Kagan Downplays Intelligence for the Masses
The Story
Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court nominee is no dummy, but she's intentionally simplifying her language to avoid an "egghead" stereotype, according to a New York Times article. Apparently, most Americans don't value intelligence in their political candidates and may perceive the super-bright as just plain arrogant.
Discussion Starters
- Watch part of Kagan's opening statement. How successful do you think she was in coming across as a "regular person"?
- How is Kagan's attempt at simple, clear language similar to business writing principles discussed in Chapter 5? How is this example different? (Hint: How do Kagan's audiences differ from business audiences?)
Assignment Ideas
- Find a business report (e.g., an annual report) or presentation (e.g., an investor presentation) online. How appropriate is the communication for the intended audience? Write a memo to the writer or presenter with your assessment about the level of communication.
- Take a fresh look at a report you wrote recently. Imagine you need to send the report to a new audience who is less familiar with the topic. What adjustments would you make in writing style to adapt to this audience?
About / Contact
I started this blog in 2010 because I was spending a lot of time searching for company examples to bring into my classes and wanted to make it easier for other business communication instructors. Students are more engaged and see the relevance of what we teach with real messages from real companies in real time.
About Amy Newman
Since 2004, Amy Newman has been a senior lecturer at Cornell University, College of Business, in the School in Hotel Administration. Prior to her academic experience, Amy worked as an internal manager and external consultant in major corporations, such as Canon, Reuters, Scholastic, and The New York Times. At Cornell, she teaches courses in business writing, persuasive written and oral communication, and corporate communication, including crisis communication. Amy teaches both undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell.
Amy is author of Business Communication, In Person, In Print, Online, 10e, with Cengage Learning. Since 2010, she has maintained a blog, BizCom in the News, to chronicle stories and company examples for instructors to use in their classes. Amy has developed online content in the form of multimedia simulations, video screen captures, self-assessments, and video-based assignments. She also has developed tools for students and industry managers, for example, "How to Feel Confident for a Presentation," to help people manage speech anxiety, and "Communication Planning: A Template for Organizational Change."
Amy has a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Human Development and Family Studies and a master's degree in Human Resources Management from Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York City. She is a director-at-large for the Association for Business Communication, for which she is an annual presenter. In 2015, she won the organization's Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award. In addition, she has won six faculty teaching awards since joining Cornell.
Email: amynewman@cornell.edu
Department of Defense Memo Tries to Fix "Lax," "Sloppy" Media Relations
The Story
Last week, Defense Secretary Gates issued a memo with new rules for how the military should deal with the media. Although Gates denies a connection between this memo and the recent Rolling Stone article that got General Stanley McChrystal fired, Gates says openly that the military has "become too lax, disorganized and in some cases flat-out sloppy in the way we engage with the press..."
Click on the image to download the PDF.
Discussion Starters
- Do you believe this memo is unrelated to the McChrystal situation? Why or why not?
- What impact might this memo have on the news media? How do you think the press might react to this?
- Why would Gates choose a memo instead of another medium for his message? Was this the best choice?
Assignment Ideas
- Analyze Gates' memo according to the principles in Chapters 4 and 5. To what extent does this memo measure up to business writing guidelines?
- Rewrite Gates' memo to reflect the business writing principles in Chapters 4 and 5. What improvements can you make?
Shooting at McDonald's in Finland
The Story
Three people died this week during a shooting incident while on line at McDonald's drive-through in southern Finland. Although McDonald's may not have liability for the situation -- the shooting resulted from an argument between drivers -- this would be considered a crisis situation for the company.
Read the full story.
Discussion Starters
- What is the local McDonald's responsibility during an incident like this? How should management respond?
- Who are McDonald's internal and external consistuencies? How should McDonald's communicate with each after this incident?
- What, if any, action should McDonald's Corporate (in the U.S.) take? How do you see the Finnish store interacting with McDonald's headquarters during this situation?
