Effective

Communication Skills
Student Success Workshop

Good
Communication Skills
ARE
Mutual Respect Skills.

What are your goals when

communicating with
someone?

Goals of Communication
1.
2.
3.

To inform you are providing

information for use in decision making
To persuade to reinforce or change a
receivers belief about a topic
To build relationships some
messages that you send may have the
goal of building good will between you
and the receiver.

Barriers to Communication

Disinterest in the conversation

Lack of background information
Jumping to conclusions without waiting for the whole
message
Fear
Distrust
Language differences
Badly expressed messages
Not listening
Arguing or debating

The essence of good

communication is to
understand each
other's meaning.
This requires effective
listening.

Active Listening
Be attentive
Be impartial
Reflect back
Summarize
Avoiding distractions
Paraphrase
Clarifying

Giving Feedback
Be specific
Useful I think it is good because
Not useful That is good.
Focus on Behavior not the Person
Useful I think this report needs to focus more on
Not useful You really have done a poor job.
Focus on Things the Person can Manage
Useful Perhaps if you
Not useful You should have stopped the person doing
Timeliness of the Feedback
When the person is receptive, or is seeking feedback.

Giving Feedback
Share Information / Experience
About what, not only why something could have been done differently.
Do Not Overload
Too much information, especially negative material, will overwhelm the
person and make them feel bad about themselves
(One thing that could have been done differently is )
Check that the Person Does Understand
AskWhat did you understand from what was said?
Remember, Feedback is Given to Help, not Hurt
Balance positive to negative feedback by at least 2:1
(2 positive comments for 1 negative comment)

Receiving Feedback
Receiving feedback (both positive
and negative) is usually much
harder than giving it, because it is
OUR feelings at stake!

Receiving Feedback
Hear / Really Listen Dont Debate
Listen to what is being said, without judgment of the
speaker or yourself
Do not Interrupt, Try to be Receptive, be Calm
Let the person finish, assume they are trying to assist you
Seek Clarification
Be sure you understand what is actually being said,
rather than responding to what you think or feel is being
said

Open and Closed Questions

In order to gain more information, ask
questions that require more than a one
word answer.
A closed question allows a single word
answer, for example YES, NO or OK
An open question keeps the
communication going.

Open and Closed Questions

Examples:
Closed Question - Did you enjoy the dinner?
Open Question - What did you enjoy about the
meal?
Closed Questions Are you feeling okay?
Open Questions - You seem a bit tired, whats
up?

Information retrieved from:

Improving Your Interpersonal Skills, Effective

Communication - The Art, Science, and Practice
http://new.slpl.org/slpl/interests/article24007806
9.asp.
http://online.nmit.vic.edu.au/police/comms/ohs/1
_15.htm
http://www.mhca.org.au/Resources/CommunityD
evelopment/documents/CDEPMod1EffectiveCommunication_Overheads.pdf