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Mike Bloomberg’s company created a culture of cruelty and harassment, former employees say

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Mike Bloomberg insisted from the presidential debate stage that wrongdoers at his company would be “gone that day.” But at least one senior Bloomberg News editor accused of misconduct remained in his job long after women raised internal complaints, a Business Insider investigation has found.

More than a dozen former Bloomberg News insiders told Business Insider that former Washington editor Al Hunt was abusive toward staff and touched women inappropriately, and survived in his role for years despite repeated complaints and two financial settlements.

Hunt denies touching women inappropriately. Asked about the accusations, a Bloomberg spokesperson said there are “certainly instances where we wish we had handled some complaints differently.”

Though Mike Bloomberg says his crude remarks about women are a thing of the past, a former employee says he made sexist comments in the workplace as recently as 2014.

According to a different former employee, Mike Bloomberg once denied a woman a promotion because he didn’t want “that fat woman” representing his company. The woman now appears in a campaign commercial touting Bloomberg as a champion of women.

Three women of color were so dispirited by their experience working for Bloomberg that they sent a letter to their alma mater, a historically black college, warning it not to help Bloomberg recruit from campus.

Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Mike Bloomberg quickly found himself on the defensive last month at the Nevada Democratic Debate, when Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused him of tolerating discrimination and sexist behavior at the eponymous financial data services company he founded in 1981.

In response, Bloomberg was defiant. 

“I have no tolerance for the kind of behavior that the #MeToo movement has exposed,” he said from the stage. “And anybody that does anything wrong in our company, we investigate it, and if it’s appropriate, they’re gone that day.”

The comment sounded strong, but Bloomberg insiders tell a different story: A Business Insider investigation involving interviews with more than 40 current and former Bloomberg LP employees has found allegations of a toxic, macho workplace culture fueled by fear, in which powerful people screamed at underlings and bullied them with impunity. When they reported claims of inappropriate behavior to human resources, these staffers said, they were routinely ignored.

Business Insider has learned that the former Washington editor of Bloomberg News, Al Hunt, was accused over the course of years by multiple women of giving unsolicited massages and verbally berating employees for minor infractions. Despite at least two financial settlements with women who complained about the editor, he continued in his position for years. 

Do you have a tip about working at Bloomberg LP, or about Michael Bloomberg? Contact this reporter at neinbinder@businessinsider.com, direct-message on Twitter at @NicoleEinbinder, or text our tips line via Signal or WhatsApp at 646-768-4744. 

Diana Taylor, Bloomberg’s longtime girlfriend, came out earlier this week in defense of Bloomberg’s treatment of women. “It was 30 years ago. Get over it,” Taylor told CBS News.

But according to one former female Bloomberg executive, who cited a confidentiality agreement in declining to speak on the record, Mike Bloomberg regularly made crass sexual jokes and demeaning comments about women in the workplace after he returned to the company from his stint as mayor of New York City. 

“It’s the way he talked, and everyone knows that,” this person told Business Insider. “As a woman, I didn’t push back, and I didn’t say, ‘Don’t do that.’ Many of us just tolerated it. And I’m really ashamed about that.”

The global headquarters of Bloomberg LP in New York City.

Associated Press

“I will not have that fat woman representing my company.” 

This former employee’s more recent experience with Bloomberg is consistent with a longstanding record of allegations of crude comments stretching back decades, as Business Insider reported last November in an investigation into the history of discrimination complaints lodged in court against Bloomberg LP. Notably, Bloomberg has faced intense criticism for allegedly telling a newly pregnant employee to “kill it,” drawing ire from Elizabeth Warren in last week’s South Carolina debate. (Bloomberg unequivocally denies making the remark.)

Another former employee, who worked for Bloomberg in the 1990s, told Business Insider that Mike Bloomberg once directed derogatory remarks — and discriminatory conduct — at a woman that Bloomberg’s campaign is now holding up as an example of his support for women in the workplace. In a campaign ad that aired during the South Carolina presidential debate called “Championing Women in the Workplace,” a 25-year veteran of Bloomberg LP named Maggie Berry says of Bloomberg, “Mike supports women, he promotes women, he respects women.”

According to this former Bloomberg employee, in the 1990s Berry was proposed as a candidate for a promotion into a job that required interacting with clients. According to the source, Bloomberg dismissed the idea based on Berry’s physical appearance, saying, “I will not have that fat woman representing my company.” He ultimately hired a man for the job, the former Bloomberg employee said.

Reached for comment, Berry defended her boss. “I’ve been with Bloomberg for 25 years, almost exclusively in client-facing roles,” she said. “From my earliest days at the company, it was Mike himself who encouraged me to take a role in sales where you’re constantly interacting with clients. Having Mike’s backing and support has allowed me, and many other women at Bloomberg, to progress into management positions overseeing a significant part of our business.” 

A source says Mike Bloomberg gave demeaning nicknames — including “dogface” and “Stopatruckski” — to employees he found unattractive

The same former employee recounted other instances of frat-house behavior that she observed while working in the 1990s in the company’s open-plan office, where it was difficult to avoid hearing her neighbors. Bloomberg and other top male colleagues, she said, would call out “SFU” as a code when certain women walked by — to make clear they thought the woman was “short, fat, and ugly,” the former employee said. Bloomberg developed nicknames for women he found unattractive, the former employee said, calling one woman “dogface” behind her back and another woman “Stopatruckski” — which rhymed with her last name — in reference to her weight. Once, while describing a female higher-up at the company, Bloomberg remarked, “Don’t let the lesbian get you down!” 

In a statement, a Bloomberg LP spokesperson said the company “strongly supports a culture that treats all employees with dignity and respect, and enforces that culture through clear policies and practices. Our diversity and inclusion efforts are designed to foster a culture where thousands of people are proud to work every day. It’s also why Bloomberg is consistently ranked at the top of surveys about inclusive workplaces, and why we’ve been rated the top company for career growth opportunities in the US.”

Not everyone Business Insider spoke to was critical of Bloomberg’s attitudes. Jon Friedman, who covered Wall Street at Bloomberg News from 1993 to 1999, said that many employees back then viewed Mike Bloomberg not as a vulgarian, but as a symbol of the hypercompetitive  Wall Street culture that he actively tried to promote within his company. He believed Michael Bloomberg didn’t intend to hurt people’s feelings, but acknowledged that employees could have found his comments upsetting.

“It was just crass guy talk, which isn’t appropriate and I guess people would be made to feel uncomfortable,” another former employee said, adding that she never felt harassed by Mike Bloomberg and that his comments struck her as more goofy than demeaning.

“I was aware, some of the guys would make jokes about things and use analogies about women or whores that weren’t really appropriate. I suppose in a sense maybe he created the culture that allowed that, but it really was no different than a trading floor. It’s what he grew up on, but that’s different from the kind of crap that went on at [Harvey Weinstein’s former company] Miramax, and Mike’s not like that at all.”

The Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign declined to directly answer questions regarding this story. But in a statement provided to Business Insider by a Bloomberg LP spokesperson, Bloomberg’s campaign chair Patricia Harris defended the company’s record on women.

“In nearly three decades at Bloomberg LP and working with Mike, I’ve seen women grow professionally, earn more opportunities, and get promoted as they also raised families,” Harris said. “In an organization of more than 20,000 people, there are going to be issues — but Mike has never tolerated any kind of discrimination or harassment. Anyone who works hard and performs well is going to be rewarded, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or anything else.”

Bloomberg LP employee Maggie Berry is featured in a Mike Bloomberg campaign ad touting his support for women. A source tells Business Insider that Bloomberg once turned Berry down for a proposed promotion, calling her a “fat woman.”

YouTube / Mike Bloomberg 2020

“Never underestimate how scary it has been for so many women.”

In the course of reporting this story, Business Insider interviewed more than three dozen people who currently work at or once worked at Bloomberg. At least 12 said they had signed agreements with the company that limited their ability to speak freely. Almost no one agreed to speak on the record, and some vividly described a powerful sense of fear at risking the ire of Mike Bloomberg or the dozens of loyal aides in his employ.

Last month, a former Bloomberg LP employee sent an unsolicited email to Business Insider alleging that she had experienced sexual harassment at the company. The woman agreed to share her story anonymously, and after a Business Insider reporter spent two weeks investigating her allegation — including obtaining contemporaneous documentary evidence that Mike Bloomberg had been personally informed of her complaint — we presented the reporting to Bloomberg LP for comment. The company replied that it had “investigated this complaint thoroughly” at the time and was “unable to corroborate the specific allegations.”

Twenty-seven hours after we first informed Bloomberg LP about her allegations, the woman contacted Business Insider and withdrew her cooperation, saying she had been advised to retract her story. Business Insider is honoring her request not to report details that she had previously provided for publication.

