Communication Skills

Communication
• Act of transferring information from one place/person to another
• Types of communication:
• Verbal
• Oral
• Written
• Non-verbal
• Visual (graphs and charts)
• Body language, gestures, intonation/emotion
• Communication skills can take a lifetime to master – if indeed anyone can ever claim to
have mastered them.

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Importance of Good Communication Skills
• Professionally, if you are applying for jobs or looking for a promotion with your current
employer, you will almost certainly need to demonstrate good communication skills.

• Communication skills can also ensure that you are able to manage interactions with
businesses and organizations.

• In your personal life, good communication skills can improve your personal relationships
by helping you to understand others, and to be understood

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Communication is a Two-Way Process
• We don’t just send out information, we receive as well.
• Not just speaking but listening as well
• Most people take listening for granted, but it is not the same as hearing and should be
though of as a skill.

• Develop a shared understanding of the information being transmitted and received

• It is an active process

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Developing Communication Skills
• Good communication skills can improve the way that you operate through life, smoothing
your way in your relationships with others.
• Poor communication skills, on the other hand, can sour relationships from business to
personal, and make your life significantly harder.
• Some people seem to understand how to communicate without even trying. They are able
to tailor their language, tone and message to their audience, and get their point across
quickly and succinctly, in a way that is heard. They are also able to pick up the messages
sent to them rapidly, understanding both what is said, and what has not been said.
• This may seem effortless, but the chances are that they have spent plenty of time honing
their skills.

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Developing Communication Skills

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Inference from the Guessing Game
• You were forced to ask close-ended questions (answered only with yes or no) to find out
what was in the other person’s mind.
• It took a long time and effort to identify the object each person thought of.
• What if you had no time and could ask only one question to find the object? What would
that question be?
• The question would be “What is the object?” which is an open-ended question.
• Open-ended questions are an excellent way to save time and energy and help you get to
the information you need fast.
• However, closed questions can also be useful to confirm your understanding or to help
you control the conversation with an overly talkative person/customer.

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Verbal Communication Skills
• Verbal communication can be spoken or written.
• One-to-one in person conversation
• Telephonic conversation
• Presentation
• Social media communication
• Report/paper writing
• The words we choose can make a big difference to people understanding us.
• Reflection and clarification are two common techniques used in verbal communication.
• Reflection – process of paraphrasing
• Clarification – seeking more information

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Pointers for Effective Oral Communication
• Active listening • Open mindedness
• Adaptability – adapting communication style to • Patience
support the situation
• Simplify the complex
• Clarity
• Storytelling
• Confidence and assertiveness
• Be concise
• Control nerves by practising
• Be friendly- friendly tone, warm
• Body language – interpretation and your own
smile
• Constructive feedback – giving and receiving
• Keep your audience in mind
• Emotional intelligence
• Think before speaking/
• Empathy Thoughtfulness
• Interpersonal skills/Social skills • Positive visualization
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8 Tips on Preparing for a Public Speech
• Think about both the content and your audience. Is your speech suitable?
• Understand the core message you are trying to get across and key points you want the
audience to take away.
• Have an overview of your speech in mind before spending time on details.
• Have a clear presentation structure and show it repeatedly to your audience so they know
which section they are on and how much is left.
• Rehearse aloud. Record your voice. Get feedback from friends.
• Try and keep your speech simple, focus on only a few points and explain them clearly.
• Be enthusiastic, move around the stage and use body language to convey confidence.
• Make a list of possible questions and rehearse the answers for them.
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Some Things to Remember
• What we hear last is remembered the easiest.
• Providing a summary at the end is a good approach.
• We remember things that are presented with impact.
• With emotion, memorable stories, good/attractive visuals
• We remember things that we have use for.
• We remember what we frequently hear.
• Repetition is important. Repeat key points.

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Written Communication
• Three main types
• Transactional
• Informational
• Instructional

• Some pointers
• Planning and preparation
• Choice of words
• Formatting
• Editing
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Social Media
Communication
• What is social media?
• Collection of online platforms that
involve sharing and collaborating
with an online community by
posting, commenting, and
interacting with one another
• Examples: Instagram, Facebook,
Twitter, Whatsapp, LinkedIn
• 3 billion people (40% of the world) use
social media for communication.
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Social Media Communication
• What are the benefits of social media?
• Platform to express yourself and easily share information
• Connects with a wider audience
• Quick responses
• Boosts creativity
• Summarized writing
• Easy access to news/Increased civic awareness
• Distance education
• Online shopping and doorstep services
• Promotion of businesses
• Disaster management
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Social Media Communication
• What are some disadvantages of social media?
• Information overload creating a constant craving for more
• Lose track of time
• Fake news
• Sense of urgency
• Need to share immediately, not living in the moment
• Devaluing ourselves based on what we see in social media
• Unfiltered communication

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Non-Verbal Communication

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Roles of Non-Verbal Communication
• Repetition: It repeats and often strengthens the message you’re making verbally.
• Contradiction: It can contradict the message you’re trying to convey, thus indicating to
your listener that you may not be telling the truth.
• Substitution: It can substitute for a verbal message. For example, your facial expression
often conveys a far more vivid message than words ever can.
• Complementing: It may add to or complement your verbal message. As a boss, if you pat
an employee on the back in addition to giving praise, it can increase the impact of your
message.
• Accenting: It may accent or underline a verbal message. Pounding the table, for example,
can underline the importance of your message.

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Types of Non-Verbal Communication
• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Body Language and Posture
• The way you sit, walk, stand, or hold your head
• Proxemics – Amount of distance that should be maintained
• Intimate Distance: 6 to 18 inches
• Personal Distance: 1.5 to 4 feet
• Social Distance: 4 to 12 feet
• Public Distance: 12 to 25 feet

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Types of Non-Verbal Communication
• Eye contact
• The way you look at someone can communicate many things, including interest,
affection, hostility, or attraction.
• Important to maintain the flow a conversation.
• Touch
• Examples: a weak/strong handshake, a patronizing pat on the head, or a controlling
grip on the arm
• Paralinguistics – Paralinguistics refers to vocal communication that is separate from
actual language. This includes factors such as tone of voice, loudness, inflection, and
pitch.

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How to Improve Non-Verbal Skills?
• Learn to manage stress in the moment
• Stress compromises your ability to communicate.
• If you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress, take a time out. Take a moment to calm
down before you jump back into the conversation. Once you’ve regained your
emotional equilibrium, you’ll feel better equipped to deal with the situation in a
positive way.
• Develop your emotional awareness
• In order to send accurate nonverbal cues, you need to be aware of your emotions and
how they influence you.
• You also need to be able to recognize the emotions of others and the true feelings
behind the cues they are sending.

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