Deck 7: Crafting Messages for Electronic Media

Question 1

Readers of social media from corporate sites are much more comfortable with business messages in this setting as long as these messages are consistent in tone with the corporation's 'branding' and that the messages are neutral: that is,they don't come from the personality of a single person but rather the impersonality of a corporate entity.This is what makes a corporation trustworthy in the eyes of the audience.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

IM is a great way to have a written business conversation [one of nine 'compositional modes']

Answer 2

True

Question 3

When writing content for social media remember that while it is effective as a form of conversation.as a business communication tool it mostly is to be used for delivering a sales pitch or strong promotional information.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

"Teasers" can be valuable but are not considered one of the nine compositional modes.

Question 5

When using social media for comments and critiques [one of nine 'compositional modes'] it is best to clearly and simply explain your point - which requires large chunks of information because of the many kinds of people,with different reading levels,having access to this kind of information.

Question 6

Video podcasts are often called 'vidcasts' or 'vodcasts'.

Question 7

If you wish your communication to stand out from the flood of electronic messages a printed document will often be more readily noticed.

Question 8

Tutorials are part of the community nature of social media and are also one of the nine 'compositional modes'.

Question 9

Reference material,while important,is not considered to be one of the nine 'compositional modes'.

Question 10

Some advantages of social networks being used by businesses are: speedy transmission of low cost,sophisticated,and interactive messages able to reach a broad audience.

Question 11

When Petro-Canada decided,starting in 2006,to communicate with its employees about gas prices and other company-specific information,it was significant because for the first time a petroleum products company used all of its employees to communicate with all the other employees in a systematic way.

Question 12

Twitter is considered a micro-blog.

Question 13

Orientations [one of nine 'compositional modes'] indicate where key points of information are located without given the audience the key points specifically.

Question 14

Summaries [one of nine 'compositional modes'] give the key points while skipping the details and are available at the beginning of an article or webpage.

Question 15

Status updates and announcements [one of nine 'compositional modes'] are frequently used in social media.

Question 16

When you need a permanent,unchangeable,or secure record,it is always best to use a secure digital (electronic)transmission rather than a printed letter or memo.

Question 17

A colourful and well-formatted strong digital message is always better than a printed document to make a formal impression on such occasions as sending congratulations or condolences.

Question 18

Storytelling,while important,is not a compositional mode because it is very informal.

Question 19

IM usage rivals email in many companies.

Question 20

If any of the following are NOT true please answer this question as 'False':
• Social networks are used to gather market intelligence.
• Social networks are used to find new employees and business partners.
• Social networks are used to integrate new employees.
• Social networks are used to assemble teams.
• Social networks are used to solve problems.

Question 21

To engage your audience's attention in your email,you should make it stand out by using different font styles,different font colours,and different colours of background.

Question 22

The subject lines of email messages are not as important as the introduction and,in fact,can be left blank for internal email messages.

Question 23

It is best to always start your own conversation 'threads' online rather than join in on a conversation that is already taking place - to ensure that everything is stated correctly for all to see and because you will have more control over the conversation that develops.

Question 24

In email today,"bcc" means "blind courtesy copy" and the great accessibility feature of this is that a blind recipient who receives this special coded copy will automatically have the email read back to them on their computers.

Question 25

If any of the following are NOT true please answer this question as 'False':
• Social networks are used to prepare for major meetings and events.
• Social networks are used to maintain business relationships.
• Social networks are used to find potential customers.
• Social networks are used to share information.
• Social networks are used to bypass formal communication channels to deliver information in a timely way to interested parties.

Question 26

It is important,in business emails,to adjust the level of formality to match the message and the audience.

Question 27

Because of the speed of IM it is often considered to be more urgent than many other forms of communication.

Question 28

Community Q&A sites are more trouble than they're worth because since anyone can answer questions posted by other visitors the entire site can quickly spiral out of control.

Question 29

Many businesses are replacing email with instant messaging and other tools that provide better support for instant communication.

