COMMUNICATION_SKILLS.pdf

20 COMMUNICATION SKILLS Hari Priya Pathak* L.M. Joshi** I. Introduction (i) What is Communication? The ability to convey your thoughts and ideas effectively is communication. It is getting your message across successfully, because if you don't convey it so, the ideas or thoughts the receiver receive...

20 COMMUNICATION SKILLS Hari Priya Pathak* L.M. Joshi** I. Introduction (i) What is Communication? The ability to convey your thoughts and ideas effectively is communication. It is getting your message across successfully, because if you don't convey it so, the ideas or thoughts the receiver receives do not reflect your own, causing a communication break down. It is a skill, a talent, which can be acquired by keeping some things in mind. Getting your message across is paramount to progressing, and for this it is a must that you understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. Situational and cultural context should always be kept in mind for an intelligible and clear communication. (ii)Communication - A Process Communication is a process. It consists of (a) sender/ source (b) encoding (c) channel (d) decoding (e) receiver (f) feedback (g) context (as the diagram shows). If not taken care of, any kind of problem may arise in any of the stages creating misunderstanding and confusion. An effective communication should try to lessen the frequency of the problems at each stage of this process with clear, concise, accurate and well-planned communication. The Communications Process Msg Msg Msg Msg Feedback *Lecturer, Dept. of E nglish, Kumaon University, Nainital. ** Professor, Dept. of E nglish, D.S.B. Campus, Kumaon University, Nainital Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 21 Context: (a) Source/ Sender - As the source of the information/message, you need to be clear about why and what do you want to communicate. You should be confident that your communication is useful and accurate. (b) Message - The message is the information, which you want to communicate. (c) E ncoding- E ncoding is the process of conveying your information in a clear and intelligible form, which could be sent and clearly decoded at the other end. The successful encoding depends not only upon your ability to convey your information clearly, but also upon your comprehension and elimination of the sources of confusion, which can be cultural issues, mistaken assumption and missing information. Knowing your audience is the key to it. (d) Channel - T he medium through which the messages are conveyed with verbal, including face-to-face meetings, telephone and video conferencing, and written, including letters, e-mails, memos and reports. (e) Decoding - Successful encoding is a skill and exactly in the same way decoding also is a skill which requires clear understanding and knowledge from the side of the receiver. Carefulness and active listening leads to a correct decoding. (f) Receiver - E ach member of the audience is a receiver and all of them receive the message, and response depends upon the sender's clarity of the information and grasping of the same by the receiver. (g) Feed back - The reaction, verbal or non-verbal which sender gets from the audience is the feedback. A keen eye on these reactions will give you opportunities to improve yourself. (h) Context - It is the situation in which your message is delivered. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture i.e. corporate culture, international culture etc. Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 22 II. Making the F irst Impression It takes a very short time for someone to evaluate you, and in that short time you make your impression on him by your appearance, body language, attitude, mannerism and how you are dressed. Your first impression decides the relationship to follow. So it is important for your career as well as for your social life to create a good impression on others. Some of the useful tips are as followsBe on time - Arriving early is much better than coming late. Be yourself, be at ease - Be calm and confident to make the other person too feel at ease. Present yourself appropriately - Appropriate dressing (it varies from business, social meetings to the countries and cultures across the world) and personal grooming (clear and tidy appearance) makes a good impression and helps you feel calm and confident. A winning smile - Smile and the world smiles too. A warm and confident smile puts both you and the other person at ease. Be open and confident - Your body language speaks much louder than your words. A confident handshake with a smile and eye contact creates self-confidence and encourage the other party to feel at ease. Be positive - Project a positive attitude even in criticism as well as nervousness. Be civil and attentive - G ood manners, polite and courteous behaviour helps make a good impression. Give 100% of your attention to new acquaintance. III. Public Speaking and Presentation These are few basic things that you must keep in mind to make your verbal message comprehensible to the audience. (a) Understanding the purpose of the presentation Before your talk or presentation, it is very important to understand what you want to say, who you want to tell, and why they might want to hear it? Ask yourself Who? What? How? When? Where? Why? Who? are you speaking to and what are their