Effective Communication & Email Writing

Skills Training
17 December – 19 December 2023

The Trainer: Facilitator:

Assistant. Prof. Sarfaraz Nawabzada Rokyan Management Consultancy International
American University of Afghanistan Kabul, Afghanistan
M.A.Ed. USA rokyanmc@gmail.com
snawabzada1@gmail.com info@rokyan.com
+93 (0) 780130120 Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA +93 (0) 771848147
Communication

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Brainstorming
Open Discussion

What does communication mean to you?

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 What is Communication?

Definition:
Communication is a two-way process of exchanging
information.

Literal meaning: Communis which means common. The

process of establishing a common understanding among people
while talking.

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

• Business Communication?
• Effective Communication?
• Efficient Communication?

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Purpose/Goal of Commination

Purpose/ Goal

To inform (exchange information) Receiver understanding

To persuade Receiver agreement/ resolve

conflicts

To establish trust To have a fine working environment

To build relationships and groups To achieve better outcomes and to

(internal/external) have everyone on the same track

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Types of Communication

1. Verbal Communication:
– Communication uses words (spoken/ written)
– The most basic and has more impact
– Reliable and less likely to misinterpret

2. Nonverbal Communication:
– Does not use words
– Unspoken signals
– More likely to be misinterpreted/misunderstood

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Verbal Communication

• Face to face conversations

• Phone calls, voice mails
• Meetings
• Presentations
• Interviews
• Business Correspondence:
- Emails
- Letters
- Memos
- Reports

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Non-Verbal Communication
In non-verbal communication, you observe you counterpart
and decode the message.

Physical Facial Eye Contact Body Vocal Touching

Appearance Expressions Language Characteristics behaviors
(TSSST)

- Personal - Eyebrows - Gazing - Posture - Vocal Quality - Time

- Surrounding - Frown - Duration - Gesture - Volume - Space
- Message - Lips - Movement - Tone - Silence
- Mouth - Pitch - Smell
- Pace - Touch

The use and interpretation of non-verbal communication depends on the context & culture

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Physical Appearance

1. Personal appearance
• Somatotype (body size/shape)
• Outfit, style, makeup,
accessories

2. Surrounding
• Your office harmony

3. Message
• Clarity
• Meaning
• Clean, spelling (written)

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Facial Expressions
(your face reactions during communication)

1. Eyebrows
2. Frowns
3. Lips and mouth

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Eye Contact
(establishing a relationship, controlling, showing interest)

1. Gazing (attention/ admiration)

2. Duration/Staring at

3. Avoidance

4. Positions of the eye balls

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Body language

1. Posture

2. Gesture

3. Movement

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA
 Vocal Characteristics

-
1. Vocal Quality

2. Volume/ Loudness

3. Tone

4. Pitch/ rhythm

5. Pace

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Touching Behaviors
(TSSST)

-
1. Touch

2. Space

3. Silence

4. Smell

5. Time

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Activity 1
Group Work
Ten types of handshakes and what they mean

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

Communication Process

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

Communication Barriers
Anything that prevents, restricts or delays the
understanding in communication.

Message

SENDER
RECEIVER

Barriers Feedback Barriers

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

Open Discussion

1. What are common

communication channels
you use in your business?

2. Everybody, one by one,

name a communication
barrier.

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Common Communication Barriers

Personal Organizaltional Technical Social

Lack of clarity Organization Polices Channel breakdown Culture/ Norms
Lack of confidence Rules & regulations Physical separation Values
Lack of awareness Organization structure Noise & distraction Religion
Language Organization facilities Lack of knowledge Politics
Disability Unclear chain of Time and space Race and ethnicity
communication
Attitude Poor feedback
Seniors’ attitudes
Negative emotions Early evaluation of
Lack of confidence in the speaker
Assumptions subordinates
Selfishness Status differences
Gender differences

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Communication
Etiquettes/Manners
Be professional Connect with the audience
-choose the proper channel -maintain reasonable eye contact
-know your chain of communication -Pay your undivided attention
-Know the right time -Be responsive
-answer when you are asked and ask
when to don’t understand

Be audience centered Be frank and Express your mind

-put yourself in the shoes of your -don’t scare to share your opinions
audience -be polite and open minded to disagree
-use appropriate language -ask questions
-Be brief and up to the point
Avoid Touchy topics Be an attentive listener
-be professional -recognize feelings
-know your place -anticipate reactions
-be responsive

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 The 4 Common Types of Listening
(Listening is the most important part of communication)

Informational/ Discriminative Listening:

Comprehensive Listening:
oWhen you want to learn
oTo understand what the speaker
says.
oIt takes high level of
concentration
oDiscriminating information
based on the speakers tone of
voice
oUnderstanding and
differentiating the speakers
intentions

