You are probably reading this book because you are taking a Communication course that is required by your college or university. Many colleges and universities around the country require students to take some type of communication class in order to graduate. These institutions have come to recognize that effective communication skills are some or the top skills sought by prospective employers and courses in communication can prepare their students for their careers.

These communication classes include courses in public speaking, interpersonal communication, business/organizational and professional communication or a survey class that is a combination of all of them. While this text will touch on aspects found in these courses, the focus will be on communication in organizations, businesses, and the professions. We will explore what communication study is, what communication is, culture and organizational culture, how organizations manage communication within and without the organization, and a variety of individual communication skills that will help you be an effective communicator in, not only an organizational setting, but in your life in general.

As professors, we hear a lot of people talk about communication both on and off our campuses. We’re often surprised at how few people can actually explain what communication is, what Communication departments are about or even why they often need to take a course in communication before they graduate. Even our majors sometimes have a hard time explaining to others what it is they study in college.

Throughout this book we will not only provide you with the basics of how communication operates in organizations, but also provide you with the basics for understanding what communication is, a glimpse of what Communication scholars and students study, and how you can effectively use the study of Communication in your life both in the workplace and outside of it. Hopefully, the information in this text will help you and your classmates have a productive conversation about the process of communication and the important role that it plays in every facet of our lives.

In order to give you a sound understanding of the elements of communication that will help you in your life in organizations as well as outside of them, we have organized the material in five parts that will take you from general to more specific concepts that will help you improve or enhance the communication skills that you already possess. Here is a brief overview of each part:

• Part 1: Understanding Organizational and Professional Communication will provide you with a general overview of communication study, the process and definition of communication, the importance of being an effective communicator, an overview of organizational communication, the role of culture in communication, and more specifically, how organizations create their own culture.
• Part 2: Building Effective Personal Communication Skills will focus on the processes of perception and listening, on the elements and functions verbal and nonverbal communication, and on interpersonal communication skills including a section on gender communication.
• Part 3: Preparing for the Job Interview will help you start thinking about how to go about writing resumes, cover letters, and other important information about the job search and interview process.
• Part 4: Communicating Effectively in Groups and Meetings It is unlikely that you will be able to avoid working in groups or going to meetings when working in an organizational setting. It’s more likely that they will be a fact of life for you. The chapters in this part will help you understand the behaviors that can make you an effective communicator in both of these communication contexts.
• Part 5: Developing Effective Business Presentations Just as working in groups and meetings will be a fact of life in your career, it is also likely that giving presentations will be as well. This section of the text will provide information to help you improve and hone your speaking skills including choosing topics, effective organization and structure,creating effective presentation aids, and delivering an exciting presentation.

Now that you have a general idea about what you will be studying and how it can help you, let’s begin by discovering what Communication Study is.