Basic Communication Skill for employees

1. Communication I

2. What is
Communication?
It is an interactional process
in which meaning is
stimulated to the sending
and receiving of verbal and
non-verbal messages to
bring about mutual
understanding, feedback
and reaction

3. Communication Competencies
Listening and Organizing
Giving Clear Information
Getting Unbiased Information

4. Communication
could be…
VERBAL
One Way Two Way
NON-VERBAL

5. Of the total impact of a
message
 7% is Verbal
 38% is Vocal
 55% is Body Language
-Dr. Albert Mehrabian

6. The Communication Process
Feedback
Sender
Encoding
Transmission
Decoding
Receiving
Understanding

7. Functions of
Communication
Information
Delegation
Motivation
Expression
Control
Counselling
Selling

8. Listening and Organizing

9. Definition
Listening is a
process of absorbing
words and selecting
meanings.
- Bernice Hurst

10. Definition
Listening refers to your
ability to understand,
organize and analyze
what you are hearing so
as to decide what to
think and do in response
to a message
-Training House Inc

11. Definition
Organizing involves
breaking down and
analyzing and rebuilding
the complex message for
retention
-Training House Inc

12. Types of Listening
 Active-Active listening involves
interacting with the speaker,
asking questions, summarizing,
restating, clarifying, giving,
confirming feedback and so on
 Passive-Involves no interaction
with the speaker e.g. with a radio
or TV presentation, in a meeting
where we are silent

13. Types of Active Listening
 Empathizing - drawing out the
speaker, getting information in
a supportive way
 Analyzing - seeking concrete
information & trying to
disentangle fact from emotion

14. Fact Vs. Opinion
 Fact - verifiable by checking
hard data that exists
independent of the speaker
 Opinion - soft data that
cannot be verified
independent of the speaker

15. Listening for
Understanding
A message comprises the following
components
– Vocal – Actual words being said
– Non-Vocal – tone, speed, volume,
hesitancy and the body behaviour
of the demonstrated sender

16. Loaded & Neutral
Statements
Loaded Statements – Using
biasing words in an attempt to
influence the listener
emotionally
Neutral Statement – A
statement free of emotional bias

17. Barriers to Effective
Listening
When what you see or hear only fulfills
your own expectations, when you have
an inflexible mindset
When you are unconsciously
influenced by stereotypical views
We are also influenced by others and
often adopt their opinions without
thinking

18. Overcoming Barriers to
Effective Listening
Keep an open mind about
what people say
Checking to make sure you
understand the message

19. Overcoming Barriers to
Effective Listening Cont‟d
Develop an attitude of
wanting to listen
Focus your attention on
understanding the other
person‟s meaning not on
formulating your response

20. Overcoming Barriers to
Effective Listening Cont‟d
Show the speaker that you are listening
e.g. through body language
 Maintain eye contact-to show interest and
observe speaker
 Lean forward slightly to communicate
concern and to better comprehend the
message
 Nod your head to indicate understanding
 Smile when your speaker uses humour

21. Overcoming Barriers to
Effective Listening Cont‟d
 Allow for pause – don‟t feel you have to fill
the space with your words while the other
person needs time to collect his or her
thoughts
 Use open-ended questions to open up
communication
 Use paraphrasing to ensure understanding
 Summarize conversation to ensure
understanding and provide closure

22. The Art of Asking
Questions
We ask questions to obtain
information
Even before we word a
question, we anticipate a certain
kind of answer and this
expectation influences the way
we phrase the question

23. Questioning Techniques
Open questions - opens up a
discussion
Closed questions - is specific,
must be answered with a yes or
no or with desired details
Fact finding - aimed at getting
information on a particular subject

24. Questioning Techniques
Cont‟d
Follow up - intended to get
more information or elicit an
opinion
Feedback - aimed at getting a
particular type of information

25. The Art of Asking
Questions
Situations
When speaker uses unfamiliar
phrase(s) -ask speaker to clarify
or elaborate
Sample Questions
“Can you elaborate what you
mean by „modularized pre-
stressed struts‟?”

26. The Art of Asking
Questions Cont‟d
Situations
When a speaker gets into a sensitive
area and has stopped talking – Use
encouraging statements without bias
Sample Questions
“You say that things had started to
deteriorate with your marriage right
around that time?”

27. The Art of Asking
Questions Cont‟d
Situations
 When a speaker is digressing and not
telling you what you want to hear – draw
speaker back to issue at hand
Sample Questions
 “Perhaps I‟m mistaken, but weren‟t you
going to tell me about next week‟s report
schedule and the problems you
anticipate?”

28. The Art of Asking
Questions Cont‟d
Situations
 Speaker has been going round in circles,
saying same thing over and over. You
want to move on – Summarize and
probe for any additional information
Sample Questions
 “Let me see if I can summarize. You
said…is there anything else affecting
your decision?”

29. The Art of Asking
Questions Cont‟d
Situations
 Speaker has not explicitly stated what
you think is behind the words. – Employ
the „risk technique‟ and state what you
think is on his/her mind
Sample Questions
 Is this the situation: You feel if you
accept the job of supervisor, your fellow
workers will no longer accept you as one
of the gang?”

30. The Art of Asking
Questions Cont‟d
Situations
 The speaker has just said something
that doesn‟t seem to agree with a
statement made earlier. – Clarify
Sample Questions
 “But didn‟t you say some minutes ago
that…And now I hear you are
saying…aren‟t these two statements in
conflict?”

31. Listening Manners
Create an atmosphere where
you can listen (close out all
external distractions)
Tune out internal distractions
Monitor your body language

32. Tuning-In Techniques
S
0
F
T
E
N
Smile
Open Posture
Lean Forward
Tone
Eye Contact
Nod

33. Listening: A Ten Part Skill
Find areas of common interest
Judge content, not delivery
Withhold evaluation
Focus on central ideas
Stick to the issues

34. Listening: A Ten Part Skill
Show attention
Overcome distractions
Know your own biases
Take inventory
Listen critically

35.  Questions?

36.  Thank You!