In a statement, a Bloomberg spokesperson said the company played no role in the source’s reversal. “We did not contact the former employee upon hearing from Business Insider and have not been in communication with her. We would never pressure someone to retract their story.”

A different former employee, explaining her own decision not to speak for the record about her experiences, said she did feel pressure not to  come forward. “The full force of the Bloomberg machine, when it’s directed at you, is pretty intense,” the former employee said. “Never underestimate how scary it has been for so many women.”

Bloomberg has faced repeated criticism for his company’s use of non-disclosure agreements,  legal contracts that prevent employees from talking about their experience, in cases where the company and the employee have reached a financial settlement over allegations of harassment or discrimination. 

On the Nevada debate stage, Warren asked how many non-disclosure agreements his company had signed with employees, and if he would release them from those agreements to talk about their experience. 

Bloomberg declined, describing the NDAs as “agreements between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet, and that’s up to them. They signed those agreements, and we’ll live with it.”

Later, his campaign announced that the company would stop using confidentiality agreements to resolve sexual harassment claims, and would release three women who had made specific allegations against Mike Bloomberg from their NDAs. Warren responded that three releases were not good enough, calling for a blanket release. 

Two women who signed NDAs with Bloomberg tell Business Insider that the agreements weren’t voluntary, and that they wish they could speak out

One lawyer who has represented several women in disputes with Bloomberg initially agreed to speak to Business Insider on the record, but backed out on the advice of his internal counsel because of fears that his comments might violate the non-disparagement agreements that some of his clients have signed. 

Two women who signed such agreements — and who are not among the three that Bloomberg has agreed to release — told Business Insider that their continued silence is not voluntary. 

“NDAs are never signed by ‘two parties who wanted to keep it quiet,'” said one woman who signed an NDA with Bloomberg LP. “They are signed by women who are often broke and unemployed and lack the resources to press a case against a billionaire. We agree to stay silent not because we don’t want our side heard, but because we often need the money to help repair the massive financial damage incurred after unexpectedly losing a job and spending thousands on lawyers in hopes of winning some of it back.”

Another former Bloomberg employee who signed an NDA said, “I would gladly talk on the record about this, but I can’t. I’ve been waiting for a long time to have my experience come out, but also at the same time living with fear about talking about it. And it doesn’t seem fair that I went through this thing — this is my life — and I’m not even allowed to share what happened to me. This is why it would suck if Bloomberg was elected president. He silenced all these people. We don’t know half the things that have gone on at his company.”

“We offer severance agreements, which contain routine confidentiality provisions, to employees whose employment is coming to an end for a variety of reasons,” a Bloomberg spokesperson said. “Whether they choose to accept the offer is entirely up to them.”

Feeling constantly watched, and constantly berated

The Bloomberg News newsroom, which was staffed with journalists often focused on uncovering misconduct within some of America’s most powerful corporations, was driven by fear, humiliation, and abusive behavior, according to dozens of current and former employees who worked there.

“No matter how good you are, you are constantly told you are not doing enough or you’re not doing good or you have to work harder,” a former Bloomberg News employee told Business Insider. “And you’re always afraid that if you are having a hard time and tell that to someone, that person is going to report it somewhere. It’s that feeling of constantly being watched, and especially for women, being constantly berated.”

“One of the most unpleasant aspects of Mike’s culture is there must be blame,” said another person. Every time something goes wrong, the source said, “Somebody must be vaporized.”

Other Bloomberg News veterans interviewed by Business Insider spoke highly of the company. One former employee acknowledged that while Bloomberg News once embraced the culture of Wall Street, that was on the decline. Another admitted that there were unpleasant aspects to the culture but said that leadership was continually trying to make things better. Others said they were happy with their experience, particularly the benefits they received, and felt that Bloomberg was a positive place to work.

“There was good and there was bad,” observed one former employee. “Bloomberg pays very well, but that comes at a real price — and that price is absolute loyalty to the job.”

Matthew Winkler sat between Michelle and Barack Obama at the 2009 White House Correspondents Dinner.

Getty Images

A newsroom “tyrant”

From the early days, Bloomberg’s newsroom was run with an iron fist by Matthew Winkler, who co-founded Bloomberg News and served as its editor-in-chief from 1990 to 2015, when he stepped aside to become editor-in-chief emeritus. He continues to write a column. A notorious stickler for process and accuracy, Winkler oversaw Bloomberg News’ rise into a global force in journalism, with bureaus around the world and thousands of reporters. But more than a dozen former employees say Winkler, particularly in the early days, screamed frequently. Many said that set the tone for a wider newsroom ruled by fear and aggression, and that tolerated bullies.

Gawker described Winkler in 2008 as a “notorious tyrant, wanker, and stickler for detail,” who “threw a legendary tantrum while firing a reporter.” The website reported extensively over the years on Winkler’s “titanic” temper and habit of yelling at subordinates.

Business Insider has heard similar accusations from former employees who say they personally experienced Winkler’s rages.

“He could be very abusive,” a former Bloomberg employee told Business Insider, recalling a conference call from New York to the DC bureau in which Winkler screamed insults through the phone. 

Another employee recalled being told that Winkler, while yelling at someone, grabbed the man’s knees to make his point. That person filed a complaint against Winkler in response, this employee was told. 

Several former employees said the abusive culture was exacerbated by seemingly endless rounds of sudden layoffs and reorganizations, leaving staffers in terror of losing their jobs without warning. More than one former employee described the atmosphere in Darwinian terms.

“It’s a bizarrely unhappy place,” a former employee observed. “There’s just so many people who are terrified of losing their jobs. It is cult-like in the expectation that you will devote every molecule of your existence, and being, and hours, and time to this company. You will work your ass off.”

Another former employee who worked on the headlines desk, which is responsible for blasting out breaking news to Bloomberg subscribers the moment it happens, told Business Insider that one of her managers once threw a wad of wet paper towel at her head. Another time, in 2014, she said, a different manager who was displeased that she left her station to ask him a question chased her back to her desk and, after she sat down, put his finger to her head in a gun-like shape and said, “Don’t ever do that again.” When she went to human resources to report the incident, she said, the HR staffer asked her what she had done to provoke him. She ultimately resigned from the company.

“The cult-like experience of people screaming if you made a mistake, and this zero-tolerance expectation of something that’s not even human, and this two-tiered society where some people get a pass and others were screamed at — it was just a bizarre climate and I think it was absolutely deliberately done,” the former employee told Business Insider. “I have been in a lot of jobs and I have never seen anything like that.”

Winkler did not respond directly to a request for comment on the specific allegations made by former Bloomberg News employees. Instead, he released a statement via a Bloomberg LP spokesperson: “I couldn’t be prouder of founding and running Bloomberg News, where today you can find hundreds of reporters and editors who started families and continue to have long-lasting and fulfilling careers at Bloomberg.”

Al Hunt (left) and Matthew Winkler (center) attended the 2007 White House Correspondents Dinner with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

Getty Images

A volatile temper and a penchant for massages

Few names came up in Business Insider’s conversations with employees more than Al Hunt, Bloomberg News’ former Washington editor and one of the organization’s most visible faces in politics until his 2018 exit. Hunt’s behavior was at issue in numerous human resources complaints and at least two financial settlements, according to people with knowledge of the complaints and settlements. 

Hunt joined Bloomberg in 2005, while Mike Bloomberg was New York City mayor, after nearly four decades as a reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal. He was wooed by Winkler at the prior year’s Democratic National Convention, according to The New York Times. For seven years, Hunt ran Bloomberg News’ Washington bureau, holding a key voice over what stories were published and whose careers advanced. In 2012, for reasons that are unclear, Hunt moved from his role overseeing editorial operations in Washington to become a columnist for Bloomberg’s opinion section, where he remained until 2018. 

During his time at Bloomberg News, Hunt developed a reputation among some employees for a volatile temper and a propensity to touch women in ways that, to some, felt too intimate. Several former employees said Hunt was notorious for giving women who worked for him massages without bothering to ask first.

He would frequently walk up behind a female co-worker seated at her desk and begin rubbing her shoulders without warning, according to seven people who saw him do it. “I remember seeing his hands move pretty rapidly between her shoulders and her arms,” one former employee recalled. “His hands were all over her.”

“Young female reporters were just shiny new toys for him.”

