DEL RIO INDUSTRIAL CONSULTANTS
12.16 Creepy Crawlies—Unwanted souvenirs
North America is rapidly becoming infested with bedbugs, bloodsucking pests that seem to be experiencing a comeback. Hotels in particular, but many private homes and business offices as well, have fallen victim to the pesky insects. For example, Time magazine headquarters and former President Clinton’s Manhattan offices have suffered infestations.
Recently, the nation’s two largest pest extermination companies, Orkin LLC and Terminix, “crowned” America’s most infested cities. Not surprisingly, they are densely populated urban areas that attract many tourists: New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Strangely enough, the most infested state is Ohio. Canada, too, has a bedbug problem, most prominently in Vancouver, BC.22
You work for a midsized local boutique hotel that is not part of a national chain. You have just read an alarming article about bed
bugs conquering the United States. As far as you know, your hotel has not yet been affected, but after what you’ve read, it may be only a question of time. Your boss suggests that you prepare a briefing for hotel staff to alert the employees to the problem. You decide to check the Orkin and Terminix Web sites. In addition to an article search, you may want to visit the Web sites of the National Pesticide Information Center, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Consider these and similar questions: How serious is the situation? Who or what is affected? How do the pests spread? How does an infestation manifest itself? What has caused the reappearance of bedbugs after decades of dormancy? Can your employer do anything to prevent an infestation? Once infested, what can a hotel do to eradicate the pests?
Your Task. Create an informative PowerPoint presentation that briefs the hotel staff and addresses the issues raised here.
12.17 self-Contained Multimedia Activity: Creating a PowerPoint Presentation (no additional research required)
You are a consultant who has been hired to improve the effectiveness of corporate trainers. These trainers frequently make presenta
tions to employees on topics such as conflict management, teamwork, time management, problem solving, performance appraisals, and employment interviewing. Your goal is to teach these trainers how to make better presentations.
Your Task. Create six visually appealing slides. Base the slides on the following content, which will be spoken during the presentation titled “Effective Employee Training.” The comments shown here are only a portion of a longer presentation.
Trainers have two options when they make presentations. The first option is to use oneway communication in which the trainer basically dumps the information on the employees and leaves. The second option is to use a twoway audience involvement approach.
The twoway approach can accomplish many purposes, such as helping the trainer connect with the employees, helping the trainer reinforce key points, increasing the employees’ retention rates, and changing the pace and adding variety. The twoway approach also
encourages employees to get to know each other better. Because today’s employees demand more than just a “talking head,” trainers must engage their audiences by involving them in a twoway dialogue.
When you include interactivity in your training sessions, choose approaches that suit your delivery style. Also, think about which options your employees would be likely to respond to most positively. Let’s consider some interactivity approaches now. Realize, though, that these ideas are presented to help you get your creative juices flowing. After I present the list, we will think about situations in which these options might be effective. We will also brainstorm to come up with creative ideas we can add to this list.
• Ask employees to guess at statistics before revealing them.
• Ask an employee to share examples or experiences.
• Ask a volunteer to help you demonstrate something.
• Ask the audience to complete a questionnaire or worksheet.
• Ask the audience to brainstorm or list something as fast as possible.
• Ask a variety of question types to achieve different purposes.
• Invite the audience to work through a process or examine an object.
• Survey the audience.
• Pause to let the audience members read something to themselves.
• Divide the audience into small groups to discuss an issue.
12.18 improving the design and Content of PowerPoint slides
Your Task. Identify ways to improve the design and content of the three slides presented in Figure 12.12. Classify your comments under the following categories: (a) color choices, (b) font choice including style and point size, (c) 6x6 rule, (d) listings in parallel grammatical form, (e) consistent capitalization and punctuation, and (f) graphics and images. Identify what needs to be improved and exactly how you would improve it. For example, if you identify category (d) as an area needing improvement, your answer would include a revision of the listing. When you finish, your instructor may show you a revised set of slides.
FIgurE 12.12 PowerPoint slides needing Revision
Webcasting Basics Webcasting Basics
• Inexpensive way to hold conferences and meetings
• Presenter broadcasts via one of many Webcast platforms available today.
• Participants access meeting from anywhere via Internet connection and free software.
• Capabilities include live Q&A sessions and live polls of audience members.
• Those who missed the event can access stored presentations when convenient
Voice Quality During Webcast Voice Quality During Webcast
• The Three Ps are critical
Pacing Pausing Passion
Webcasting Pointers Webcasting Pointers
• To engage audience early on, tell personal stories.
