课程大纲：

Best Practices for Professional Success:

Effective Communication Strategies and
Tactics for Western Environments


(The course is designed for Chinese students.)




University of International Relations
Beijing, China

Monday, July 1 through Thursday, July 4, 2013

Instructor:

Guest Professor Marilee Morrow
Marilee.Morrow@marietta.edu




“Even if you’re on the right track,
you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
-Will Rogers (American celebrity)

Course Description:

Communication is the process by which one person stimulates meaning in the mind of another person through verbal and nonverbal messages.

Each culture has its own particular style. Today’s global environment requires adjustments to these culturally-oriented styles of communication to build positive business relationships and advance careers. After all, other people’s perceptions of you have an impact on your professional success.

Students can improve their interpersonal interactions with Westerners with communication behavior training and an orientation to Western culture.

This seminar is broken into sections and includes key concepts as they relate to the American communication environment. Gaining respect involves more than just the spoken word. What typical American nonverbal behaviors increase immediacy and credibility? How does a person’s writing style and oral presentation style impact professional success?

Participants will understand how their communication behaviors impact their level of effectiveness in American communication situations and learn how to apply the course material to their own interactions that will result in a higher level of confidence and more opportunities.

Language of Instruction:

English

Methods of Instruction:

Lecture, discussion and workshop-style demonstration/interaction

Topics:

¢What are we going to learn and accomplish during this course?

ŸCourse introduction – To compete in today’s job market, your communication skills have to be better than others!

¢What are we really doing when we communicate?

ŸLinear model of communication

ŸThe importance of feedback

ŸOther key concepts/terms and important items

¢How are we the same? How are we different? Know your receiver!

ŸIntroduction to American culture and common practices

ŸKnowledge of your receiver impacts how you communicate!

¢How do your communication behaviors impact you?

ŸYour receiver does more than just listen to your spoken words. They look at how you behave for more information.

ŸAre people open to your influence?

ŸWhat is your receiver’s perception of you? Are you perceived as being credible, competent, trustworthy and caring?

ŸNot understanding the implications of nonverbal behaviors can be fatal to a career!

¢What is the Self-Report of Immediacy Behavior, and what does your score mean?

ŸWhat are immediacy seeking and affectation seeking behaviors, and how can you modify your behaviors to be appropriate for the situation?

ŸHow can you increase perceptions of similarity across cultures?

ŸSpecific verbal and nonverbal techniques and recommendations for professional situations

¢Don’t allow mediated communication issues to be a stumbling block to success!

ŸFrom video conferencing to texting … technical and aesthetic recommendations for a wide range of traditional and new media situations

ŸHow to write in the “aural” style

ŸTactics when writing for diverse audiences

ŸPowerful writing strategies

ŸCoaching others for success

¢Conclusions for continued professional development and success – Apply what you’ve learned!

Evaluation:

Students’ grades will be determined through a written report and class participation/classroom oral English competence. Students will demonstrate the ability to clarify material by stating their answer, elaborating on their answer and providing an example and/or illustration.

Grading Summary Example:

A 94-100 (94-100 %) C 74-76 (74-76 %)
A- 90-93 (90-93 %) C- 70-73 (70-73 %)
B+ 87-89 (87-89 %) D+ 67-69 (67-69 %)
B 84-86 (84-86 %) D 64-66 (64-66 %)
B- 80-83 (80-83 %) D- 60-63 (60-63 %)
C+ 77-79 (77-79 %) F 59 and below (59%)

Attendance:

Attendance is expected at all class sessions. If you are going to miss a class, you must e-mail or leave a note for the instructor prior to missing the class. Work cannot be made up if you do not contact the faculty member and have an excused absence prior to the class.

Classroom Etiquette:

To promote a beneficial learning environment certain classroom practices are expected. Students will refrain from the following during class time:


Non-classroom oriented use of computers, cameras, cell phones, etc.
Eating
Discussion not related to class material
Late arrival/early departure
Any other behavior that is a distraction to others in the class

Ethics:

Students are expected to do his or her own work.

Honesty is expected – and demanded – of all students in this course. “Manufacturing” information for a paper or project, using material produced by someone else without proper attribution, or otherwise cheating can lead to a grade of “F” in this course.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism occurs when a student represents someone else's work as his or her own; it includes:


copying another person’s paper
copying another person’s words or ideas without putting quotation marks around them or citing them as a source
copying entire sentences and paragraphs from a print or electronic source without providing proper documentation and credit
allowing another person to write your paper and make revisions to your work

Any student who plagiarizes, whether from published material (such as a web site, book, or magazine) or from unpublished material (such as another student’s writing), will receive an F on the assignment and, depending on the extent of cheating, an F for the course.

All work produced in this course is considered “public” and is used for purposes of teaching and evaluation. This likely includes the use of your work as a model for future students/courses and the submission of your work to an online plagiarism detection service.

Resources:

Students may wish to learn even more about the course topics. Here are additional resources:

Richmond, V. P. and McCrosky, J. C. Organizational Communication for Survival: Making Work, Work. Fourth Edition. Prentice Hall, 2004.

Keyton, J. and Shockley-Zalabak, P. Case Studies For Organizational Communication, Understanding Communication Processes. Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Perloff, R. The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge Communication Series, 2010.