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Greetings! My name is Chrissine, and tonight I’ll be presenting on professional
communication, which is crucial to advancing a career, accomplishing academic
goals, and achieving success in life in general. This workshop is being recorded for
future use and display. Welcome to all here and those viewing the recording.
Professional Communication
Wednesday, September 15, 2016 @ 7 pm ET
Presenter – Chrissine Rios, MA
Kaplan University Writing Center
Access the recording of the live workshop here:
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http://khe2.adobeconnect.com/p8a6r62iot2/
Key Concepts of Professional Communication
This workshop covers the key concepts of professional communication intended to
increase your awareness of how you communicate in professional contexts such as
work, school, and in your community. We’ll review the communication process,
communication types and skills, and the contexts and purposes for professional
communication. Since persuasion is one important purpose, we’ll also look at the
four persuasive or “rhetorical” appeals and how to appeal to a professional audience
such as a professor when writing an email. Then, before we conclude,
I’ll provide links to resources that you can use to continue your development
of professional communication skills.
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Communication happens when information passes between two or more people.
Communication is a two-way process whereas the sender sends a message and
the receiver conveys feedback to the sender.
Communication may seem one way at times such as when you watch the news or
see an advertisement or are given a new policy to follow at work. But indirect
feedback still usually occurs so that the senders of these messages know their
message was received. Market research, for example, analyzes the indirect
feedback of consumers and viewers via their purchases or behaviors. Surveys and
polls also provide receivers a way to provide feedback. Online information often
comes with social media buttons and comment areas for feedback too.
Whether immediate and direct as in a face-to-face conversation or indirect and
delayed as in mass media, feedback is essential to our communications whether
personal or professional. Feedback ensures the sender’s message has been
received and the meaning of the message is being understood.
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Communication Types
We use different types of communication to convey information to others. When
face-to-face or on the phone, we’re using verbal communication. We also hear
verbal communication on TV, the radio, and when watching films or videos.
Information is also exchanged nonverbally. Body language, facial expressions,
clothing, hair styles, how we act, our postures, how we sound—the tone and pitch of
our voice—even how we smell conveys information, and we receive or perceive this
type of information from others too. Whenever two people are in a space together,
nonverbal communication is being conveyed.
We also write to communicate be it on a printed page or digitally via a webpage,
email, or text. In school, the essays and reports you write are forms of written
communication.
Visual information is also used to communicate; art, pictures, logos, charts, even
PowerPoints all communicate messages. In order to understand the information
being communicated, you need strong communication skills.
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In the picture, a woman (with her back to us) is being interviewed by a panel of
professionals. The body language of the interviewers on the panel expresses
nonverbal cues of listening.
Listening is a communication skill. More specifically, listening is a comprehension
skill like reading whereas speaking and writing are production skills in
communication. In face-to-face communication, both production and
comprehension skills are essential to effective communication. To be an effective
speaker, you need to be an effective listener as they are part of the same
communication process. And to be an effective writer, you need to be an effective
reader. Our comprehension skills help us to know how to regulate and develop our
production skills. They tell us about our audience and how we are being
understood.
In the scenario of the professional interview pictured, the nonverbal cues of the
listeners, their eye contact, upright postures, attentive and thoughtful but otherwise
neutral gazes would indicate to the speaker that they are listening and they are
interested, which would help the speaker know that she is being heard and
understood, and it may even encourage her.
Imagine if the people on the panel were looking every which way or were rolling
their eyes or looking at their phones. Nonverbal feedback by the listeners helps the
speaker regulate his or her communication and to adapt it to be better understood
by those listeners. An interview is an example of professional communication.
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Professional communication is different from the personal communication you use
every day with your friends and family due to where it’s done and why.
Professional communication is done in professional contexts such as the workplace
or at school. When you give a presentation, write a report or paper, email a
supervisor or professor, collaborate with coworkers or classmates on a group
project, or post a comment on a professional blog, website, or academic discussion
board, you are writing in a professional context.
Professional communication is also used in everyday business dealings such as
consulting with a sales agent, taking out a mortgage at the bank with your partner,
or scheduling an appointment at the dentist. You would also use professional
communication in public or civic situations such as if you were welcoming guests to
a social event or making a ceremonial speech—a eulogy or a toast, or if you were
introducing someone to a group of people at a conference or convention or
presenting or receiving an award.
Professional communication in all these examples is goal oriented and useful. It’s
used for the purpose of informing or persuading others in order to get work done or
accomplish a goal.
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If you’ve ever tried to get anyone to do anything you wanted, however, you already
know it’s not easy to persuade people to think, believe, and behave the way you
want. People don’t change their minds or actions without good reason.
