GBS233 Course Requirements

In short, the object of this course is to increase your ability to communicate in writing, orally, and interpersonally in business settings. Your job is to provide a sincere individual effort toward meeting the objectives identified for the course. My job is to assist you toward that accomplishment.

The content of the course will be approximately 50% writing, 25% oral presentation, and 25% interpersonal communication and communication theory. When you do the writing portions, your focus should be on editing your writing to make it more results-oriented and meaningful for your reader.

Every lesson will have a quiz, two checkpoints, and an assignment to help you understand the current content. The quiz will be true/false on the information learned from your "lecture" notes or your textbook. The checkpoints are intended to help your instructor determine if you are progressing well in each lesson in order to give you helpful feedback. The assignment will show what you have learned from the lesson and provide the bulk of your evaluation for the course.

You will write five letters/memos/reports and most will follow this pattern: 1. You will submit a PREP outline based on a case that requires a letter or memo response. 2. You will submit a rough draft of the letter or memo. 3. I will provide feedback to you on content and writing technique. 4. You will submit a final draft of the letter or memo.

Also, you will write a short report in a proposal format. The content of the short proposal report will focus on international business communication concepts. You will need to perform some library research to develop the content for the report. It will probably be two to three pages long.

Finally, you will do two oral presentations. The content of your oral presentations will be drawn from your short report. Here is the oral presentation procedure: 1. You will prepare a proposal outline for the presentation. 2. You will prepare and present your first 5- to 7-minute presentation, using a VHS video camera to record it. 3. I will review the video and provide feedback on your presentation. 4. You will prepare and present an improved version of the same presentation on videotape and send it to me again (please include your name and address with the video)..