interests Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 23 and values? What do you wish to communicate? and what is the success criteria? How? can you convey your message? Language (medium) and other verbal or non-verbal aids are important here. Choose according to the public and the time given. When? Timing is important. Develop a sense of timing so that your contributions are seen and heard as relevant to the issue or matter at hand. Where? It is the physical context of the communication in mind. You may check the room or hall and arrange it accordingly. i.e. the availability and visibility if you are using audio or visual aid. Why? To make your audience good listeners, you must know why they should listen to you. You should, if urgent and plausible, must convey them the value or worth of your communication. (b) Keeping the Message Clear and Concise Make your message as short and as clear as possible. Give your audience clear headlines. (c) Preparedness/ Good Delivery Be well prepared with your speech or presentation. A clear and sound speech is always beneficial. (d) Vividness Your presentation should be lively enough to attract the audiences' attention. Some tips for keeping it vivid include Use examples to bring your points effectively. Keep your body language active. Don't talk too fast. Pauses are effective. Use of variety of tones of voice. Use of visual aids. IV. Writing Skills Sometimes writing is the best way to communicate and some other times is the only option. Writing is a concrete form of communication and once written cannot be taken back. Moreover, one needs to be careful about spelling, grammar, punctuation and even writing style. Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 24 (i) The Importance of Style Some of the basic tips to remember while writing, include - Avoid the use of slang words. - Try not to use abbreviations. - Avoid the use of symbols. - Care should be taken to spell the names of people and companies correctly. - Numbers should be expressed as words when the number is less than 10 or is used to start a sentence (e.g. Ten years age..). The number 10 or greater than this should be expressed as a figure (e.g. She is 20 years old). - Quotation marks should be placed around any directly quoted speech or text and around titles of publications. - Keep the sentences short. Practice is a must and assistance must be taken from many sources (e.g. "The E lements of Style" by Strunk and White) with writing skills. (a) Letter Writing Hints - When writing letters, it is best to address the letter to an individual. Begin the letter with a personal name and make it sure that you end it with an appropriate closing such as 'sincerely yours' or if less personal, close it with such as 'with kindest regards,’ etc. - For normal business letters, start the letter with an overall summary, showing in the first paragraph the relevance of it to the reader. The body of the letter should explain the reason for the correspondence including any relevant background and current information. The information should flow logically making your point effective. - The closing of the letter is the final impression you make with Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 25 the reader. E nd it with an active point such as "I will call you at the end of this week to discuss it further," etc. (b) Careful Proofing - Never forget to check the letter after it is complete. This holds for everything you write - memos, letters, proposals, etc. - Both the grammar and the spellings should be checked on computer and counter checked by dictionary and thesaurus. - Make sure that your document is clear and concise. There should be nothing in it, which could be misinterpreted. - Cut down your number of words. Unnecessary words or phrases are a wastage of time and energy on both parts. - Make sure that the document is well organized. There should be logical succession of ideas. - At last, close appropriately, making sure, that your contact information is included. (ii) E -mail (a) E ffective E -mail Writing - If you want your e-mails to be read in the first place and stay useful to the recipient, you must use the subject line to inform the receiver of exactly what the e-mail is about. You might include a call to action. - If you need to communicate with someone about several matters, write a separate e-mail on each subject, as one topic might only require a short reply that he or she can make straight away. Another might require time. By writing separate e-mails, you get clearer answers. - E-mail should be clear and concise with the purpose of the e-mail Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 26 detailed in the very first paragraph. - Include any call to action you desire, like phone call or follow up appointment. Never forget to include your contact information to make it easy to respond. - Make sure to clear out your e-mail inbox at least once each day, which will help the senders to return your emails in a timely manner. V. Icebreakers An icebreaker session is designed to 'break the ice' at an event or a meeting. When to use icebreakers? Icebreaker session should be used when Participants are from different background People need to unite and bound so as to work towards a common goal. Your team is newly formed. The topics you are discussing are unfamiliar to the