Accommodations and Persuasion in the PA Debate

The Pennsylvania Senate Debate between John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz illustrates several interesting points for business communication students. One is the art of not answering questions, perhaps best illustrated by the first question, an opportunity to describe the candidates’ own qualifications, which they spent criticizing their opponent.

Another example is how the debate was structured to accommodate John Fetterman’s auditory processing issues, five months after he suffered a stroke. Fetterman kicked off the debate by admitting his illness and saying, “I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that.” His speech was sometimes halting and repetitive, and he confused a few words. Repeating his doctor’s clearance, he tried to persuade voters that he is fit to serve.

Hot topics about abortion and fracking were discussed at length, with candidates balancing their party affiliations and ideals. At some point, Dr. Oz said, “I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves.” This inspired jokes and “Inside Amy Schumer” segments that I won’t link (because they’re NSFW).

Students will find more to discuss about the candidates’ presentation skills, responses to questions, and persuasive communication.

Comparing Company Statements About Kanye West

Since his anti-semitic posts and after pressure from consumers and industry leaders, companies are dropping ties with Kanye West. Here are several statements for students to compare. These messages could be considered positive or bad news, but they are all persuasive. Which demonstrate more courage and compassion?

MRC Entertainment: Company leaders wrote a personal note about their decision to stop distribution of a Kanye West documentary. They explain his flawed logic about Jewish people and call out others for being silent.

Balenciaga: The fashion company gave only a short statement to WWD: “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”

CAA: Similarly, CAA Talent Agency reportedly dropped West as a client but gave no statement.

United: This talent agency’s CEO, Jeremy Zimmer, was more vocal. In an email, he encouraged staff to boycott Kanye West.

Adidas: After much pressure, including a dropping share price and a tweet and petition from the Anti-Defamation League, Adidas finally announced an end to their partnership. The Adidas statement identified what Kanye (“Ye”) did: “[H]is recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” But the rest of the statement focuses on the financial impact. Fun fact: Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas, was a member of the Nazi party.

Gap: In as short statement, Gap announced the end of its Yeezy partnership. Posted the same day as Adidas’s announcement, the message doesn’t mention that West ended the relationship in September for breach of contract. The current decision is to stop selling products that were in the pipeline.

Surgeon General's Report Example

The U.S. surgeon general’s report, Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being, offers several discussion points for business communication students. The report itself is unusual, the first time a surgeon general has weighed in on what the media is framing as “toxic workplaces.” Coupled with over-reporting about “quiet quitting,” the report highlights problems at work.

An obvious discussion with students is about the report format and organization. It serves as a good example of a primarily text-based report, with few graphics except for the visual summary, which serves as an organizational cue throughout the 46 pages. We see some data and plenty of footnotes but no charts.

The report content—and how the U.S. surgeon general presented the findings on PBS NewsHour, for example—is worth exploring. First, of course, we want our workplaces to be more positive places. The recommendations presented are sound and perhaps obvious; in addition, as Vivek Murthy says, organizations have better outcomes when they are healthier places to work.

Second, what strikes me is the lack of accountability for organizational leaders and the challenges they face. Not once in the PBS interview does Murthy mention “leaders” or “managers”—actual people responsible for putting his recommendations in place. Murthy’s opening letter in the report is personal—about his immigrant parents—but his content summary is not. He blames the pandemic and uses impersonal subjects, for example, “organizations,” “we,” and “workplaces.” In the accompanying deck, titled “Reflection Questions,” “I” is never used, and “leaders” is used as the subject only once in the 20 questions; “we,” “workplace,” and “workers” prevail.

In the report, leaders, managers, and supervisors are called to action, sometimes in vague ways, for example, having the “opportunity” to do better. But the HR department gets no mention at all. A Wall Street Journal article summarizes, “The surgeon general’s guidance on the role of the workplace in well-being comes as many workers report work stress and difficulty concentrating.” I wonder how “workplaces” will respond.

