Communication Skills

Introduction
• Challenging job

• Dynamic and collaborative process leading to

growth of personality, character, knowledge
and wisdom.
 Barriers in Communication/Road blocks
towards a knowdgeable society
• Differences in Scio cultural perspective
• Differences in knowledge levels
• Lack of good command of English Language
• Tendency to stereotype a person or situation
• Problem of strong emotions
• Self-centeredness
• Attitude of procrastination
 Barriers in Communication
• Interpretations of words

• Perception of reality

• Attitudes, opinions and emotions

 Barriers in Communication
• Noise
• Inappropriate medium
• Assumptions/Misconceptions
• Emotions
• Language differences
• Poor listening skills
• Distractions
 Communication:
Its Types and Significance
• What is communication?
Greek word ‘communicate’, meaning “to share”

“All speech, written or spoken, is a dead

language, until it finds a willing and prepared
hearer”
(R.L. Stevenson, Lay Morals)
 What is communication?
COMMUNICATION is the art of transmitting information, ideas and
attitudes from one person to another. Communication is the process of
meaningful interaction among human beings.

ITS ESSENCES :
 PERSONAL PROCESS
 OCCURS BETWEEN PEOPLE
 INVOLVES CHANGE IN BEHAVIOUR
 MEANS TO INFLUENCE OTHERS
 EXPRESSION OF THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS THROUGH WORDS &
ACTIONS.
 TOOLS FOR CONTROLLING AND MOTIVATING PEOPLE.
 IT IS A SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL
 Process of Communication
• Communication occurs within a common frame of
reference called the “communication environment”
• The message sent may not be the same as message
received.
• Message may not necessarily produce the intended
result.

• Communication is a complex process.

• Effective communication is a fundamental to the

success in our personal and social life.
• The process of communication is affective by
the backgrounds, experiences, objectives and
aspirations that both sender and receiver have
in common.

• A message can be communicated through oral

channels like, face to face conversation,
telephone conversation, audio visual channels
like radio and television and written media like
books, computer, internet, etc.
 Types of Communication
• Vertical Communication

• Lateral Communication

• Diagonal Communication

• Grapevine or Secret Communication

 Vertical Communication
Upward and downward, from management to employees and
reverse.
HIERARCHY LEVEL
Executive Director
Manager

Vice President

A.G.M.
Supervisor 1 Supervisor 2 Supervisor 3

Manager

Supervisor

Forman
 Lateral Communication
• Members working at same level,
• Among colleagues.

However, it often degenerates into rumours and

gossips
 Diagonal Communication

Among various departments to get support

from each other. It is a mixture of vertical and
horizontal movement.
 The Grapevine
• Backbiting or backstabbing

Two Americans have tried to analyze the pyscho-

sociology of backbiting.

• Andrew Du Brin, Winning Office Politics (Prentice Hall,

1990) and
• Gray Namie, The Bully at Work: What Can You Do to
Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity (Prentice Hall,
1997)
What You Can Do to Keep From Becoming a
Victim?

• Think Before you Speak

• Learn the Signs that You have been Targeted.
• Watch for Backstabbers up and Down the
Professional Ladder
• Distance yourself from backstabber but not
from Others “lessen your emotional proximity
and you deny them the means to hurt you”
 The Media of Communication
• Written Communication

• Oral Communication

• Visual Communication

• Audio-visual Communication

• Computer and Internet based Communication

 Choosing your medium
 Depending upon the situation, one
method of communication may be
better than another.
 In person: one-to-one
 In person: meetings, small groups
 In person: presentations, large groups
 Letter
 Memo
 Note
 Email
 Voice mail
 Choosing your medium
 To determine the best medium for
your message determine:
 What you as the sender need to
achieve
 What the receiver needs to know.
What the receiver wants to know
 How detailed, important, and or
personal the information in the
message is
 Which behavior you want to influence
and how
 Choosing your medium
 How would you communicate…
 an organizational change in your unit
 the introduction of a new employee
 a change in someone’s job duties
 a reprimand
 notice of a meeting

Take a few moments to write down some

of your thoughts…
Written Communication: Merits and
Limitations
Written Communication

Merits Limitations

• Accurate • Time consuming

• Precise •Expensive

• Legal document • Quick clarifications not possible

• Wide access

• Helps to fix responsibility

 Oral Communication: Merits and Limitations
Oral Communication
Merits Limitations

• Saves time • Not possible for distant people in the

• absence of telephone or mobile
•Saves money
• Unsuitable for lengthy messages
• Highly persuasive
• Messages cannot be retained for long
• Conveys shades of meaning
• No legal validity
• Immediate feedback
• Greater chances of misunderstanding
• Immediate clarifications
• Not easy to fix responsibility in case of
• Can be informal misunderstanding

