Exam Cards

Question 1

If you’re talking and you think your audience isn’t listening you can help your audience listen better by:

Answer 1

breaking in to say, “Hey, let me stop here. Am I being clear in what I’m saying?”

Question 2

Maintaining influence, staying relevant and having an impact on the business are all reasons to:

Answer 2

stay in contact with co-workers and colleagues

Question 3

The sender-encode-message-decode-recipient model and the noise that it may encounter along the way are considered:

Answer 3

linear communication (talking at your audience)

Question 4

Spoken verbal communication can take the form of a meeting or:

Answer 4

a conversation or speech

Question 5

Gestures, facial expressions and eye contact are all considered part of:

Answer 5

nonverbal communication.

Question 6

Why is it not considered a violation of copyright law if you use items the internet for teaching or news reporting?

Answer 6

It’s considered under the “fair use” policy.

Question 7

How far away you stand from someone when you speak is the nonverbal element of:

Answer 7

proximity

Question 8

Eduardo is crafting a communication about his sales team’s recent accomplishment. Investors will probably be interested in seeing it, but it’s meant for his manager and the other people in the sales department. The sales department is:

Answer 8

his primary audience

Question 9

If you’re crafting a communication that will be read and used by a specific group of people, that group is called:

Answer 9

the primary audience.

Question 10

The information you share, the type of language used and the depth of topic are all things you need to consider:

Answer 10

when communicating to your primary audience.

Question 11

Unethical communication:

Answer 11

betrays the trust of your audience

Question 12

Nonverbal elements in communication:

Answer 12

have an impact both on active listening and verbal communication

Question 13

Why does communicating effectively make people better employees?

Answer 13

They deliver results and good customer service.

Question 14

Sharing confidential or privileged information:

Answer 14

is not ethical, and if it’s done by accident it should be corrected right away.

Question 15

The process illustrated in the social communication model:

Answer 15

shows effective communication as a cyclical process.

Question 16

If you fact check your internet research and indicate the sources from which the information came, you are:

Answer 16

being ethical

Question 17

Confirming understanding is a feature of:

Answer 17

spoken communication

Question 18

Not accepting any gifts or payments for communication services from anyone who is not a client or an employer is an example of:

Answer 18

one of the International Association of Business Communicators Code of Ethics

Question 19

Websites and blogs are more one-sided and allow for:

Answer 19

very little feedback in the social communication model

Question 20

People want to engage with the brands they love in new and more personal ways. This attitude is:

Answer 20

affecting the trends of communication, making it difficult to draw a hard line between personal and professional communication.

Question 21

When communicating, one should _______

Answer 21

use the seven principles of effective communication.

Question 22

Asking clarifying questions and minimizing distractions are a part of:

Answer 22

active listening

Question 23

What would be the best way to make this list parallel?

The team’s priorities for the month include the following:

Make updates to the project tracker
Alice and Lowell will send satisfaction surveys to new customers
Editing the new owner’s manual
Thursday meetings

Answer 23

start them all with present-tense verbs

Question 24

Which of the following is the first step to planning your message?

Answer 24

determining whether the receiver will feel positive, negative, or neutral about the message

Question 25

Which of the following is the best placement for the main part of the message (news) in a negative message?

Answer 25

after a buffer statement and reasons for the news

Question 26

Which of the following best describes the importance of pre-writing?

Answer 26

Creating an outline beforehand helps you formulate a topic and solidify ideas.

Question 27

Select which of the following strategies would best improve the clarity of this sentence: It would be advantageous for us to remain cognizant of the problem until the prescribed solution is promulgated to the rest of the staff.

Answer 27

plain words

Question 28

Krista manages ten employees. She calls all ten employees together so she can tell them about a new policy she wants to implement. Which of the following relationships best describes Krista’s communication to her employees?

Answer 28

downward communication

Question 29

Haya wants to ask her boss for a raise. Which of the following relationship best describes Haya’s communication with her boss?

Answer 29

upward communication

Question 30

Which of the following best distinguishes a business memo from a business letter?

Answer 30

memos have subject lines; letters do not

Question 31

Which of the following is a common guideline for business letters, memos, and emails?

Answer 31

no double-spacing

Question 32

You receive an email from your supervisor with this message: “Our Gladstone project’s deadline was just moved up. I know everyone’s busy with other projects, but I need all employees to drop what they’re doing and focus on getting the Gladstone project done as soon as possible.” Which of the following BEST describes your supervisor’s message?

Answer 32

It does not have enough details.

Question 33

Which of the following are two main components of the revision process?

Answer 33

evaluating the content of the message and proofreading

Question 34

Which of the following is the most appropriate subject line for an email?

Answer 34

Please confirm shipping date

Question 35

Which of the following is most likely to result from a message that contains too many irrelevant details?

Answer 35

The message might be too long and might be overlooked by others.

