COMM 1000: Module 7: Proffessional Communication

In Class: Professional Communication

Date: 3/9/2026


What is professional communication?

Engaging in successful, appropriate, and beneficial interactions across a variety of professional contexts

  • Effective way of communication

– Interviewing

– Relational Communication

– Written Documents

– Presentational Speaking (public speaking)

– Mediated Communication


Why study this?

  • Professional contexts are increasingly varied and increasingly competitive (job sector - need to stand out in the right way with good communication skills)

  • Being a strong communicator immediately sets you apart from other applicants and employees

  • Identifying weaknesses in our communication helps to lower stress, increase productivity, and improve work experiences



Nerves are normal

  • Communication Apprehension: An individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons (McCroskey, 1982)


→ Types: Trait (diagnosed w/anxiety or have), Context-Based (format of our communication), Audience-Based (change the communication as well - can make apprehension), Situational (if there is an emergency)


→ Causes: Novelty, formality, subordinate status, peer evaluation, dissimilarity(fight/flight response when people are not similar with you), prior history (trauma baring itself when returning to that situation)




Interviewing

Tips
Preparing

  • Congratulations! Put your best foot forward

  • Anticipating Questions; behavioral (open-ended) and traditional (why do you want to work here?)

During the interview

  • Maintain professionalism at all times (signaling posture, voice)

  •  Monitor your nonverbals (nervous face - do not want this)

  •  Stay positive and stay flexible 

  • Don’t ramble ; do smile

After the interview

  •  Thank the interviewer(s); then send a thank you note 

  •  Provide any requested information immediately (attentive + a good coworker)




Workplace relations


Communicating with superiors

  • Ingratiation: Kissing up to your boss (you are a great boss!)

  •  Advocacy: Using messages that align with your boss’s needs (certain priorities - focus on the main stuff that boss wants ; what matters to you matters to me)

Communicating with coworkers

  • Meets both Task and Social needs (building bonds)

  • Relationships can grow intense with proximity and time

  •  Be careful: Romance at work; Appropriateness & TMI 

  •  Have a professional ethos: polite, timely, focused, positive (tends to go well when done in interactions)


Communicating with customers

  •  Quick responses, careful listening, customer-focused

  • We have a lot more to lose than the customer - be careful when lashing out

  • Difficult customers require patience, good decision-making




Professional Writing 


Strong, coherent message structure

  • Know what you’re trying to say, accomplish

  •  Clear organization (outlines can help)


Know your audience and tailor to them

  • About receiver and what they want to receive 

  • What’s their investment? Level of understanding?

  • Interest?


Do the little things

  • Avoid typos, misspellings, grammatical errors

  • Strong layouts, clear fonts, use whitespace

  • When and how to use AI: Sometimes it makes up stuff that isn’t true 


Presenting: A few key tips


Do you research

  • Do research on the topic beforehand 

  • If flow is throwed off and they might not be able to think something on the spot

  • Know enough about the topic so you can talk about it confidently


Settle down 

  • Calm down nerves - interact with people ; stop worrying so much about yourself


What happens first

  • Set the tone: what happens first matters ; opening matters 

  • Primacy effect: first exposure matters


Owning the room

  • Own the room, use the space - moving around a little 

  • Nonverbal reciprocity motivates speaker


Don’t forget the visuals

  • Visual aids have to look good

  • Make the slides compelling 

  • Use media as a quick time out 



What happens last

  • What happens at the end is also critical too

  • Circling around to end smoothly

  • “Thank you” can also end a speech - nonverbal communication


Be a storyteller

  • Use context! 





Video Lecture: Organizational Communication

  • We are all part of an organization (club, business, schools)

  • Root itself in thinking about systems


Organization Culture

  • A continuum from Traditional to Innovative

  • The Whole of an organization’s behavior patterns

  • Involves multiple components

→ Individualism:individuals themselves/Collectivism: as a group

→ Power Distance: How far away from leadership does every person in the organization think they are?

→ Dominance: How people communicate - dominate and control OR fluid/open?

→ Time: How do we use/prioritize time?

→ Uncertainty Avoidance: Situations where we are not sure what's going on.. Strong effort to be clear/not worrying if not on track



Deal and Kennedy’s Culture types

  • Thought about how different organizations shape their cultures based on how fast/slow you get feedback about performance

  • Or high/low it is to hit your wagon to this organization (low or high risk situation)

→ Work hard/play hard: Fast feedback speed, but low risk endevor (sales orientated business - the employees don’t take a ton of risks but feedback = nearly immediate ; bringing in money) → individualist enviroment

→ Tough guy, macho: Feedback speed is fast ; degree of risk = high (might get fired time= money) - culture in entertainment, sports, or advertising

→ Process: feedback speed is slow, degree of risk = low ; retail companies, banks, insurance, university work setting → slow culture (takes years to see if someone has made a success or not..)

→ Bet your company: feedback speed is slow, but the degree of risk = high ; pharmacutietical sales, oil companies → lot of $ to sell a product/successful - takes a while to pull it off

All four of these cultures tend to materialize differently based on the circumstances in which people are doing the work - beahvior can be shaped by tone + environment based on culture


Communication in organizations

  • Command function: Tell people what to do using communication

  • Relational function: Connect one another and form bonds whether for professional purposes/personal purposes

  • Ambiguity-Managemet Function: Things in various organizations that some people need to know while others do not need to know ; open book or not.. ; key part of teaching


Organizational Communication Patterns

  • Upward communication: Employees and subordinates give management information for decision making - can use to make operation better

 1)relieve employee frustration 

2)enhance a sense of participation

 3)allows gage whether it is effective 

4)suggest better uses

  • Downward communication: Supervisors give direction to the workers - give a due date

  • Horizontal communication: Talk to our peers - task coordinating, solving problems, forming long term relationships w/people in shared enviroment 



Communication networks

  • Wheel: Leader operates in the middle and everybody in the organization gets information directly from leader 

  • Chain: Military (chain of command) - chain of formal commands: so the person at the highest point of the network shares information down, share down to report to them → linear network

  • All-channel: Everyone can and does interact together 



Rumors

  • Leveling, sharpening, assimilation 

  • Leveling: as people retell the rumor/story - they reduce details to be efficient

  • Sharpening: As we tell storys, we impart our own opinions to say what is important

  • Assimilation: Sometimes our brain distort the actual rumor itself

  • Two purposes: self serving: share a rumor where we benefit ourselves ; group serving: try to get other people to think



Organizational Change

  • Communication in organizations lead to prompt change - failure of organization communication 

  • Senstative to changes: ripple effects 




Video Lecture: Leadership


“Great Leaders Make you Feel Safe!” - Simon Sinek

  • An organization is very much similar to a tribe ; looked out for one another - communicate, thrive, feeling supported



Good Leader

  • Has the skills such as inspiration + intergrity

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

  • Focus on the interactions between leaders and followers that shape an organization’s culture

  • Leaders and members have relationships

  • These relationships affect how subordinates behave and perform in the organization

Communication Accomidation Theory

  • We adjust our communication style when interacting with other people

  • Convergence: changes to mirror interaction partners

  • Divergence: changes to highlight differences


Four Framework Approach



“Successful leaders, we have found, are great askers. And they do pay attention.” Bennis & Nanus, 1985