Professional Communication

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours

Admission into the MC-EMA Executive Master of Arts program.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject introduces students to the fundamentals of successful communication in professional contexts. It focuses on both oral and written communications and canvases a range of contemporary communications skills and practices, using case study and simulation-based approaches to build practical skills and theoretical understandings. Areas covered include business speaking and presentation, strategic organisational communication, the basics of strategic public communications as practiced in the advertising and public relations industries, and cross-cultural communication. Students also gain an understanding of the changes impacting the contemporary organisational communications environment, such as media convergence, and the challenges posed to organisational communications by the emergence of digital media. Students completing this subject will have acquired a strong understanding of contemporary professional communications practices, and practical tools for effective communication, with a particular emphasis on leadership.

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• show high level, transportable, practical communication skills across a range of traditional and new media;
• build interpersonal presentation skills, writing skills, software skills, and cultural skills;
• understand the modalities of addressing different audiences on different occasions (from personal communication skills to pitching to public speaking, to writing press releases);
• understand the history of and future of communication;
• understand information literacy and the nature and veracity of sources;
• understand the communication of others, and meet the challenges of global communication, through critical discourse analysis and intercultural communication skills; and
• understand the basic ethical and legal matters to do with communications, such as intellectual property, copyright, privacy and defamation.

1. In class presentation, 500 words (10%), due during teaching period.
2. Development of an organisational report, 1000 words (20%), due four weeks after end of teaching period.
3. Evaluation of an existing communications strategy, 3500 words (70%), due 4 weeks after end of teaching period.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of classes in order to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be made available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students who complete this subject should have:

• high-level written and oral communication skills through contribution to class discussions and the completion of assignments;
• a capacity for effective teamwork through group discussions and assignments;
• skills in research through the preparation of class papers and assignments, including the use of online and print-based materials;
• skills in time management and planning through managing workloads for recommended reading, tutorial presentations and assessment requirements; and
• a capacity for critical thinking and theoretical analysis through readings, discussion and class exercises.