Effective Business Communication for Dummies / Jill Schiefelbein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schiefelbein, Jill, author.

Series:

--For dummies.

For dummies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Business communication.

Nonverbal communication.

Interpersonal communication.

Persuasion (Psychology).

Negotiation in business.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (403 pages)

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, [2025]

Summary:

Effective Business Communication For Dummies gives you the tools you need to communicate better, both in and outside of the office. You want to build strong relationships, and you'll need strong communication skills to do it. This book demystifies active listening, assertive speaking, conflict resolution, virtual team leadership, and all the other things you'll need to know to get your point across. Thanks to the classic, friendly Dummies style, it's easy to make an impression in e-mails, presentations, virtual events, and in person. Check out these tips from a top communications coach to discover the maser communicator inside you. With Effective Business Communication For Dummies, you'll know what to say, how to say it, and when to talk less and listen more. This is the perfect guide for team members and leaders alike who want to communicate better in all life's situations.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part 1 Business Communication Fundamentals

Chapter 1 Talking about Communication in the Workplace

Understanding the Importance of Effective Business Communication

Appreciating the benefits of effective communication

Counting the costs of ineffective communication

Distinguishing Business Communication from Personal Communication

Conducting a Self-Assessment

Sharpening Fundamental Communication Skills

Avoiding Common Mistakes

Communicating Effectively in Specific Contexts

Putting Theory into Practice and Making It Yours

Chapter 2 Brushing Up on Business Communication Fundamentals

Checking Out Definitions of Communication

Dictionary definitions

A textbook definition

A practical definition for business applications

Exploring Communication Models

Linear models

Interactional models

Transactional models

Recognizing the Elements of Communication and Why They Matter

Identifying and Addressing Sources of Noise

Quieting physical noise

Calming the sources of psychological noise

Alleviating semantic noise

Mitigating hierarchical noise

Reducing noise in virtual environments

Paying Special Attention to History and Environment

Communication history

Environment

Conducting a Communication Audit

Chapter 3 Communicating without Words: Nonverbal Communication

Using Your Body to Communicate

Using gestures to express yourself or emphasize what you're saying

Gesturing with your head

Gesturing with your hands

Making faces: Facial expression

Maintaining eye contact (without staring)

Keeping a Comfortable and Effective Distance

Exploring the four proxemic zones.

The intimate zone

Personal space

The social zone

Public distance

Arranging your workspace or workplace for the culture you want to nurture

Getting in touch with haptics

Using Your Voice to Enhance Your Message

Paying attention to enunciation and pronunciation

Using paralanguage to enhance what you say

Rate

Volume

Pitch

Avoiding the use of filler words

Conveying Meaning and Emotion Through Silence

Chapter 4 Special Delivery: Picking the Right Way to Communicate

Exploring Communication Channels

Comparing Channels by How Rich They Are

Considering Your Purpose: Conveyance or Convergence?

Matching Your Channel to Your Communication Task or Purpose

Sizing up synchronous communication channels

Face-to-face

Videoconferencing

Audio-only calls

Synchronous chat

Assessing asynchronous communication channels

Video

Audio

Text/email

Choosing your channel wisely

Part 2 Improving Your Interpersonal Communication

Chapter 5 Listening More Than You Speak

Recognizing the Difference between Hearing and Listening

Moving from mechanical to cognitive processes

Processing thoughts to develop a fuller understanding

Recognizing the six levels of listening

Understanding before Responding or Reacting

Listening More Than You Speak (or Think)

Stop planning what you're going to say next

Finding power in silence and strength in waiting

Stepping Up to More Advanced Listening Techniques

Paraphrasing

Mirroring, without being a copycat

Summarizing to check your understanding

Chapter 6 Leveraging the Communication Power of Asking Questions

Making Curiosity Your Superpower

Think of yourself as a sleuth

Challenge your assumptions

Asking Questions to Extract Information and Clarify Your Understanding.

