits and how to handle the potential risks.
E) both C and D
Q:
A report focused on recommendations should
A) first establish or verify the need for action.
B) not include conclusions.
C) avoid mentioning any potential risks.
D) outline costs, but not in detail.
E) always combine the direct and indirect approaches.
Q:
One potential drawback of focusing on conclusions in a report is that you may
A) reveal information you know about that has not been included in the report.
B) oversimplify the contents.
C) offend your audience.
D) compromise the integrity of your sources.
E) do all of the above.
Q:
Which of the following is not a common organizational format for analytical reports?
A) Focusing on conclusions
B) Focusing on recommendations
C) Focusing on information
D) Focusing on logical argument
E) All of the above are common formats.
Q:
Analytical reports for skeptical audiences should generally follow the ________ approach.
A) direct
B) indirect
C) hypothetical
D) aggressive
E) 1, 2, 3
Q:
The problem factoring process involves
A) looking at a problem from multiple perspectives.
B) considering how to allocate responsibility for a problem.
C) creating problems instead of solving them.
D) dividing a complex problem into a series of logical, connected questions.
E) listing all the factors that created the problem.
Q:
Briefly explain how to adapt marketing and sales messages for social media.
Q:
What does the term AIDA stand for?
Q:
When is it a good idea to use the direct approach for persuasive messages?
Q:
In marketing terms, what are champions?
Q:
Briefly define social commerce.
Q:
What kinds of information should you research as you prepare to write marketing and sales messages?
Q:
What is circular reasoning?
Q:
Briefly define persuasion.
Q:
In preparing to write persuasive messages, what two types of information are vital to assess the needs of your audience?
Q:
A good way to open a marketing or sales message would be "We here at Colbert Corporation are proud to announce our new, improved all-weather tent."
Q:
When writing a persuasive claim or request for adjustment, you should appeal to your audience's sense of fair play, goodwill, or moral responsibility.
Q:
Most persuasive business messages involve requests for action.
Q:
If you expect a hostile audience, you should be careful to present all sides of an issue before making the case for your own argument.
Q:
Induction refers to reasoning from a generalization to a specific conclusion.
Q:
Deductive reasoning moves from specific evidence to a general conclusion.
Q:
When you're writing persuasive messages, don't mix emotional and logical appeals.
Q:
Most persuasive messages combine logical and emotional appeals.
Q:
The AIDA model for persuasive messages works only with the indirect approach.
Q:
The primary purpose of the desire section of a persuasive message is to get the audience to keep reading (or listening) to your message.
Q:
Online marketers use behavioral targeting to track the behavior of website visitors and serve up ads based on their interests.
Q:
The interest section of a persuasive letter provides details on how the message is relevant to the audience.
Q:
An up-front hard-sell approach is usually the most successful to deliver a persuasive message.
Q:
One of the best ways to gain credibility for your message is to support it with objective evidence.
Q:
Establishing credibility in persuasive messages
A) is impossible unless the audience is already familiar with you.
B) is a waste of time, since data and evidence are the only things audiences find convincing.
C) requires a condescending, "know-it-all" tone.
D) works only when you make negative comments about your company's competitors.
E) is essential when you are trying to persuade a hostile or skeptical audience.
Q:
Differences in organizational culture
A) don't affect persuasive messages.
B) can profoundly affect the success of a persuasive message.
C) are important when addressing international audiences, but not those in the U.S.
D) are so complex that no one can truly understand them.
E) are important to consider for negative messages, but not for persuasive messages.
Q:
Suggesting that readers have made poor choices in the past
A) is helpful in sales messages, but not other persuasive messages.
B) is effective in persuasive messages, as long as you are subtle.
C) works well if you are trying to convince someone to make a large purchase.
D) can inadvertently insult your audience, reducing the effectiveness of your persuasive message.
E) makes them more likely to accept your argument, as long as you are blunt and forceful.
Q:
Using polite language in persuasive messages
A) enhances the effectiveness of your arguments.
B) is less effective than an aggressive "hard sell."
C) shows a lack of confidence, and should be avoided.
D) is effective only with external audiences.
E) is helpful in the body, but not in the opening or close.
Q:
In persuasive messages, limiting your scope
A) is less important than in other types of messages.
B) reduces the likelihood that your audience will be convinced.
C) is critical if your audience is to understand and accept your position.
D) is unnecessary, since audiences expect these messages to be long.