In a statement, Hunt said he never inappropriately touched any employees and defended his record of advancing the careers of female journalists who worked under him. “There never was a propensity to touch women in inappropriate ways. The shoulder rub charge is wrong,” Hunt said. “There was one incident in which I was talking to a group of political reporters and apparently put my hand on the shoulder of a reporter sitting in front of me; NOT rubbing her neck, putting my hand on shoulder while talking to other reporters. She spoke to HR about it, who looked into it, spoke with reporters present and concluded there was nothing inappropriate and thus no need to inform me. I only was told about this several years later.”

Hunt’s alleged touching wasn’t limited to massages, former co-workers said. One time he reached out to hold a female employee’s hand, according to a person who witnessed the event. When she thrust it into her pocket to remove it from his reach, the person said, Hunt simply slipped his hand into her pocket as well and held it there. Another time he slapped a woman’s bare thighs several times and dared her to tell human resources, according to a person who witnessed it. In another case, he put his hand on a woman’s shoulder and left it there, according to the person.

“Al Hunt talked a progressive game of hiring more women and promoting them, but it was mere virtue-signalling,” said one former Bloomberg employee. “Young female reporters were just shiny new toys for him.”

Hunt could also make inappropriate comments, former co-workers said. He once took note  of a reporter’s matching manicure and pedicure and asked, with a smirk, if everything else matched, according to one witness.

Hunt denies making that remark, as well as putting his hand in a woman’s pocket or slapping a woman’s thighs.

Television journalists Al Hunt (L) and Judy Woodruff (R), who are married to each other, share a few words with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (C) shortly after touring the Newseum which reopened after moving locations April 11, 2008 in Washington, DC.

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Al’s Angels

Hunt was known to favor a small group of women that some employees took to calling “Al’s Angels.” Membership in the group often meant getting plumb reporting assignments, invitations to key meetings with DC power brokers, and in at least some cases, career advancement, according to six people who say they witnessed what they described as favoritism. In other cases, when Hunt still had oversight of compensation for the bureau, it could mean getting a bigger bonus, one person said.

One former employee believed that Hunt expected the women to dress provocatively. Once, after asking a woman to do a task for him, this employee was told that Hunt said, “I just love watching her run in heels.”

An employee told Business Insider that they often witnessed Hunt call a woman to his desk, caress her forearms, and, after she walked away, comment, “I have such a crush on her.”

In his statement, Hunt denied making both remarks, calling them “made-up stories.”

“Can you seriously suggest these were shiny toys that achieved enormous success at Bloomberg and later at other places?” he said. “To call them angels is insulting.”

“I think they would put up with it in the interest of placating him,” one person told Business Insider. “I mean, it happened all the time, he was a total creep. It was him preying on people and using his authority.”

The flip-side of Hunt’s overly solicitous affections, sources said, was a brutal temper and bullying demeanor.

More than a dozen former employees described Hunt’s volatile temper, saying he would frequently yell at underlings. One former employee described a time Hunt was shouting at an assistant because he couldn’t find his glasses. Eventually, she told him they were on his head. “He could be abusive to people working for him and very, very demanding and not always kind about it,” that person said.

In one case, Hunt threw a stapler at one of his assistants, two of the people said. The people didn’t witness the incident, but one of them recalls talking about it with the stapler’s target, who moved on from the Hunt post and now works in Bloomberg’s television operation. The target declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider. 

One woman who worked under Hunt in the Washington bureau told Business Insider that he subjected her to extreme verbal abuse, including screaming, berating, and intimidation tactics like grabbing her arm or looming over her desk. After one tirade, the shocked employee recalled, he told her “you are going to learn it pays to be an asshole.” 

The former employee said Hunt made his authority clear with frequent veiled threats about her job. She said she repeatedly raised concerns about Hunt’s conduct to her superiors and to human resources, going so far as to send human resources an email, reviewed by Business Insider, recounting her concerns. She said the company did nothing to intervene. She eventually quit.

“I am certain I never threw a stapler at a reporter,” Hunt said. “It is perfectly possible that I did insist — you say yell — to an assistant to find my glasses when they were perched on my head. That has happened at home with my kids, so it’s credible.”

Al Hunt, far right, attended a Bloomberg LP-sponsored cocktail party at the 2008 White House Correspondents Dinner with Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer (left) and former Bloomberg LP executive Daniel L. Doctoroff (center left)

Getty Images

Sources say Bloomberg LP made settlement payments to two women who complained about Hunt

Business Insider has learned of at least two instances in which Bloomberg agreed to pay women to settle potential claims over Hunt’s conduct. Business Insider was unable to confirm the specific details of the settlements. 

“I raised Al Hunt’s treatment of female employees to senior managers in the company on several occasions, after repeatedly witnessing its impact,” said one former Bloomberg editor. “I was never informed of any action.”

Hunt continued at Bloomberg until 2018, well past the time that Mike Bloomberg had returned from running New York City. 

In a statement, a Bloomberg LP spokesperson did not deny any of the claims regarding Hunt: “We take complaints from our employees seriously and investigate them thoroughly. Looking back at the history of the company, there are certainly instances where we wish we had handled some complaints differently. We’re always striving to do better, and we are constantly improving policies and procedures to ensure an inclusive workplace.”

Not all of Hunt’s former co-workers described him as abusive or inappropriate. Several described him simply as a 60-something man accustomed to working in a newsroom under the norms of a bygone era. These people point out that the accusations against Hunt do not rise to the level of the sort of sexually predatory behavior that Charlie Rose and Harvey Weinstein have been accused of. One person said that accusing Hunt of giving “massages” was misleading, saying that he would simply place his hands on people’s shoulders.

“Al Hunt is both a mentor and a friend,” Julianna Goldman, a former White House correspondent at Bloomberg and former correspondent at CBS News, told Business Insider. “He has been a champion and advocate for me throughout my career as well as countless other women who have excelled professionally across some of the most prestigious news organizations. I never felt he treated me inappropriately.”

Another woman who worked under Hunt supported Goldman’s account, describing Hunt as supportive.

“Unquestionably I could be demanding,” Hunt said. “There were displays of temper and demands and a couple assistants who left unhappy; again [there] were NO instances of inappropriate touching, etc. It was a big bureau and [I] suspect there were some unhappy people, four or five journalists were managed out over those years. But if the climate was anything like you describe, we never would have been able to hire such really talented reporters, many women; almost without exception they stayed and flourished.”

A warning letter

At least three young women of color who worked at Bloomberg LP found their overall experience at the company so dispiriting that they helped draft a letter to their alma mater, a well-known historically black college, urging it to cease cooperating in Bloomberg LP’s recruitment efforts. Business Insider obtained a copy of the letter, which described Bloomberg LP as a “toxic and demoralizing system.” It was sent in 2019 to the school’s president and to its director of career planning and development. Business Insider has agreed not to name the school in order to protect the author’s identity.

The letter was signed by a graduate of the school, who helped recruit for Bloomberg before leaving the company. She did not respond to requests for comment. But it was drafted with the help of two other alumnae of the same school who worked at Bloomberg. 

“This organization does not have people of color sitting on their management committee, or in visible senior leadership roles, and the ones that do have direct reports have acted in irrepressible ways towards young women of color,” the letter reads. “The experiences shared with me range from being solicited for sexual favors to get ahead, to young women in their first year of work taking medical leave based on their severe emotional and mental stress experienced at the organization. Bloomberg LP will spend money investing in unconscious bias conversations but fail to acknowledge the conscious decision-making had by a select few that continue to marginalize people at the company.”

One of the women who helped draft the letter, who no longer works at Bloomberg, said she was moved to warn the school because Bloomberg was a frequent participant in campus career fairs, and she worried that the company was not a welcoming environment for graduates.

“They definitely don’t know how to support people of color,” this person said. “They want diverse people so they can have it on paper, but once those people get there, there’s no support.”

A person of color who currently works at Bloomberg told Business Insider that her colleagues and supervisor have made condescending and belittling comments to her and exhibit a lack of awareness about how to support employees of color. She said more people of color should be at the table for internal discussions about inclusion, retention, and bias in the workplace.

“I would say from my experience some people are aware of what they call a diversity issue [at Bloomberg LP] but, overall, as a company, I don’t think things are getting better,” the current employee told Business Insider. “If they were trying to get better, it’s because of [Mike Bloomberg] running for election and wanting to please people, but I wouldn’t say they are getting better.”

“I believe that they have convinced themselves that they want to do better,” the letter says of Bloomberg LP. “However, unless they do the real work necessary to changing the toxic aspects of their culture, then they shouldn’t be able to continue to mistreat and attempt to break [female graduates]. Please strongly consider removing them as a partner, allowing them to visit our campus, having them speak in our classrooms or host events with our students. It is truly the only way to guarantee that another [female graduate] will not have to endure this experience immediately after college. In addition, it serves as a reminder that we protect our own.”

