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The "Perils of Pauline" is a series of interactive exercises and video segments designed to help you understand the essential concepts of Business Communication. Each episode compliments the topics and concepts from Business Communication Today. You will see how communication skills are used in the workplace and also see what the consequences are when employees fail to communicate effectively. But, you'll do much more than watch - your ability to communicate well will determine the outcome of each episode.

The Perils of Pauline consists of 12 episodes in the fictional life of Pauline Peterson. Pauline is a recent college graduate who gets her first job and then must face the challenges that this job brings. These episodes have been written to show you the typical kinds of challenges you might face in your first job. In addition to the character of Pauline, there is a continuing group of other characters in Pauline's work life whom we see in every one of the episodes. During the course of these episodes Pauline will have two jobs, two bosses, 4 co-workers who appear regularly, and a large group of others who will pass through her work life.

Each episode is a self-contained learning unit and while they work well if you follow the episodes sequentially, this is certainly not necessary and you can access the episodes in any order you wish. A pilot episode introduces you to the character of Pauline. Each succeeding episode begins with an introductory page of information about the challenge to be faced by Pauline and the important concepts to be learned in the segment and then you will view the introductory video segment. This first video shows Pauline in the situation just described. All video clips are 1 to 3 minutes long. Once the video is finished, you are faced with an interactive exercise designed around the concepts to be learned.

There are a variety of different exercises. Some are a mixture of true/false and multiple choice questions, while others require you to build an effective letter by choosing from various options. When you are satisfied with your answers to the exercises, you simply click on the "How did I do?" button to see if you helped Pauline. If you answer at least 80% of the exercise correctly you can view the successful conclusion to the problem or task. The learning points for the episode are reinforced through the video as you watch the concepts come alive. If your score does not reach the 80% level, the student views a video that portrays the consequences of unsuccessful communication. These "bad" outcomes are often humorous and entertain as well as teach. If unsuccessful, you see your response along with the correct answers and explanations of each answer.

Thus, you are introduced to the problem, watch the video, respond to the exercises, and help Pauline successfully resolve the problem. You get an opportunity to see how a recent college graduate reacts when faced with real-world problems that require good communication skills. Knowledge learned in class and from the text is used to solve the character's problems and move the character on to the next challenge. In this way the Perils of Pauline offers the students an engaging and interactive way to learn more about Business Communications. Enjoy!

Click the in the Video Window to view the "Pilot Episode Video." You will meet Pauline in this first video clip.

After watching the Pilot Episode move on to Episode 1