Civility in Business and Professional Communication

Civility has become one of the new century’s «hot-button» words. This book explores popular and commercial concerns about civility from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Background principles of communication and the history and scope of civility are examined, setting the stage for specific elaboration of recommended practices in six particular business communication contexts. Explanations and recommendations for civil communication include concrete examples from America’s leading corporations as well as testimony from communication professionals currently working in business and industry.

The Authors: Rod L. Troester is Associate Professor of Speech Communication at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. He received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in interpersonal and organizational communication. In addition to several articles about organizational communication and peace communication, he is the author of Jimmy Carter as Peacemaker: A Post-Presidential Biography (1996).
Cathy Sargent Mester is Senior Lecturer in Speech Communication at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. She received her M.A. from Penn State University in speech communication. Author of numerous articles about instructional communication, peacemaking, and professional public speaking, she has won the Penn State-Behrend Award for Excellence in Advising, the Penn State-Behrend Benjamin Lane Award for Service, and the Lambda Sigma Society National Advisor of the Year Award. She has also co-authored two books: Oral Communication Skills for Vo-Tech Students: A Competency-Based Approach (1991) and Acting Lessons for Teachers: Using Performance Skills in the Classroom (1994).