Communication Skills.ppt

Objectives
 By the end of the unit you will :
 Understand the process of effective communication
 Know the barriers to communication
 Know the various techniques of listening
 Understand and be able to use effective probing
techniques
 Be able to use mechanics of good writing skills
 Develop an understanding of good practices in
writing emails able to prepare effective
presentations

Sub Modules
 Principles and Process of Effective
Communication
 Barriers to Communication
 Listening Techniques
 Probing Techniques
 Written Communication & Email Etiquette

Principles and Process of
Effective Communication
Module 1

Interpersonal Communication
Effectiveness
Objectives
After going through this session you will learn :
 What is Interpersonal communication effectiveness
 What are the components of effective communication
 How to communicate completely

Forms Of Communication
Three basic forms of Communication
 Verbal
 Non Verbal
 Written

Components Of Communication
 Communication (Latin) = Share
 Communis ( French ) = common
 Communicate = impart, transmit,
share
 Communication is a two way process
 It involves a sender and receiver
 Communication is effective when it gets the desired action or
response.

Activity 1: Chinese Whisper
 Nippon Menard was established in 1959 and had $373
million in sales in 1990, of which 67% was derived
from skin care products and 23% from makeup.
Organised into 33 sales companies and sold through
over 12,000 retail outlets and 160,000 beauty
specialists, it ranked 8th among cosmetic companies.
 If your facts are wrong but your logic is perfect, then
your conclusions are inevitably false. Therefore, by
making mistakes in your logic, you have at least a
random chance of coming to a correct conclusion.

Characteristics Of a Message
K Keep
I It
S Short
S Simple
K I S S

Activity 2: Convey the message
 Following are the facts of the situation and you have to inform
your customer of it over phone. Compose the message in your
workbooks:
 1. You are to dispatch one truck load of goods from Delhi to
Calcutta on urgent basis.
 2. The material is loaded on the truck and the truck has left.
 3. Due to non availability of the proper Excise Duty Gate Pass the
material has been held up at a checkpost in transit
 4. In the meantime you have dispatched a person with the
proper documents to the checkpost
 5. Understanding the urgency you have decided to talk to your
client and inform him of the crisis and the action taken.
 6. Also ask the client if there is any thing he can do to ensure
speedy release from his end.
 7. Refer to your workbooks for additional data.

Activity 3: Spoken Communication

Effective Communication
Basic Requirements :
 Skills of composing the messages
 Skills of sending messages
 Skills of receiving messages

Activity 4: Effective Spoken
Communication

SENDER RECEIVER
CONSTANT FEEDBACK ENSURES EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
DESIRED RESPONSE
MESSAGE

 CONVICTION
- Stems from belief in your product/service/self.
- It is perceived through the way you speak, your voice,
your expressions.
 CONFIDENCE
- It is perceived through your physical presentation: the
expression on your face, your hand shake, body
posture.
 ENTHUSIASM.
- It adds vitality to what you say.

Summary Of Learning
 Communication is effective only when the sender gets
the desired action or response from the receiver.
 Simple, short and clear message is more effective.
 Feedback is very essential for effective
communication.
 Conviction, confidence and Enthusiasm are critical to
effective communication.

Barriers To Communication
Module 2

Objective
After going through this session you will learn :
 What are the different types of barriers which
hinder effective communication.
 How can an individual overcome these barriers to
enhance interpersonal effectiveness.
 How to introduce self to others

Activity 5: Innovative Thinking
 Can you think innovatively ?
 Yes !!
 Solve this problem.
IX

Activity 6: Join the dots
. . .
. . .
. . .

PERCEPTIONS
 An individual ‘s subjective viewpoint towards
issues/ people which leads to assumption which
affect his/her decisions/ interactions.
 Perceptions are also a result of past experience. As
a result, given the same data , people see,
interpret and respond to it differently.

Activity 7: The Woodcutter & his Wife
 Read the story from your notebooks
 Who do you think is responsible for the
woman’s death?