Prime Minister's Resignation Speech

After a mere 45 days in office, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned. She gave a short speech, giving context about the challenges she faced, the tax plan she enacted, and the agreement for her to resign.

What’s missing is the turmoil that ensued, including how her economic plan rocked the markets. We see little humility and vulnerability, except of course, in the decision to resign—but that hardly seems her choice. She was terribly unpopular, with only 10% approval, the lowest of any PM.

The day before her resignation, Truss faced jeers from House of Commons members. How anyone maintains their composure during such political theater is beyond me. Robin Williams joked, "The House of Commons is like Congress with a two-drink minimum."

I’m all for putting our students in challenging speaking situations, for example, interrupting them or changing the audience or conditions for a planned speech, but this kind of response would rattle anyone. What Truss lacks in humility she makes up for in courage—at least stamina.

Charts for Students to Analyze

NYU professor, author, and podcast host Scott Galloway has a new book, Adrift: America in 100 Charts, with good examples for students to analyze. His newsletter also describes charts, for example, a few that illustrate the U.S. incarceration problem. He uses data to conclude that our extraordinary incarceration rates do little to reduce crime.

On one page, he uses a bubble, a column, a paired column, a people graph, and a line chart. Each is chosen well for the purpose, although he doesn’t use message/descriptive titles, as business communication faculty would advise. Students will find other improvements, for example, maybe adding data labels to the first chart (despite the Y axis) and better distinguishing “All Men” in the people chart.

Galloway’s posts regularly offer examples to engage students in current political, tech, and business topics.

Not about charts, but this podcast episode (posted here) made me laugh out loud. Galloway describes text messages between Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Jack Dorsey, and others. Turns out, they struggle with technology just like the rest of us. This is Musk’s response to Dorsey, who is waiting for him to join a meeting.

CAM Communication Model

At the 2022 ABC Conference, I presented with colleagues about the CAM communication model. Useful for deciding whether, what, and how to communicate, the model walks students through three steps:

• Character Check: What drives me to communicate? To what am I reacting, and what is my purpose? What impact do I want to have? How do I want others to perceive me? How can I demonstrate good character?  

• Audience Analysis: How can I tailor my communication to my audience? What context should I consider? How does communication travel within the organization? What barriers might get in the way?

• Message and Medium: What is the content of my message, and how will I convey that message?

You’re welcome to download and use this handout, which provides generic questions and then a sample activity for students to apply the model when deciding whether to include something potentially controversial or perceived negatively during the job search.

Helping Students Negotiate Salary

With more companies posting salary ranges, students may have an easier time negotiating job offers. New laws in California, New York, and Colorado require companies to be more transparent, and the hope is to reduce gender and racial inequities. Advice from Business Communication and Character, 11e (Chapter 14), follows. Asking for more requires courage, so students need encouragement and practice.

Consider the entire package. Negotiating an increase in salary is best because annual merit increases will build on a larger base every year. But the compensation and benefits package also could include bonus and equity (company stock) pay, healthcare benefits, relocation assistance, tuition reimbursement, sign-on bonus—and other aspects of the job that you may value, such as how much time you can work from home, the start date, and so on. Think about what is most important to you and where the company might have flexibility. For example, vacation time and retirement plans may be fixed for every new hire at your level, but a hiring manager might have more leeway with relocation, a sign-on bonus, and remote work options.

Know your value. Review your resume and focus on your skills and accomplishments related to the job and company. Be confident about what you bring to the table. People in dominant identity groups may have an easier time with this idea, which partly explains the gender pay gap in the United States and elsewhere.

Research starting salaries. Explore your college’s career management office, Glassdoor, PayScale, Salary.com, and other sites to determine the likely range for the position and location. You might share your offer with other students; people are surprisingly willing to talk about their finances today, and transparency helps reduce the pay gap. Keep your expectations realistic. You can ask a recruiter about a salary range—but not too early in the process. Negotiations typically don’t start until after you have a job offer. If asked about your requirements, try to get a salary range from the employer first, so you don’t “low-ball” yourself.