E) can reduce the effectiveness of your argument.
Q:
Whereas ________ focus on what the product does, ________ focus on what the user experiences or gains.
A) claims, benefits
B) selling points, benefits
C) benefits, selling points
D) actionable features, desirable benefits
E) benefits, objections
Q:
Marketers use ________ to track the online behavior of website visitors and serve up ads based on what their interests appear to be.
A) cyber spam
B) crowd sourcing
C) social convergence
D) behavioral targeting
E) guerilla marketing
Q:
The best way to persuade an audience to do something is to
A) convince them that their existing motivations are unreasonable.
B) change their motivation by suggesting that they are unsophisticated.
C) align your message with their existing motivation.
D) use scare tactics to describe the consequences of failing to do what you have asked.
E) shame them into doing what you want.
Q:
Addressing alternative positions in a persuasive message
A) enhances your credibility and can strengthen your argument.
B) weakens your argument, unless you use an aggressive tone.
C) shows that you lack confidence in your opinions.
D) is effective only with controversial subjects.
E) requires that you use the direct approach.
Q:
An ethical persuasive argument
A) is a contradiction in terms.
B) focuses on how the audience's actions will benefit the sender.
C) includes any evidence the sender can come up with, whether or not it's relevant.
D) influences audience members by providing information that gives them freedom to choose.
E) requires admitting up front that you stand to gain a lot if the audience complies.
Q:
Unlike more traditional promotional messages, those written for social media
A) offer less interaction and sensory appeal to consumers.
B) allow companies to engage consumers in conversations about products and services.
C) promote less transparency and openness with customers.
D) let companies rely on the news media to distribute important messages.
E) have little effect on the perceptions of customers and other stakeholders.
Q:
All of the following will help you compose effective promotional messages for social media except
A) facilitating community building.
B) listening as much as you talk.
C) providing information people want.
D) identifying and supporting your champions.
E) none of the above
Q:
Which of the following would be the best wording in a marketing or sales message?
A) The Never-Off whole-house generator requires professional installation.
B) The Never-Off whole-house generator provides either 110 volts for standard use or 210 volts for washers and dryers.
C) The Never-Off whole-house generator provides the 110-volt power source that will keep your family stay safe and comfortable during electrical outages.
D) The Never-Off whole-house generator is compact and unobtrusive.
E) The Never-Off whole-house generator may be noisy, but the power it provides is worth it.
Q:
The interest phase of a sales message should
A) begin with a "hard sell" that makes audiences want to hear more.
B) help the audience understand how your idea will benefit them.
C) emphasize the relevance of your message to your audience.
D) avoid any attempts at answering potential objections.
E) suggest that anyone who is not interested in hearing more is foolish.
Q:
Which of the following would not be an effective technique for gaining audience attention in sales messages?
A) Stating your product's strongest benefit
B) Emphasizing how badly you need to make some sales
C) Explaining how your product offers a solution to a problem
D) Promising savings
E) Giving insider information
Q:
If price is one of your strong selling points, you should
A) mention special offers, such as volume discounts, before actually stating the price.
B) compare the price to the cost of some other product or activity ("This exercise equipment costs less than a health club membership").
C) break the total price into smaller units ("Just six easy payments of $19.95 will bring you this lovely collector's item").
D) give it a position of prominence, such as in the headline or as the last item in a paragraph.
E) not overemphasize it, since you might need to fall back on it later.
Q:
In marketing and sales messages, you can deemphasize the price of your product by
A) mentioning it in the middle of a paragraph after you've presented benefits and selling points.
B) stating it right at the beginning.
C) commenting on how wealthy your readers probably are.
D) simply saying the benefits outweigh the costs.
E) doing all of the above.
Q:
In marketing and sales messages, the best way to handle potential objections is to
A) avoid mentioning them.
B) identify them up front and try to address as many as you can.
C) explain why the objections aren't really important.
D) suggest that anyone who has them simply needs to do more research.
E) imply that they stem from remarkable ignorance.
Q:
Suppose wealthy professionals will be the audience for a marketing or sales message that promotes your company's new security system. Which of the following benefits should you emphasize?
A) How reliably the system protects property
B) Low cost and easy monthly payments
C) The attractive appearance of the device
D) Easy, do-it-yourself maintenance
E) Sales projections for the new system
Q:
The desire phase of a conventional marketing or sales message should
A) cut through "the clutter" to get your audience's attention.