• More effective with groups

 Choosing your medium
 The best way to communicate…
 an organizational change in your unit by
memo and small group meetings
 the introduction of a new employee by
group and one-on-one meetings
 a change in someone’s job duties by
memo and one-on-one meeting
 a reprimand in a one-on-one private
meeting
 notice of a meeting by memo and email
 Elements of Effective Telephonic
Communication
• Clear pronunciation
• Brevity “brevity is the soul of wit”
• Precision
• Conviction
• Logical sequence
• Proper choice of words
• Avoiding jargons, hackneyed phrases and clichés
• Natural and unaffected tone of speech
• Try to tune yourself to the wavelength of the listeners
 Effective Communication
Rules Methodology

1. plan and clarify Test thinking

Collate ideas or suggestions of others
Support decision making
High-level motivation
2. Create a climate of trust and Win trust and confidence
confidence

3. Time your message carefully What, where, why, who, when and how?

4. Reinforce words with action Practice what you preach

5. Communicate effectively Use feedback

6. Clarity in message Use of simple and meaningful language

7. Purposeful communication Try to make one-to-one communication.

Be sincere and honest what you say.
 Share your ideas to…
 State an opinion or position
 Give instructions or directions
 Announce a change
 Make presentations
 Participate in meetings
 Give information in emergencies
 Communicate the organizational
mission, vision, and values
 and other ideas you may have thought
of
 Obstacles to sharing
ideas…
 Your own shyness
 Fear of rejection
 Peer pressure
 Unorganized thinking
 Others possibly becoming defensive
 Physical disabilities (impaired sight, hearing,
speech)
 Having to deal with aggressive people
 and others you may have thought of
 SHARE your ideas – a
model
 State the main point of your
message
 Highlight other important points
 Assure the receiver’s
understanding
 React to how the receiver
responds
 Emphasize/summarize your main
 Obstacles to getting good
information
 Lack of trust
 Assuming you already know it all
 Jumping to conclusions
 Not valuing diverse opinions
 Weak reading skills
 Weak listening skills
 Weak questioning skills
 and other ideas you may have thought
of
The power of listening
The philosopher Epictetus stressed
the power of listening in this
quote:

“Nature gave us one tongue and

two ears so we could hear twice as
much as we speak.”
 Hearing Vs Listening
• Hearing – Physical process,
natural, passive

• Listening – Physical as well as

mental process, active, learned
process, a skill

Listening is hard.You must choose to

participate in the process of listening
 Value of Listening
 Listening to others is an elegant art.
 Good listening reflects courtesy and good manners.
 Listening carefully to the instructions of superiors improve
competence and performance.
 The result of poor listening skill could be disastrous in business,
employment and social relations.
 Good listening can eliminate a number of imaginary grievances of
employees.
 Good listening skill can improve social relations and conversation.
 Listening is a positive activity rather than a passive or negative
activity.
 Difficult negotiations
• Put your tendency to evaluate others on hold
• We must try to see things from the speaker’s
perspective
• Reflect at the content, meaning, intention and feeling
of the speaker as we talk to them .

Normally we do these things. What is emphasized here

is that we must do consciously and not react to them
on the spur of the moment.
 How to Communicate Effectively in Our
Pluralistic Society?
1. Show full respect to a man or a woman even if he or she is
dressed differently from you belongs to a different country,
religion,race,ethnicity

2. Always give helpful and smiling eye contact

3. Your body language must be highly pleasing. Even if you don’t

agree with the person, be extremely courteous and helpful

4. Learn to appreciate as an individual, not as a stereotype such as

Kashmiris, Pathans, Punjabis etc.

5. Put your prejudices always on hold

 ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION
Dos
 Always think ahead about what you are going to say.
 Use simple words and phrases that are understood by every body.
 Increase your knowledge on all subjects you are required to speak.
 Speak clearly and audibly.
 Check twice with the listener whether you have been understood accurately
or not
 In case of an interruption, always do a little recap of what has been already
said.
 Always pay undivided attention to the speaker while listening.
 While listening, always make notes of important points.
 Always ask for clarification if you have failed to grasp other’s point of view.
 Repeat what the speaker has said to check whether you have understood
accurately.
 ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION
DON’Ts
 Do not instantly react and mutter something in anger.
 Do not use technical terms & terminologies not understood by
majority of people.
 Do not speak too fast or too slow.
 Do not speak in inaudible surroundings, as you won’t be heard.
 Do not assume that every body understands you.
 While listening do not glance here and there as it might distract the
speaker.
 Do not interrupt the speaker.
 Do not jump to the conclusion that you have understood every thing.
 How to Improve Existing Level of
Communication?
 Improve language.
 Improve pronunciation.
 Work on voice modulation.
 Work on body language.
 Read more
 Listen more
 Avoid reading or watching or listening unwanted literature, gossip, media presentation etc.
 Interact with qualitative people.
 Improve on you topic of discussion,
 Practice meditation & good thoughts.
 Think and speak.
 Do not speak too fast.
 Use simple vocabulary.
 Do not speak only to impress someone.
 Look presentable and confident.
 Body language
 Nonverbal communication, known as
“body language” sends strong positive
and negative signals. This is how much
it influences any message:

