Business Communication
Writing and presenting clearly at work in the United States: audience and plain language under the Plain Writing Act, the writing process and American conventions, emails and memos, good- and bad-news messages, persuasion and proposals, reports with APA and Chicago citations, accessible visuals under WCAG, the ADA and Section 508, presentations, meetings and multilingual teams, employment communication under EEOC rules, and ethical, legal and AI-assisted communication with privacy law and CAN-SPAM, ending in a portfolio capstone.
BUS-120 Year 1 3 credits 12 lessons · 6 h 17 min
Offered by HSM University · Business Foundations
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain the communication process, diagnose common communication failures and choose channels that match the richness and permanence a message needs.
- Define specific purposes, analyze primary, secondary, gatekeeper and watchdog audiences, and write in plain language consistent with the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
- Plan, draft, revise and proofread business documents with concise, active sentences, an appropriate tone and consistent Canadian or American conventions.
- Write effective emails, instant messages and memos, and measure bulk email performance with delivery, click-through and click-to-open rates.
- Write routine requests, good-news messages, claims, adjustments, apologies and bad-news messages using the direct and indirect patterns.
- Write persuasive messages and business proposals using ethos, logos and pathos, the AIDA pattern, business cases with payback calculations and itemized budgets.
- Plan and write informational and analytical reports with executive summaries, talking headings, weighted decision matrices and sources cited in APA or Chicago style.
- Design readable documents and honest visuals, and make content accessible to WCAG 2.2 Level AA in line with the ADA and Section 508.
- Plan, time, design and deliver presentations in person and online, and handle questions with confidence.
- Run cost-effective meetings, communicate in teams, give feedback and adapt communication across cultures and languages in a multilingual US workforce.
- Prepare targeted résumés, cover letters and interview answers, negotiate offers and apply EEOC guidance and state pay transparency rules to hiring communication.
- Communicate ethically and lawfully with respect to defamation, privacy, CAN-SPAM and records retention, use AI writing tools responsibly and assemble a professional communication portfolio.
Course content
12 lessons · 6 h 17 min total · final exam
- 1 Communication at work 35 min · quiz
- 2 Audience and purpose 33 min · quiz
- 3 The writing process and style 31 min · quiz
- 4 Emails, messages and memos 31 min · quiz
- 5 Routine, positive and negative messages 32 min · quiz
- 6 Persuasive messages and proposals 29 min · quiz
- 7 Business reports 28 min · quiz
- 8 Visual communication and accessibility 27 min · quiz
- 9 Presentations 29 min · quiz
- 10 Meetings, teamwork and cross-cultural communication 32 min · quiz
- 11 Employment communication 35 min · quiz
- 12 Ethical, legal and AI-assisted communication, and capstone: a communication portfolio 35 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Description
Writing and presenting clearly at work in the United States: audience and plain language under the Plain Writing Act, the writing process and American conventions, emails and memos, good- and bad-news messages, persuasion and proposals, reports with APA and Chicago citations, accessible visuals under WCAG, the ADA and Section 508, presentations, meetings and multilingual teams, employment communication under EEOC rules, and ethical, legal and AI-assisted communication with privacy law and CAN-SPAM, ending in a portfolio capstone.
Part of the Business stream, typically taken in year 1.