A Bloomberg LP spokesperson said the company had never seen the letter and couldn’t comment on it, but that in 2015 Mike Bloomberg launched a “company-wide review of the company’s diversity landscape and commissioned a company-wide effort to promote equality across the business, resulting in the hiring of the company’s first Chief Diversity Officer later that year.” These efforts pre-date Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign, the spokesperson said, adding “we are dedicated to attracting, hiring, retaining, and advancing top diverse talent at Bloomberg, globally.

Evan Agostini/AP

“By failing to signal that some of the behavior was unacceptable, they greenlighted more abuse.”

Perhaps the most notorious former Bloomberg News employee to face consequences for his treatment of women was working elsewhere when the axe fell: Mark Halperin was fired by NBC News in 2017 after numerous women came forward to CNN with accusations of unwanted touching, sexual comments, and physical assault — including approaching a seated colleague from behind and pressing his penis against her shoulder.

Before allegations of Halperin’s sexual predation became widely known, he was regarded privately by some in the Bloomberg News newsroom — where he oversaw a political vertical and daily television show from 2014 to 2017 — as a bully who would regularly scream at colleagues. Halperin did not respond to a request from Business Insider for comment, and Bloomberg LP said its human resources department never received any harassment complaints about Halperin during his tenure there.

Kathy Kiely, a professor at the Missouri School of Journalism who was the Washington news director for Bloomberg politics between 2015 and 2016, told Business Insider that senior leadership did nothing to reign in Halperin’s behavior.

“I have personal experience of Mark’s abusive behavior,” Kiely said, referring to the bullying she says she experienced. “I know that other people in the company knew about it and, as far as I know, he was never called out for it and it was tolerated, and I think that’s unacceptable. There should have been no surprise that it later came out that he was involved with sexual harassment, because sexual harassment is a form of bullying.”

Kiely said Halperin’s behavior was obvious to many in the newsroom, citing abusive emails he wrote to her that he cc’d multiple people on as well as conversations about him that she had with higher-ups. The fact that Halperin was able to dominate colleagues with impunity, Kiely said, only gave other abusers more confidence and convinced their victims of the futility of speaking up.

“If you tolerate abusive behavior, you, as a company, are signalling to abusers they have carte blanche,” Kiely said, “And to the victims of that abuse, past and future, that they just have to put up and shut up because the abusers are so much more important than the people they are abusing.”

“By failing to signal that some of the behavior was unacceptable, they greenlighted more abuse. And it has a chilling effect on victims speaking out because if they think, ‘Well nothing is going to happen except I’m going to get more abuse,’ then why would anybody speak out?”

Editor’s note: Dakin Campbell was previously a reporter for Bloomberg News.

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Locked, Loaded and Leveled

Today I was presented with a gift of sorts.  It’s only a gift because, true to this writer’s desire to make lemonade from lemons, I have chosen to perceive it as the positive opportunity it represents. I could have chosen instead to let it hit me full in the stomach, leaving me helpless and breathless, like a calculated and carefully aimed projectile of meanness.

At the very least I could have treated it as a mere annoyance to be shared with others in hopes of feeding a selfish and resentful need to be on the right side of an argument involving the near complete abandonment of polite civil discourse. Instead I‘ve opted to be neither helpless at the hands of another person nor breathless. Those small still voices that many people hear in times that try one’s patience is shouting loud and clear, and it’s a voice fully locked, loaded and leveled.

This morning as I warmed up to the electronic glow of my pixilated window on the world I was greeted by several requests to connect on a very popular business oriented social media network that I frequent. This network’s membership consists almost exclusively of professional people from unique backgrounds, varying political leanings and diverse lifestyles from all over the globe. Not everyone thinks, agrees with, or acts the way I do on this network, which keeps it remaining anything but boring in my daily life of vibrant social media interaction. In fact I prefer it so because I’m anything but a follower and spend much of my time there working at encouraging others to exercise their right to think for themselves as well.

Among those who were requesting to connect was a person who I don’t know personally, which is certainly the norm. I don’t promote or bill myself as some roaring cool cat or person of notable fame, which would certainly be stretching the truth to the breaking point. I’m just one tiny voice among millions who’s figured out that if I can speak some truth, spread a little thoughtfulness, and help someone find their Smile, then I’ve done all a person can ask for in this short journey on earth. I checked the requesters profile, didn’t find anything out of sorts and discovered the hint of a shared interest, so I clicked the “Accept” button and sent my customary “Thank you” message. Unless it’s clearly obvious my message always includes a polite inquiry as to why a person is requesting to join me on this social media network. I may not be famous, but I still like to know what people find intriguing enough about my profile to wish to connect.

What I received in return a few minutes later was unexpected. I’ll call the requesting party Ms. Sour to protect her true identity. You will understand why shortly.

Ms. Sour replied:

“Your weird! (sic) No one messages me on here”

Not wishing to offend Ms. Sour, who had just reached out and asked to connect with me, and to quickly put to rest any concerns that may exist as to the intended purpose behind my reply I wrote back:

My sincere apologies for evidently offending you Ms. Sour.

“I guess I'm of the opinion that if someone I do not know requests to connect with me here on [name of social network], or any social media platform for that matter, I should take an interest in just why they requested to connect. I obviously can't speak to the inaction of others who don't respond to your requests to connect with them. I simply think a reply is polite.

In regards to being "weird", I can accept that analysis, in light of the fact that weird is a rather abstract concept, just like normal. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Regardless, I still thank you for requesting to connect. You are more than welcome to disconnect if you feel I'm too weird. If you wish to explore just how "weird" I may be please feel free to visit my blog. I hope it serves to brighten your daily outlook on life and sets a positive tone for all you do.

http://thedailychalkboard.tumblr.com/

With a respectful Smile,

Michael #michaelddavis #thedailychalkboard”

A few minutes later this was met with the following reply:

“Omg! Your f***ing annoying. Go get a job and a life and quit f***ing messaging me.”

Not wishing to prolong Ms. Sour’s obvious annoyance and pain, I immediately disconnected myself and blocked her from any further contact. This would usually be the end of the story for most people, or would it?

To affect a personal affront or to react by laughing it off with the sharing of the interaction with friends, family and colleagues would be considered a normal and usual reaction. It would have been easy to play up the event a bit and talk about how callous and rude some people have become, and how I now felt bullied, victimized and marginalized. “Oh Boohoo for me”. Or worse yet, I would proceed to victimize and marginalize another person I don’t even know in the words I chose in describing the incident to others. In effect I would become the bully by victimizing and marginalizing someone I had but only the slightest interaction with.

As a writer, and someone who seeks to find the silver lining of opportunity in a seemingly dark and cloudy situation, I instead have chosen a different reaction. I’ve found a common connection that I believe most of us can relate to given the sad state of current national and global affairs. In short what have I learned from this interaction and what can I do to make it an opportunity to share some observations and pose a challenge to you, the reader. Yes, I’m truly locked, loaded and leveled.

First off I’m sure that some of you will read this account and summarize, like I have, that there are underlying issues at play here in Ms. Sour’s life. No doubt this is true, but whatever the reason, I have concluded that her reaction is most likely a result of being conditioned by personal and social stimuli that manifests itself in negative social behavior. She’s not alone.

This behavior is abundantly evident throughout social media and societal interaction. It plays out every minute of every day on social media, in the news, on school campuses across our nation, in the workplace, and in the so called main stream news media. To summarize, let’s funnel this down to its core component; it’s okay to be socially antagonistic, confrontational, downright rude, uncivil and even physically abusive to satisfy one’s personal or collective agenda. Why? The reason is because it has become acceptable.

Where are the people rallying against the abuse and bullying that goes on with increasing intensity on social media? Unless it involves a minor, a marginalized social substrate or cruelty to animals, it’s a no holds barred free for all that is treated as a spectator sport by many. Some people lose sleep over the fear that if they glance away for a mere instant from being glued to their personal smart device they may miss the latest scandal or slam dunk for or against a near and dear cause or position they hold sacred. Where are the voices decrying the verbal abuse on both sides of the political aisle in Washington, DC and among an increasing number of state legislatures around our country?

We get upset if it affects our deified sports stars, movie stars, musical stars or political stars and don’t give a bugs behind when it affects others we don’t even make an effort to know, like our next door neighbors, the person who checks through our groceries at the store or someone at work experiencing a rough time when all they need is a kind word to get them through the rest of the day.

You see Ms. Sour has been conditioned to be a victim in life. She has been conditioned by all the negative influences and poor choices that she has let affect her life. Let’s not kid ourselves. We all make poor choices and have things happen to us that shape our negatively conditioned attitude about the world around us. Stuff happens, we make mistakes and life goes on if we allow it to.