Biased Listening: Sympathetic Listening:

oSelective listening oListening to others to feel their
oCatches only the information feelings
they want to hear oHearing others problems and
offering sympathize support

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Hearing vs Listening

Activity 3
Group Work
The 7types of listeners and best practices

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 How to become a better listener?
Give your full attention:
oNo talking
oAvoid distraction

Show interest:
oGive feedback by nodding
your head, eye contact, and
happy smiles
oGive comment
oAsk questions
Concentrate on Message:
oAvoid evaluation/ conclusion
oDon’t be diverted by
appearance and delivery
Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA
 Communication Patterns
(Possible communication patterns in Organizations)
Downward Horizontal
(Top down) (communication
between the same
level employees)

Upward Grapevine
(Bottom up)
Informal
Social network
Gossip
Single trend
Cluster

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 4 Types of Communicators in a
Workplace
There are four common styles/types of communicators:

Activity 2
Group Work

Passive Communicator Aggressive Communicator

Passive-Aggressive Assertive Communicator

Communicators

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Communication vs Negotiation

Communication
•To inform
•To understand
•To persuade
•To build relationship

Negotiation
•Discussion to resolve an issue
•To get everybody agreed
•In negotiation the objective is
agreement not victory

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Negotiation Process
to resolve a conflict
1. Preparation: 2. Opening
o Prepare your argument o Both parties stating their
o Be clear about your initial positions
position and desired
outcome

3. Exchanging information 4. Closing

/ Bargaining o Reaching a mutual
o Offers/Suggestions agreement according to
o Solutions the organizational values
o Logical and polices
o Factual
o Understandable

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

Professional Email Writing Skills
(Communicating through email in a business context)

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 What is Email?

Electronic mail/ email/ e-mail is a method of exchanging digital

messages through the Internet.

For personal use (XYZ @ service provider)

For business use (Your Name @ service provider)

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

Brainstorming
Group Work

In groups of four,
think and write down, as
many pros and cons of email
communication, as you can.

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 Elements of an Email

1. Subject
2. Greeting
3. Pleasantry
4. Body Free Email Accounts
5. Closing sentence •Up to 100 recipient at once
•500 emails/ 24 hours
6. Sign off •25MB attachments
7. Signature
Paid Email Accounts
•100 or more recipients at once
•2000 emails/ 24 hours
•Depending on your deal

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

Email Analysis
Group Work

Analysis of a sample email

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 1. Subject Line
what the email is about. It gives specific information about the
contents of the email

Accurate,
Clear, Complete
Concise, Incomplete
Direct Relevant
Understandable, Irrelevant
Receiver friendly Clear
Vague
shouldn’t be “hey” or a
“Quick Question”
Not more than 8 words

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 2. Greeting/ Salutation
Addressing the recipient by name is preferred, followed
by a comma or colon (very formal in US English )

Formal Dear……,
Good Morning….,
Neutral Hello….,

Informal Dear….,
Hi……,

Hi,
Name,
Hey,
No greeting at all

+ Loop ++

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 3. Pleasantry
Follow your greeting with a compliment or pleasantry. You
never have anything to lose by adding a pleasantry.

New Emails vs Chain Emails

To sound social and friendly
1. Being social I hope this email finds you well.

When replying an email.

2. Replying Thank you for your email.

When you feel sorry and being polite.

3. Apologizing I am so sorry for the late reply

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

 4. Body (Content)
This part of the email contains the message or discusses the matter
what the email is about.

Email body, mostly in

3 paragraphs  Avoid long complicated
sentences
 Don’t write several long
Make reference/ say why are paragraphs
you writing to the recipient  Use bullet points for
important details
Explanation if needed

Call for action if need Too long and wordy email,

Message buried
Thank the reader

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 Get to the point as quick as possible.

 If you require a response, please request it in the

your email.

 Use one topic per email or else create an elevator

summary (list of Contents)

Example:

This email contains:

– Budget projection for the first quarter of 2023
– Actual performance for the last quarter
– Projected probability

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 5. Closing Sentence/s
Before you sign off, include a closing message. A closing
message has a dual purpose of reiterating your call to
action, and making the recipient feel good.

nce l
t e ma
n r
se t fo
ing bu
los nal
C io
pt
O

Example: “looking forward to hearing from you soon”

“Should you have any questions please let me know”
Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA
 6. Closing Salutation/ Sign Off
Choosing a proper salutation will depend on your level of
familiarity with the recipient.

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 7. Signature
clear and informative

Signature consists:

•Full name
•Designation (position)
•Company name & logo
•Address (small – big)
•Contacts (email, mobile,
fax, mail)
•A quote (optional)
•Your picture (optional)

Ideal to use fewer lines

in signature

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 How to Write Effective
Emails?