Highlight your assets. When you begin to negotiate, give concrete examples, for example, similar work and accomplishments at other companies. Think about why the employer should pay you more. Often, they are looking for your motivation level. In other words, how can you prove—with evidence—that you’ll work harder than other employees and, therefore, be worth the extra compensation? Avoid talking about your needs, for example, student loans; other than relocation, an employer will pay more for what you can contribute—not for your expenses.

Decide on your approach. Include all your requests up front so the employer doesn’t get frustrated and feel manipulated when you negotiate each term separately. If you don’t get the salary or other terms you request, what will you do? Be clear about what you’re willing to compromise and at what point you will decline the offer.

Practice. Practice what you’ll say with friends and others to address counterarguments and hold your ground. You don’t need to apologize (“Sorry to bother you with this. I know you’re busy”). Instead, adopt a confident, persuasive, yet friendly tone (“I’m very excited about the position and joining the team, and I know I’ll bring a lot of value to the table, particularly because of my experience at ___ [or something relevant you accomplished]. I'm wondering if we can explore a slightly higher starting salary of $ ___”). Your goal is to convince the employer, without sounding too demanding, that you’re worth the extra compensation.

Comms We Regret

Two news stories remind us that what we say may come back to bite us. Two Los Angeles officials resigned from their positions following crass and racist comments by City Council president, Nury Martinez. (Details here, if you have the stomach to read.) Other resignations may follow.

In another situation, Ye (Kanye West) faced Instagram and Twitter restrictions following his anti-Semitic comment. He wrote, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going def con 3 on Jewish people. . . ” In response, Adidas is reviewing its sponsorship agreement.

In the LA situation, someone illegally recorded and posted a conversation on Reddit. In the second, West made his own comments public, but he admits being tired. In both cases, the comments were offensive and not a good choice.

Let’s remind students that they are responsible for their communications and may not know how what they say and write will be publicized.

Resume Cakes and Other Attention-Getters

Every couple of years an attention-getting resume goes viral, and students might wonder what they could do to get eyes on their job application. This time, we see a cake with a resume screen printed in the icing, sent to Nike headquarters.

The lesson for students is the same: creative approaches for creative jobs might work but are probably not appropriate for more conversative positions or industries. I also wonder, despite the reports on programs like Good Morning America, how often these ideas turn into job offers. A couple have, but I imagine that companies don’t want to encourage a lot of cakes, which, because of safety concerns, are probably discarded.

This story doesn’t have a happy job ending but became about the Instacart driver who carried the cake—and her 8-month-old son—around Nike’s campus to hand deliver the cake. It’s inspiring to see the lengths people will go for their dream job and how determined people can be. But I would encourage students to find other ways to differentiate themselves in the job market.

Communications About Fast Company Breach

Fast Company is suffering embarrassment because of a data breach during which hackers sent racist messages through Apple News on iPhones. The offensive comments reflect poorly on Apple as well, which a Washington Post article describes as an otherwise “walled garden.”

In addition to posting the message shown here on its website homepage, Fast Company sent this message by email:

Fast Company’s Apple News account was hacked on Tuesday evening. Two obscene and racist push notifications were sent about a minute apart. The messages are vile and are not in line with the content of Fast Company. We are investigating the situation and have suspended the feed and shut down FastCompany.com until we are certain the situation has been resolved.”

A similar white-text-on-black-background message plasters Inc.’s home page: “As a result of the FastCompany.com breach, Mansueto Ventures (which also owns Inc.) is temporarily shutting down Inc.com out of an abundance of caution while the investigation is underway.”

Without further comment to news organizations, Apple posted this tweet: “An incredibly offensive alert was sent by Fast Company, which has been hacked. Apple News has disabled their channel.” Apple is doing its best to stay out of the fray, letting Fast Company take the blame.

Suggestions for Sending Voice Notes

A Wall Street Journal article, “The Year of the Voice Message,” offers advice that business communication faculty might want to share with students. The voicemail message is out of favor, but voice notes (or voice memos), which brings their own annoyances, are in.