Understanding the distinction between information and knowledge

Asking questions to extract information

Asking questions to gain knowledge

Seeking clarification with follow-up questions

Using Questions and Guardrails to Initiate and Guide Conversations

Asking safe questions to get the conversation moving

Adding guardrails to limit the scope of a question

Using questions to transition to other topics

Chapter 7 Holding Productive and Meaningful Conversations

Appreciating the Value of Reciprocity, Self-Disclosure, and Give-and-Take

Embracing reciprocity

Building trust and reciprocity through self-disclosure

Giving and taking more or less equally

Being a Good Conversation Partner

Cultivating two-way interaction

Putting the principle of reciprocity into practice

Strengthening Relationships with Self-Disclosure

Following the ebb and flow of the conversation

Getting personal, even in a business setting

Creating Mutual Meaning

Checking for confirmation

Agreeing on next steps

Part 3 Owning Your Message with Confident Communication

Chapter 8 Making Simple Communication Changes for Significant Impact

Making People Less Defensive and More Receptive

Using the I+verb framework

Avoiding "you" statements

Steering clear of generalizations

Getting to Yes Faster

Subtly framing your requests

Providing choices

Removing all reasons to say no

Focusing Less on Names and More on Pertinent Details

Avoiding cheesy sales talk

Admitting what you don't know

Pivoting to someone else

Tabling a topic for later

Returning the serve

Purging "Sorry" and "Just" from Your Vocabulary

Stop saying "sorry"

Jettison "just"

Chapter 9 Setting the Stage for Effective Communication

Challenging the Status Quo

Understanding why changing the status quo can be difficult.

Using willpower (or the lack of it) to your advantage

Recognizing factors that deplete willpower

Preserving and restoring willpower and self-control

Prepping Your Audience's Brain for What You're About to Tell Them

Focus your audience

Get agreements upfront

Check in with your audience

Putting It All Together

Virtual Conversations: Calling Attention to Paying Attention

Chapter 10 Talking about Yourself without Bragging

Understanding Why Bragging Feels Icky and Shifting Your Mindset

Educating Others about You

Delivering facts that show results

Featuring others

Highlighting outcomes

Asking for help and showing the results

Networking in Meaningful Ways

Finding genuine connections and alignments

Matchmaking to expand your reach

Avoiding these networking no-no's

Inspiring Your Colleagues and Clients to Sing Your Praises

Leveraging the promotional power of mentorships

Promoting yourself through sponsorships

Expanding your reach with coaches

Asking clients for recommendations and referrals

Chapter 11 Calm, Cool, and Confident: Making and Delivering Presentations

Comparing Presentation Types: Informative versus Persuasive

Structuring Your Presentation: As Simple as 1-2-3

Introduction: Starting off on the right foot

Gaining your audience's attention

Stating your purpose or thesis

Previewing what's to come

Body: Serving the main course

Choosing a conventional organizational structure

Using rhetorical strategies to sway your audience

Conclusion: Delivering your call to action

Preparing for Presentation Success

Setting the stage for your presentation: Environmental considerations

Choosing and arranging a space

Checking the acoustics: Testing - one, two, three

Taking the technology for a test-drive

Using a slide deck.

Incorporating visuals and other media

Prepping for virtual presentations: The same but different

Test your technology beforehand

Manage your presentation space

Use visuals wisely and keep slides clear and uncluttered

Take advantage of the advanced features of remote presentation applications

Leveraging the Communicative Power of Visualization

Practicing Your Presentation to Improve Your Confidence

Part 4 Persuading and Driving Results

Chapter 12 Knowing the People You're Trying to Persuade

Analyzing Your Audience

Conducting a demographic analysis

Digging deeper with a psychographic analysis

Using Communication Direction to Your Advantage

Upward communication: Finesse required

Demonstrate respect

Cut to the chase

Show how your proposal will benefit the organization or individual

Downward communication: A balancing act

Explain your rationale

Approach the situation with a curious mind

Listen and be prepared to respond to complaints and excuses

Lateral communication: Navigating peer-to-peer interactions

Seek mutually beneficial solutions

Acknowledge and respect your communication history

Balance competition with cooperation

Anticipating Possible Objections

Researching possible objections: Conducting surveys

Conducting an indirect survey

Surveying actual audience members

Preparing your responses to objections

Remaining objective and demonstrating it

Chapter 13 Engaging in Persuasion That Drives Results

Sizing Up the Stakeholders

Identifying stakeholders and their interests

Sharing the credit to give stakeholders a sense of ownership

Clarifying Your Goal and Aligning It with Your Audience

Putting your goals and the needs of your audience in perspective

Setting realistic goals and objectives.

Using Monroe's Motivated Sequence to Structure Your Persuasive Presentation.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781394181162

1394181167

9781394181155

1394181159

OCLC:

1463098873