Communication Skills Mid-Term

Communication Skills Mid-Term

• Communication important for success in relationships, workplace, and personal growth.
• Effective communication helps solve problems and navigate professional situations.
• Learning effective business communication improves ability to represent oneself and organization.

Why is Communication Important?

• Self-awareness and understanding others crucial in communication.
• Communication influences how we express identity and perceive others.
• Problem-solving and learning rely on good communication skills.
• Mastering communication is a gradual process, requiring practice in speaking, writing, and critical thinking.
• Career advancement depends on strong communication skills.

What is Communication?

• Communication is the process of understanding and sharing meaning.
• It involves interaction between participants.
• Source: The speaker or writer who generates and sends the message.
• Message: The content of communication (words, tone, non-verbal cues).
• Channel: The medium for delivering the message (e.g., spoken word, email).
• Receiver: The person or audience who interprets the message.
• Feedback: The receiver's response helping the source adjust the message.
• Environment: The physical and psychological setting where communication takes place.
• Context: The larger situation influencing communication.
• Interference: Distraction (noise) that can distort the message.

Communication Models

• Transactional Model: Communication is a simultaneous, dynamic process where sender and receiver roles exchange.
• Constructivist Model: Focuses on negotiating shared meaning between communicators.

Communication in Context

• Intrapersonal Communication: Internal dialogue (self-talk).
• Interpersonal Communication: Between two people, varying in intimacy and formality.
• Group Communication: Interaction within a small group (3-8 people).
• Public Communication: One person speaking to a large audience.
• Mass Communication: Sending a message to a large audience through media.

Responsibilities as a Communicator

• Be Prepared:
  • Organize messages logically with key points.
  • Use clear language avoiding jargon and unnecessary information.
  • Communicate concisely, respecting audience's time.
  • Deliver communications promptly.
• Be Ethical:
  • Treat all audience members equally.
  • Communicate respectfully and avoid manipulation or disrespect.

Delivering Your Message - Language

• Language: A system of symbols, words, and gestures to convey meaning.
• Words are arbitrary symbols that gain meaning through interpretation.
• Different cultures create variances in meaning, leading to potential miscommunication.
• Language evolves over time, and word meanings change based on usage and context.

Messages

• Primary messages: intentional content, both verbal and non-verbal.

• Secondary messages: unintentional signals such as body language or tone.

• Auxiliary messages: how a message is delivered (vocal inflection, posture, gestures).

• A message has five parts: Attention Statement, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Residual Message.

Principles of Verbal Communication

• Verbal communication is governed by rules of syntax, semantics, and context;
  • Syntax: Word order.
  • Semantics: Word meanings.
  • Context: Social customs.

Language as Barrier to Communication

• Clichés: Overused phrases.
• Jargon: Occupation-specific language.
• Slang: Informal terms specific to social groups.
• Sexist/racist language: Discrimination based on gender or race.
• Euphemisms: Polite substitutes obscuring true meaning.
• Doublespeak: Ambiguous or misleading language.

Emphasis Strategies

• Visuals: Images, graphs.
• Signposts: Words signaling message shifts.
• Internal Summaries/Foreshadowing: Reviewing points or future topics.
• Repetition: Repeating key phrases.

Improving Verbal Communication

• Six strategies for better verbal communication are outlined in the text.

Understanding Your Audience

• Self-Concept: How one perceives oneself greatly influences their communication style.
• Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values: Immediate reactions to things, convictions shaped by experience, and core principles, respectively.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Expectations influencing behaviour.
• Perception: How one interprets the world influenced by past experiences.
• Selection: Choosing what to pay attention to in a message.
• Organization: Categorizing information to make sense of it.
• Interpretation: Assigning meaning based on individual experiences.
• Differences in Perception: Factors such as physical characteristics, psychological states, and cultural backgrounds.
• Perceptual Set: Framework for interpreting the world based on attitudes, beliefs, and experiences.

Active Listening and Reading

• Active listening and reading require focus, attention, and understanding the message fully.
• Barriers to effective listening include interruptions, multitasking, and lack of eye contact (or focus).

Nonverbal Delivery

• Fluidity and irriversibility: Nonverbal communication is continuous, unlike verbal which can be "taken back."
• Speed: Nonverbal reactions are often faster than verbal ones.
• Complement/Contradict/Replace: Nonverbal cues can enhance, contradict or replace verbal messages.
• Universality and Context: Certain nonverbal cues are universal. Interpretation depends on cues as well as context.
• Reliance: Often nonverbal cues are more trusted than verbal cues, especially in emotional or ambiguous contexts.

Types of Nonverbal Communication

• Space (Proxemics): Space between individuals conveys social dynamics (territory, personal bubbles).
• Time (Chronemics): Time awareness differs by culture.

Movement in Your Speech

• Stage Positioning (Speaker's Triangle): Strategies for moving across the stage.
• Gestures: Planned or unintentional physical movement used to make a point,.
• Facial Expressions: Reflect the speech's mood for better comprehension.

Visual Aids

• Purpose of visual aids: Clarify points, enhance interest, improve retention.
• Types of visual aids: Handouts, slides, graphs, charts, physical objects, videos, etc.
• Visual aid usage: Consistent appearance, clear language and images, timing and placement, etc.

Organization and Outlines

• Rhetorical Situation: Context, audience, and purpose (three components to speech preparation).
• Strategies for Success: Strategies for a speech including tone, emphasis, engagement, clarity, arrangement, credibility, expectation and references.
• Speech Structure: Attention Statement, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Residual Message (five structural parts for outlining a speech).
• Sample Speech Outlines: Classical outline (Roman numerals and letters), alternative outline (main idea and supporting points)
• Organizing Principles:
  • Chronological
  • Comparison
  • Contrast
  • Cause and Effect
  • Problem and Solution.
  • Classification
  • Biographical
  • Spatial.
  • Psychological.
  • Ceremonial.
• Transitions: Internal previews (forewarning of points), signposts (marking points), internal summaries, sequence, cause/effect, addition, comparison/contrast, examples/place.

This mid-term quiz explores the essentials of effective communication skills critical for personal and professional success. It highlights the importance of self-awareness, understanding others, and mastering various communication methods to improve relationships and career advancement. Prepare to assess your knowledge of core concepts related to communication.