Question 30

There is no better place than a social media conversation thread to put your strong 'sales' message and most persuasive arguments for the value of your product or service.

Question 31

A signature file with additional contact information,automatically pasted into your email,doesn't save you time and doesn't really help your reader but it is only used,in this digital era of business,to show that you are a professional communicator.

Question 32

Your email,once sent,exists somewhere forever so it is important to never include anything in it that,if ever circulated,could embarass you in the future.

Question 33

In an era of Instant Messaging,Twitter,and social networks,email may appear to be old fashioned and out of step with business communication practices.

Question 34

Printed letters are the still the most common medium for formal internal business communication.

Question 35

The "cc" field in email means "courtesy copy".

Question 36

When people receive an email where it is not clear what you want from them,when you want it,and why they will actually be tempted to ignore your message completely.

Question 37

Your email will be more effective if you email a complaint straight to the top person in your company because it will cut down on forwarding and copying your messages throughout the chain of command.

Question 38

Email should have lots of white space that makes it look easier to read so short paragraphs and double spacing between the paragraphs is expected.

Question 39

Just like in IM and micro-blogging,it is always appropriate to use abbreviations like IMHO and LOL in effective business emails no matter who your audience is because it saves space and makes the email shorter.

Question 40

It is always most effective to send one email to a person with as many topics as you need to discuss with them to reduce the clutter in their inbox and to maximize their time once you have their attention .

Question 41

If you and someone else are replying back and forth based on the same original email,you should always use the exact same subject line with each new email response.

Question 42

When it comes to writing messages in today's business environment,_________________

A)printed letters are obsolete.
B)printed letters are still used often for external communication.
C)email has completely replaced printed memos for all internal communication.
D)electronic messages have no weight in a court of law.

Question 43

One advantage of blogging for business is that it makes it easy to stand out from the crowd.

Question 44

Leaving the subject line out on important email messages will spark your audience's curiosity and increase their desire to read your email.

Question 45

Unlike other business presentations,podcasts require little planning and are most effective when delivered impromptu.

Question 46

Email can be used for external communication _____________

A)regularly-it is now a primary medium for most companies.
B)only for formal documents that you need to keep a record of.
C)in response to letters your customers have sent.
D)only in very informal corporate cultures.

Question 47

"Spim" is the term used to describe the IM version of email spam.

Question 48

Spelling,punctuation,and grammar do not matter in email;getting your message out quickly should be your only concern.

Question 49

An effective email subject line is very short and describes only the general topic of the message.

Question 50

Tagging the contents of your blog makes it easy for audiences to read everything you've written on a specific subject.

Question 51

Blogs are useful in business for communicating during a company crisis.

Question 52

Set the message priority to "urgent" for all the emails you send-it is the only way to make sure everyone will read them.

Question 53

In a court of law,email messages can have the same weight as more traditional printed documents.

Question 54

A popular Microblogging tool is _________

A)Digg.
B)Twitter.
C)Vimeo.
D)Flickr.

Question 55

One way to make your podcast more effective in business is to create a blog that contains similar content.

Question 56

It is safe to assume that the usual standards and expectations of business communication do not apply to email.

Question 57

If you do not frequently have new information to post,a traditional website may be more effective than a blog for your business.

Question 58

One drawback of current blogging software is that it takes a great deal of time to post new material.

Question 59

Compared to email,instant messaging _____________

A)is slower and more complicated to use.
B)has not caught on in the business community.
C)is much faster,but more costly as well.
D)offers greater speed and is able to mimic conversation more closely.

Question 60

Compared to email and phone calls,IM is seen as less costly.

Question 61

To make an email more readable do all of the following except _____________

A)limit the subject line to describing the general topic of your message.
B)make your message easy to follow.
C)personalize your message.
D)observe email etiquette.

Question 62

Many businesses now use ___________ to keep project teams up to date,inform employees about general business matters,and provide customer support.

A)social networking software
B)bots
C)blogs
D)all of the above.

