Communication Skills

The most valuable training facilitation skill

Communication Skills
Overview:

Communication skills are a

critical element in delivering
effective training.

Trainers must be able to use a

variety of communication
techniques in order to create an
environment that enables
participants to engage actively
in the learning process.
 Session Objectives

By the end of the session, the participant will be able to:

 Describe reasons that communication fails

 List and discuss strategies to enhance
communication
 Paraphrase and summarize conversations

 Use appropriate questioning techniques to

lead discussions and to assist learning
 What are the most common ways
we communicate?

ma ges
is ual I
Wo rd V
en
Spok

Bod
y Lan
Written Word g ua
ge
All communication methods are important
in training but our emphasis will be upon
the spoken word... since

70 % or all our communication efforts are:

misunderstood, misinterpreted, rejected,
disliked, distorted, or not heard (in the
same language, same culture)!
Group facilitation requires frequent and
high quality communication with others

A skilled facilitator
must be a
successful communicator

Trainers are facilitators

of learning and
communicating new
ideas is the main point
of training
The Goals of Training Communications:

To change behavior

To get and give

To get action
Information

To persuade To ensure understanding

Communication is the process of sending
and receiving information among people…

Feedback

receiver sender

SENDER RECEIVER
All messages do not reach the
receiver due to “distortion”

Feedback

Sender Receiver

Distortion
What causes distortion or the barriers
to understanding/listening?

 Perceptions  Environment – noise

 Language  Preconceived
 notions/expectations
Semantics
 Wordiness
 Personal Interests
 Attention span
 Emotions  Physical hearing problem
 Inflections  Speed of thought
How can we improve our listening skills?
Eliminate distractions
Concentrate
Focus on the speaker
Maintain an open mind
Look for nonverbal cues
Do not react to emotive
words
Ask questions
Sit so you can see & hear
Avoid prejudices
Take notes
Ask for clarification
Listening…the other side of communication
Too many people see communication as merely speaking.

Messages must be received as well as sent.

A good question to ask yourself is, are you
really listening or simply waiting for your turn
to talk?
If you are thinking about your reply before the
other person has finished, then you are not
listening!
How can we improve our listening
& facilitation skills as trainers?

SUMMARIZIN
PARAPHRASING G
Restating what Pulling together
another has said the main points
in your own of a speaker
words

QUESTIONING

Challenging
participants to
tackle & solve
problems
 Paraphrasing…try it out!

Use initial phrases such as:

Paraphrasing is simply
restating what another
person has said in your own  In other words…
words.  I gather that…

The best way to paraphrase  If I understand what you are

saying…
is to listen carefully to what
the other person is saying.  What I hear you saying is…
 Pardon my interruption, but let
Paraphrase often so you me see if I understand you
correctly…
develop the habit of doing
so.
Practice some of the
following techniques on your
colleagues.
 Summarizing…try it out!
Try out these summarizing phrases:
“If I understand you correctly,
your main concerns are…”
“These seem to be the key
ideas you have expressed…”
Summarizing pulls
important ideas, facts or
data together to establish
a basis for further
discussion and/or review
progress.
The person summarizing
must listen carefully in
order to organize the
information
systematically.
It is useful for
emphasizing key points.
Questioning…a critical facilitation skill
There are two basic types of questions:

1. Closed questions

generally result in short yes/no or other one

word answers. They should be used only
when you want precise, quick answers.
Otherwise, they inhibit thought.

2. Open-ended questions

invite an actual explanation for a response.

Questions that begin with “how”, “what” and
“why” are typical.
Practice your questioning skills…

Rephrase the following closed questions to

make them open-ended:

1. Are you feeling tired now?

2. Isn’t today a nice day?
3. Was the last activity useful?
4. Is there anything bothering you?
5. So everything is fine, then?
(Compare your answers with those in the notes below)
Other questioning techniques include:

Direct questions: asked of a particular individual – allows

you to initiate control – good for re-directing discussion
from excessive talkers.

Return questions: puts the question back to the

questioner or group – “What do you think about that?”

General overview questions: used to initiate a

discussion or set up a thoughtful exercise – “How would
you respond to the situation?”

Hypothetical questions: tests the responder’s problem-

solving ability by posing a hypothetical situation – “If you
had an unlimited budget, what would you fund?”
Other helpful techniques to foster
communication (both verbal and non-verbal)…

Repeat the last

Nod Your Head
word or two of the
prior speaker

Maintain eye Keep an open

contact body position

Make encouraging Repeat a sentence

statements or part of one
Ask yourself…

 Which of the skills

covered in this
module was most
useful as you think
about conducting a
training event?

 Which was the Write down three things

easiest to employ? you want to do to improve
your communication skills…
 Which was the most and practice them
difficult for you? prior to your next training event