COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus

Defence Road, Off Raiwind Road, Lahore

COURSE HANDBOOK
1 Course Title Business Communication Workshop
2 Course Code HUM 200
3 Credit Hours 3(3,0)
4 Semester Spring 2019
5 Resource Person Samar Kamal Fazli
6 Supporting Team Members Will be informed later
7 Contact Hours (Theory) 3 hours per week
8 Contact Hours (Lab) Not Applicable
9 Office Hours
10 Course Introduction
This course intends to help students develop a positive, constructive and practical
approach to successful written and oral communication in business and professional
settings. This course will familiarize the students with various aspects of effective
communication. The course will enable the students to understand the nature of
communication problems and find appropriate solutions for them.
11 Learning Objectives

The major learning objectives of the course are as follows:

a. The students will be able to understand the importance of becoming an effective

business communicator in today’s changing workplace. The students will be able to
understand the nature of communication problems with special emphasis on listening
and find appropriate solution for them.
b. The students will be able to understand, select, and use various communication
channels in vogue in the work place like verbal and nonverbal channels realized
through writing, face-to-face communication, telephone calls, e-mail etc.
c. The students will be able to identify and implement three phases of the writing
process. They shall also be able to scrutinize sentences for certain characteristics like
conciseness, readability, parallelism, and active-voice expression. They shall know
the qualities of good business writing like “you” attitude; familiar, positive, inclusive
and plain English.
d. The students will be able to understand how to use emails safely and effectively.
They shall be able to write procedure, instruction, and information e-mails and
memos messages.
e. The students will be able to write different types of letters such as routine and
goodwill messages, persuasive messages, and bad-news messages.
f. The students will be able to understand how to plan and participate in productive
business and professional meetings.
g. The students will be able to prepare and analyze effective oral presentations
including specific techniques for gaining and keeping audience attention,
organizational strategies to help them develop the body of a presentation, suggestions
for concluding a talk including effective wording, strategies for designing and using
visual aids.
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 h. The students will be able to understand communication for employment. They shall
learn to develop Résumés and Job Application Letters and to prepare for employment
Interviewing.
12 Course Contents
The module is designed to familiarize the student with various aspects of effective
communication, writing and presentation skills. It will educate them about core communication
skills as well as business writing concepts. Students will learn about various types of audiences
and the ability to choose and execute appropriate strategy for a successful communication. The
learners are also expected to understand the purpose and relevance of business communication in
the backdrop of the present age of globalization and technology.
13 Lecture/Lab Schedule
Weeks Topic of Lecture Reading Assignment
Week 1 Introduction to Business Communication Chapter 1, Pages 2-33
 The Communication process Guffey & Loewy
 Communication at the workplace
 Verbal and Nonverbal communication
 Barriers in both verbal and nonverbal
communication
 Impact of non-verbal communication in
building a professional image
 How culture affects communication?

Activity: Non-Verbal Language Impact on

Communication
Week 2 Listening Skills Chapter 14, Pages 365–
 The characteristics of listening 379, Lahiff & Penrose
 Keys to effective listening
 Overcoming listening barriers
 The Active listening concept

Activity: Listening Model

Week 3 Business Writing –I Chapter 2, page 36 – 57

 The three step writing process Guffey & Loewy
 Pre-writing Activities
 Analyzing the purpose for writing and audience

Week 4 Business Writing –II Chapter 3, page 58 – 78

 Improving writing techniques Guffey & Loewy
 Researching
 Organizing data
 Effective sentences

Week 5 Business Writing -III Chapter 4, pages 82 –

102
 Revising and proofreading the drafts Guffey & Loewy
 The advantages of writing in reader friendly
English. (Concise wording, Precise verbs)

Activity: Writing Assignment

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Week 6 E-Mails and Memorandums Chapter 5, Pages 104 –
 E-mail messages 138,Guffey& Loewy
 Their Importance
 Dangers of using e-mail messages haphazardly
 Internet ethics
 Memos: format, types

Activity: Email Etiquettes (Discussion)

Week 7 Preparing Business Letters Chapter 6, Pages 142 –
 The five planning steps for a message 174,Guffey& Loewy
 How to write effective business letters
 Neutral letters
 Goodwill letters