It’s getting more difficult to let our natural instinct towards resiliency, survival and strength, lift us to higher levels of understanding, tolerance and reasonable acceptance. We’ve been conditioned over the past several decades by being force fed a diet laced with the black salt of negativity. Like helpless ducks being fattened for Foie gras we’ve become used to the over abundance of information, facts and juicy gossip being dredged from the darkness at the bottom of the societal pool of thought and action. Many people find themselves in constant fear and anxiety, and totally unable or unwilling to extract them self from the constant curiosity thrill experienced as they seek even more of that which makes a person perceive themselves as victims. We’ve been forced into swallowing the bitter pill of manipulation and told that it’s good for us.

I don’t know about you but I don’t relish the idea of being a victim. It’s lazy and frankly too easy a position to assume these days. I refuse to take part, as a willing participant, in the problem. Instead I prefer to offer up thoughts and ideas that may help provide a solution for those trapped in the emotionally draining whirlpool of being used and being treated like a victim. It’s my desire to provoke thoughts in the minds of those who can affect meaningful, positive and lasting change.

It’s not the politicians, reigning stars of sports, movies, music or the news media that we allow into our heads, ostensibly to entertain us every day, who will affect this change for the better. These people entertain us, they don’t affect meaningful change. Their effect is thankfully transitory although much of society hangs on every word and deed played out in social media and that they evidently benefit from in being in “the news”. They may make us think and dream, but they can’t do what only we can, which is to be responsible and accountable for our own thoughts, deeds and words.

It’s time for us to shed the restrictive cocoon we’ve allowed ourselves to be imprisoned in for too long, spread our wings, and grow into the beautiful, responsible, self educated, thinking and action based creatures we are meant to be. But how? you may wonder.

Let me suggest that you begin by looking backwards a bit in the history of our country. For those of you who may be new to the United States, or for those who either didn’t pay attention in Junior High history class or even, sadly enough, weren’t introduced to our country’s history, here’s a quick summation.  At the North Bridge in Concord Massachusetts there was a famous battle fought by British Army regulars and Colonial militiamen on April 19th, 1775. The significance of this battle is that it was the beginning of the Revolutionary War and would lead to the Independence from British rule of The United States of America. American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his Concord Hymn, described the first shot as the “shot heard around the world”. Out of this very first shot grew not only a country but a constitution which gives each and every American, native born or naturalized, certain rights as a citizen.

The first two articles in the Amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been in the news constantly of late. Where Article two, which deals with “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms” gets the greatest amount of press attention when it comes to sensationalizing what our freedoms  represent, and the difficulties in a democracy of exercising and keeping those freedoms, the greatest freedom is the one that, in my opinion is far more destructive and dangerous. Article One states “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” With this right comes just as much responsibility and caution as that of being allowed to keep and bear arms. In fact it is far more destructive to exercise speech falsely and without thought or consideration of its effects than to take an assault weapon into the streets and begin firing it off indiscriminately.

Don’t be deceived. The responsibility that comes with exercising the right to speak as one may wish carries a heavy weight.  Words can hurt, maim and yes, words can even result in massive death and destruction. I challenge any sane thinking intellectual person to prove otherwise. The tongue is just as lethal, if not more so, than any automatic assault weapon has or ever will be. Words and their abuse and misuse, both spoken and written, have resulted in more deaths than weapons alone, regardless of whether that weapon was a rock, a sword, a musket, a canon an assault rifle or an atomic bomb. Again, I challenge anyone to prove that this is not the truth.

That historical “shot heard around the world”, as Emerson so eloquently put it, still rings in the air today. Only now it is referred to as the “Tweet heard around the world” and it affects and makes the heart of a whole nation skip a beat just as effectively as the sharp report of a musket ball or the impact of a 5.56mm NATO round to the chest will ever do. The difference is that one person with a so called assault rifle does not wield a weapon of mass civil and social destruction. The people a populace looks to for guidance or approval, the ones with an unlimited audience through a social media account, have the capability for more far reaching and devastating consequences than we may understand or wish to believe.

Have you considered what sort of verbal shots you aim at others through social media, among friends or coworkers or even aimed directly at others in an attempt to exercise power and control?  Does misplaced, misdirected or misinformed anger cause you to write or share things that are hurtful to others and belittle, bully and cause others emotional tension? We have all thought, said and wrote things based upon faulty knowledge, fear, and misunderstanding and in an attempt to gain perceived power and control over someone else. The pressure to be right or accepted can be so overpowering that normally rational people can become irrational when among the influence of peer pressure. Think about how you feel when this happens to you, both on the giving and receiving end.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Each of us can take responsibility for not only what we write and say, but what and why we think the thoughts we do. Being aware of why we believe what we do, why we react as we do and what we believe about others, true or false, and our acceptance of these things, good or bad, is the first step to understanding how important it is to control the way we choose to think, act and react. If this is a bit uncomfortable for you, it should be. Until we can honestly confront our self by asking these hard questions of our self, we cannot begin to grow into those wings that will transform us into the best person we can be.

That voice in your head, the one that is you thinking things through? That voice is your tongue and it should always be squarely leveled at yourself before it’s leveled at anyone else. Once you can get that picture clear in your mind and never forget it, I assure you it’s going to be much harder to pull the trigger of negative assault on someone else. Once you are fully aware and take full responsibility for your own personal thoughts, words and deeds, regardless of what others may attempt to do to influence you to fit their personal agenda you will be on your way to truly finding the Smile you are meant to have and become.

#michaelddavis

©2017 Michael D. Davis All Rights Reserved.

Michael D. Davis is a communicator by vocation, a mentor by avocation and a social media maven by choice. His work can be found on popular channels on the web and on his blog at http://thedailychalkboard.tumblr.com/   Michael welcomes your comments and invites you to join him. Just Google #michaelddavis or #thedailychalkboard to find him and request to connect.

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ENGL 230 Entire Course Professional Communication

https://homeworklance.com/downloads/engl-230-entire-course-professional-communication/

 ENGL 230 Entire Course Professional Communication

 ENGL 230 Quiz Week 1 DeVry 

 (TCO 1) What is the exchange of oral, written, and nonverbal messages among people working to accomplish common tasks and goals?

Attitudes

Opinions

Organizational Communication

Individual beliefs

(TCO 1) Maintaining candor, avoiding deception, keeping messages accurate, and maintaining consistent behavior are some guidelines for sustaining:

Communication values

Political behavior

Ethical communication

Goal-directed behavior

(TCO 1) Evaluate the following goal in terms of the goal setting guidelines discussed in the chapter: “I want to complete the weekly schedule at least three days before it is due.”

According to the guidelines, this is an appropriate goal.

This is not an appropriate goal.

A better goal is: “I will complete the weekly schedule and have the supervisor review it for errors at least three days before it is due.”

This goal should read: “I’ll try to have the schedule completed at least a day before it is due so as to avoid any conflicts with the supervisor.”

(TCO 1) Trading favors, appearing successful at tasks, associating with the “right” people, and making concessions to obtain others’ compliance are some political strategies you should use only after asking yourself:

“What is my motivation or intent in making this decision?”

“Can I get my way by doing this?”

“Will I get promoted by doing this?”

“Is everyone doing it?”

(TCO 1) When you show that you are interested in what another person has to say by being receiver-oriented, receptive, and responsive to his or her message, you are demonstrating:

Openness

Certainty

Neutrality

Supportivess

(TCO 1) What are some of the advantages of communication openness?

Supervisors know everything that is going on, upper management can take control of decisions, and on-the-job performance improves.

Role clarity, organizational performance, and information adequacy are improved.

Everyone knows what everyone else is doing, resulting in fewer misunderstandings and greater freedom.

There are no advantages to communication openness.

(TCO 1) Internal communication includes understanding all of the following elements:

Downward, upward, and external communication.

Upward, downward, and tall versus flat structure.

Downward, upward, horizontal, and informal networks.

Horizontal networks only.

(TCO 1) Why is an understanding of communication anxiety so important to the strategic communication process?

Communicating effectively with even the slightest amount of anxiety is discouraged.

Having any amount of communication anxiety will prevent a person from becoming a strategic communicator.

Managing anxiety is not as important as identifying the source of the anxiety.

Learning how to manage anxiety in different contexts greatly enhances a person’s ability to develop effective communication strategies.

(TCO 1) What is the first step in the goal-setting process?

Obtain feedback

Set a performance goal

Identify the problem

Map out a strategy

(TCO 1) Next week, Clark will give his most important budget proposal presentation. He knows that now, more than ever, he must carefully practice the presentation several times if he hopes to have the proposal accepted. Which component of the model of strategic communication is most applicable to this scenario?

