Oral Communication Skills
Having assessed my oral skills using the tables in the Cottrell textbook I have arrived at a
number of conclusions. I feel that my oral communication can be improved massively, the
example I analysed via the tables was a group project undertaken in first year. I was in the
position of team leader and was facing strict deadlines and requirements, the time limit was
quite short and the scale and scope of the project was quite large, it was a significant
percentage of our final grade in a module.
I failed to communicate effectively in meetings, regularly not making clear and concise
points by oral means. Having analysed this scenario I now recognise my tendency to overelaborate on points and use excessive jargon. The audience I was facing were peers of a
similar age, I feel my formality in this group context was not needed and did not aid our
performance. While we did meet all our deadlines, I am of the belief that through over
explaining my points and not being concise enough we were put under undue stress (
meetings ran over time and this further added to the time constraints we were already
facing). The feedback I received was similar to the points I have made above, this
constructive criticism has allowed me to address this issue effectively as I now recognise
where I need to improve and what must be done in order to do this.
The analysis undertaken in the Cottrell textbook has allowed me to take lessons from the
scenario mentioned above. I now fully understand the importance of being concise in order
to effectively manage time and focus the group on exactly what needs to be done. This is
not a typical example as through first year I was not part of many group projects.
A contrasting example which Cottrell has allowed me to highlight is my communication
when rowing. All communication in the boat must be extremely brief, yet accurate. This
type of communication is not something I was initially effective at, but after continuing with
the sport I feel as though my oral communication skills have improved. A competency I have
gained from this would be recognising what is going right/wrong and saying exactly what it
is as opposed to adding unnecessary ‘filler’. I can measure my success with this competence
through how other crew members react to the points I am making.
In conclusion, my evaluation of my oral communication skills has highlighted a number of
aspects of my skillset which need improving but also the developments I have made along
the way.