Online Custom «Professional Communication in Practice » Essay Sample

It is believed that professional communication always tends to bring positive results if its theory is properly put into practice. However, common difficulties appear in unexpected circumstances when a person does not have the faintest idea of how to apply their knowledge in real life. The purpose of this case study essay is to describe a real life problem concerning the failure in terms of professional communication and respond to this situation, providing workable and effective solutions. The overall problem to be solved concerns the emotional, environmental, psychological and semantic barriers that a young unexperienced person has to overcome on her way to success.

Catherine works for a small company that focuses on creating social media applications. She has made significant progress with an app she believes will take Facebook to the next level. Her company needs this app to be successful and to survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. However, as the company is relatively small, it needs to find an investor. When the investor appears, the girl does not know what to do. Before the meeting with the investors, she sends a detailed report about her app to the Facebook Board of Directors. When Catherine arrives at the meeting, all the directors introduce themselves and the last one says that she should know him. Catherine is then asked to provide the Board with some information about herself. The girl, totally confused as well as unable to tell them anything, says that they should refer to her report and starts discussing the design of her project. Two days after the meeting, company’s Manager called Catherine to say that the Facebook Board of Directors had not been satisfied with her presentation and doubted if it was rational to invest in her app.

Accordingly, this delicate situation concerns Catherine’s failure and possible solutions to explain how she could successfully persuade the Board of Directors. It would be reasonable to remark that the girl has made fatal mistakes that resulted in some misunderstandings during the meeting. Specifically, the case study presents such notions of professional communication as the importance of target audience, a person’s credibility, emotional and environmental barriers. Eventually, the main aspect of this situation presupposes the particular significance of professional skills regarding persuasion.

It is widely recognized that the peculiarities of professional communication should be taken into account when presenting an app, as in the above-mentioned case, or simply in conducting business. The most logical argument will not persuade people by itself – you also need to connect with your audience on an emotional level (Bliss, 2006, p. 130). This statement sheds light on the value of the idiosyncratic nature of business conversations. To put it plainly, there are some facets of professional communication that a person should consider and practice in order to achieve success.

The peculiarities of professional business communication that one may elicit from this particular case regard persuasive speech acts and special code of conduct. Ellis hit the mark when he said that one of the hallmarks of a successful communication is tied up with the notion of it being at the right time and in the right style in order to provide the right kind of communication and match the right kind of audience (Ellis, 2002, p. 27). Probably, the word “audience” is the key point to consider. The matter is that a person, who is going to deliver a presentation about the successful project, has to get acquainted with the target audience beforehand in order to apply some possible strategies of persuasion. In case with Catherine, it was crucial for her to find out something about the investors from the Board. It would relieve the tension and clear the air.

The second issue that may be highlighted in the case is the significance of presenting yourself to the stakeholder party as an invaluable and credible worker. According to Hamilton, “A credible person is someone whom others view as believable – someone in whom they can place their confidence” (Hamilton, 2011, p. 381). Apparently, every investor is keen to find out whether the person whom he gives money is reliable and ambitious. Catherine has made a ghastly mistake as she did not manage to give any information about herself. It only worsened the situation.

Nevertheless, quite an embarrassing feeling occurs when a person does not know how to answer the most simple and foreseeable question: Why someone should invest money into your projects? As a matter of fact, the girl failed to respond. It may be considered as her gross mistake due to the reason that Catherine did not manage to create positive value of the product. Unfortunately, in business, it is not enough to explain how something is designed or how it works. The way someone presents the idea is also important as it shows one’s personal features and attitudes.

Hogan (1996) elaborated a clear-cut outline of a successful persuasion. He determined all the techniques that may be useful in persuading someone. They include the masterful use of questions (clarity of viewpoint, dealing with emotional issues, clarity of values: attraction and avoidance means); power words (name, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, because); time-pressure techniques, credibility techniques, secrets, future pacing and hypnotic language patterns (‘don’t’, ‘might’ and ‘maybe’, assumption of the obvious, ‘tell you’, ‘the truth’) (pp. 91-92). These are the possible techniques to exert an influence on somebody in professional communication. Moreover, such smart tricks of virtuosic communication could persuade the Board to invest in the girl’s project.

To cut a long story short, Catherine could have persuaded the Board by applying the above-mentioned strategies or techniques. The first thing for her to remember was the background information about the directors. Moreover, the girl should have presented herself, making an impression of a credible and valuable worker. These are the ways that could have helped her interest the Board. She should have overcome the barriers, applying her analytical skills to analyze the situation and do her best to achieve success with the app.