What You Can Expect from RCBC

By Communication Consultant Carolyn Reagan (Undeclared, ’23)

What to Expect at RCBCAfter scheduling your appointment at RCBC through our website, you may be wondering how to best prepare. The following article will give you an idea of what to expect during your appointment.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, all appointments are being conducted online through Zoom. However, prior to the pandemic, we offered in-person appointments on the third floor of the Rauch Business Center. We hope to resume in-person operations as soon as it is safe. In the meantime, Zoom proves to be an incredibly helpful tool. Below are some steps to consider prior to your appointment:

  1. Following scheduling your appointment, you will receive your corresponding Zoom link through email. We recommend that you leave a short description of what you want to work on during your appointment (eg. course, assignment) and then log on about 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment. You may wait a short time in the waiting room, especially if another student’s appointment is ending.
  2. Be sure to come prepared with all necessary material for a productive appointment. Have ready your current draft, the assignment prompt, and any applicable rubrics or materials provided by your professor. Oftentimes, we may be familiar with your assignment, especially because we generally see repeating assignments or we might have taken the same class during our time at Lehigh!
  3. Consider emailing (inrcbc@lehigh.edu) your draft and assignment ahead of your appointment; this way, we are able to fully familiarize ourselves with your work and the nature of the assignment’s requirements and instructions.

During the actual appointment, it is our priority that you feel as comfortable as possible. We hope that you are as open as possible about how you currently feel about your assignment, and what we can do to help you. Be sure to let us know what part of the assignment you want to focus on. We can work on grammar, organization, content, and more! During the meeting, we are very flexible! Sometimes our meetings involve using the “Shared screen” option on Zoom, other times they include practice presentations, or just a simple questions and answers session! Most frequently, we utilize Google Drive (Google Docs, Slides, etc.) to engage in a meaningful discussion about sentence structure, organization, word choice, and assignment requirements.

Though we primarily work on written and academic assignments, we have also helped students with their resumes, Pecha Kucha presentations, and interview skills! Because the Communication Consultants represent a range of majors and school years, we typically have the training and experience to support any kind of communication related assignment.

Following your consultation, we will send you a completely anonymous survey to provide feedback on your experience with RCBC; there, we encourage you to share your experience with our center so that we can continue to improve our offerings. It is also worth noting that if you are unable to book a Zoom consultation due to scheduling conflicts, we are able to provide feedback over email. Simply send us your draft, assignment, and rubric to our address (inrcbc@lehigh.edu). In the email, let us know what help you need, and we will respond with detailed feedback, usually in under 24 hours during the week (longer for papers submitted during the weekends and holidays). If you have any other questions before your appointment, feel free to email us. We hope to be a helpful resource to you during your time at Lehigh!

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Advice for Sophomores in Business

By Communication Consultant Duy Nguyen (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

Major declaration is comingAs we move onto the Spring semester of 2021, sophomores in the College of Business have already successfully concluded the transition to the next chapter at college. Despite no longer having to learn about the resources available at Lehigh, sophomores now face a myriad of new challenges that are unique to sophomores. Navigating such challenges alongside the usual coursework, this year’s sophomores are also coping with unprecedented circumstances of studying in the middle of a pandemic. As an effort to provide support for sophomores, this article will delve into various suggestions specifically pertaining to the second year, curated by the staff at RCBC.

Arguably, the most difficult decision for sophomores, especially at this point in the semester, is to select a major. While some students might have already picked a major before coming to Lehigh, the vast majority of students are still at a crossroads and struggling with weighing the pros and cons of each option. Our first advice is to take advantage of what you learned in your introductory courses. Lehigh’s curriculum has been designed with an aim to provide students with preliminary exposure to every business major available. Therefore, it would be in your best interest to include courses from each field of study in your schedule. Doing so is the best way to understand the focus and requirements of all majors.

These introductory classes will provide you with an invaluable opportunity to establish relationships with your professors. Attending office hours with your professor will give you the opportunity to have an in-depth discussion regarding career paths and the major selection process. Not only will they bolster your performance in the course, but you will also learn the details of the major’s numerous specialized tracks and how they align with your interests. Oftentimes, professors have vast experience in industry and from their academic career and can provide valuable advice.