Goal setting

Situational knowledge

Communication competence

Anxiety management

(TCO 2) Communication between the British Prime Minister and the German Chancellor would be considered:

Interracial.

Cross-cultural.

International.

Interethnic.

(TCO 2) Tom leaves work early to Christmas shop for his niece and nephew. He does not have children himself, but he thinks he is safe buying his niece a doll and his nephew a fire truck. The above is an example of which negative stereotype below?

Age

Religion

Gender

Ethnicity

(TCO 2) In the broadest sense, sexual harassment in the workplace includes:

A worker asking a coworker to lunch to discuss business.

Inappropriate demands made on an employee, producing an uncomfortable work environment.

Having to stay late to work on a project with an approaching deadline.

Telling a worker he or she cannot work on a project because he or she has no experience in the area.

(TCO 2) Self perspectives, organizational contexts, and discourse from conflict are all important components of:

The cultural metaphor model.

The legal guidelines for diversity.

The cultural communication conflict triangle.

None of the above

(TCO 2) Total knowledge and complete understanding of another culture is:

Common if the cultures are similar in religious beliefs.

Impossible.

Needed for successful communication to occur.

Damaging to a person’s self-perspective.

(TCO 2) Virginia recognized that one of her shortcomings identified in last quarter’s performance appraisal was that she seldom seemed to listen well to others. At this quarter’s appraisal, she is planning to describe to her manager the ways she has tried to improve her listening habits. Virginia is considering which strategic communication component?

(TCO 2) Prejudice is a negative preconception about:

Goal setting

Situational knowledge

Communication competence

Anxiety management

(TCO 2) What is the study of cultural communication between representatives of different nations?

International communication

Interracial cultural communication

Interethnic cultural communication

Language culture

(TCO 2) Unaddressed sites of conflict:

Do not increase tension.

Can be managed.

Create tension that can stop work or hinder relational activity.

Can always be resolved.

(TCO 2) Culture is:

The study of linguistic meanings of words.

The language shorthand used by people in a particular trade or profession.

The study of the social and political significance of verbal and nonverbal language as signs.

A broad term that explains how people from various nations and cocultures act and speak as they do.

 ENGL 230 Activity 5 Outline Week 2 DeVry 

 The assignment is Activity #5 on page 382. You are given a list of different aspects of a job description and you must create a topical outline that will contain two main points, with subpoints and some sub-subpoints. You must use only the words provided. The assignment will be graded on how well you follow proper outline technique including correct use of Roman numerals, letters for the sub-categories, and logical sequencing. Outlines require that if you have a Roman numeral I, you must have a Roman numeral II. The Roman numerals represent “main” points. Also, outlines require that if you have an item A, you must have an item B. Please be sure you submit the assignment in this format, and check your work for any misspellings prior to submission.

Responsibilities

File reports

One report from marketing

One report from production

Files should…

 ENGL 230 Mini Power Point Presentation Week 3 DeVry 

 This week, you will create and record an informative miniPowerPoint presentation. Your audience is a group of company colleagues who follow the stock market and take turns keeping each other informed on what’s new with the Fortune 1,000. Choose IBM, Disney, or Wal-Mart. Then, create a thesis statement that….

 7 Slides and Speaker Notes

Slide 1 Speaker Notes

Good morning/good afternoon. I am (your name) and I’m here to give a presentation of IBM’s stock performance in 2013 and speculations about the company’s stock performance in 2014. Although IBM is a known leader in the field of technology, even big giants like IBM fall. However, despite the company’s very poor performance in the Dow in 2013, experts predict that the company will again rise in 2014.

Slide 2 Speaker Notes

Although I’m sure that most of you are familiar with IBM, I will provide a brief…

 ENGL 230 Quiz Week 3 DeVry 

 (TCO 4) In adapting to listeners, speakers have to take into account the __________ levels of the audience.

Knowledge, acceptance, and interest

Acceptance, rejection, and intelligence

Knowledge, size, and range

Acceptance, size, and rejection

(TCO 4) Which type of presentation is designed to answer “How” questions, such as “How does this work?”

Demonstration

Explanation

Entertaining

Persuasion

(TCO 4) What presentations share information, shape perceptions, and set agendas?

Point by point

Persuasive

Entertaining

Informative

(TCO 4) What type of presentation educates listeners to help them gain or improve on specific skills?

Regular, scheduled meetings

Training

Report

Briefing

(TCO 4) Descriptive presentations seek to satisfy audience members’ need to:

Have facts, figures, and other data

Learn how to do something

See how something works

Have order

(TCO 4) Successful informative presentations:

Motivate audience curiosity

Connect with audience values

Give audience members a reason to listen

All of the above

(TCO 4) How does the chronological pattern organize main points?

In order of importance

In a geographical sequence

In a time sequence

In a cause and effect sequence

(TCO 4) Which criterion should a speaker rely on in choosing the best pattern of organization for a presentation?

The goal of the presentation determines the pattern

The size of the audience determines the pattern

The length of the speech determines the pattern

The number of main points determines the pattern

(TCO 4) What type of informative presentation addresses “what” questions?

Explanation

Persuasion

Demonstration

Description

(TCO 4) Which of the following actions can a speaker take to help listeners best overcome their physiological noise?

Make sure that a microphone is present

Make sure the presentation is interesting and captivating

Make sure to use a range of voice inflections and pacing

Make sure to adjust the temperature in the room the night before

(TCO 5) Which type of persuasive presentation serves to maintain the status quo and strengthen the audience’s attitudes, values, and beliefs?

Refutation

Call to action

Reinforcement

Explanation

(TCO 5) Maslow’s system of needs is based on the argument that __________ level needs must be satisfied before __________ level needs can be motivating factors.

Higher; lower

Larger; smaller

Lower; higher

Lower; lower

(TCO 5) What does the use of the listener’s perspective in a persuasive presentation mean?

Understanding what makes the listener tick

Understanding what motivates the speaker

Describing what makes the speaker tick to the audience

Relating to the audience on a new level

(TCO 5) __________ means an audience can be persuaded on the basis of who the source is or what the source said.

Opinion

Source credibility

Trustworthiness

Resources

(TCO 5) Of the three components of source credibility, which deals with the way a source is perceived, in terms of being honest, friendly, warm, agreeable, or safe?

Trustworthiness

Dynamism

Competence

Eccentricity

(TCO 5) One important way a speaker gains extrinsic credibility is through:

A forceful conclusion to the presentation

Citation of all sources of data

The strong introduction given about the speaker

Another speaker preceding the main speaker

(TCO 5) Speeches for special occasions in the workplace always require:

Senior executives

Formal attire

Brevity

Focus on success

(TCO 5) Which of the following components is found in a persuasive presentation but should not be incorporated in an informative presentation?

Support material

Call to action

Humor

External sources

(TCO 5) In all public speaking situations, it is important to do which of the following?

Analyze the audience demographics

Identify the reasons for the audience members’ presence

Understand the organizational culture and environmental dynamics

All of the above

(TCO 5) When preparing an introduction, what question should the introducer always keep in mind?

Who is the speaker?

What will the speaker want me to say?

How long has the audience been there?

What is meaningful to this group?

 ENGL 230 Informative Outline Week 4 DeVry 

 For Week 4 you are asked to complete an outline for your Informative Speech. Please be sure to follow the Outline Template in Doc Sharing. Remember to include an introduction, thesis, target, audience, body of the outline (with at least three main points (Roman numerals) and two levels of subpoints (letters and numbers), conclusion, visual explanation, and reference page (using correct APA formatting.) You might also want to review the speechguidelines.docx in Doc Sharing for more information.

Title of Presentation: How Viral Marketing Can Improve a Company’s Sales

Name of Presenter:

Description of Business Audience: Entrepreneurs and business professionals who are exploring new ways of marketing their company’s products

Introduction

We all know that viral videos are fun to watch, but with their ability to spread like wildfire, how can entrepreneurs use the same concept in improving their company’s sales? With everyone using social media, how can we use concepts such as viral marketing for the benefit of our businesses? In this presentation, I will discuss…

 ENGL 230 Ball Corporation Practicing Business Communication Week 4 DeVry 

 The assignment in Week 4 is to read the Ball Corporation article on pages 106 and 107, then answer the four questions for critical thinking at the end. When answering the questions, you should answer the questions completely using both textbook definitions and your own experiences and examples (or an outside source, in which case you need to cite the source). So you might first answer with what are typical influences (from the book), and then speak to what typically influences you and give an example of your experience.