Additionally, people have to trust the person or the authority of the person doing the
persuading.
And they need to feel connected emotionally—they have to feel like changing their
ways or their mind.
The timing also needs to be right and appropriate for the person being persuaded.
Meeting or appealing to all this criteria in order to persuade others is why
persuasion is an art, also known since ancient Greek times as Rhetoric.
Classical rhetoric tells us that effective persuasion depends on ethos, pathos, logos,
and kairos.
• Ethos, also called the ethical appeal, refers to the character—the credibility and
likability—of the speaker or writer.
• Pathos, also called the emotional appeal, refers to the connection or empathy the
receivers feel in response to the persuasive message.
• Logos, also called the logical appeal, refers to the soundness and sensibility of
the words, symbols, data, or images being communicated—logos refers to the
message itself and how it is conveyed in a form and mode that can be received
and understood or has meaning to the receiver.
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• Finally, kairos, refers to the timeliness of the message given—its relevance to
what’s happening now and appropriateness for the receivers—meaning the tone
and level of formality should be tailored to the intended audience.
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When you are communicating professionally, your number one consideration should
be your audience, the person or people receiving your message. Knowing your
audience will help you tailor the message, so it is well received and so your purpose
to inform or persuade is achieved.
In professional communication, you may not know your audience personally,
however, so appealing to your audience is about knowing the culture of the
workplace, school, or community and conforming to the standards of
communication expected within that culture.
For instance, in US universities such as Kaplan, we uses Standard American
English to communicate, and you’ll use this in US workplaces as well. Although the
level of formality will vary according to your familiarity with your specific audience,
when communicating in professional contexts such as for business or school, you’ll
want to use formal rather than informal style. Formal style refers to standard
language usage regarding word choice and phrasing, spelling and grammar. Also,
in establishing your ethos—your character or professional persona—you’ll want to
use a polite tone complete with courtesies such as greetings and salutations. And
since the purpose of professional communication is to inform and or persuade, it’s
important that the information provided is complete, accurate, clear, and concise.
We will see how all this is applied in a student email to a professor.
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Writing a Professional Email
We will look at the following elements of a professional email:
• Your “From” address
• The “To, Cc, Bcc” lines
• The option to Reply or Reply all
• The subject line
• A polite greeting
• The message, ensuring it has
o complete information
o a clear purpose
o concise style, and
o correct info and usage
• A polite closing
• And your name
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Writing an Email to a Professor
• From: When writing your professor, use your school email address. This is the
surest way to receive the most efficient response. When you use your
personal email, you risk your email being identified as spam, especially if your
email has an attachment or link in it. Also, if you use a personal email address
that is not your first and last name, your professor will not immediately know
you are a student. Professor’s prioritize student email, so it helps if your email
address indicates you are a student. You’ll always want to avoid using email
addresses with funny nicknames. Sending an email from bigdaddy@hotmail
or winelover@gmail will not foster a professional persona, and when writing to
your professor or to any professional for school, work, or business purposes,
you do want to be professional. Since your recipient cannot see you, your
email address is what creates the first impression in the communication.
• To, Cc, Bcc: The “To” line is where you type your professor’s email address.
When writing to your professor, use your professor’s school email address. If
your instructor writes you from a personal email address, you can reply to it,
but include their school address in the To line or the Cc line as well.
o Cc stands for carbon copy, and it’s optional. If you are writing an email
to your professor on behalf of a peer group, you could add their email
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addresses here, and they will each receive a copy of the email. The
email addresses in the To and Cc lines are visible to all recipients.
o Bcc stands for blind carbon copy. Addresses typed here are not be
visible to the people in the To or Cc field. The Bcc line is most commonly
used for emailing a large a group of people. Your professor might use it
when emailing the class, for example. Using the Bcc line is a
professional courtesy. For one, it reduces the amount of email people
receive since email addresses typed here will not receive a reply even if
one of the To or Cc recipients reply to all. Also, using Bcc keeps
everyone’s email private since sharing other people’s email addresses
can create privacy issues. You will not likely use it when simply emailing
your professor unless you wanted to send a copy of your email to your
personal hotmail or yahoo account and wanted to keep that address
private.
• Reply or Reply all: When replying to an email, the Reply button will send the
email only to the one person who sent the email. The Reply All button will send
the reply to all the addresses listed in the To and Cc lines. Be careful not to
“reply all” accidently. The whole class, for example, will not need to know about
your particular question or issue.
• Subject line: Be specific about the subject of your email and include your course
number, so your email address quickly identifies you as a student and the
subject line indicates the class you’re in and the topic of your email.