Assignment Ideas
- Imagine you're the store manager of this McDonald's. Write an email to your manager (probably a regional director for all McDonald's stores in Finland) describing what happened and your response. Consider that your manager may forward this on to the Corporate office.
- As the store manager, write an email to your employees. You'll want to explain what happened, reinforce emergency procedures, and assure employees of store safety.
- As the store manager, imagine that you and Fagerholm, the detective inspector, are planning a news conference about the incident. What will you say to explain what happened and reassure the public that your McDonald's is safe? Write a script and deliver the news conference.
BP Adversary Fakes a Twitter Account
The Story
Someone has been having a lot of fun mocking BP and the oil spill disaster. Posing as BP Public Relations, the writer has over 180,000 followers as of July 2010 (compared to BP's real Twitter page, which has only 16,000).
Source: http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr
Discussion Starters
- How do these tweets affect BP's credibility and its own efforts to manage its reputation?
- Can BP stop this Twitterer? If not, should the company respond in some way? What are the risks of responding?
- How can BP use its own social networking presence to combat this site?
Assignment Ideas
- Address the fake Twitter account. Decide whether you'll write a public news release, write an article for the BP web site, create a video, or respond in some other way. Produce your response.
- Write a recommendation report to BP's lead Twitterer with your analysis of the company's real Twitter page. First, research how to use Twitter successfully. You might look at online articles to start. Next, plan, draft, and revise your report to reflect your analysis: what works well, and what would you suggest the Twitterer change?
- Write a few new tweets for BP's real Twitter page. How would you communicate with people during this crisis?
Student Fabricates Resume
The Story
A student's "life of deception," as reported by the The New York Times, finally caught up with him this week. Adam Wheeler was accepted into Harvard as a transfer student, but the admissions staff missed a few issues: a suspension from Bowdoin, fake reference letters, and plagiarism. The graphics below summarize Wheeler's falsifications on his resume and his claims when applying to three schools.
Click on the graphic to view the PDF. Resume graphic source.
Discussion Starters
- What would lead a student to this level of fakery, which landed him with criminal charges including larceny for accepting $50,000 in financial aid and prizes?
- What is Harvard's responsibility in this situation? What could the admissions staff have done differently?
- How does this situation relate to employment applications? How does this situation compare to that of Jeffrey Chiang, who, a year earlier, lied during his job search and was black listed from many Wall Street firms?
Assignment Ideas
- Take a fresh, objective look at your own resume. During an interview with a sharp recruiter, will you be able to explain and justify all of your claims? Do you need to tone down any examples? Or, on the other hand, are you representing your "best self," as discussed in Chapter 12? Are you unnecessarily downplaying parts of your experience?
- With a partner, practice a couple of interview questions around the items that may be a stretch on your resume. For example, if you included membership in an organization, have your partner ask you about it to see whether you can say enough during an interview to support what you wrote on your resume.
BP Cleans Up (Its Image)
The Story
After the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum tried to repair its reputation, partly with a TV commercial. In this video, you'll see how viewers responded to the message.
Watch the full video at the source: http://mediacurves.com/Politics/BP%20Commercial/.
Discussion Starters
- What principles of persuasive communication (discussed in Chapter 12 ) does BP use in this message?
- In your opinion, is this an effective message? Why or why not?
- Why do you think the viewers reacted positively overall?
- At what points in the video do you see a significant change in viewer opinion? Why do you think people change their perception at these points?
Assignment Ideas
- Write a memo to BP's VP, Advertising, with your analysis of the commercial, based on persuasive communication principles. What works in the commercial? What doesn't?
- Draft a script for a new commercial. How would you communicate BP's message about the oil spill and their commitment going forward?
- Research other PR missteps by BP during this crisis situation. As a communication consultant, write a memo to Tony Hayward with your advice: following the spill, what could he and the rest of the organization have done differently to maintain the company's reputation?