BIASES
 An emotional block which can lead to an attitude
of indifference, suspicion or, hostility towards the
subject.
 These can be a result of past experiences, or socio
- cultural / economic back ground.
 It can also be based on a third party’s view point
or, on what you have read/ heard.

SEMANTIC
 Words can have different meanings to different
people, thus blocking communication.
 Use positive words
Example :
The difference between inexpensive and cheap

Statement:
I didn’t say he stole that money!
Now read this sentence aloud, placing the emphasis
on the first word:(I)
“I didn’t say he stole that money!
(Who said it ?)
Continue in the same way , but putting the emphasis
on a different word each time you repeat the
sentence.
“I didn’t say he stole that money!”
( But I did think about it )

“I didn’t say he stole that money.”
( may be she did ?)
I didn’t say he stole that money !
( How did he get it ? Did he borrow it ?)
“I didn’t say that he stole that money”
( Which money then /This money here?)
“I didn’t say he stole that money!”
(So what did he steal ?)

Consider the differences :
 I have asked for permission to get away from my
boss.
 He had a plant on the file cabinet that was right in
the center.
 You can telephone the people in the Bombay office
and tell them about your new expense account for
thirty rupees.

• To communicate effectively , you must communicate
completely.
• The way you say things can change the meaning.
• The semantic difference could also occur depending on
words emphasized in the above sentences.

BIASES
SEMANTIC
PERCEPTION

Summary Of Learning
 Typical barriers for effective communication can be
classified as:
Biases
Perceptual Barriers
Semantic Barriers
 When interacting with others we must consciously
work against our biases to avoid communication
breakdown.
 Our communication will be effective if we don’t get
bogged down by our own mental blocks

Effective Listening
Techniques
Module 3

Listening
Objectives
After going through this session you will be able to :
• Use the techniques of listening for building better
relations with peers, bosses and friends
• Listen positively
• Appreciate the importance of listening in the
communication process

Activity 8
 The Robbery case
 The Smooth Operator Case

Listening - The forgotten Skill
 Paradoxical secret of effective
communication is listening.
 Listening heads the list of essential skills.
 Almost half of all communication activity is
listening.

Activity 9: Role Play
 Are you listening???

Types of Listening
Four basic types of Listening :
 Content Listening
 Critical Listening
 Empathic Listening
 Active Listening

Content Listening
Goal is to understand and retain information
imparted by the speaker.
 Questions can be asked but basically
information flows from the speaker.
 It does not matter whether you understand,
agree or disagree.
Example : A typical classroom where a
professor is delivering lectures

Critical Listening
Goal is to evaluate the message at several levels
 The logic of the argument
 Strength of the evidence
 Validity of the examples
 Implication of the message for your
organisation
 Involves interaction to uncover the speakers point of
view
 Non verbal are the best clue
Example : A prospective buyer during a new product
launch

Empathic Listening
Goal is to understand the speakers feelings,
needs and wants in order to help solve a
problem.
 Help the speaker vent his emotions that are
preventing him from dealing dispassionately
with the problem.
 Do not give advice
 Let the speaker talk
Example : Grievance handling cell of a
company.

Active Listening
Goal is to appreciate the other persons point
of view, whether you agree to it or not.
 Before replying to a person’s comment with
your points, restate the ideas and feelings
behind the comment to the other persons
satisfaction.
 Example : A typical sales situation.

Keys To Effective Listening
 Hold your questions.
 Listen for ideas.
 Resist distractions
 Keep your mind open
 Understand that thought is faster than
speech.

Barriers To Listening
• Boredom
• Environment.
• Pre-Conceived Ideas
• Tiredness
• The Urge to Speak and Respond

Summary Of Learning
 There are four types of listening are
Content, Critical, Empathic and Active
 Listening heads the list of all critical
communication skills
 Paradoxical secret of effective communication
is listening

Probing Techniques
 Objectives
 After going through this session you will learn :
 How to control a discussion/ communication
 What is Probing
 What are the types of Probing
 When and how to use Probes effectively.