Outside of the classroom, it is highly beneficial for sophomores to attend the various events organized by the College of Business, business clubs, and the Career Center. The most important events would be major orientations, where representatives and professors from each department provide an in-depth overview of course requirements and career opportunities offered by each major. These sessions are also the perfect opportunity to ask questions of both professors and upperclassmen; oftentimes, they can offer unique perspectives, personal insights, and advice for their major. Additionally, networking and career events can be incredibly beneficial, giving students the chance to meet Lehigh alumni, thereby gaining an understanding of a major’s career prospects.

At RCBC, our Communication Consultants represent a variety of majors and have taken a considerable range of classes. In other words, we have had firsthand experience of what is expected of students in the introductory major courses, and thus would be able to help you with your assignments from those classes (MKT 111, MGT 043/143). We can also share our experiences with selecting a major and getting involved outside the classroom.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Empathy in the Communication Center

By Communication Consultant Xinyi Cui (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

Empathy in the core of communication processEmpathy—“the ability to understand and share the feelings of another”—plays an integral role in the communication process. Empathy applies to communication because it can be a powerful tool in moving and inspiring the people around us. To have empathy in communication, we have to stand in our audience’s shoes to understand their needs and emotions. However, doing so can be difficult because we have to understand our own emotions in the first place, which might require us to face strong feelings such as pain, pressure, and loneliness. When we are trying to communicate in a stressful or high-stakes setting, such as creating a report for a class or providing analysis and recommendations in a professional setting, our own emotions sometimes make it difficult to understand the perspectives of the people with whom we are trying to communicate. That’s why it is important to share your work in progress with someone you trust before you turn it in.

As staff members in the Rauch Center for Business Communication, our responsibility is to take on the student perspective and guide students to go through the communication process. We do our best to understand the needs and feelings of those who ask for help, especially because everyone has such unique life experiences. However, by being truthful and listening, we can build a strong connection. To better develop the relationship between the consultants and advisees, we make sure to offer praise, statements of encouragement, and expressions of concern with the aim to reinforce the student’s feeling of ownership and control.

Furthermore, because we are also students, we can better understand the needs of our clients, as many of them reflect our own. However, it is important to balance between these two identities when we do our jobs. As emotional laborers, we are learning more every day through direct experience and practice. At RCBC, we are committed to maintaining a communication center that places empathy at the core of our work.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Team Communication in a Pandemic

By Communication Consultant Duy Nguyen (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

3 Suggestions to Make Effective Team Communication During the PandemicA year into the pandemic, it is safe to say that each of us has witnessed its impact in one way or another. The pandemic has given rise to a dramatic shift in the way we interact and share information. A huge number of people are now a part of the virtual population, conducting their work and study remotely with the use of communication technologies. Such technologies, ranging from emails to video conferencing, have become the primary means of communication for professionals and students. Virtual communication has been vital in allowing us to sustain multiple aspects of our work and lives.

However, considering the fact that all such changes were initiated in a rather rushed manner over a short period of time, we may not yet have the skills that allow us to most effectively communicate in our virtual teams. Too much information could sometimes be overwhelming, thus demotivating and causing stress amongst teammates. On the other hand, information could be incomplete, resulting in unsatisfactory work or unnecessary, time-consuming back-and-forth inquiries. Problems resulting from information overload or incomplete understanding might lead to significant consequences. We have to do better from the start.

There are a number of ways to communicate more effectively in our virtual teams.

First, centralizing communication in groups can ensure that real-time data and information exchange is transparent and available to all individuals who are involved in the project/assignment.

Second, messages must be clear. Senders should explicitly state their intentions, thereby minimizing confusion and potential conflicts.

While communication should doubtlessly be conducted regularly so as to keep everyone up to date, work groups should also set up certain boundaries such as a curfew, after which email exchanges should be paused until the next working period, avoiding an overflow of information.

The pandemic has clearly placed greater emphasis on the role of effective communication. It is the skill that has allowed us to minimize disruptions and carry on with our usual duties. Adapting to the new communication practices, we will not only make the most out of the circumstances, but we will also equip ourselves with valuable skills that will be beneficial in the long run as globalization will continue to highlight the importance of virtual communication.