1. Follow the ABC model while writing emails:

– Accurate
– Brief
– Clear

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 2. Respect the recipient

Know your recipient

The less time your recipient has to spend on

understanding your email, the better.

Be real and avoid words that require a

dictionary.

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 3. Language use and Style of
your email

Be clear about your email, formal or informal.

Greeting
Body
Sign off

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

Avoid using:
 Short cuts: Lol, gr8, thnx, ppl
Exception: ASAP, POC (point of contact), COB (Close of Business)

 emoji's,
 Highlighting
 Too many Bold fonts
 Too many Italic
 Unnecessary capitalization
 Unnecessary punctuation (Hi!!!!! / What????)
 Different text colors and font sizes
 Expressions and Slangs
 Avoid using redundancy

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

• Keep space between email parts & paragraphs.

• Don’t over communicate by email

• Don’t use email for long and complicated issues that require
a lot of clarification

• Know when to use (I /We/ None of them) while sending

organizational emails.

• Be frank, nothing is confidential in business--so write

accordingly.

• Double-check that you have selected the correct recipient.

• Keep your email clean

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 3. Remember your attitude
Tone of Email
Voice is what you say, and tone is how you say it.
In every face to face conversation, there is:
• a physical climate
•a psychological climate.

In emails we don’t have physical climate. However, interpreting the email sentences and
words into ones understanding, creates a psychological climate/ tone of email.

Common Email Tones

Email tone is conveyed
through: •Positive
•Formal
•word choice, syntax,
•Professional
punctuation, •Friendly
•letter case, sentence
length, •Negative
•opening, closing,
•Informal
•graphic indicators like
•Sarcastic
emoticons and emoji. •Demanding
Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA
Exercise: Check out the possible email tone interpretations in the following
emails:

Hi,
I haven’t get the proposal yet! If you don’t get that to me by 10 today, we are
going to miss the deadline!

Waiting
Shadab u t3
nd o
Ha

Hello Mr. Azizi,

I hope you have nicely started your day.

I am pretty sure you have worked on the proposal. It is just a reminder to make
sure we are on the safe side in terms of submitting the proposal within the
deadline.

Thank you for your help,

Shaheen Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA
 4. Mood of your email

Written communication can easily be misinterpreted or

misunderstood, as there are no visual emotions or body language
following the message.

There are two common types of email moods

1.Convincing
2.Distracting

The mood of your email is directly related to the tone of email. If the tone is
positive the mood is convincing/friendly. if the tone is negative, the mood is
distracting/unfriendly Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA
Check out the possible email mood interpretations in the following emails:
Dear All,
It is to warn you that the company is facing the budget shortage for next year. To keep the
program running, the management has decided to stop providing lunch and transportation to
all, effective from the first day of the next month.

You are asked to take care of your food and transportation from the said day onward.
Thanks,
Shadab
d out 4
Han
Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are doing well.

As you might have noticed, that we are in search for funding sources for the year 2023. The
management is positive to find a donor soon. In order to have all of us on contracts with the
existing budget, the company requests your dedication of bringing your lunch from home and
coordinating your commuting with those who drive to the office, until we receive enough
funding.

Together we can succeed!

Thank you for your understanding,
Shaheen Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA
 5. Proof read your email
Nothing screams unprofessionalism and laziness more
than spelling mistakes. Read through your email
before you send it, make sure the language is clear
and understandable.

• Spelling
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Language/word choice
• Content understandable
• Message clear

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 Email Manners/ Ethics

1. Time to reply - immediate to 48 hours

2. Reply or reply all, consider it
3. Make sure who to copy in your email
4. Write your email before you enter the email address
5. Send when you are sure
6. Never send email when your angry
7. Include a signature block
8. Double check the figures, facts, dates, times, or
other specific details

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 Email Manners/ Ethics

9. While forwarding an email

 Remove the contacts for privacy purpose
 Copy the email and send it in a new message window

10. Email sent to you mistakenly.

 Don’t disclose its content to others.
 Ignore it
 Inform the sender if it happens again and again

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

 Email Manners/ Ethics

12. While delivering bad news:

 Deliver the news in advance
 Avoid blaming statements
 Avoid hedging words or words that leaves the reader ambiguous
 Offer positive suggestions, instructions, and/or offer for resolve.

Example:
I am writing to inform that we will not be able to send out you’re the
September 2023 salaries on time. I can understand it is hard but what
can I do to help. Our payment system and structure is very outdated.

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA. TESOL, USA

Email Analysis
Group Work

Analysis of a sample email

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA

Sarfaraz Nawabzada, MA.Ed. USA