Controlling a discussion
 Ask proper questions / probes

Probing
 Probing is the skill of questioning to obtain
information.
 Probing is to uncover details, needs & facts.
 Change tracks in a discussion
 Makes the other person think
 There are two types of Probing.
 - Open
 - Closed

Activity 10
 Man on the Bed

Probing
 Open Probes
 A question or, statement that encourages the
person to speak freely about a topic of his choice or
stimulates the person to expand on something
already stated.

Probing
 Examples of Open Probe
 What did you have in your mind when you bought this
TV ?
 Can you give me the details of your organisation
structure?
 What are the problems you are facing with our
equipment?

Probing
 Closed Probes
 A question that steers the conversation to a
specific topic of your choice and limits the other
person’s response. (sometimes to short one or two
word answers.)

Probing
 Examples of Closed Probes
 How long have you been living here ?
 Who is your boss ?
 Do you have a Purchase Department in your company
?
 Are you incurring a high cost in the maintenance of
our equipment..

Probing
 Exercise
 Identify each of the following probes as
Open (O) or Closed (C) :
 What type of work do you have in your Office ?
 Did you think of buying a TV earlier also ?
 How many management books do you have ?

Probing
 Open Probes can be very effective in the initial stages
of a conversation, as they help you get information,
build a rapport and identify needs (By allowing people
to talk )
Example
 Customer :“ I don’t know if you have told me
everything about that “
.... is a strong signal for the sales professional to ask,
 “ What else would you like to know “?

Probing
 Closed Probing is necessary when:
 A person is abrupt and open probes are not working.
 You want to take the conversation in a particular
direction with a person who talks a lot and generally
off the point.
 A person is unresponsive.
 Such probes are effective in the closing stages of the
conversation, as they help you get agreement on key
points.

Probing
 EXERCISE
Fill in the blanks:
 Your beginning probes should be ----------
 Person is unresponsive, so you decided to use...................
 Person need is confirmed , you decide to use
..............
 Person is talkative, you decide to use ..................

Probing
 EXERCISE
Which types of probes to be used here :
 ( ) Your customer gives expanded answers to open
questions.
 ( ) Your customer gives limited answers to open
questions .
 ( ) Your customer has accepted one benefit. you
want to steer your customer onto a new subject area
of your choosing.
 ( ) Your customer has been totally unresponsive to a
series of open probes.

Summary Of Learning
Probing is a very important tool for:
 Professionals to carry out an effective communication
 There are two types of Probes,
 Open Probes
 Closed Probes.
 Open Probes are typically used when it is desirable
that the person being probed should talk freely -
getting into as much detail as possible.
 Closed probes are used when the person being
probed is abrupt.

Written Communication &
Email Etiquette
Module 5

Written Communication & Email
Etiquette
Objectives
After going through this session you will be able to :
• Understand effective written communication
• Use the mechanics of good writing
• Develop an understanding of good practice in
writing emails

Activity 12
 Writing a proposal

Effective Written Communication
 Fundamentals of good writing:
 The key to good writing is dividing the job into two
parts:
 First part, in which you concentrate on the substance
of the writing,(content, style)
 Second part,in which you focus on the language
(punctuation, grammar, spelling)
Remember : Good writing is good manners

First Level Writing : Content
 Write to your audience :
 Your audience may consist of many individuals, none of whom you know. Or you
may be writing to a specific individual whom you know well. In either case, what
you know about your reader, will determine your approach to a subject and the
tone of your writing.

 Have a Plan :
 Put your ideas into writings before trying to organize them.When the “dump” of
ideas from your head to the page or computer screen is complete, organize those
thoughts in a logical scheme.
 You may organize your information :
Most to least important (or vice versa),
Least to most controversial,
Negative to positive (or vice versa)

 Grab Their Attention :
 Openings : The goal is to get to the point quickly. Readers want to know what you
are writing about and why it matters.
 Emphasis : Are details supplied in proportion to importance?
 Variety : Break away from monotony by varying sentence structure, sentence
length & paragraph length.

 Make It Clear :
Avoid ambiguity
Be specific
Use Transitional Words
Be positive about negatives

First Level Writing :Style
 Trim the Lard:
Redundancies
Know your words
 Speak out:
Use the active voice
Don’t use jargons

Second Level Writing:
Punctuation
Grammar
Abbreviations
Capitalization
Spelling

Email Etiquette: What Is It?
 Email etiquette refers to a set of dos and don’ts that are recommended by
business and communication experts in response to the growing concern
that people are not using their email effectively or appropriately.
 Email etiquette offers some guidelines that all writers can use to facilitate
better communication between themselves and their readers.

WHY ?
• To prevent misunderstanding
• To save time spent in clarification and rework
• To prevent receivers from getting frustrated
• To prevent the receiver from forming wrong impressions

WHY?
A company needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons:
• Professionalism: by using proper email language your company will convey a
professional image.
• Efficiency: emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly
worded emails.
• Protection from liability: employee awareness of email risks will protect your
company from costly law suits.

Activity 13
 Email Etiquette

Guidelines For Email Etiquette
Use templates for frequently used responses.
 Some questions you get over and over again, such as directions to your office or
how to subscribe to your newsletter. Save these texts as response templates and
paste these into your message when you need them. You can save your templates
in a Word document, or use pre-formatted emails.

Answer Swiftly
 Each e-mail should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same
working day.
 If the email is complicated, just send an email back saying that you have received it and
that you will get back to them.
 This will put the customer's mind at rest and usually customers will then be very patient!

Do not attach unnecessary files
• Send attachments that are of a reasonable size. Zip files where necessary
• Norm is to restrict the mail to less than 5 attachments and total size less than
500KB

Use proper structure & layout
 Use short paragraphs and blank lines between each paragraph.
 When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the
overview.
 When using colors, use a color that is easy to read on the background.

Do not overuse the high priority option
• By default the priority is Normal
• Avoid use of priority unless it is really important

Do not write in CAPITALS
 IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING.
 This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the
form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.

Don't leave out the message thread
 When you reply to an email, you must include the original mail in your reply, in
other words click 'Reply', instead of 'New Mail'.
 Leaving the thread might take a fraction longer in download time, but it will save
the recipient much more time and frustration in looking for the related emails in
their inbox!
 Only use Reply to All if you really need your message to be seen by each person
who received the original message.

Subject of Email
• Always include a subject line in your message
• State the main theme in the subject line
• Use clear, meaningful, concise and descriptive wording
• Word subject line to evoke interest
• Avoid trying to trick readers into opening mail

Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT
 Even more than the high-priority option, you must at all times try to avoid these
types of words in an email or subject line. Only use this if it is a really, really
urgent or important message.

Avoid long sentences
 Try to keep your sentences short.
 Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of
writing than letters.
 Also take care not to send emails that are too long.
 If a person receives an email that looks like a dissertation, chances
are that they will not even attempt to read it!

Use cc: field sparingly
 Try not to use the cc: field unless the recipient in the cc: field knows why they are
receiving a copy of the message.
 Using the cc: field can be confusing since the recipients might not know who is
supposed to act on the message.
 When responding to a cc: message, should you include the other recipient in the
cc: field as well? This will depend on the situation. In general, do not include the
person in the cc: field unless you have a particular reason for wanting this person
to see your response. Again, make sure that this person will know why they are
receiving a copy.

Top 10 Email Errors
• Poor Spelling/poor grammar
• Ambiguous
• Too many big words
• Long Sentences/Waffling
• Slang, Jargon or Acronym
• Forgetting to Proof Read
• Inappropriate Tone
• Inappropriate use of Font/Colours
• Not signing correctly
• Repetitious use of words

What Do Readers Notice?
 Responsiveness
 Look of the email
 Completeness
 Correctness
 Language
 Spelling/Grammar
 REMEMBER
 A Accurate
 B Brief
 C Clear

Summary Of Learning
 Good writing makes a good impression. In a well written message, the meaning is
clear, people are less likely to misinterpret
 It’s a dynamic process that presents challenge and provides satisfaction whenever
you put words together
 Good writing skills continue to be valued in business

Communication Skills.ppt

Communication Skills.ppt

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