What are two reasons why teamwork is important?

• Teams can help find new and better ways to improve a product or service.
• Teams can add a new dynamic to companies and the work environment.

List three benefits of teams.

• Morale is raised and absenteeism is lowered.
• Customer satisfaction is increased.
• Decisions can be made quicker and problems can be rooted at the source.

Name five factors that enhance the performance of a team.

• Clear goals
• Capable team members
• Commitment to excellence
• Outside recognition
• Collaborative climate

What happens at each of the five stages of team development?

• •Form stage: organize members, identify strengths and weaknesses, define tasks and establish meeting times
• Norm stage: clarify goals, determine norms for meetings, fine-tune team tasks, assign who will do what by when, and set standards for work being produced
• Work stage: begin substantive work on goals, gathering info to complete the task, and evaluate team performance as the work proceeds
• Storm stage: resolve disagreements over performance, quality of work or deadlines
• Perform stage: task is completed and ready to present

Note six positive participation skills necessary for successful teams.

• Accountability: taking responsibility
• Trustworthiness: being open and honest with each other, honor confidences and refuse to participate in gossip
• Spirit of Cooperation: members must be open and understanding to diversity and flexible when necessary
• Respectfulness: evidenced what participants are given the opportunity to voice views and listen fairy
• Enthusiasm: Interest provides an energy that keeps the team focused and on track, as well as a creative and more enjoyable time
• Willingness to Resolve Conflicts: have a variety of strategies to keep work on track and keeping relationships intact

Organizing the team involves what six steps?

• Recruiting members
• Training members
• Identifying roles
• Selecting meeting format (how often, what time, etc.)
• Determine team assessment method (periodically taking stock on what you are doing, what needs to be completed, what they are doing well, etc.)
• Identify methods of conflict resolution (using a reflective approach)

List three responsibilities for both team leaders and team members.

• Leaders: set meeting agendas and see that the agendas are distributed to all other members in advance before the next meeting, encourage participation, keep discussion on track
• Members: attend meetings regularly and on time, come to meetings prepared and stay involved, adhere to meeting protocol established by the team

What are the seven steps in problem-solving process described in your text.

• Define the problem
• Analyze the problem
• Establish criteria for solution
• Consider possible solutions
• Select a solution
• Implement solution
• Follow up on the solution

How are teams able to share the results of their efforts? 

Teams can record meeting minutes that include who was present, what was discussed, and what they plan to discuss at the next meeting.

What reasons does the text offer for why persuasion is important?

Persuasion is important because we are influenced by a variety of factors everyday; it can also be helpful for employment advancement and helping when making decisions.

List five benefits of being able to use persuasion effectively.

• You become a more skillful communicator.
• You become a more resourceful researcher.
• You become a more critical thinker.
• You become more aware of the importance of ethical communication.
• You experience increased confidence as a communicator.

Name the three categories of persuasive presentations and tell what each type has as a focus.

• Fact: Attempt to establish a relationship or connection between two ideas.  (ex: smoke detectors save lives.)
• Value: Attempt to show an audience that something is good or bad, right or wrong.  (ex: capitol punishment is immoral)
• Policy: Call for individuals or groups to take action in response to an existing problem or need (ex: participate in blood drives to reduce shortages)

What are three elements of persuasion identified in the text?

• Logos (logic)
• Pathos
• Ethos

Summarize each of the five common logical fallacies described in the text.

• Faulty causation: occurs when coincidental events are seen to have a cause-effect relationship
• Hasty generalization: happens when only a few examples are selected to represent the whole of conclusion
• Either/or thinking: presents two alternatives when there are many other possibilities
• Slippery slope: uses "if-then" reasoning that presents an undesirable "if" coupled with an even more undesirable "then"
• Faulty comparisons: suggest that similarities outweigh differences and unique situations can be treated the same

What is pathos?

Pathos pertains to emotion and using emotional appeal.

What three attributes show that a speaker has ethos?

• Competence
• Honesty
• Empathy

List three strategies that the text offers for effective persuasive presentations.

• Find common ground with your listeners by sharing a common view of the problem, issue, or goal.
• Don't rush to declare thesis; build on the common ground by sharing information about a problem or issue.  Offer examples and expand the positive response.
• Determine your target audience.

Name three different patterns of organization that the text offers for persuasive presentations.

• Monroe's Motivated Sequence
• Advantages-Disadvantages
• Cause-Effect

List the five steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence.

• Gain attention
• Focus on a problem
• Present a Solution
• Visualize the Future
• Gain action/acceptance

List the main steps of the advantages-disadvantages pattern of organization.

• Begin speech with the intention to discuss both sides of the problem
• Present advantages or pros.
• Present the disadvantages or cons.
• Present your position in light of the evidence reviewed--make claims.

Describe two ways to present the cause-effect pattern of organization.

• Identify significant causes and their respective effects
• Pinpointing important effects and suggest probably causes 
  
  
  
  *Both need to be carefully articulated to avoid logical fallacies