Communication Skills
Communication Skills







Empathy
Attentiveness
Listening
Articulation
Other-orientation
Fluency
Adaptability
Communication Process


Point is to convey
meanings
Goal is to achieve
understanding



Figurative
Literal meanings
Culturally-based
Communication Process

Roles change throughout the process

Sender



Initiates the message
Encodes
Message

Object of interaction
Communication Structure

Channel



Medium through which message is sent
One-way, two-way
Receiver


Receives message
Decodes (interprets) message
Communication Structure

Feedback




Reaction
Response
Provides clarification
Noise



Interference
Internal (individual)/External (environment)
Lessens communication effectiveness
Functions

Persuasion


Adoption of ideas
Information sharing




One-way
Two-way
Up/down chain of command
Peer to peer
Functions

Social/Expressive


Command



Express emotions
Dictate
Instruct
Conflict Resolution

Must be desired by those involved
Effective Communication

Internal factors





Shared meanings
Sender/receiver bias
Individual readiness
Skills
External factors



Environment
Timing
Noise
Effective Communication

Credibility




Character
Composure
Competence
Professionalism



Appearance
Attitude
Confidence
Increasing Effectiveness

Know your audience





Speak/write to their level
Be other-oriented
Communicate to share ideas
Consider content and affect
Understand intent and
interpretation issues
Effective Communication: Six C’s






Clear
Concise
Correct
Complete
Courteous
Convincing
Miscommunication






Improper encode
Ambiguous
Inappropriate channel
Intrusive noise
Misinterpretation
Inadequate feedback
Communication Barriers

Sender





Lack of credibility
Disorganized
Strong emotions
Too much at once
Receiver



Defensiveness
Poor listening skills
Incorrect assumptions
Communication Barriers

Group problems
Lack of cohesion
 Lack of openness
 Lack of willingness
 Cultural differences
 Internal biases
 Ineffective leadership

Verbal Language Skills







Right information at the right time
Silence is often virtuous
Strong and appropriate vocabulary
Know information to be shared
Understand personalities
Develop cultural competence
Read, retain information
Listening Skills

Empathic




Relationship focused
Understand views
Understand feelings
Comprehensive


Goal is understanding what is said and
what is not said
Message and context
Listening Skills

Critical



Evaluating ideas
Discerning the ‘truth’
Appreciative


For pleasure
Stimulates the mind, senses
Listening Skills

Attending




To hear, not to hear
Paying attention
SOLER technique
Following



Nonverbal door openers
Interpretive statements
Attentive silences
Listening Skills

Reflecting




Paraphrasing
Reflecting meaning
Summarizing
Restating to ensure
understanding
Intercultural Communication

Communicators hold different
cultural beliefs

Understand perceptions of power

Use care with generalizations

Be aware of group understanding


Word choice
Comprehension
Ethnic Variations


Ethnocentrism
Styles of communication





Elaborate
Exacting
Succinct
Degree of familiarity
Family or street language
Racism in Language


Promotes exclusion
Word choice affects acceptance
of leader



Connotations
Denotations
Avoid inappropriate labeling
Gender and Language

Women





Intimacy
Connection
Relationship
Problems
Listening

Men





Independence
Status
Information
Solutions
Lecturing
Sexism in Language

Ignoring gender


Defining gender


“Chairman”
“Women and children”
Deprecating gender

“Women’s work”
Facilitation and Processing





Help group members learn about
selves, the team
Build a sense of ‘team’, increase
cohesion
Can aid in the therapeutic process
Helps a group to achieve goals
Requires trained leaders
Facilitation and Processing

Essential leader skills





Preparation
Caring attitude
Personal communication
skills
General communication
strategies
Strong conceptual,
interpersonal, task skills
Facilitation and Processing

Five approaches
Let the experience speak for itself
 Speak for the experience
 Debrief the experience
 Directly frontload the experience
 Frame the experience

Facilitation and Processing




Questioning skills
Transfer of learning
Front loading
Framing



Analogies
Metaphors
Real world