Practice makes perfect, so take advantage of the Rauch Center for Business Communication. Our Communication Consultants can help you plan for better communication in your groups or we can troubleshoot communication challenges.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Developing Your Voice with RCBC

Photo by Jessica Da Rosa on Unsplash

By Communication Consultant Carolyn Simmet (Management and Supply Chain Management, ’21)

Social identities largely impact our literacy. The way we write, read, and comprehend are all uniquely dependent on our cultural backgrounds and identities. Our style and voice is shaped by our personalities and impacts our grammatical and rhetorical choices. To acknowledge these differences based on social identities is one thing, but to understand and use our differences as an advantage in writing is another.

Adam Daut, a graduate student at Arizona State University, explores how social identities play a key role in our writing. He presents a variety of methods to help writers and tutors incorporate our selves into our writing and other linguistic work at the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing. Two of these methods include creating a social identity map and writing our own literacy narratives.

Social Identity Map

One way we can ensure we are using our differences in our writing is by creating a social identity map. You can do this by making a big circle around your first and last name on a sheet of paper. Then, you start drawing lines outside of the big circle to smaller circles with descriptive characteristics written inside. These characteristics could include: religion, education, gender, socioeconomic status, class, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and so on. From there, you can continue to draw lines outward to elaborate on the labeled identities. For example, you can draw a line from religion to explain your beliefs, or from gender to preferred pronouns, or from education to the different places studied and the degrees received. You can talk with a peer or a tutor about how your writing reflects your identities; the insights you gain will help you develop your voice and communicate more authentically.

Literacy Narratives

Another way we can express ourselves through our writing is by creating our own literacy narratives. To write a literacy narrative, write about your experiences with reading, writing, and communicating. When did you learn to read and write? What important lessons have you learned about literacy? How do you use literacy and communication? Writing our own literacy narratives allows us to create relationships through our writing and self reflection. Sharing literacy narratives with fellow writers or a tutor can lead to group discussion and personal development. Literacy narratives help us understand what directly impacts our thoughts and writing, which helps us learn what we do and do not like. 

At the RCBC, we can best help with writing when we take the time to understand you as an individual. We can do this by getting to know our students prior to jumping into work. We can also do this by looking at our unique names or creating a social identity map for ourselves and our students. We prioritize providing unique guidance to each individual that utilizes our services. Rather than providing the same suggestions and advice to each student, we ensure each student’s writing style is emphasized. After all, the ways we write are unique and impacted by our social identities.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Understanding the Importance of Mindfulness

By Communication Consultant Lili Tang (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

The Importance of Mindfulness

Are you familiar with meditating or practicing mindfulness? With the rapidly changing nature of our living environments, mindfulness practice has become an increasingly popular trend. It is usually defined as bringing one’s awareness and attention to the current moment while focusing on one’s feelings and thoughts. Do not let its seemingly abstract and profound concept scare you away. Mindfulness has real benefits for leaders and is proven to reduce stress in the workplace.

At this time of year, filled with exams and final projects, many of us are experiencing significant stress. Grace Brouillette’s studies focused on mindfulness in academic settings highlight barriers to self-care, including academic guilt, emotional and physical burn-out, and imposter syndrome. In addition, the current virtual environment creates more stress in our daily work and study. When our anxiety and stress levels go up, we tend to be easily trapped into an endless cycle.

Mindfulness can help you break that cycle. Although effectively mitigating and managing negativity takes time and effort, it is also true that we can see results right away when we recognize our positive and negative feelings, listen to them, and learn to embrace them gradually. Here are some mindfulness questions that you could ask yourself:

  • What is/are the issue(s) you are dealing with and how do they make you feel?
  • Why are you feeling stressed? What are some factors – internal or/and external – that are contributing to stress?
  • Have such feelings/events occurred previously? If so, what action did you take back then? Was that action effective or ineffective?
  • What would give you some comfort (nature, exercise, music, movies, books, cooking, etc.)? Who are you comfortable talking to?