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• Polite Greeting: Begin your email with a formal greeting such as Dear, Hello,
Good morning, Good afternoon, or Good evening, and use the honorific
“Professor” or if you know your professor has a PhD then use Doctor or Dr.
before his or her last name. Only use your professor’s first name if you are
replying to an email in which your professor signed the email with his or her first
name. But if this is the first email you are writing to your professor, being more
formal will be most appropriate. Say, “Dear Professor Smith” not “Hi Zack” if
your professor’s name is Zackeriah Smith.
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• Message: An effective professional email needs to be complete, clear, concise,
and correct.
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o Provide complete information about who you are and what you are
writing about. Your professor may teach multiple courses, and all have
different assignments. Be specific. Use the particular name of the
assignment, not just “paper” or specify that you are asking about the
essay, not the Discussion Board, or the reading assignment.
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o Next, state clearly your purpose for writing. You can even say, “I am
writing because…” or “I am writing to ask if...” Also clearly state what
you are requesting: “Could you please email me to let me know if it is
too late to change my topic and use a different article?”
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o It’s also a smart strategy to indicate that you have sought the answer on
your own. This goes back to being Complete. In the example, the
student writes, “I...read in the syllabus that we are to use the article we
selected in Unit 4. In seminar last week, some students were talking
about changing topics and using different articles, but I’m unsure if you
said this was okay or not.” You will not want to waste your instructor’s
time by asking something that is answered right in your syllabus. Read
the syllabus first. Read the assignment instructions.
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o Concise style: Professional writing is concise. It is closely related to
technical writing. Professional and technical writing is useful” and goal
oriented. It informs and or persuades for the purpose of getting work
done. It is therefore well edited and to the point. It is okay to sandwich
the message in kind expressions such as “I hope you are having a good
day” or “I look forward to our next seminar!” But professional emails are
not appropriate for personal details about why work is late or what your
family problems are. Identify your purpose for writing and clearly and
kindly state what you are doing about it and what kind of help you need,
and your professor will respond professionally and kindly in return.
o All information as well as the grammar, spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation should be also be correct, double-checked, edited, and
proofread.
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Finally, to conclude your email, sign off with a polite closing such as “Thank you,”
“Kind regards,” or “Best.” As a professional email, you’ll want to refrain from
religious-based salutations such as “God bless.” Remember your audience is the
number one consideration, and you will not want to make assumptions about shared
beliefs beyond you both being part of the university community.
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Professional communication is key to your success in your academics and your
career. Remember you will be developing a professional persona in all your
professional communications, so keep in mind the four appeals of rhetoric in the
process—ethos: be ethical; logos: be reasonable; pathos: be empathetic; and
kairos: be appropriate, and you will do great!
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For more writing support, connect with the KUWC’s new public webpage. You can
actually Google and find this page. This is also a great way for you to stay
connected to the KUWC through our blog and Twitter. Many of our resources are
here as well.
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The best time to do a paper review in the Kaplan University Writing Center is after
you have written your first draft. When you come to us early, we can help you the
most by helping you with the structure of your paper. Many students send papers at
the last minute because they want us to simply proofread their paper. However,
KUWC writing tutors do not simply proofread the paper for you; we want to help you
learn to write and proofread your own papers. You can submit a first draft, and then
submit a later draft if you need further help on an assignment.
If you need help before you write the first draft, you can use live tutoring. During live
tutoring, you can ask questions and brainstorm with a tutor. Live tutors can help
you with other stages in the paper writing process as well. Come visit us. We can
be found under the My Studies tab, then under Academic Support Center.
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On the main Academic Support Center page, you will see the Writing Center links.
These include Live Tutoring, Paper Review Service, the Writing Reference Library,
Citation Guidelines, Workshops, English Language Learner, and Fundamental
writing help. Notice, you can access the Kaplan Guide to Successful Writing on the
right hand side in both print and audio form. Come visit us.
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Writing Center
Writing Tutor
Paper Review and Q&A Services
Writing Reference Library
Citation Guidelines (APA & more)
Writing Workshops
Graduate Student Resources
English Language Learners
Writing Fundamentals Program
Effective Writing Podcasts Series
First-Term Student Resources
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Chrissine Rios, Tutor, Resources
Amy Sexton, Tutor, Workshops
Write us at kuwc@kaplan.edu!
Workshops are recorded and recording links, with an accompanying PowerPoint, are
posted on the Writing Center Workshops page after the workshop.
Additional Kaplan University Writing Center Resources
Introductory Video
Survey Link
Writing Center
©2016 Kaplan University Writing Center
Connect with the Academic Support Centers.
ASC Blog
@KaplanASC on Twitter
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