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Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence, Canadian Edition, 2nd edition

Published by Pearson Canada (July 29, 2021) © 2022

  • Barbara Shwom Northwestern University
  • Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder North Carolina A&T State University
  • Liz Clarke Centennial College

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For courses in business communications.

Effective communication in business practices

Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence helps students achieve the highest level of professionalism when conducting business. With a clear communication model that helps students professionally analyze and react to any sort of business situation, this text stresses the importance of etiquette in successful entrepreneurial practices.

The skills needed for successful and professional business communication have never been more important than they are now. At the time of this writing, the concept of a "global" workplace has become the new normal. Meetings are happening virtually. Many professionals and entry level hires are working and learning from home. There is no longer a clear structure or routine to the everyday workplace, making optimal business communication a true asset. How can instructors harness and instill the experience, poise, and confidence to navigate this complex environment within their students?

Hallmark Learning Features

  • @ Work Business Profiles. The “@ Work” sections in the Canadian Edition highlight contemporary business professionals who are implementing the core concepts of each chapter. Each chapter opens with a real-life problem scenario, and each chapter closes with a solution that includes the implementation of ACE as well as core chapter concepts.
  • Ethics, Technology and Culture. As you move through the book, you will see the topics of ethics, technology, and culture integrated throughout. In addition, some chapters provide in-depth focus on these topics. To build your skills in ethics, technology, and culture, you will also find end-of-chapter exercises that challenge you to think critically about these topics.
  • Learning Objectives Summary. The end-of-chapter “Learning Objectives in Review” and “Developing Your Communication Skills” are also grouped by both the learning objectives and the subheadings. This structure helps you focus on the key points of the chapter, assess what you know, and complete exercises that polish your skills.
  • ACE. At the heart of the book is a flexible communication process called ACE, which stands for Analyzing, Composing, and Evaluating. ACE applies to any situation, from simple email messages to formal business presentations. As you go through the book, you continue to acquire knowledge about how to apply this framework and why it is important.

New and updated features of this title

  • As the world shifts to a greater reliance on digital media, it is appropriate that this text evolves as well. This second edition is the first fully digital version of Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence. Instructors and students will find that, although the medium has changed, the content is fully consistent with the prior edition.
  • Updated sources and research across all chapters. The audience(s) for business communication are fluid, dynamic, and mobile. Technology options are changing rapidly. The most current sources for information have been consulted and their expertise added to each chapter.
  • Updated and expanded information on respectful language for LGBTQ audiences. As diversity becomes normalized, learning to address and collaborate across multiple gender identities and orientations becomes more critical.
  • Updated and expanded information on expectations within Indigenous cultures and communities. This book acknowledges the presence of Indigenous peoples within the business community and provides some basic guidance on what to expect and how to adjust one’s etiquette to build, rather than damage, relationships.
  • Updated and refreshed end-of-chapter exercises across all chapters. Looking for ideas, activities or exercises for students? Look no further than the end of each chapter. Creative, current, and thoughtful collections of relevant questions and exercises are on-point and designed to engage students in reflective and challenging activities.

Important Digital Assets in MyLab Business Communication

  • Business Communication Simulation: Diversity and Communication. The Business Communication simulation on diversity provides you with a risk-free experiential setting to practice and apply theory while developing the skills you need to be successful in the workplace. The simulation can be added to your course at no cost to you or your students. Contact your Pearson sales rep if you are interested in implementing the simulation for your course.
  • Dynamic Study Modules. Using the latest developments in cognitive science, Dynamic Study Modules help students study chapter topics by adapting to their performance in real time. As a result, students build the confidence they need to deepen their understanding, participate meaningfully, and perform better — in and out of class.
  • Interactive Lesson Presentations. Pearson's Interactive Lesson Presentations for Business Communication are engaging and interactive digital modules that help you master the core concepts of your course. Created by subject matter experts and credentialled instructional designers, these Interactive Lesson Plans incorporate the latest findings in learning design to promote a top-quality learning experience.
  1. Becoming a successful Business Communicator
  2. Managing the Communication Process: Analyzing, Composing, Evaluating
  3. Who Am I? Understanding Interpersonal Communication Styles
  4. Who Are You? Understanding Intercultural Communication and Workplace liersity
  5. What Are the Tools and What Are the Rules? Communication Technologies in the Workplace
  6. How Can We Be Better, Together? Collaboration and Productivity
  7. Communicating Routine and “Bad News” Messages
  8. Communicating Persuasive Messages
  9. Finding and Evaluating Business Information
  10. Preparing Business Reports and Proposals
  11. Preparing and Delivering Business Presentations
  12. Communicating Your Professional Brand: Social Media, Resumés, Cover Letters, and Interviews
  13. Appendix A Formats for Business Documents 
  14. Appendix B Documentation and Reference Styles

