Communication Skills for

Engineers (HS103)
- Dr. Sweta Sinha
 Language and Communication
What is communication?
• It comes from the Latin word communicare, meaning ‘to share, to
impart, or to commune’, its literal meaning is ‘giving or sharing
information’.

• Communication is a dynamic interactive process that involves the

effective transmission of facts, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and
values.
Nature, Style and Process of
Communication

• It is a dynamic process.
• It is not a passive process.
• Subjective and linguistic competence
• It is an exchange of meaning and understanding.
• Communication is a two-way process (Sender and Receiver).
• A communication is not effective if the receiver did not decode the
message.
• Communication is symbolic (it involves not only words but also symbols
and gestures).
• Communication is designed to achieve a goal.
• Communication is a multidimensional interactive process, i.e. the
sender can become receiver and the receiver can become sender in a
flow of information exchange.
Stages of Communication:

Receiver R(x)
Sender S(x)

Ideation Encoding Transmission

Decoding Feedback

Figure 1: The Communication Process

Barriers to Effective Communication

• Improper encoding
• Bypassing
• Frame of reference
• Physical distractions
• Psychological and emotional interference
• Cultural differences
• Improper encoding (This is a recurrent barrier in the process of
communication)
Messages should be presented in a linguistic code familiar to one’s audience. The sender
must consider the cognitive knowledge the receiver has of the communicative code that is
being used.

• Bypassing (most common communication barrier)

The term bypassing refers to misunderstanding resulting from missed meanings because of
the use of abstract words and phrases on which both senders and receivers do not agree.

• Frame of Reference
Your weakness in viewing others within your frame of reference may also lead to confusion
and misunderstanding.
• Physical Distractions
Physical distractions can easily disrupt communication.

• Psychological and Emotional Interference

Any psychological or emotional turbulence or disturbance can prove to be a barrier to
effective communication because it leads to lack of interest and concentration.

• Cultural Difference
Our values or our personal guides to thought and behaviour, and exert a strong influence
on us. We should be sensitive to cultural differences and take into account the values of
our listeners/readers while communicating with them.
 Importance of Communication
Establishes
effective Helps in proceeds
leadership of motivation and
Increases morale
managerial development
efficiency

Importance of
communication Helps in
smooth
Acts as basis working
for decision
making

Promotes
Acts as basis of
cooperation and
coordination
peace
and cooperation
Channels of Communication:
• Upward (Junior to senior)- polite tone, request, proper salutation and
greeting
• Downward (Senior to junior)- authoritative, command, may or may
not include proper salutation each time
• Horizontal- (same level)- can have some informal element, may or
may not include salutation
• Diagonal- is not strictly hierarchical, not always preferred, special
occasions
• Grapevine- highly informal, based on unverified news, gossip and
rumour, the source of information is not known.
Aspects of communication competence:
• Linguistic Competence- The ability to interact in a language known to
the receiver of the message. It also includes using vocabulary which is
easily understood by both parties.
• Subject competence- The ability to have complete knowledge about
the topic of conversation so that each query and doubt is cleared by
the sender of the message.
• Organizational Competence- organizing the information in a logical
sequence so that the receiver is not confused when processing the
information
Public Speaking:
❑The major pillars of public speaking:
• THE SPEAKER.
• THE MESSAGE.
• THE AUDIENCE.
• THE CHANNEL.
• FEEDBACK.
• THE NOISE.
• THE PLACE OR SITUATION.
• What Is Public Speaking?
It is a skill that requires excellent communication skills, enthusiasm,
and the ability to engage with an audience. It is dependent on
interpersonal skills that are less technical and more about how you
interact with others.
• Major skills in public speaking
Clear articulation, interactive presentation style, understanding the
needs of the audience, presentation skills, organizational skills,
controlling anxiety, maintaining eye contact, providing evidence.
Reviewing the topics and summarizing the points.
Group Discussion
• Group Discussion is a type of discussion that involves people sharing
ideas or activities. People in the group discussion are connected with
one basic idea. Based on that idea, everyone in the group represents
his/her perspective.
• It is a discussion that tests the candidate's skills, such as leadership
skills, communication skills, social skills and behavior, politeness,
teamwork, listening ability, General awareness, confidence, problem-
solving skills, etc.
Rules of Group Discussion

Prepare well for the topic.