How a Small Margin of Error Affects Communication on a Project

A small margin for error makes communication on a project critical, especially when the project is as complex as the projects being developed by Ball Aerospace (O’Hair, Friedrich & Dixon, 2011).  Communication must be precise, clear and timely so that everyone…

Differences in How the Writer Acts in Face-to-face Meetings Compared to Telephone Conference Calls

In face-to-face meetings, the writer tends to be more…

Written Communication vs. Oral Communication

The written form of communication decreases the chances of interruption (O’Hair, Friedrich & Dixon, 2011).  Textual…

Listening Hurdles

One of the writer’s listening hurdles is that he tends to become a passive listener (O’Hair, Friedrich & Dixon, 2011) in that he fails…

 ENGL 230 Informative Speech Power Point Presentation Week 5 DeVry 

 15 Slides with Speaker Notes

For the Week 5 assignment you were asked to create an informative speech in PowerPoint with audio. Please be sure to review speechguidelines.docx in Doc Sharing for complete information on the speech requirements.

Slide 5: There are various tools that can be used for viral marketing, but the key thing to remember is that viral marketing is driven by content. As we all know, social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are the most common and popular tools for…

Slide 9: Here are some more dos and don’ts for having an effective viral marketing initiative. The first is that it should have an unexpected theme. It should contain an element of surprise, which would increase the users’ curiosity; thus, increasing the views…

Slide 13:

To conclude this presentation, I’d like to reiterate that if done properly, viral marketing is a great way to spread the word about your company’s product or…

 ENGL 230 Interviewing Activity 1 Assignment Week 6 DeVry 

 Complete Activity #1, located on page 257 in our eBook or page 256 in our printed textbook.

For this activity, please construct a series of questions that you would ask in the opening portion of the following types of interviews:

   Which types of buildings would require permits for?

 What are the requirements for obtaining a building      permit?

 How long have you been working in the company?….

  ENGL 230 Quiz Week 6 DeVry 

 (TCO 8) More than 90 percent of business organizations provide training in ___________ for their employees.

Telephone operation

Cash register operation

Interpersonal communication

Leadership

(TCO 8) Which of the following could be an obstacle to the achievement of goals in the interview?

An uncomfortable setting and an inconvenient time for the interview

Sufficient preparation by the interviewer

The interviewee talking enthusiastically

Willingness to contribute on the part of the reviewer

(TCO 8) What three concepts bear on question meaning?

Clarity, relevance, and bias

Opening, body, and closing

Bias, sequence, and form

Alternatives, lists, and prestige

(TCO 8) The interviewer who asks him or herself such questions as “Will the interviewee know what the interview is about?” and “Will the interviewee want to participate in the interview?” is addressing which two components of the interview’s opening?

Orientation and motivation

First impressions and orientation

Credibility and motivation

(TCO 8) What form of question is the following: Do you believe that women should be allowed to take combat roles in the military?

Secondary

Closed

Open

Loaded

(TCO 8) Which of Carl Rogers’s five response categories seeks to reassure, pacify, or reduce the interviewee’ s intensity of feeling?

Evaluative

Understanding

Supportive

Interpretative

(TCO 8) In a highly scheduled interview, the interviewer prepares an interview schedule that contains:

Potential topics and subtopics.

All major questions with possible probe questions under each major question. The questions are asked in the order in which they are listed, but the probes may or may not be used.

All of the questions that will be asked (including all probe questions) and the exact wording that will be used with each interviewee. Every interviewee received exactly the same questions in exactly the same order. Not only all questions but also all answer options.

(TCO 8) Possible obstacles to a successful interview process may include:

Confusion and trauma.

Lack of courtesy and forgetfulness.

Distracting subconscious behaviors.

All of the above

(TCO 8) __________ is (are) the process of finding a job through personal contacts at other organizations.

Internships

Networking

Personal job application

Employee referrals (TCO 8) Many companies receive as many as two hundred applicants for a job. Of that pool, ___________ candidates will be called for a first interview.

Twenty to thirty

Three to five

Twenty to twenty-five

Eight to ten

(TCO 8) __________ of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of color, race, religion, sex, or national origin.

Amendment Fourteen

Title VII

Amendment Nineteen

Title IX

(TCO 8) In preparing for an interview, what does the interviewee do to learn as much about the potential employer as possible?

Research the company

Write a personal biography

Get work experience

Write a tailored cover letter

(TCO 8) The interviewee designs the résumé and cover letter based on __________ and on research about the company.

organizational structure

business purpose

personal biography

work experience (TCO 8) If an applicant thinks she or he has been asked an illegal or discriminating question during an interview, what course of action should the applicant take?

Attempt a citizen’s arrest because the law requires the employer to prove that no discrimination took place.

Give a false answer to the question.

Refuse to answer the question.

Politely clarify the question, and place the ball back in the interviewer’s court.

(TCO 9) What type of feedback is most effective in motivating employees?

Mostly corrective

Negative only

Both corrective and supportive

Both positive and evaluative

(TCO 9) Which of the following discriminatory questions is considered illegal?

Do you qualify for minority status?

Can you work overtime?

Are you willing to relocate?

Have you been convicted of a felony?

(TCO 8) What makes an interview question effective?

An interview question will be effective if it brings…

  ENGL 230 Persuasive Outline Week 7 DeVry 

  For Week 7 you are asked to complete an outline for your Persuasive Speech. Please be sure to follow the Outline Template in Doc Sharing. Remember to include an introduction, thesis, target, audience, body of the outline (with at least three main points (Roman numerals) and two levels of subpoints (letters and numbers), conclusion, visual explanation, and reference page (using correct APA formatting.) You might also want to review the speechguidelines.docx in Doc Sharing for more information.

Title of Presentation: Proposal for Additional Company Network Security and Firewall Protection Measures

Name of Presenter: 

Description of Business Audience: The audience consists of members of the IT department management team.  They are responsible for evaluating my proposal and making…

Introduction

Sony Playstation’s loss of $171 million in damages from     a network breach in 2011 (Phneah, 2012)

Topics that the presentation will cover

Thesis statement

Introduction of the speaker

Thesis Statement: IT security breaches caused much damage and loss for an enterprise, making tighter…

Body of Outline

Risks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities

What are risks, threats…

 ENGL 230 Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. Week 7 DeVry 

 Week 7 Assignment Practicing Business Communications:

 The assignment in Week 7 is to read the article about Tootsie Roll on pp 328-329 and answer the five questions for critical thinking at the end. When answering the questions, you should answer the questions completely using textbook definitions, examples from the Tootsie Roll story, and your own experiences and examples (or an outside source, in which case you need to cite the source). Using terminology from the text connects your answers to the core concepts of communication and negotiation in Chapter 11. So you might first answer with examples from the Tootsie Roll story that support your position and then share the relevant concepts from your text. Giving examples from your experience can help demonstrate your knowledge of communication and negotiation concepts and connect the topics to the real-world.

TRI (Tootsie Roll Industries) communicates its values to suppliers and employees by keeping the communication lines open between them and the company’s management team.  For example, employees are allowed to join or sit in on meetings of other departments.  They are also aware of and are involved in the decisions being made by the company.  This promotes transparency within the company.  On the other hand, when it…

  ENGL 230 Persuasive Speech Week 8 DeVry 

 For the Week 8 assignment you were asked to create a Persuasive Speech in PowerPoint with audio. Please be sure to review speechguidelines.docx in Doc Sharing for complete information on the speech requirements.

 15 Power Point Slides with Speaker Notes

Preview:

Slide 1:

Good afternoon. Did you know that in 2011, Sony incurred damages amounting to $171 million due to a security breach that occurred in Sony PlayStation Network?  To think that Sony is a big company that we can presume to have the best security-related technologies in place. And yet, their system was still infiltrated. This means that no business entity is entirely safe from security breaches and that a company’s security measures should….