Barbara Shwom, PhD, is Professor of Instruction in Writing at Northwestern University, where she teaches in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, and McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. For more than 30 years, she has designed and taught communication courses that have influenced this textbook, including Writing in Organizations, Communicating Complex Data, Engineering Design and Communication, and How to Become an Expert in Roughly 10 Weeks. 

Professor Shwom's teaching at Northwestern has been recognized by both an outstanding teacher award and an appointment as a fellow of Northwestern's Searle Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning. Professor Shwom has gained industry experience as the managing principal of Communication Partners, a consulting practice that works with clients from a range of industries, including biotechnology, high tech research and development, pharmaceuticals, management consulting, market research, financial services, engineering, and consumer products. 

Professor Shwom's research interests include evolving genres of business communication, visual communication of data, and methods of persuasion. In addition to many articles, she is also the coauthor of a textbook on graphics and visual communication for managers. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Association for Business Communication and the editorial review board of Business and Professional Communication Quarterly and has served as president for both the Association for Business Communication and the Association of Professional Communication Consultants.

Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder, PhD, is a Professor and the Chairperson of the Department of Business Education in the College of Business and Economics at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. She earned a doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she also received a master's degree in Business Education. Her Bachelor's in Business Education is from Northern Michigan University.

Dr. Snyder is widely published in journals such as, The Business Communication Quarterly, Journal of Business Communication, Business Education Digest, The Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, and NABTE Review. She regularly presents sessions on business communication and instructional practices at local, regional, and national professional development events, workshops, and conferences. Dr. Snyder received the Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teacher Award from the Association for Business Communication, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Business Education program at Bowling Green State University. She also has received the Innovative Instructional Practices Award from Delta Pi Epsilon, the Distinguished Service Award from the Ohio Business Teachers Association, and the Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award from both the North Carolina Business Education Association and the Southern Business Education Association.

Dr. Snyder is the 2018 President of the Association for Business Communication and has served as the National President of the Association for Research in Business Education, the Research Coordinator for the National Association for Business Teacher Education, and the Past-Chair of the Policies Commission for Business and Economic Education. She is also actively involved with the National Business Education Association.

Liz Clarke, MBA, has been a full-time faculty member at the Business School, Centennial College, since August 2000. Over the last 20 years, Professor Clarke has focused on emerging educational and business technologies as well as trends in business communications across a variety of both graduate and undergraduate programs and courses. In 2014, she represented Centennial College at the coveted biennial CASE (Canadian Academics Studying Europe) conference. Hosted by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland, CASE 2014 concentrated on European law, banking, governance, and migration and took place in Paris, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Zurich, and Olten. In 2012, Professor Clarke was nominated—by her students— for Centennial College's prestigious Wicken Teaching Excellence Award.

Professor Clarke has over 30 years' experience working with clients in a wide range of industries, including research, financial services, information technology (IT), supply chain and logistics, and education, including the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Ontario College of Art and Design, Armstrong Partnership LP, CIBC, the Canadian Urban Transit Association, and the Toronto Region Research Alliance. She is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Professor Clarke holds a Master of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, where she graduated with Dean's List Honours. She completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree at Brock University, where she won the J.H. and J.F. Harding Prize honouring Excellence in Theatre and Dramatic Literature (English). In 2019, Professor Clarke completed Teaching with Cases (1) from Harvard Business Publishing.

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