Week 8 Preparing Business Letters Chapter 8, Pages 212 –

Persuasive messages 242,Guffey& Loewy
Sales letters

Week 9 Preparing Business Letters Chapter 07, Pages 178 –

 Negative replies 210, Guffey& Loewy
 Bad news letters

Activity: Seminar
Week 10 Applying For a Job Chapter 13, Pages 404 –
CV/ Resume Writing: 446, Guffey & Loewy
 Types of résumé, characteristics of CV writing,
organization / formats, common problems in
CV writing
Covering Letter:
 Searching for a position, evaluating yourself,
writing a good job application

Activity: CV Writing Workshop

Week 11 Employment Interviews Chapter 14, Pages 450–

 Types of interviews 481 Guffey & Loewy
 Types of questions
 Preparation for interviews
 During interview strategies

Activity: Mock Interview

Week 12 Interpersonal Communication Chapter 11, Pages 334 –

 Face-to-face communication 347,Guffey& Loewy
 Communicating on phone
 Communication styles of different people
 Ethics of workplace communication

Activity: Group Discussion on

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 Communication Barriers

Week 13 Conducting Meetings Chapters 18, Pages 444 –

 Determining the purpose 462, Lahiff & Penrose
 Conducting a structured meeting
 Communication skills that achieve results
 Communication barriers
 Writing minutes of the meetings

Activity: Simulated Meetings in Class

Week 14 Preparing Effective Presentations Chapter 12, Pages 365 –

 How to prepare good presentations (creating 400, Guffey & Loewy
appropriate visuals)
 Audience analysis and motivation
 Conducting mock presentations and interviews
 Judging their level of confidence
 Critically analyzing their own presentations and
interviews
Oral Communication
 Speech
 Tone
 Accent
 Pronunciation
 Pauses
 Intonation
 Eye contact

Week 15 Students’ Presentations-I Not Applicable

&
Students’ Presentations-II
Week 16 Critique and Problem Solving Session Not Applicable
14 Course Assessment
The assessment of this module shall have following breakdown structure

First Sessional Test 10%

Second Sessional Test 15%
Quizzes 10%
Assignments 15%
Terminal Examination 50%
Total 100%

The minimum pass marks for each course shall be 50%. Students obtaining less than 50% marks
in any course shall be deemed to have failed in that course.

17. Text Book Essentials of Business Communication (9th Edition) by Marry

Ellen Guffey, Dana Loewy, CENGAGE Learning.
18. Reference Books 1.Business Communication Today (9th Edition) by Courtland
Bovee, John V Thill and MukeshChaturvedi

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 ISBN 978-81-317-2120-9

2. Business Communication, Strategies and Skills by Lahiff

and Penrose, Prentice Hall.

3. Technical Writing and Professional Communication

(International Edition) by Thomas N. Huckin and Leslie A.
Olsen, International Edition, McGraw-Hill.
14. Plagiarism
Plagiarism involves the unacknowledged use of someone else’s work, usually in coursework, and
passing it off as if it were one’s own. Many students who submit apparently plagiarised work
probably do so inadvertently without realising it because of poorly developed study skills,
including note taking, referencing and citations; this is poor academic practice rather than
malpractice.

Plagiarism can include the following:

1. collusion, where a piece of work prepared by a group is represented as if it were the
student’s own;
2. commission or use of work by the student which is not his/her own and representing it as
if it were, e.g.:
a. purchase of a paper from a commercial service, including internet sites, whether
pre-written or specially prepared for the student concerned
b. submission of a paper written by another person, either by a fellow student or a
person who is not a member of the university;
3. duplication (of one’s own work) of the same or almost identical work for more than one
module;
4. the act of copying or paraphrasing a paper from a source text, whether in manuscript,
printed or electronic form, without appropriate acknowledgement (this includes quoting
directly from another source with a reference but without quotation marks);
5. submission of another student’s work, whether with or without that student’s knowledge
or consent;
6. Directly quoting from model solutions/answers made available in previous years;
7. cheating in class tests, e.g.
a. when a candidate communicates, or attempts to communicate, with a fellow candidate
or individual who is neither an invigilator or member of staff
b. copies, or attempts to copy from a fellow candidate
c. attempts to introduce or consult during the examination any unauthorised printed or
written material, or electronic calculating, information storage device, mobile phones
or other communication device
d. personates or allows himself or herself to be impersonated.
8. Fabrication of results occurs when a student claims to have carried out tests, experiments
or observations that have not taken place or presents results not supported by the evidence
with the object of obtaining an unfair advantage.
These definitions apply to work in whatever format it is presented, including written work,
online submissions, groupwork and oral presentations.
15. Attendance Policy
Every student must attend 80% of the lectures/seminars delivered in this course.