Question 63

When you want your message to stand out amidst the flood of electronic messages your audience receives,you should ______________________

A)consider sending a printed message.
B)flag your email messages as "high priority" or "urgent."
C)send multiple copies of the same email message.
D)consider sending an IM.

Question 64

Podcasts are _____________

A)great for entertainment,but not useful in business.
B)helpful for training in business,but not much else.
C)too technical to be practical for business use.
D)none of the above.

Question 65

Email hygiene refers to _____________

A)the absence of slang and informal language in email messages.
B)a nationwide movement to do away with information overload.
C)all the efforts companies make to keep email clean and safe.
D)the practice of using etiquette when composing email messages.

Question 66

"Spim" refers to _____________

A)unwanted email from unknown sources.
B)email that contains computer viruses.
C)the IM version of email spam.
D)none of the above.

Question 67

When exchanging multiple emails with someone on the same topic _____________

A)use the same subject line to avoid confusion.
B)write a descriptive kind of subject line.
C)periodically modify the subject line.
D)change the topic whenever the date changes but not before.

Question 68

Compared to blogs,podcasts are _____________

A)much easier to edit.
B)more difficult to edit.
C)equally challenging when it comes to editing.
D)none of the above.

Question 69

The subject line of an email message _____________

A)is an option rarely used in business.
B)helps recipients decide whether or not to read the message.
C)should do nothing more than describe the general topic of the message.
D)should be mysterious enough to make the audience want to read the message.

Question 70

Drawbacks of IM include the _____________

A)challenge of logging messages for later review and archiving.
B)need for users to learn complicated software.
C)ability to use it only on expensive,highly specialized devices.
D)need to learn how to use complicated hardware.

Question 71

"Viral marketing" is _____________

A)the unethical practice of marketing products through computer viruses.
B)advertising products and services related to the health-care industry.
C)spreading the word about your company and products in much the same way that biological viruses are spread from person to person.
D)the process of creating computer viruses to promote your company's anti-virus protection software.

Question 72

When it comes to blogging for business,_____________

A)don't worry about proofreading-your audience doesn't expect it.
B)you should apply the three-step writing process as you would for any other business message.
C)don't spend a lot of time trying to define your audience: you're writing for everyone.
D)it is less important to post new material frequently.

Question 73

Which of the following is an example of an effective email subject line?

A)Website redesign is falling behind schedule
B)Status Report
C)Employee Parking
D)Please read

Question 74

Advantages of using IM rather than email include _____________

A)lower cost than phone calls and email.
B)availability on a wide range of devices.
C)its ability to mimic conversation more closely.
D)all of the above.

Question 75

When it comes to legal issues,_____________

A)email messages mean nothing-only printed documents can be used in court.
B)email and other electronic documents have the same weight as printed ones.
C)your email messages are off limits-using them in court would violate your privacy.
D)none of the above.

Question 76

Using email in the workplace _____________

A)requires no more formality than using it for personal correspondence.
B)is frowned upon by most executives.
C)requires higher expectations of quality than for personal messages.
D)is a good idea but only in technological fields.

Question 77

One of the greatest drawbacks of using podcasts in business is the _____________

A)costly,specialized equipment you'll need to purchase regardless of the production quality you want.
B)increased difficulty of editing your material.
C)challenge of scanning back and forth to find specific parts of the message.
D)all of the above.

Question 78

Which of the following is an example of an effective subject line for an email requesting information about an upcoming staff meeting?

A)Information needed
B)Meeting
C)Please send staff meeting agenda items
D)What will be covered?

Question 79

To minimize the potential problems associated with email many companies have _____________

A)abandoned the use of email altogether.
B)adopted formal email policies governing appropriate usage.
C)stopped monitoring the messages employees send and receive.
D)limited the number of messages employees can send each day.

Question 80

Many businesses are now using podcasts to replace or supplement _____________

A)letters.
B)memos.
C)conference calls.
D)email.