Be confident about your content
Participants Introduction
Body Language
Leadership
Avoid false starts or commitments
Follow your Domain
Do not fight
Things to avoid in Group Discussion:
• Stop taking leads if you do not know much
• Do not hesitate to initiate the discussion
• Do not copy anyone else ideas or comments
• Do not avoid eye contact with other participants while speaking
• Do not lose confidence in the whole discussion
• Do not speak slowly
• Try to contribute in a discussion rather than just speaking
Presentation Skill
• Oral presentations are purposeful, interactive, formal and audience
oriented.
• 4 Ps in presentation:
• Plan, Prepare, practice and perform
• Plan: defining purpose, analysing the audience, analysing the
occasion, choosing a suitable title
• Prepare: deal with anxiety, develop confidence, be precise and use
relevant examples, check for accuracy, develop central idea, logically
arrange the main ideas, gather supporting material, plan visual aids
How to Organise a presentation:
• Introduction- startling statement/ statistics, anecdotes, questions,
quotations, humour, introduce the subject to the audience, stablish
credibility
• Body- sequential, general to specific or specific to general
arrangement of ideas, less important to more important or more
important to less improratnt, categorial, problem and solution,
contarsr and comparison
• Conclusion: Summarize the presentation, re- emphasize the central
ideas, focus on a goal, motivate the audience to respond, provide
closure.
Checklist for making a presentation:
• Confidence
• Organized
• Relaxed
• Pay attention to body language
• Use appropriate visual aids
• Attention to all details
• Close in a memorable way
Telephone Etiquettes
• There should be no distraction during the communication
• Important information about the caller as well as the details of other
people related to the call must be noted down
• The papers and notes must be organized beforehand
• Keep a pen and paper handy
• After the end of each conversation, the interviewee must thank the
interviewers
• Answers must be brief and polite
• Articulation must be clear, distinct and the voice level should be
reasonably up to reveal a good energy level.
Non- verbal communication: some concepts
• Chonemics- the use of time in communication, punctuations, the speed of
speaking, punctuality, how long people can listen to a particular piece of
information
• Vocalics- pitch, volume, tone of voice, quality of voice etc.
• Haptics- interacting via the sense of touch like greetings by shaking hands
or assuring someone by gently touching the shoulders
• Kinesics- communication through body movements, gestures and face
expressions
• Proxemics- the use of space in a formal interaction, how close or far the
speaker is from the receiver of the message
• Artifacts- artistic expressions and symbols udes during communication
Sentence Construction:
• In English Language, a sentence is constructed in SVO (Subject
Verb Object) word order.

Example: John loves Mary

Subject Verb Object

Example of Rule 1: My mom loves me. Peter has two chocolates.
Example of Rule 2: They are playing. My mom and dad love (verb without s) me.
Example of Rule 3: You are doing good. You have two pens.
Subject Verb Agreement Rules:
1. The subject and verb must agree in number.
Examples: He goes to work by bus. They visit us every other week.

2. The word and phrases ‘with’, ‘as well as’, ‘together with’, ‘along with’ are not part of the subject and verb
agrees with the subject.
Example: The politician along with the newsmen, is expected shortly.

3. Two subjects joined by ‘and’ are plural.

Example: Mary and Joan are quite different.

4. With collective nouns, the verb might be singular or plural , depending on meaning.
Examples: The audience was clearly enchanted by her performance.
The audience are strangely subdued, clapping after each song.
Cont.
5. Two subjects joined by ‘or/not’, ‘either… or/neither…nor’, ‘not only…but also’ take the verb that agrees
with the subject closest to it.
Example: Neither my father nor my mother goes to university.
6. In sentences beginning with ‘here’ or ‘there’, the true subject follows the verb.
Example: There is a bush near the garden.
7. The verb is singular if the subject is singular indefinite pronoun such as several, few, both, many.
Example: Several villages have been isolated by the heavy snowfall.
8. Use a singular verb for expressions of measurement, time, money and weight when the amount is
considered one unit.
Example: Fifty rupees seems a reasonable price.
9. Plural form subjects with a singular meaning takes a singular verb such as mumps, measles, statistics,
civics, linguistics, etc.
Example: Gymnastics is his favourite sport.
10. Title of single entities are always singular.
Example: Harry Potter is an interesting novel.
Tenses:
Tense refers to the time of an action, that is, present, past, future. It also
shows the degree of completeness of the action, that is, continuous,
complete, and so on.

Tenses include the present tense, the past and perfect tense, and the future
tense.
 Tense Forms:

Present Past Future

Simple Present He works hard. Simple Past He worked hard. Simple future He will work hard.

Present He is working Past Continuous He was working Future He will be working

Continuous hard. hard. continuous hard.

Present Perfect He has worked Past Perfect He had worked Future perfect He will have worked
hard. hard. hard.