• Standing while webcasting adds energy to your voice.
• Remember, smiles are audible.
• Change slides frequently.
• Prepare a brief summary conclusion to follow Q&A session.
ning 2013
Video Library 1: Building Workplace Skills effective On-the-Job Oral Presentations
Watch this video to see how businesspeople apply a writing process in developing a persuasive oral presentation.
Capitalization
Review Sections 3.01–3.16 in the Grammar/Mechanics Handbook. Then study each of the following statements. Draw three underlines below any letter that should be capitalized. Draw a slash (/) through any capital letter that you wish to change to lowercase. Indicate in the space provided the number of changes you made in each sentence, and record the number of the G/M principle(s) illustrated. If you made no changes, write 0. When you finish, compare your responses with those provided at the back of the book. If your responses differ, study carefully the principles in parentheses.
example The consumer product safety act was revised specifically to ensure the safety of Children’s toys.
1. Employees of bank of america had to evacuate their Headquarters in suite 200 after the scottsdale fire department units arrived.
2. Americans are reluctant to travel to europe because of the weak dollar; however, more british and french citizens are traveling to the United States, according to Maurice Dubois, Vice President at Hilton hotels.
3. Once the Management Team and the Union members finally agreed, mayor Faria signed the Agreement.
4. The boston marathon is an annual sporting event hosted by the city of boston on patriot’s day.
5. Luis was disappointed when he learned that the university of new mexico eliminated italian from its curriculum; now he must take history, geography, and political science classes to learn about italy.
6. The most popular sites on the internet are those operated by google, facebook, and youtube.
7. According to a Federal Government report issued in january, any regulation of State and County banking must receive local approval.
8. The position of director of research must be filled before summer.
9. The Vice President of MegaTech Industries reported to the President that the securities and exchange commission was beginning an investigation of their Company.
10. My Uncle, who lives near surfrider beach in malibu, says that the Moon and Stars are especially brilliant on cool, clear nights.
11. Our marketing director met with Adrienne Hall, Manager of our advertising media department, to plan an Adwords campaign for google.
12. During the Fall our Faculty Advisor explored new exchange and semesterabroad opportunities in asia, australia, and china.
13. Last february my Father and I headed south to visit the summer waves water park located on jekyll island in georgia.
14. On page 6 of my report, you will find a list of all instructors in our business division with Master’s degrees.
15. Please consult figure 5.1 in chapter 5 of the book analysis of population growth for the latest U.S.
census bureau figures regarding nonenglishspeaking residents.
Video Resources
Grammar/Mechanics Checkup—12
5 (3.01)
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– – – – – – –
As the employee with the best communication skills, you are frequently asked to edit messages. The following outline of a presenta
tion, written by your office manager, has problems with capitalization, grammar, punctuation, spelling, proofreading, number expres
sion, and other writing techniques you have studied. He may need to submit this to management, and he asks you to clean it up.
You may (a) use standard proofreading marks (see Appendix B) to correct the errors here or (b) download the document from www .cengagebrain.com and revise at your computer.
Your instructor may ask you to use the Track Changes feature in Word to show your editing comments. Turn on Track Changes on the Review tab. Click show Markup. Place your cursor at an error, click new Comment, and key your edit in the bubble box provided. Study the guidelines in the Grammar/Mechanics Handbook as well as the lists of Confusing Words and Frequently Misspelled Words to sharpen your skills.
editing Challenge—12
© Cengage Learning 2013
C o l l a b o r a t i o n
Communication Workshop
Techniques for Taking Part in effective and Professional Team Presentations
You may have to join a team that will prepare and deliver an oral presentation. This can happen in the classroom and on the job. If you have been part of any team before, you also know that such projects can be very frustrating—particularly when some team members don’t carry their weight or when members cannot resolve conflict. On the other hand, team projects can be harmonious and productive when members establish ground rules and follow these steps:
• Prepare to work together. First, you should (a) compare schedules of team members in order to set up the best meetings times, (b) plan to meet often, and (c) discuss how you will deal with team members who are not contributing to the project.
• Plan the presentation. Your team will need to agree on (a) the specific purpose of the presen
tation, (b) your audience, (c) the length of the presentation, (d) the types of visuals to include, and (e) the basic structure and content of the presentation.
• Make assignments. Once you decide what your presentation will cover, give each team member a written assignment that details his or her responsibilities for researching content, producing visuals, developing handouts, building transitions between segments, and show
ing up for team meetings and rehearsals.
