Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence, 5th edition

Published by Pearson (July 26, 2024) © 2025

  • Barbara Shwom Northwestern University
  • Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder North Carolina A&T State University

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For business communication courses.

Effective communication in business practices

Business Communication helps students achieve the highest level of professionalism when conducting business. The text uses a powerful communication model to assist students in analyzing, composing and evaluating business communication. It also stresses the importance of clarity, critical thinking, persuasion, goodwill, empathy and inclusiveness in both written and spoken messages.

A heavily revised 5th Edition reflects many changes in the field. Examples and discussion relate business communication to modern technologies, including generative AI, as well as important developments in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Hallmark features of this title

  • 12 easy-to-read chapters effectively present core communication concepts.
  • An ACE (Analyzing, Composing and Evaluating) communication model guides students in applying concepts to a variety of business situations.
  • Annotated example documents illustrate effective communication.
  • Features on diversity, equity and inclusion; research and theory; and ethics invite students to broaden their understanding of how these concepts relate to communication.
  • Critical-Thinking Questions integrated throughout the narrative encourage students to pause and reflect on what they’ve just learned before moving on.
  • Case scenarios apply communication strategies to challenging workplace situations and have students make and evaluate communication decisions.

New and updated features of this title

  • NEW: Chapter-Opening Professional Presence @Work interviews introduce topics and spark student interest. These interviews continue as chapter-ending content in which workplace professionals reflect on how they use key concepts in the chapter.
  • NEW: Discussions of generative artificial intelligence, including ChatGPT, in every chapter detail what it is, how best to use it, and how to avoid unethical practices and mistakes.
  • NEW: Real examples and extensive citations bring currency to your course and encourage students to dig deeper.
  • NEW and UPDATED: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) boxes and additional DEI content challenge students to consider multiple types of diversity when communicating, including cultural and ethnic, neuro, gender, and age diversities. Students also learn strategies for being inclusive in their professional communication.
  • NEW: Spotlight on Research and Theory boxes help students understand the basis for the concepts they’re learning about. They also introduce students to the interdisciplinarity of research informing business communication.
  • NEW: To Do questions help students apply their understanding of the material.

Features of Pearson+ eTextbook for the 5th Edition

  • Clickable interactive features, such as sample business documents with interactive annotations, and relevant video clips, keep students engaged.

Features of MyLab Business Communication for the 5th Edition

  • Communication Mini Sims get students to think critically and get hands on with realistic business communication examples. Using an interactive mini simulation, students walk through various types of written communications, identify problem areas and correct them based on the appropriate business purpose.
  • Mini Sims put students in professional roles and give them the opportunity to apply course concepts and develop decision-making skills through real-world business challenges.
  • Dynamic Study Modules help students study chapter topics on their own by continuously assessing their knowledge application and performance in real time.
  • Chapter Warm-Ups and Chapter Quizzes provide students with multiple practice opportunities for course quizzes and exams.
  • Grammar Exercises allow students to practice their grammar skills in a fun and engaging way.
  • Video Exercises available in each MyLab chapter engage students and help them apply key concepts from the text.

Visual Walk-Through

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING THE FOUNDATIONS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

  1. Developing Your Professional Presence
  2. Working with Others: Interpersonal, Intercultural, and Team Communication
  3. Managing the Communication Process: Analyzing, Composing, Evaluating

PART 2: DELIVERING EFFECTIVE MESSAGES

  1. Communicating Routine Messages and Building Goodwill
  2. Communicating Persuasively
  3. Communicating Bad News
  4. Using Social Media in Business

PART 3: RESEARCHING, PROPOSING, REPORTING, AND PRESENTING

  1. Finding and Evaluating Business Information
  2. Preparing Persuasive Business Proposals
  3. Preparing Business Reports
  4. Preparing and Delivering Business Presentations

PART 4: PERSUADING AN EMPLOYER TO HIRE YOU

  1. Communicating Your Professional Brand: Social Media, Websites, Résumés, Cover Letters, and Interviews

APPENDICES

  1. Formats for Business Documents
  2. Documentation and Reference Styles
  3. Grammar, Punctuation, Mechanics, and Conventions

About our authors

Barbara Shwom, PhD, is Professor of Instruction Emerita at Northwestern University, where she taught in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, and McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. For more than 40 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 in the Department of Management in the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. She teaches Organizational Communication, oversees the MBA Internship Program, and is the faculty advisor for Aggies Toastmasters. 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 publishes academic journal articles in business education as it relates to effective communication, critical thinking, and online learning. 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 a Past President of the Association for Business Communication, the Association for Research in Business Education, and the North Carolina Business Education Association. She also served as the Research Coordinator for the National Association for Business Teacher Education and the Past-Chair of the Policies Commission for Business and Economic Education.

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