Present perfect He has been Past perfect He had been Future perfect He will have been
continuous working hard for continuous working hard. continuous working hard.
many years.
• Simple Present Tense

This tense uses the infinitive form of a verb (third person singular number). It is used
for the following purposes:
Use:
Express Habitual Action (He gets up in the morning).
Express likes, preferences and dislikes (I like to watch movie).
Express condition in ‘if’ clauses (If you work hard, you will get good grade).
Planned future action (We leave New Delhi on 3rd February and reach Bombay the next
day).
• Present Continuous

The Present Continuous is formed with the auxiliary verb + the present participle (verb +
ing). It is used for the following purposes:
Use:
Express an action happening now (He is listening to the radio).
Express present continuous action (I am working very hard to get a good grade).
Planned future action (I am leaving for New Delhi tonight).
• Simple Past Tense
It is formed by adding either d or ed to the infinitive. It is used for the following
purposes:

Use:
Express an action completed in the past at a definite time (He submitted the report
last week).
Express an action that occupied a period of time (She lived in New Delhi for three
years).
Express a past habit (She always kept a diary).
• Past Continuous Tense

It is formed with auxiliary verb be (past form) + the present participle (verb + ing).
It is used for the following purposes:

Uses:
Express a continuous action around a particular time in the past (I was working).
• Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect is formed with has/have + The past participle. It uses are given
below:

Use:
Express an action recently completed (He has just submitted the report).
Express a past action without a definite time (I have read the report).
Express an action that started in the past and continuous in the present (She has
lived in Kanpur all her life).
• Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The present perfect continuous is formed with has been/have been + the present
participle.

Use:
Express an action that started in the past and continuous in present (I have been
working for the company for the last fifteen years).
• Past Perfect

The past perfect is formed with had + The past participle

Use
Express complete action in past (He had submitted the report before he received the
memo).
• Future Tense

The future tense is formed with will/shall + infinitive

Use
Express simple action in he future (I shall meet you tomorrow).
Active And Passive Forms
• Active Voice
It clearly states relationship between subject and action.
Ex. I make a cake

• Passive Voice
When we use passive voice, we give more importance to the object
rather than the subject.
Ex. A cake is made.
We also use passive voice when we describe scientific process.
Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct Speech quotes the exact words spoken. When we use direct
speech we also use speech marks or quotation marks.
Example: Ali said, “I am going to the seaside today”.

Indirect speech does not use speech marks and does not necessarily have
to be the exact words spoken. It is also known as reported speech.
Example: Ali said that he was going to the seaside that day.
Direct speech Reported speech
• now then, at that time
• today that day, on Sunday, yesterday
• tonight that night, last night, on Sunday night
• tomorrow the next day/ the following day, on Sunday, today
• yesterday the day before/ the previous day, on Sunday
• last night the night before/ the previous night, on Sunday night
• this week that week, last week
• last month the month before/ the previous month, in May
• next year the following year, in 2014
• two minutes ago two minutes before
• in one hour one hour later
Common Errors
• Grammatical error is a term used in prescriptive grammar to describe
an instance of faulty, unconventional, or controversial usage, such as
a ​misplaced modifier or an inappropriate verb tense. Also called a
usage error.
A few common mistakes:
• Run-on Sentence or Comma Splice
Incorrect sentence: “Rachel is very smart, she began reading when she was three years
old.”
Correct Sentence: “Rachel is very smart. She began reading when she was three years
old”.
• Pronoun Disagreement
Incorrect: “Every girl must bring their own lunch.”
Correct: “Every girl must bring her own lunch.”
• Mistakes in Apostrophe Usage
Incorrect: “My mothers cabin is next to his' cabin.”
Correct: “My mother's cabin is next to his cabin.”
Incorrect: “Its a cold day for October.”
Correct: “It's a cold day for October.”
Cont.
• Lack of Subject-Verb Agreement
Incorrect: “These recipes is good for beginning chefs.”
Correct: “These recipes are good for beginning chefs.”
• Misplaced Modifiers
Incorrect: “At eight years old, my father gave me a pony for Christmas.”
Correct: “When I was eight years old, my father gave me a pony for Christmas.”
• Sentence Fragments
Incorrect: “Sharon stayed home from school the other day. Because she was sick.”
Correct: “Sharon stayed home from school the other day because she was sick.”
• Missing Comma in a Compound Sentence
Incorrect: “Jim went to the store and Ella went with him.”
Correct: “Jim went to the store, and Ella went with him.”
Cont.
• No Clear Antecedent
Incorrect: “The dad found the boy, and he was happy.”
Correct: “The dad was happy when he found the boy.”
• Ending a Sentence in a Preposition
Incorrect: “What reason did he come here for?”
Correct: “For what reason did he come here?”
• Mixing Up Spellings
“You’re” vs. “your”
“There” vs. “their”
• Mixing Up Similar Words
“Except” and “accept”
“Affect” and “effect”