COMMUNICATION SKILLS

WHATS IN IT FOR ME? Whether in the classroom, the workplace, or in your personal life, the ability to effectively communicate your ideas and feelings is an invaluable tool. When emotions and stress threaten to destroy your communication channels with another party as they often do in important conversations and interactions there are methods to help keep your calm and view point clear. SESSION OBJECTIVES We will try to understand the following: What is communication? What is a skill? The communication cycle. Types of communication. Proper voice modulation. Styles of communication. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION? Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through the use of words, symbols, signs or behaviors. WHAT IS A SKILL? Skill is a learned power of doing something competently. It is a developed aptitude or ability. THE COMMUNICATION CYCLE

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION There are basically two types of communication: Verbal Communication: i. Words ii. Voice Modulation Nonverbal Communication: i. Posture and Movement ii. Gestures iii. Facial Expressions iv. Other components of NVC VERBAL COMMUNICATION WORDS Use simple language and avoid jargons. Be grammatically correct. Avoid using Hinglish words and slangs. Be precise and avoid redundancy VERBAL COMMUNICATION VOICE MODULATION DICTION TONE PITCH VOLUME RATE

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION (NVC)

USING NVC SKILLS EFFECTIVELY Some major areas of nonverbal behaviors to explore will be: Eye contact Facial expressions Gestures Posture & Body Orientation Proximity Paralinguistic Humour EYE CONTACT Eye is a direct and most expressive part of our body. Different ways of eye contact are: Direct eye contact (Shows confidence) Looking downwards (Listening carefully or guilty) Single raised eyebrow (Doubting) 2

 Both eyebrows raised (Admiring) Bent eyebrows (Sudden focus) Tears coming out (Emotional either happy or hurt) FACIAL EXPRESSIONS Smile covers the most part of facial expression. Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits: HAPPINESS FRIENDLINESS WARMTH LIKING AFFILIATION GESTURES If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. A lively and animated style captures the attention of the audience, makes your talk more interesting, facilitates understanding and provides a bit of entertainment. Head nods, a form of gestures, communicate positive reinforcement to the audience and indicate that you are listening. POSTURE & BODY ORIENTATION You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand & sit. Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates to the audience that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Interpersonal closeness results when you and your audience face each other. Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided; it communicates disinterest to your audience. PROXIMITY Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with your audience. You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading audiences space. Move around to increase interaction with your audience. Increasing proximity enables you to make better eye contact and increase the opportunities for the audience to speak. PARALINGUISTIC This facet of NVC includes vocal elements such as: TONE PITCH RHYTHM SOUND QUALITY LOUDNESS VOICE MODULATION

TYPES OF LISTENING HEARING PASSIVE LISTENING ACTIVE LISTENING ACTIVE LISTENING One of the most effective communication skills you can possess involves not talking, but listening actively. Active listening is mentally engaging with what the other party is communicating, analyzing it, and adapting your own communication to naturally follow the flow of conversation. You will surely miss out on key pieces of information if you are not actively listening to what the other person is saying. BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER People speak @ 100-175 WPM, but can listen intelligently @ 300 WPM! Listen with a purpose. Purpose can be to gain information, obtain directions, understand others, solve problems, share interest, see how another person feels, show support, etc. BASIC TIPS Be calm and composed at all times. Be loud enough to be easily heard. Use words with accurate diction and correct pronunciation. Speak slowly. Make use of pauses to stress important ideas. Use a confident tone and a level pitch. Be vibrant and enthusiastic. Know what you are talking about and accept the limitations of your knowledge. Ask questions to clarify doubts, if any.

IMPORTANT TIPS 1. IMPROVE ON YOUR PRONUNCIATION AND DICTION. 2. SPRUCE UP YOUR WRITING SKILLS. 3. PRACTICE 5 RECOMMENDED EXERCISES EVERYDAY.

5 EXERCISES TO PRACTICE EVERYDAY Pretend you are a newsreader and read out the newspaper in front of your mirror. Focus on national newspapers and read the editorial page. While reading a book, underline all the words you do not know. Look them up in the dictionary. Make a list of these words and make sure you use at least five of them in a conversation during the day. Most important, make an effort to speak in English, without Hinglish words, to your friends. IMPROVE PRONUNCIATION AND DICTION There are a few tricks to making a vernacular accent more globally understandable: Try making sure that air comes out of your mouth when saying the letters T, P, K and the sound Ch. Focus on elongating your vowel sounds. This will automatically slow down your rate of speech. Watch news on channels like BBC, CNN, etc. Sing English songs out loud! Avoid Hinglish words!! SPRUCE UP YOUR WRITING SKILLS To able to write well, you have to read more. Read newspapers, magazines, books. This will improve your language skills and help you improve your writing skills too. People tend to forget basic grammar when writing e-mails and sms. Over a period of time, wrong grammar will come to your writing naturally. Make sure salutations and content are professional. Use special phrases when attaching documents, e.g. Please find attached with this e-mail a report on . By this you sound professional. PREPAREDNESS A major part about communicating your ideas effectively is knowing and understanding them as well as you want the listener to know and understand them. Run a practice mental dialogue in your head before communicating your ideas loud. Visualize different scenarios on how the other person could respond and try to anticipate potential blocks. The more you prepare, the more you will be able to answer questions about your ideas,

and more importantly, it will give you the confidence needed to keep your nerves under control and to speak assertively.

SIX C OF GOOD COMMUNICATION CLEAR CONCISE CORRECT COMPLETE COURTEOUS CONCRETE

SUMMARY 1. To be able to communicate effectively is a non-negotiable requirement for your success in life. 2. If you are weak in communication skills presently, you can improve on this skill set immensely through conscious and deliberate efforts. 3. Active listening is an integral part of effective communication. 4. While you communicate, the nonverbal component of your communication is also extremely important. 5. To be effective while you communicate the nonverbal part of communication should compliment the verbal part. 6. The simple, easy and only way to improve on your communication skill is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE