The workshop leader leads players through the Russian party game “Mafia” created in the USSR by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986, modeling a battle between an informed minority (the mafia) and an uninformed majority (the townspeople). Players are secretly assigned roles: mafia, who know each other, a doctor, a cop and also townspeople, who know only the number of mafia amongst them. In the game's night phase the mafia covertly 'murder' a townsperson. During the day phase, all of the surviving players debate the identities of the mafia and vote to eliminate a suspect. Play continues until all of the mafia has been eliminated, or until the mafia outnumbers the townspeople. As the game is played, players will discover their non-verbal communication skills, teamwork skills and also their observation skills.

1. Improving
Your
Communication
Skills
(by Killing the
Russian
Mafia)
Facilitator: Nicole Ferdinand, B.A (Hons), M.Sc, FHEA

2. Today’s Session
Reflection
The game
A bit on
communication
Brief intro

3. Communication is …
• A series of experiences, including:

4. A skillful
communicator …
• Has the ability to competently
use language and express
information
• Can supply and extract
information
• Is able to persuade
• Makes him/herself
understood
• Gets people to take action
and change behaviours

5. Effective
communication uses …
Verbal Messages - the words we
choose
Paraverbal Messages - how we
say the words
Nonverbal Messages - our body
language

6. Communication
Barriers
Emotional/
Semantic
Psychological
Organizational

7. Communication styles
differ among …
• Men and women
• Youth and the elderly
• Different cultures

8. Studies have found…
• Overall teenagers
report preferring
instant messaging • On the average,
and text messaging
women talk
to face-to-face
communication about twice as
much as men

9. Communication Styles
Context Space
Information
Time
Flow
Adapted from: Hall and Hall, 1990

10. The Game
• The Russian party
game “Mafia”
created in the USSR
by Dimitry Davidoff
in 1986
• A battle between an
informed minority
(the mafia) and an
uninformed majority
(the townspeople)

11. Rules
• At the beginning of the • During the night time
game the narrator will phase of the game
hand out playing cards identities will be
• You must keep your revealed but must be
card a secret from kept secret
other players • Eyes must be kept closed
• Cards will assign during the night
players identities as • During the day eyes will
mafia, KGB, surgeon be opened and mafia will
and comrades plot to kill and comrades
will try to guess who the
• The game will have a mafia are
night and day time

12. Let’s play!

15. Reflection
• What were the barriers to
communication?
• What differences in communication styles
have you noticed?
• Who is better at using non-verbal
communication?
• Men or women?
• Older or younger people?
• Western or Eastern cultures?

16. Thanks for
playing!
For more information on how cultural differences and
communication styles impact events management, get my new
book Events Management: An International Approach
n.ferdinand@londonmet.ac.uk
http://facebook.com/Ms.NicoleFerdinand
Nicole Ferdinand @evntmgt