Words 8%
Tone of voice 34%
Non-verbal cues 58%
Message 100%
 Body language includes…
 Face
 Figure
 Focus
 Territory
 Tone
 Time
 Body language - face
 Face includes:
 Your expressions
 Your smile or lack thereof
 Tilt of the head; e.g., if your head is
tilted to one side, it usually indicates
you are interested in what someone
is saying

What message are you sending if someone

is presenting a new idea and you are
frowning?
 Body language - figure
 Figure includes:
 Your posture
 Your demeanor and gestures
 Your clothes and accessories such as
jewelry

What message are you sending if you are

dressed casually at an important meeting?
 Body language - focus
 Focus is your eye contact with
others
 The perception of eye contact differs by
culture. For most Americans…
 Staring makes other people uncomfortable
 Lack of eye contact can make you appear
weak or not trustworthy
 Glasses may interfere or enhance eye
contact

What message are you sending if you are

looking at other things and people in a room
 Body language - territory
 Territory focuses on how you use
space. It is also called proxemics.
 The perception of territory differs by
culture. Most Americans are
comfortable with an individual space
that is about an arm’s length in
diameter

What message are you sending if you keep

moving closer to a person who is backing
away from you?
 Body language - tone
 Tone is a factor of your voice
 Pitch is the highness or lowness of
voice
 Volume is how loud your voice is
 Emphasis is your inflection

What message are you sending if during a

disagreement you start speaking very
loudly?
 Body language - time
 Time focuses on how you use
time. It is also called chronemics.
 Pace is how quickly you speak
 Response is how quickly you move
 Punctuality is your timeliness

What message are you sending if you are

consistently late for meetings?
 Improving Body Language - Tips
• Keep appropriate distance
• Touch only when appropriate
• Take care of your appearance
• Be aware - people may give false cues
• Maintain eye contact
• Smile genuinely
If you want that other person to have a
positive and supportive attitude towards you,
then you must keep cultivating in yourself a
very positive, optimistic attitude towards life,
and an empathy and forgiveness for the frailty
of human nature.
 Test yourself…

1. Communication is defined as the interchange of thoughts or opinions

through shared symbols.
True___ False___

2. The four facets of interpersonal communication are sender, receiver,

information, and behavior.
True___ False___

3. Unclear process; chain of command; large size of an organization or

geographic distance; personal limitations; human nature;
conflicting feelings, goals, opinions; and power are examples of
barriers to communication.
True___ False___
 Test yourself

4. Describe the steps of the SHARE model for giving good information –
share, highlight, assure, react, emphasize:

5. Describe the steps of the FOCUS model for getting good information –
focus, open end, close end, use, summarize:

6. Describe the steps of the STATE model for giving constructive

feedback – state, tell, address, tender, express:

7. Describe the the six aspects of non-verbal communication (body

language):
 Test yourself… - answers

1. Communication is defined as the interchange of thoughts or opinions

through shared symbols.
True

2. The four facets of interpersonal communication are sender, receiver,

information, and behavior.
True

3. Unclear process; chain of command; large size of an organization or

geographic distance; personal limitations; human nature;
conflicting feelings, goals, opinions; power are examples of barriers
to communication.
True
 Test yourself… - answers

4. The steps of the SHARE model for giving good information are:
– State the main point of your message
– Highlight other important points
– Assure the receiver’s understanding
– React to how the receiver responds
– Emphasize/summarize your main ideas

5. The steps of the FOCUS model for getting good information are:
– Focus the discussion on the specific information you need
– Open-end question to expand the discussion
– Close-end question to get specifics
– Use active listening skills to understand what you are hearing
– Summarize and close the discussion
 Test yourself… - answers

6. The steps of the STATE model for constructive feedback are:

– State the constructive purpose of your feedback
– Tell specifically what you have observed
– Address and describe your reactions
– Tender specific suggestions for improvement
– Express your support for the person

7. The the six aspects of non-verbal communication (body language):

– Face – expressions, smile, tilt of head
– Figure – posture, demeanor, gestures, dress
– Focus – eye contact
– Territory – use of space
– Tone – voice pitch, volume, emphasis
– Time – the use time