  ENGL 230 Professional Communication Discussions ALL 7 Weeks All Students Posts 367 Pages DeVry 

 ENGL 230 Communication Discussions 1 Week 1 All Students Posts 29 Pages DeVry

 In your opinion, does the success-or failure-of an organization depend on how effectively its members communicate, or not? How do organizations establish goals? How can communication help an organization achieve its goals? What implications do the information age and globalization have for organizational communication? What barriers might exist in a company with offices all over the world? What barriers might exist in an organization that relies heavily on electronic forms of communication versus face-to-face communication?…

 ENGL 230 Language Culture Discussions 2 Week 1 All Students Posts 26 Pages DeVry

 What does the term “language culture” include, and how might you analyze your language culture? Who could help you? Which research or library sources could be informative? Every human being has a unique, personalized “language culture.” Your own language culture is built from all your life experiences, locations lived, groups spent time around, occupations, majors, hobbies, and more. (1) Can you explain your own language culture? (2) How can any language culture–your own or someone else’s–be analyzed and understood?  How you are perceived by your audience is a big part of communication. Have any of you ever had any misunderstandings that stemmed from cultural differences?…

 ENGL 230 Communication and Language Culture Discussions Week 1 DeVry

 ENGL 230 Business Presentations Discussions 1 Week 2 All Students Posts 29 Pages DeVry

 What are some common reasons for presentations in a business or professional setting?  What are some of the benefits of making or listening to presentations in the workplace? Why is public speaking frightening to you? List the techniques you use to overcome your fear of public speaking? What benefits and/or challenges have you experienced when giving professional presentations?…

ENGL 230 Public Speaking Discussions 2 Week 2 All Students Posts 26 Pages DeVry

 How might you handle the following situations? You arrive to give your speech and are asked to speak for an hour instead of for thirty minutes because a second speaker has canceled. Someone interrupts you, saying that you are not speaking on the subject the audience has come to hear. What do you consider as “good” delivery? What delivery techniques work for you?…

 ENGL 230 Business Presentations and Public Speaking Discussions Week 2 DeVry

 ENGL 230 Informative Speaking Discussions 1 Week 3 All Students Posts 27 Pages DeVry

 Why are informative presentations useful? Describe and give examples of the three major functions of informative presentations. Why is knowing your audience important? How does the audience affect how you shape your message and the information you share? Can anyone think of other types of audiences? How might the setting and surroundings affect your speaking situation? How does that relate to sources of “noise” that our text describes?…

 ENGL 230 Ethics and Persuasive Speaking Discussions 2 Week 3 All Students Posts 26 Pages DeVry

 Imagine that you are trying to persuade your employer to buy a particular Brand X portable computer for employees to use for business trips.  You are to make a presentation to a management committee, and you want to give members convincing evidence for your recommendation.  You also want to make the presentation in an ethical fashion.  You like the selected model for a variety of reasons, including the fact that your spouse works part time for Brand X and has told you a lot of good things about it. As you think through the presentation, what, if any, ethical issues will you encounter?  What are some possible ways of dealing with them?  Which will you choose? Might your answer change if you or your family owned stock in Brand X?  Why or why not?  in deciding how much information to present, do you have an ethical responsibility to present all sides of an issue? For example, does a district attorney have a responsibility to tell a grand jury about all known facts of a case? Should a sales representative for a drug manufacturer tell doctors about the side effects of a drug? Should an army recruiter tell potential recruits about both the advantages and disadvantages of military life? What criteria would you use in deciding the answers to these questions?…

ENGL 230 Informative Speaking Ethics and Persuasive Speaking Discussions Week 3 DeVry

 ENGL 230 Hearing and Listening Discussions 1 Week 4 All Students Posts 25 Pages DeVry

 What’s the difference between hearing and listening? Please provide experiences or examples. What other differences do you know of between hearing and listening?  What is listener anxiety? Why is it a particularly serious problem in business settings? Class, even when audience members have the best of intentions (which goes a long way) they are never going to remember all of the information. What are you going to do to help your audience with retention?… ENGL 230 Verbal and Nonverbal Skills Discussions 2 Week 4 All Students Posts 26 Pages DeVry

 Describe a situation in which a coworker’s nonverbal communication contradicted his or her words. Which message was stronger? What might be some reasons for the lack of alignment?  How can we make sure our body language, including facial expressions, matches what we’re saying? Class, in Week 3 we discussed how much the audience or venue of a presenation affects clothing and other choices with regard to appearance. How can the physical appearance of a speaker effect the audience? For example, a speaker dressed in a very casual and inappropriate way might cause the audience to question the speaker’s credibility. What else? Do have any specific examples you can share? How can you be certain that you are presenting the correct appearance when you are the speaker?…

 ENGL 230 Hearing and Listening and Verbal and Nonverbal Skills Discussions Week 4 DeVry

 ENGL 230 Leadership Tactics Discussions 1 Week 5 All Students Posts 28 Pages DeVry

 Management has always used fear to some degree. Although most leadership books ignore this tool altogether, in favor of more accommodating techniques, many highly successful executives use terror to lead their employees. Scott Snook, a Harvard Business School professor of organizational behavior, suggests that fear can become a barrier to taking risks, but, at the same time, it can “provide the essential emotional kick” needed to meet a challenge. The use of fear to lead can cause many problems because no one will question the leadership or suggest changes. For example, Enron had its employees rank one another’s performance every year and then fired the lowest ten percent. This practice could not have made questioning authority easy, and such questions could have helped to avoid Enron’s scandal and collapse. Workers who have more credentials and experience are less reliant on a single employer, and for them, fear-inspiring bosses are less of a factor. In strong economic times, workers are more difficult to come by, so bosses must be careful. However, in times of downturn, such as in the last few years, management has had more power over employees, and cracking the whip has become more common. Most successful companies are made up of people who are “productively neurotic.” That is, their neuroses makes them more productive workers because they have “a strong, self-imposed fear of failure.” Firms with such workers don’t use fear directly to encourage employees; rather, they simply reinforce people’s own natural tendency to strive for success. Do you think it is ethical for an organization to allow its leaders to use fear as a communication tactic? What have your experiences with fear as a leadership tool been?What do you all think of fear as a management tool? If you have been in this situation with a manager, please share your experience. Do any of us employ this technique as a manager?…

 ENGL 230 Leadership Styles Discussions 2 Week 5 All Students Posts 25 Pages DeVry

 Do you believe that there is a single leadership style that is effective in most situations?  If you do, explain what that style is and why it is effective. If you don’t, please explain your position. Do you consider yourself a leader? Have you had the opportunity to be a leader in the workplace? If not, tell us about other situations where you have been a leader? How would you describe your leadership style?  Have any of you ever experienced leadership anxiety? What are some of the methods to handle leadership anxiety?…

 ENGL 230 Leadership Tactics and Leadership Styles Discussions Week 5 DeVry

 ENGL 230 Job Interviews Discussions 1 Week 6 All Students Posts 25 Pages DeVry

 In today’s computer driven business world, job interviews may likely occur online in a series of e-mail exchanges. How do you believe you might perform in an online interview, compared to a traditional face-to-face interview? Can you imagine that you might feel at an advantage or a disadvantage? Why? Do you believe these three characteristics exist in an online or e-mail interview? Why/Why not?  So tell me, how can you prepare for a phone interview? An e-mail exchange? Face to face interview? Is it all the same or different?…

  ENGL 230 Employee Appraisal & Disciplinary Interview Discussions 2 Week 6 All Students Posts 26 Pages DeVry

 Why are effective performance appraisal interviews critical to healthy supervisor-employee relations? Can disciplinary interviews improve relations? How does communication competence come into play in both scenarios? What experiences have you had with performance appraisals? How might your manager more effectively conducted your appraisal? Class, have you ever been yelled at by a coworker or supervisor? If yes, how did it make you feel? If you don’t mind, tell us about the situation. How could you and/or the supervisor/coworker have handled the communication differently? When you reply, look back to the chapter for this week on employee appraisals and disciplinary action to support your suggested solution to the problem….

 ENGL 230 Job Interviews Employee Appraisal & Disciplinary Interview Discussions Week 6 DeVry ENGL 230 Manager-Employee Relationship Discussions 1 Week 7 All Students Posts 24 Pages DeVry

 Cherie is an accountant for a large advertising agency. After receiving notice of a prospective, large account, she thinks of a creative advertising campaign and tells her idea to Charles, her manager. Charles shoots down her idea and reminds her that her job is accounting. Several days later, the design team visits Charles and asks him for more details on his brilliant campaign idea. Cherie realizes that the campaign being discussed is her idea.  What does this outcome indicate about the communication climate and power holding in the agency? If you were Cherie, would you approach Charles about stealing your idea, or would you show support for your manager? Why?  Class, I’m sure that this week’s scenario will prove to be an interesting conversation. To get us started, let’s address a few issues: Have you experienced a similar situation in your own professional experience to that of Charles and Cherie in the scenario? Please tell us about it. How did you resolve it? Review the steps for improving relationships with others (195). How would you use these steps to address the situation described above?… ENGL 230 Coworker Relationship Discussions 2 Week 7 All Students Posts 25 Pages DeVry

 When it comes to coworkers, why are strong interpersonal relationships important in business?

How do you build and maintain those relationships while keeping professionalism at the forefront?  What are some challenges you face in doing so?  As you respond to this question, tell us of any real examples you can recall where you had a co-worker who “didn’t” handle a situation in an appropriate way… What happened? What might have been different had that person adjusted to the specific situation?… ENGL 230 Manager-Employee Relationship and Coworker Relationship Discussions Week 7 DeVry