Question 36

Which of the following is a common guideline for business letters, memos, and emails?

Answer 36

ragged right margins

Question 37

Which of the following should you be sure to eliminate in the proofreading step?

Answer 37

run-on sentences

Question 38

Chela was reading through an email she had had her assistant, Jeffery, write up. As she went through the letter, she found several errors in grammar, syntax, and style. Which step of the writing process might she suggest Jeffery spend more time on?

Answer 38

revising the message

Question 39

Which of the following strategies would best improve the clarity of this paragraph: To assemble the product, first line up the holes on part A with the holes on part B. Insert one of the included screws in each hole. Using a #2 Phillips screwdriver, tighten the screws.

Answer 39

lists

Question 40

You send an email to your team about a project’s deadline being moved up. Ten minutes later, you receive an email from one of your employees with the following message: “Can you tell us what the new deadline for the project is? No one on the team knows for sure.” Which of the following is the most likely problem in your last email to your team?

Answer 40

The message did not have enough details.

Question 41

Facebook is a social media application for friends to collect and share information. Why might a business be interested in this public network?

Answer 41

Advertisements and product endorsements

Question 42

The subject line of the email is: “Please provide meal selection for conference.” Which type of external email is this the subject line for?

Answer 42

request

Question 43

Howie knows the student will be disappointed that his text book is out of stock. This is pretty common for this time of year. How should Howie start his email to the student?

Answer 43

Max, Psychology Today is scheduled to arrive on your front porch September 1.

Question 44

Stan spent three months researching the shortest shipping routes for produce in southeast Colorado. Which tool will be the best to make his recommendation to the District Managers?

Answer 44

Using presentation software such as PowerPoint or Prezi

Question 45

Which of the following is the most frequently used communication channel in business today?

Answer 45

email

Question 46

The Employee Satisfaction Team negotiated for months about wearing jeans to the workplace. In the interest of speed, Carlos used the company IM list to quickly get the policy in every employees’ hands. Was this the right choice?

Answer 46

No, company policy should use a formal channel such as document attached to an email.

Question 47

The updated bonus list is signed off by HR. What is the best channel to share it with supervisory personnel?

Answer 47

email

Question 48

Derek is writing an email to a colleague about new research that puts some of their previous work into question. While he is clearly not writing a formal paper, how can he still ensure he attributes the work he summarizes in his email?

Answer 48

He could provide links to the articles he read and summarized.

Question 49

______ is primary data that could be collected to prepare an annual fiscal report for a company.

Answer 49

Financial information

Question 50

To search for the 2018 annual report for Apple, Inc. what would be the best Google search?

Answer 50

Apple, Inc. annual report 2018

Question 51

Nancy is new at research. She will be using library databases. Once she has found a scholarly source, what is a way she can find multiple sources?

Answer 51

Use the bibliography information from the article she found.

Question 52

Clarence needs primary sources for his report. What would qualify as a primary source?

Answer 52

experiment results

Question 53

Brandon is following the seven pillars of information literacy to work on his research paper. So far he has identified a topic and assessed what he knows. What does he need to do next?

Answer 53

Plan out his research.

Question 54

When using a quote or paraphrased text from another source, it’s best to

Answer 54

make a claim and then support your claim with evidence.

Question 55

When writing an internal memo to her statistics research company about maintaining professional integrity, Marissa reminds her employees to always use proper citations but to also protect their clients and themselves from issues by

Answer 55

anonymizing and protecting data.

Question 56

Giselle needs to gather information about the performance and sales of frozen yogurt shops both locally and nationally without spending too much money or time. She should conduct ______

Answer 56

secondary research

Question 57

Videos increase your message’s accessibility because it:

Answer 57

“humanizes” a company and its mission by showing employees at work

Question 58

If you’re communicating a complicated idea or process

Answer 58

A diagram or picture may help communicate the process more easily than trying to write it out

Question 59

When watching a video, hearing impaired audience members can benefit from

Answer 59

Video captioning and transcripts

Question 60

When trying to show a two groups and their properties, and a place where those properties intersect, you might choose a

Answer 60

venn diagram

Question 61

If I’m managing a project for my team and want to keep track of all the different moving pieces, the chart that might best suit me is

Answer 61

A Gantt chart

Question 62

A visual that gives a lot of information on a particular subject is called a(n)

Answer 62

Infographic

Question 63

A line graph is used to

Answer 63

Show the trend in numerical data over time

Question 64

Screen readers will

Answer 64

Do a better job reading tables than they will charts and graphs

Question 65

When choosing colors for your graph, you should

Answer 65

Use a contrasting color to call out a piece of the chart that you want your audience to notice

Question 66

Making sure your images are all consistent and uniform allows you to

Answer 66

“Break pattern” to really draw attention to a specific area

Question 67

“Revenues are decreasing” is an example of

Answer 67

An active chart title

Question 68

The primary purpose of a feasibility report is to:

Answer 68

explore new ideas prior to funding or investment.