• Collect information. To gather or generate information, teams can brainstorm together, con
duct interviews, or search the Web for information. The team should decide on deadlines for collecting information and should discuss how to ensure the accuracy and currency of the information collected. Team members should exchange periodic progress reports on how their research is coming along.
• Organize and develop the presentation. Once your team has gathered all research, start working on the presentation. Determine the organization of the presentation, compose a draft in writing, and prepare PowerPoint slides and other visual aids. The team should meet often to discuss the presentation and to decide which team member will be responsible for delivering what parts of the presentation. Be sure each member builds a transition to the next presenter’s topic and launches it smoothly. Strive for logical connections between segments.
• edit, rehearse, and evaluate. Before you deliver the presentation, rehearse several times as a team. Make sure that transitions from speaker to speaker are smooth. For example, you might say, Now that I have discussed how to prepare for the meeting, Ashley is going to discuss how to get the meeting started. Decide who will be responsible for advancing slides during the presen
tation. Practice fielding questions if you plan to have a questionandanswer session. Decide how you are going to dress to look professional and competent. Run a spellcheck and proof
read your PowerPoint slides to ensure that the design, format, and vocabulary are consistent.
• deliver the presentation. Show up on time for your presentation and wear appropriate attire. Deliver your part of the presentation with professionalism and enthusiasm. Remember that your audience is judging the team on its performance, not the individuals. Do what you can to make your team shine!
Career Application. Your boss named you to a team that is to produce an organizational five
year plan for your company. You know this assignment will end with an oral presentation to management and stockholders. Your first reaction is dismay. You have been on teams before in the classroom, and you know how frustrating they can be. However, you want to give your best, and you resolve to contribute positively to this team effort.
Your Task. In small groups or with the entire class, discuss effective collaboration. How can one contribute positively to a team? How should teams deal with members who aren’t contributing or who have negative attitudes? What should team members do to ensure that the final presenta
tion is professional and well coordinated?
1 Hooey, B. (2005). Speaking for success! Speaking success. Retrieved from Toastmasters International Web site http://members.shaw .ca/toasted/speaking_succes.htm
2 Korn, M. (2010, December 3). Wanted: Good speaking skills. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from Hire Education blog at http://blogs.wsj.com/hireeducation/2010/12/03/wantedgoodspeakingskills
3 Barrington, L., CasnerLotto, J., & Wright, M. (2008, May). Are they really ready to work? The Conference Board. Retrieved from http://www.conferenceboard.org/pdf_free/BED06Workforce.pdf
4 Vlessing, E. (2010, September 23). What Netflix CEO hopes U.S. won’t notice. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from http://www .hollywoodreporter.com/news/whatnetflixceohopesus28218
5 Dr. John J. Medina quoted in Reynolds, G. (2010). Presentation Zen design. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, p. 97.
6 Pope, J. (2007, August 5). Business school requires PowerPoint. Oakland Tribune, p. 1. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com
7 Journalist Tad Simons arguing against Ian Parker’s The New Yorker article: Simons, T. (2001, July). When was the last time PowerPoint made you sing? Presentations, p. 6. Retrieved from http://www.presentations.com; Parker, I. (2001, May 28). Absolute PowerPoint:
Can a software package edit our thoughts? The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/05/28 /010528fa_fact_parker; see also Tufte, E. R. (2006). The cognitive style of PowerPoint: Pitching out corrupts within. Cheshire, CT:
Graphics Press.
8 Atkinson, C. (2008). Beyond bullet points (2nd ed.). Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press.
9 Reynolds, G. (2008). Presentation Zen. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, p. 220. See also Reynolds, G. (2010). Presentation Zen design.
Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
10 Booher, D. (2003). Speak with confidence: Powerful presentations that inform, inspire, and persuade. New York: McGrawHill Professional, p. 126. See also http://www.indezine.com/ideas/prescolors.html
11 Bates, S. (2005). Speak like a CEO: Secrets for commanding attention and getting results. New York: McGrawHill Professional, p. 113.