The article describes dislike for voice notes—both sending and receiving them. Still, they persist for convenience and, in some cases, to preserve tone. Some advice is similar to old voicemail messages: keep them short (less than a minute) and beware that others might hear you. Something new: Send a text to introduce the voice note when your receiver needs encouragement to listen.

Other advice is universal for business communication: consider your audience and choose a medium according to your goals. A very short message is best as a text, and a longer message could be an email. Ask yourself, does my voice make a difference in this message? If you’re sending a voice note just for your own convenience, then reconsider: it may be quicker for the receiver to scan a text than to listen.

Image source.

Comparing Donation Webpages

How do nonprofit organizations structure webpages to solicit Hurricane Ian donations? A Google search for “how to donate for hurricane ian” showed these top three ads:

Red Cross: The boldest of the three, this page shows users how to donate but provides no “why.” The cover image, palm trees blowing in the wind, could be more original.

Salvation Army: Although the Red Cross palm tree image lacks originality, the Salvation Army’s images are generic, showing volunteers with a truck and loading boxes. The call is for other recent hurricanes—not just Ian. Users can find information, including how their donation will be used, in the “Questions” box.

American Humane: Dedicated to rescuing pets, this smaller organization explains its work. Several photos show cute cats and dogs, and text explains the urgency and how quickly volunteers are responding.

Students will find more differences among these three organizations and their favorite nonprofit. An interesting activity could be guessing the organization name, given their webpage without identifying information.

AT&T Missing "You"

AT&T customer communication about Hurricane Ian is missing the customer—particularly “you.” Students could rewrite these bad-news (and persuasive) messages to address customers directly. The “you attitude,” or focus on the audience, would convey more empathy, give residents more confidence in the company, and make reading easier.

AT&T’s Hurricane Ian webpage is odd. The beginning doesn’t have a defined audience, so it’s likely written for anyone who might be interested in the company’s work to restore power. Most sentences start with “we,” “our,” or “FirstNet.” Company leaders also seem proud of their vehicles: four photos in the middle of the page include a link to “download” each.

The next section, with black text on a blue background, is titled, “Supporting Our Customers.” Updates include fees waived and other customer benefits. But students can easily revise paragraphs like this one to make them more audience-focused:

As Hurricane Ian moves through additional states, we are assisting our wireless customers who may be impacted by the storm. To do this, we’re waiving talk, text and data overage charges for AT&T Postpaid & PREPAID customers with billing addresses in zip codes* across areas in Georgia and South Carolina from September 29, 2022 through October 8, 2022.

Recalibrating Our Personal vs. Professional Lives

Two opinion articles provide opposing arguments about how much of our personal life we should share in professional settings. I encourage some vulnerability and authenticity, including revealing personal information about ourselves at work—within reason. Most employees want coworkers to share more, and authenticity correlates positively with “job satisfaction, in-role performance, and work engagement.” At the same time, people need to decide how much and when to share, considering the context, for example, the work environment and their coworkers.

Here are the two recent articles as examples, and students will find more on the subject:

• NY Times opinion, ”Do Not Bring Your ‘Whole Self’ to Work”

• WSJ opinion, “Returning to the Office? Let’s Keep the Line Between Work and Home Blurry”

Overreliance on Annual Performance Reviews

Before and during the pandemic, several companies stopped doing annual employee reviews, but many have brought back the practice. Reports show that slowed hiring and increased layoffs are causing more pressure for employees to perform; managers want more ways to track and document performance. Without reviews, managers could appear to have lax standards, failing to hold employees accountable for outcomes.

The annual documentation, meeting, and goal-setting are not the real problems. Managers are uncomfortable giving feedback and rely only on once-a-year conversations. Employees need to know, ongoing, how their performance measures up to expectations so they have a chance to improve. When done well, annual reviews are a summary of what employees already know about where they stand. Ongoing feedback encourages self-accountability, holding oneself accountable without relying on external approval.