Mindfulness is not merely applicable during stressful times. A regular practice in mindfulness carries numerous benefits. Understanding our own bodies and minds not only enhances our performance and communication, but also improves our memory, focus, and relationships.

Remember that mindfulness practice is not a monotonous task; rather, it is a valuable opportunity to communicate to yourself. If you are curious about the role of mindfulness in communication, do not hesitate to schedule an appointment with us. If you are stressed about exams, you could watch this brief meditation to help with test anxiety. If you are in distress or really need to talk with someone, make use of University Counseling Services.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Be silent, or say something better than silence. – Pythagoras

By Communication Consultant Xinyi Cui (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

Pythagoras QuoteWe often think about the importance of oral, verbal, and non verbal communication. However, we should not ignore the power of silence. But be careful; we can’t remain silent simply to avoid talking. As Pythagoras implies with the quote above, we should strive to have something important to say.

Let’s imagine that one of your best friends comes to you because they are having a difficult time with school life. You listen patiently to learn about what is happening. But what can you do now?

In such situation, it might be a good idea to stay silent until you can figure out the following questions:

1) What is your friend looking for–some logical suggestions or simply emotional support?

2) If your friend asks for advice, are you able to give suggestions because you have similar experiences or you have some specific expertise, or should you instead express empathy?

3) What is the best way of expressing your thoughts/perspectives?

We try to consider these questions before we speak up, because at least we will not accidentally hurt someone with an unthoughtful response. Furthermore, being silent might be a more appropriate approach than providing endless “recommendations.”

Does that mean we should keep our mouth shut when we chat with our friends? Definitely not. What’s critical about leveraging the power of silence is to pause. Don’t directly express your opinions without a second thought. Instead, be more cautious about your approach to communicating by including some words like “I feel you” or “I am always here for you” and some behaviors like eye contact and nodding in affirmation. Not only will these strategies make your troubled friend much more comfortable, when you do eventually speak, your worlds will be more impactful.

Just as in your personal communication, using silence in business communication is important. Whether you’re building trust, emphasizing a point, negotiating, empowering others, seeking answers, or centering yourself, using silence effectively is a power skill that will make you a leader.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

The Power of Nonverbal Communication

By Communication Consultant Lili Tang (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

Navarro QuoteImagine trying to talk about something very important and personal, but your conversation partner constantly looks away, stares down at the phone, or doesn’t directly turn their face towards you. How would you feel? Or think about a time when you had an awkward handshake with someone significant. How do you think that person felt about you? Our eyes, hands, and gestures are parts of our nonverbal communication which implicitly communicate our attitude and personality. Nonverbal communication plays a big role in our daily interactions.

Verbal communication seems to be the most obvious approach to connect with people; however, words can mislead or deceive us. Joe Navarro, who previously served as a both FBI agent and supervisor in the areas of counterintelligence and counterterrorism, gave an informative TED Talk about the power of nonverbal communication. In the talk, Navarro stated that nonverbals were authentic behaviors that would not easily lie to us. Although it can be difficult to notice the nonverbal cues in our daily lives, it is vital to understand and utilize them as we continue to enhance interpersonal and communication skills. In addition, learning how to use nonverbals can help us be more genuine and sympathetic in various situations.

Nonverbals apply not only to our day-to-day conversations, but also to business communication. For example, if you are in a job interview and it is your first time meeting with the interviewers, how you sit, what you wear, and how you act will be very visible, especially in a virtual setting. In an interview, nonverbal communication is as important as verbal communication. Good nonverbals will demonstrate your overall communication skills and imply your confidence and positive attitude towards the company and the position you are applying for.

If verbal communication is the bright moon that glows at night, then nonverbals would be the twinkling stars to polish the night. Learn the power of nonverbal communication. Just as Navarro said, “The primary way we influence each other is through nonverbals — it’s that nice handshake; it’s a pat on shoulders; it’s that touch of hand — that communicates love in a way that words simply cannot do it.”

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

The Power of Positive Communication – Gautama Buddha

By Communication Consultant Xinyi Cui (Accounting and BIS, ’22)

Buddha Quote“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.” ~ Gautama Buddha

At this time of year, many assignments involve high-stakes group projects. Communicating in a positive way with your group–expressing your care for their needs as well as the needs of the project–leads to two outcomes: First, group members enjoy their time together, and second, group members pull together effectively to achieve the best outcome.