12 Sommerville, J. (n. d.). The seven deadly sins of PowerPoint Presentations. About.com: Entrepreneurs. Retrieved from http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/marketing/a/7sinsofppt.htm
13 Gallo, C. (2010). The presentation secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be insanely great in front of any audience. New York: McGrawHill, p. 194; Burrows, P., Grover, R., & Green, H. (2006, February 6). Steve Jobs’ magic kingdom. BusinessWeek, p. 62. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com
14 Kupsh, J. (2011, January 21). Presentation delivery guidelines to remember. Training. Retrieved from http://www.trainingmag.com /article/presentationdeliveryguidelinesremember
15 PowerPoint preshow checklist. (n.d.). TLC Creative Services. Retrieved from http://www.tlccreative.com/images/tutorials /PreShowChecklist.pdf
16 Ellwood, J. (2004, August 4). Less PowerPoint, more powerful points, The Times (London), p. 6.
17 Boeri, R. J. (2002, March). Fear of flying? Or the mail? Try the Web conferencing cure. Emedia Magazine, p. 49.
18 Booher, D. (2003). Speak with confidence. New York: McGrawHill, p. 14.
19 Ibid., p. 106.
20 Ibid., p. 9.
21 Reynolds, G. (2008). Presentation Zen. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, pp. 64ff.
22 Based on Brennan, M. (2010, December 22). America’s most bed buginfested cities. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes .com/2010/12/22/worstcitiesbedbugsrealestatepersonalfinance.html
endnotes
Acknowledgments
p. 366 Office Insider cited in Dlugan, A. (2008, April 10). 10 ways your presentation skills generate career promotions. Six Minutes.
Retrieved from http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/2008/04/10/careerpromotionspresentationskills
p. 368 Office Insider cited in Booher, D. (2003). On speaking. Quotes by Dianna Booher. Booher Consultants. Retrieved from http://www.booher.com/quotes.html#speaking
p. 377 Office Insider cited in Paradi, D. (2004). PowerPoint sucks! No it doesn’t!! Think Outside The Slide. Retrieved from http://www .thinkoutsidetheslide.com/articles/powerpointnotsucks.htm
p. 385 Office Insider cited in Kupsh, J. (2010, November 4). 15 guidelines to effective presentations. Training. Retrieved from http://www.trainingmag.com/article/15guidelineseffectivepresentations
p. 389 Office Insider cited in Booher, D. (2003). On speaking. Quotes by Dianna Booher. Booher Consultants. Retrieved from http://www.booher.com/quotes.html#speaking
p. 384 Photo Essay (Is PowerPoint the Enemy?) based on Bumiller, E. (2010, April 26). We have met the enemy and he is PowerPoint.
The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com; Hammes, T. X. (2009, July). Essay: Dumbdumb bullets. Armed Forces Journal. Retrieved from http://armedforcesjournal.com/2009/07/4061641; Burke, C. (2009, July 24). The TX Hammes PowerPoint challenge (essay contest). Small Wars Journal. Retrieved from http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2009/07/draftdraftdraftpowerpoint1
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C h a p t e r 1 3
The Job Search, Résumés, and Cover Letters C h a p t e r 1 4
Interviewing and Following Up
U n I T 6
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Employment
Communication
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Preparing for a Successful Job Search
Today’s graduates face a tough job market and a recessionary economy. Competition for employment is keener than ever in recent history. In addition, the Web has changed the way we look for jobs. Workplace experts point out that the Web has made job searching easier but also more challenging.1 Because hundreds and perhaps thou- sands of candidates may be applying for an advertised position, you must work hard to be noticed and to outshine the competition. You must also look beyond the Web.
The better prepared you are, the more confident you will feel during your search. This chapter provides expert current advice in preparing for a job search, scouring the job market, writing a customized résumé, and developing a per- suasive cover letter. What you learn here can lead to a successful job search and maybe even your dream job.
You may think that the first step in finding a job is writing a résumé. Wrong!
The job-search process actually begins long before you are ready to prepare your résumé. Regardless of the kind of employment you seek, you must invest time and effort getting ready. You can’t hope to find the position of your dreams without (a) knowing yourself, (b) knowing the job market, and (c) knowing the employ- ment process.
Finding a satisfying career requires learning about yourself, the job market, and the employment process.
OBJECTIVES
after studying this chapter, you should be able to
• Prepare for a successful job search by identifying your interests, evaluating your assets, recognizing employment trends, and choosing a career path.
• Apply both electronic and traditional job-search techniques.
• Appreciate the need to customize your résumé, and know whether to choose a chronological or a functional résumé format.
• Organize your qualifications and information into effective résumé categories.
• Describe techniques that optimize a résumé for today’s technologies, including preparing a scannable résumé and an e-portfolio.
• Write a customized cover letter to accompany your résumé.
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The Job Search, Résumés, and Cover Letters
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