B) build interest in the product or service that the message is promoting.
C) expand on your explanation of how what you're selling will benefit the audience.
D) include a persuasive and persistent call to action.
E) oversell the benefits of your product or service.
Q:
In marketing and sales messages, what is the primary difference between selling points and benefits?
A) Selling points are positive whereas benefits are not.
B) Selling points focus on the user rather than the product.
C) Selling points focus on the product rather than the user.
D) Benefits are completely unrelated to the audience.
E) None of the above
Q:
When writing a persuasive claim message, you should
A) assume that 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).
E) repeatedly say how disappointed you are in the company.
Q:
Online reference materials generally require more careful evaluation than other types.
Q:
Accuracy of information is less important in business communication than in other types of communication—everyone is busy, and mistakes are simply unavoidable.
Q:
A helpful way to test the thoroughness of your message is to use the journalistic approach: asking yourself whether you have covered the who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Q:
Skilled communicators include only the information that their audience has specifically requested.
Q:
When you get a vague request for information, the best way to handle it is to provide all the information you can and allow the audience members to select what is useful to them.
Q:
In the planning stage of an important business report, you should never engage in free writing, since doing so will only confuse you.
Q:
One effective informal method for learning more about your audience members' information needs is to ask them directly for input.
Q:
As long as your message is clear, the size of your audience should not affect your approach.
Q:
When analyzing your audience, you should ignore everyone except the key decision makers.
Q:
Once you have established your purpose, it's best to consider whether it is worth pursuing at this time.
Q:
The three general purposes of business messages are to inform, to persuade, and to collaborate.
Q:
Briefly describe at least three meeting technologies that make it easy for virtual teams to interact.
Q:
Once you have decided that a meeting is necessary, what four strategies can help you plan it effectively?
Q:
Describe at least three common types of teams companies often create.
Q:
While having lunch with a client, what should you do with the business papers you brought to discuss? Why?
Q:
During a meeting with coworkers, your mobile phone rings. Should you answer it? Why or why not?
Q:
If you are new to a company, what is the best way to decide what type of dress is appropriate in that organization?
Q:
List at least three general categories of nonverbal communication.
Q:
List at least three strategies to keep your mind from wandering while listening to a speaker.
Q:
List at least three benefits of effective listening in business.
Q:
As the leader of a new task force, you notice that one of your team members remains silent during meetings. What should you do?
Q:
What are three potential disadvantages of working in teams?
Q:
Turning your mobile phone off before meetings is
A) frowned upon, since it causes you to disconnect from colleagues and clients.
B) an effective way to help minimize barriers and distractions.
C) helpful only if you are not in a managerial position.
D) often grounds for dismissal in today's high-tech environment.
E) costly and inappropriate, since you might miss an important message from a potential client.
F) necessary only if your device does not have a silent mode.
Q:
In today's business environment, multitasking
A) is expected and unavoidable.
B) can, in many cases, reduce productivity and increase errors.
C) is a great way to increase productivity and improve the quality of your work.
D) shows that you are serious about your work.
E) is less distracting than ever before, thanks to smartphones and other portable electronics.
Q:
The receiver extracts the idea from the message in the ________ step of the communication process.
A) decoding
B) interpreting
C) uncovering
D) deciphering
E) extrapolating
Q:
Expressing an idea in words or images is known as the ________ step of the communication process.
A) articulating
B) crystallizing
C) generating
D) inscribing
E) encoding
Q:
"Emotional intelligence" refers, in part, to
A) the ability to keep emotions completely out of your communication at work.
B) the ability to figure out what others are thinking, even before they speak.
C) the ability to relate to the needs of others.
D) knowing how to diagnose and treat emotional problems in one's co-workers.
E) an aptitude for manipulating others' emotions.
Q:
Regarding grammar and spelling in written communication, today's employers generally
A) expect employees to follow accepted standards.
B) take a laid-back approach as long as employees can get their point across.
C) understand and accept that abbreviations (such as those used in text messaging) and informal language are now the norm.
D) expect employees to use spell-check, but otherwise understand that mistakes are no big deal.
E) want employees to speak and write informally, so everyone feels comfortable.
Q:
In a ________ structure, a company supplements the talents of its employees with services from one or more external partners, such as a design lab or a sales and distribution company.
A) matrix
B) tall
C) flat
D) network
E) broad