Business Communication, Third Edition

Key Concept Exercises

SQ1 How should you analyze and plan a bad-news message? (pages 186–189)

1. 1 Ask questions that help you develop content

   Assume you manage a video processing lab where customers bring in old home movies and have them transferred to DVDs. Yesterday, a long-time client brought in a video of her daughter’s wedding. She plans to pick up the DVD in two weeks after she returns from vacation. Today, one of your employees accidentally damaged the videotape and all your efforts to retrieve the data have failed. Answer these questions:

   1. What is the bad news?

   2. What business result do you want to achieve in communicating it?

   3. How will the audience react to this information?

   4. How do you want the audience to respond?

   5. What justification and ...