Question 69

Which of the following statements describes a formal report?

Answer 69

It is organized by section with headers.

Question 70

Business reports must take stakeholders into consideration because ________.

Answer 70

stakeholders will be affected by the decisions made based on the report.

Question 71

A formal report needs to be carefully reviewed and revised by _

Answer 71

a team of reviewers to individually review and compile edits who then meet and work as a team to ensure continuity throughout the document.

Question 72

Formal reports can be distinguished from informal reports by _____

Answer 72

the length of the report.

Question 73

What is the most important guideline of the “planning” and “revising” steps of an informal report?

Answer 73

That the writing has stayed true to the original purpose of the report.

Question 74

Positive or neutral conclusions would suggest you put the recommendations __

Answer 74

at the beginning of the report.

Question 75

Writing an informal report has three stages which are:

Answer 75

planning, writing, and revising

Question 76

The title page of a formal report should _______

Answer 76

repeat the information from the cover page and add important details.

Question 77

Stakeholders fall into the following three types:

Answer 77

direct, indirect, and remote.

Question 78

Proper spacing, paragraph structure, appropriate headings and ________ are to be included in the formatting of a formal report.

Answer 78

page numbers

Question 79

Formal reports can include business plans, research reports and:

Answer 79

proposals.

Question 80

Informal reports shared internally should be in the form of ______

Answer 80

a memo or email.

Question 81

The body section of a formal report should include a Problem Statement because ______

Answer 81

It describes the reason the report was created.

Question 82

Your formal report should be organized based on ___

Answer 82

the audience.

Question 83

What are the four sections typically included in an informal analytical report?

Answer 83

Introduction, Support or Reasons, Recommendations, and Conclusion.

Question 84

Informal and formal reports are different because:

Answer 84

a formal report goes more deeply into a topic and has more structure.

Question 85

Which of the following statements is true about expense reports?

Answer 85

Expense reports require a breakdown of your business expenses on a company template.

Question 86

Formal reports have a front section that is comprised of:

Answer 86

Cover page, Executive Summary, and Table of Contents.

Question 87

The recommendation section of a formal report that arrives at a negative conclusion should be positioned at the end of the report _______

Answer 87

To allow the audience to benefit from the research and logic offered to reach the same conclusion as you.

Question 88

Liam was so anxious to present the team’s ideas to the Executive Team that after he handed out the copies, he gently stretched the rubber band throughout his presentation. Was this a problem?

Answer 88

Yes, while this may remove tension, it can easily be distracting to the audience.

Question 89

Tamika’s boss told her that putting the speech together about the new time card system would take three elements to get everyone convinced. What three things could he be referring to in terms of composing her speech?

Answer 89

Credibility, Logic, Emotion

Question 90

Which of the following is an example of the best way to ask for audience questions?

Answer 90

“Let’s take 10 minutes here to respond to any urgent questions about our topic.”

Question 91

They say that newspapers are written at a fifth-grade reading level. Most fifth graders do not read the paper. What communication point is being made with this writing level?

Answer 91

It is important to use common language that is easily understood by the audience.

Question 92

Ryan is anxious about his first company speech. Which of the following will help him overcome this anxiety?

Answer 92

Asking a coworker to listen to a run-through of his speech and give constructive comments.

Question 93

“An hour and a half isn’t much time for this topic. Do you suppose we could hold all questions until the final 15 minutes” is an example of what Q&A technique?

Answer 93

Establishing and communicating a time limit

Question 94

Caleb wanted the employees to increase their donations to the company foundation. As he gave the annual report on foundation expenditures and benefits, he added uplifting background music in various places. What techniques of maintaining an audience’s interest is Caleb using?

Answer 94

Senses

Question 95

Jonah begins his speech on the importance of a living will with a memory of his mother when she was 25 years old. After that, he defines a living will. His speech cycles between the progression of his mother’s life and the formation and use of a living will. What technique of keeping an audience’s attention is Jonah using?

Answer 95

Storytelling

Question 96

Chris is speaking to his team about his recent project success. Before he went, he reviewed the project’s Lessons Learned files to ensure he had the details right. Which characteristic of public speaking was Chris focused on?

Answer 96

Confidence

Question 97

When delivering a presentation, your gestures should ________.

Answer 97

be natural and help to emphasize the points you're making, when appropriate

Question 98

The purpose of the 10/20/30 rule is to do which of these?

Answer 98

keep slides cleanly designed and easy to follow for both the presenter and the audience

Question 99

Identifying the purpose of a presentation is important for which of these reasons?

Answer 99

it determines your content and approach in both creating and delivery of the presentation

Question 100

In his marketing job, Jonas creates and delivers a lot of presentations. He has a post-it above his desk with the three important things he wants to remember about every presentation he does. What does the post-it say?

Answer 100

Content! Organization! Delivery!