A Bloomberg Businessweek article (with simplistic, nonparallel charts) offers alternatives to the annual review, which could supplement the annual meeting. The recommendations are in line with good business communication: check in regularly, encourage the employee to reflect, focus on the future instead of the past, collect multiple opinions, etc.

Victoria's Secret Admits "Toxic Culture"

A song has challenged Victoria’s Secret in a way I haven’t seen since “United Breaks Guitars.” Already struggling because of changing customer preferences, a Hulu documentary, and leadership ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the brand responded to try to repair its reputation.

Jax wrote the song for the girl she babysits, and now it’s 50 on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs. Viewed more than 30 million times, “Victoria’s Secret” speaks to young people about unrealistic body images. Jax demonstrates vulnerability by talking about her own struggles, including how she “stopped eating.” She wrote lyrics the company couldn’t ignore: “I know Victoria's secret / And girl, you wouldn't believe / She's an old man who lives in Ohio / Making money off of girls like me.”

The company responded with two statements. The first, an Instagram post, is a clever handwritten note from the CEO, complimenting the song and promising to do better. The second, below, is a spokesperson’s statement, which illustrates a classic crisis communication strategy: distancing yourself from the issue. Referring to the past, the writer remind us how far Victoria’s Secret has come. In my view, the company demonstrates some accountability but could offer more compassion.

For her part, Jax demonstrates integrity in her video response. She focuses on her intent, which wasn’t to “take down a brand,” and she invites others to share their stories.

We’ll see how Victoria’s Secret fares in the end. Some believe the brand hasn’t changed enough or took too long to be more inclusive of different body types. Regardless, the situation and response are good crisis communication and character examples.

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At Victoria's Secret, we make no excuses for the past. We know the old VS lost touch with many people, projected a damaging standard of beauty, and perpetuated a toxic culture.

Today, we are proud to be a different company, with a new leadership team and mission to welcome, celebrate, and champion all women. We have made much progress, but recognize this transformation is a journey, and our work continues to become the Victoria’s Secret our customers and associates deserve — where everyone feels seen, respected, and valued.

We’re always open to engage with those looking to share feedback as we continue our transformation.

Should Students Change Their Names for the Job Search?

A new working paper confirms and expands what we know about discrimination in the job search. Applicants with names that are difficult to pronounce are less likely to be called for interviews and may suffer career loss down the road. The researchers describe related studies about racial bias: within minority groups, which already face discrimination, those with less “fluent or familiar-sounding names” are 50% less likely than those with “white” names to get called for an interview.

Students make difficult decisions about whether to change their names or “whiten” their resumes in other ways. In Chapter 13 of Business Communication and Character (11e), we explore the advantages, such as more callbacks for jobs, and the disadvantages. Understandably, students may want to keep their given name, which they feel is an important part of their identity. They also may resist because of moral reasons or because of concerns that, even if they get the job, they might not feel as tough they belong. Chalice Randazzo’s Business and Professional Communication Quarterly article, “A Framework for Résumé Decisions: Comparing Applicants’ and Employers’ Reasons,” offers useful guidance for all resume decisions.

Of course, the real onus is on employers to reduce bias by changing attitudes and hiring practices, for example, with blind hiring. In the meantime, students bear the brunt of a discriminatory system.

Image source.

Uber's Response to Hack

What sounds like a major security breach is getting minimal response from Uber so far. A hacker, possibly 18 years old, apparently posed as a colleague to get IT access through an employee. An embarrassment to the company, the breach could include “full access to the cloud-based systems where Uber stores sensitive customer and financial data.” But Uber communications are trying to minimize the impact.

Three days after the breach, the only message I can find is a “Security Update,” copied below, on Uber’s Newsroom page. Company leaders are likely scrambling to lock down and protect information, but more communication is important. Criticism is harsh because of how easily the hacker appears to have duped an employee through social engineering and because of the unfortunate timing: Uber’s former chief security officer is currently on trial for paying hackers $100,000 to avoid disclosing a breach back in 2016.