participants. As facilitator you need to know them better and have them know you better. (b) What's the 'Ice'? Before designing your icebreaker, think about the 'ice' that needs, to be broken. It is to be kept in consideration - if you are bringing together like minded people. - if you are bringing together people of different grades and levels in your organization for open discussion. - if you are bringing people of different backgrounds, cultures and outlooks for work within your community. All these differences are to be handled carefully and focus should be on similarities rather than differences, such as shared interest in the events outcome. (c) Some E xample of Ice-Breakers Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 27 (i) Introductory Ice-Breakers. - - - - - - Participants are asked to share their names, departments or role in the organization and some " little known facts" about themselves which will help break down differences in future interaction. Ask your participants to introduce themselves and make three or four statements about themselves, out of which one is false. Now get the rest of the group to vote on which fact is false. Ask participants to get into twos where each partner interviews one another and introduces each other to rest of the group when the group convenes. Ask participants to work in a small group. Create a simple problem scenario for them to work on in a short time. After the analysis of the problem, each group in invited to present its solution to the other groups. The 'Human Web' is an icebreaker, which focuses on how people in the group interrelate and depend on each other. The facilitator begins with a ball of yarn keeping one end, passes the ball to one of the participants who introduces him or herself and his or her role in the organization. He/she then passes the yarn to next participant who then must describe how she/he relates to the other person. The process continues till everyone is introduced. Group people into twos or threes, and ask them to discuss their expectation for the event or work ahead, then what their fears and hopes are. Gather the group response. VI. Running E ffective Meetings Meetings are very good tools for generating ideas, expanding on thoughts and managing group activity, but adequate preparation and leadership is important for its success. The success of the meeting depends largely on the skills displayed by the meeting leader. To ensure the success of the meeting the leader should issue an agenda - Start the discussion and encourage active participation. Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 28 - Keep the meeting at a comfortable pace - not moving too fast or too slow. - Summarize the discussion and recommendations at the end of each logical section. - E nsure all participants receive minutes promptly. Besides this, right participants should be chosen for the success of the meeting. The participants should be such as to contribute to the decision-making, or the problem solving of the meeting. Number of participants should not be too many (maximum of 12). If you are the leader, work diligently and intelligently to ensure everyone's thoughts and ideas are heard by guiding the meeting so that there is free flow of debate. The time keeping should also be managed carefully. VII. Active Listening Communication skills also include active listening. Active listening leads to better understanding and openness between two people or more. Active listening is listening with a purpose to gain information, obtain directions, understand others, solve problems, share interests, show support and so on. Using non-verbal co mmunication can raise the channel of interpersonal communication. Non-verbal communication includes facial expressions like smiling, gestures, eye contact and your posture. Feedback is helpful to ensure that the information or the message one is trying to give has actually reached the group. It is a means used to clearly demonstrate you are actively listening, and to confirm the communication between you and others. VIII. Conclusion Communication skills are of immense importance in every sphere of life, be it social, political or your professional field. Your Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010 29 success largely depends upon your relations, which in turn are effected by your communication skills. You need to communicate to coordinate your own work and that of others. To avoid misunderstanding, the key is to treat a conversation as you would any other managed activity: by establishing an aim, planning what to do and checking afterwards that you have achieved the aim. Our electro nic age and glob alisatio n has made intelligible communication skills even more important and indispensable, for the world is contracting and dependence upon each other throughout the globe is increasing day by day. RE F E RE NCE S Bangelish, Amita L., John A. Daly & Gustav W. Friedrich. 1999. Teaching Communication Theory Research and Methods. E ds. London: Lawrence E rlbaun Associates, New Jersey. Greene, John O, Brant R. 2003 Burleson: Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction. Prudei University. Jancovich , Jackie L., Keren Sterkel Powell, 1994. Assessing Communication E ducation : A Handbook for Media, Speech and Theatre E ducators. London: Lawrence E rlbaun Vol.-II 3 Jan-June (Summer) 2010