Positive communication will help a team to enjoy a friendly environment. No matter how difficult the project is, when the team can have a good conversation, all team members will love to solve problems together. However, positive communication rarely comes easily or automatically. Using my own experience as an example, I had a global team for a big project and many problems came up during the collaboration. My teammates had their own work to do and we were living in different time zones, which stopped us from meeting and working together. Also, people treated this project with different levels of priority, and I felt bad if I forced others to do their tasks. All of these reasons made this project more complex than I thought. Sometimes I felt anxious and did not even want to get out of bed to have the morning meeting!

There is no doubt that when people from different backgrounds come together, there will always be some conflicts, which can be internal (like personalities) or external (like internet access). We can never run away from them in group assignments or pretend to be blind of them; instead, the best and only solution is facing them bravely and getting the group on track for success.

RCBC is here to help you develop strong practices for communication in your teams. Schedule an appointment to meet with our Communication Consultants–peer tutors who will strategize with you about ways to improve your team-work experiences. And please have a look at our slide deck offering more tips for effective group communication.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.

Most Common Writing Errors: Pronoun Use

By Communication Consultant Carolyn Reagan (Undeclared, ’23)

Most Common Writing ErrorsWhen it comes to writing, there are a number of mistakes that are prevalent and greatly undermine effectiveness, clarity, and cohesiveness. This piece is part of our ongoing series about common writing errors.

One way to ensure your readers understand your ideas is to prioritize clarity in your pronoun use. We use pronouns to refer to a recently-mentioned noun (a person, place, thing, or concept). Pronouns help limit repetition in writing. They are an important component of speech in both English and other romance languages. Some common pronouns are “I,” “her,” “you,” “we,” “they,” and “him.” 

For instance: “Melinda and I are working together on a marketing project. She is responsible for designing the Powerpoint.”

In the case of this simple sentence, it is clear that the pronoun “she” is referring to Melinda. The use of “she” also helps prevent the unnecessary repetition of Melinda’s name. Most frequently, pronouns referring to a particular person or group of people are used in a very similar capacity. However, not all pronoun usage is as straightforward. The pronouns “this,” “it,” “that,” or “they” are susceptible to being used in an erroneous manner. If they are used incorrectly or not clarified, they can become incredibly confusing. 

For example: “Wordsworth greatly revered the natural world, writing about the way that the sublime and individualism manifest themselves in daffodils, clouds, and landscapes. This made him one of the most important poets of the Romantic era.”

As a general rule, the pronoun “this” should almost always be followed by a noun that clarifies what you are referring to  (i.e.: This “case,” “decision,” or “approach”). The above sentence is confusing in large part because of the pronoun “this.” It is near impossible to understand what “this” refers to; is it describing Wordsworth reverence of the natural world, his choice to write about the sublime and individualism, or his actual writing? The subject could easily be clarified by instead writing “This focus…” A similar shortcoming is present in the following example. 

For example: “When Camus writes about Meursault’s rejection of the Chaplain’s request, it means that he does not believe in religion.”

The above sentence has two examples of ambiguous pronoun usage. It is unclear what the word “it” is referring to in the antecedent of the sentence. Additionally, the word “he” could potentially be referring to Albert Camus, the author, or Meursault, the book’s main character. Though the sample sentence presents an intriguing point, its confusing pronouns undercut its comprehensibility. Complex sentences (like the sample) that have a combination of both independent and dependent clauses can add important variety to an essay, but can simultaneously present grammatical difficulties.

When it comes to pronouns, the easiest rule to follow is this: A pronoun logically refers to the most recent noun that matches in number and gender. 

In general, the best way to avoid unclear pronoun usage is by thoroughly reviewing and rereading your work prior to submitting it for a grade. Also, consider asking a friend or peer to double check your work. Of course, the RCBC Communication Consultants can look over your writing with you to help identify any issues with pronouns. Clear pronoun use will ensure your readers can fully understand your thoughts and ideas while writing.

Get information and resources about our center at The Philip Rauch Center for Business Communication.