The communication and situation are challenging, but people are watching and waiting, as we see in these tweets. This situation raises issues of several character dimensions, for example, accountability, humility, integrity, and courage. With more transparency, the company might be less vulnerable now, not more, as the leaders might fear.

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September 16, 10:30am PT

While our investigation and response efforts are ongoing, here is a further update on yesterday’s incident:

• We have no evidence that the incident involved access to sensitive user data (like trip history).

• All of our services including Uber, Uber Eats, Uber Freight, and the Uber Driver app are operational.

• As we shared yesterday, we have notified law enforcement.

• Internal software tools that we took down as a precaution yesterday are coming back online this morning.

September 15, 6:25pm PT

We are currently responding to a cybersecurity incident. We are in touch with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available.

Patagonia Letter with Indirect Structure

Using an indirect structure, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard wrote an open letter to explain his decision to transfer company ownership to two trusts. One trust is controlled by the family and another, which will have 98% of the stock, is controlled by Holdfast Collective, an organization dedicated to the environment. With these entities, Yvon Chouinard maintains control of the company but donates all profits not reinvested in the company.

Chouinard’s letter illustrates a positive message and demonstrates character, particularly compassion, humility, and integrity. Although the move could be viewed as a marketing ploy, Patagonia’s leadership has a history of taking ethical stances despite the impact on profits; for example, the company has donated 1% of all sales and 100% of sales on Black Friday.

The letter does not follow typical business communication principles, particularly, putting main points up front. Chouinard starts with his personal view, explains options he considered, and then describes the new ownership arrangement. Business communication students can analyze whether this structure works, given the purpose and audience. My view is that it generally works. The letter is short and emphasizes emotional appeal rather than logical argument. If this were written to employees, they might read the beginning and worry about their future. But the audience is the public, who probably already heard the news, so the letter serves more as an explanation than an announcement.

Columbia’s Ranking, Data, and Communication Issues

The news of Columbia University’s tumble in college rankings from 2 to 18 offers business communication lessons for reporting data—and for persuasive arguments. In February 2022, Professor of Mathematics Michael Thaddeus identified discrepancies in how the Columbia reported data for U.S. News’s annual list. His analysis resulted in a persuasive argument with the following main points summarized in the introduction:

In sections 2 through 5, we examine some of the numerical data on students and faculty reported by Columbia to U.S. News—undergraduate class size, percentage of faculty with terminal degrees, percentage of faculty who are full-time, and student-faculty ratio—and compare them with figures computed by other means, drawing on information made public by Columbia elsewhere. In each case, we find discrepancies, sometimes quite large, and always in Columbia’s favor, between the two sets of figures.

In section 6, we consider the financial data underpinning the U.S. News Financial Resources subscore. It is largely based on instructional expenditures, but, as we show, Columbia’s stated instructional expenditures are implausibly large and include a substantial portion of the $1.2 billion that its medical center spends annually on patient care.

Finally, in section 7, we turn to graduation rates and the other “outcome measures” which account for more than one-third of the overall U.S. News ranking. We show that Columbia’s performance on some, perhaps even most, of these measures would plunge if its many transfer students were included.

New reports about Columbia’s fall credit Thaddeus’s analysis. The argument serves as an excellent example for our students, who might also explore their own views about the college rankings. In addition to data integrity, Thaddeus questions the value of these rankings and the influence they have on students’ college choice.

Students can also analyze the university’s response. In a statement posted on September 9, Provost Mary Boyce admitted, “we had previously relied on outdated and/or incorrect methodologies.” She also expressed “regret”:

The Columbia undergraduate experience is and always has been centered around small classes taught by highly accomplished faculty. That fact is unchanged. But anything less than complete accuracy in the data that we report—regardless of the size or the reason—is inconsistent with the standards of excellence to which Columbia holds itself. We deeply regret the deficiencies in our prior reporting and are committed to doing better.

The statement is more about future plans, for example, participating in the Common Data Set initiative, than about acknowledging wrongdoing. A fuller apology, including the impact of the inaccuracies and posted earlier than just days before rankings were published, would have demonstrated more humility and integrity.