General
Communication Skills
Cultural Differences
Cultural
Differences are the differences between people from different cultures, for
example people from Britain and Saudi Arabia have different customs and
opinions on what is acceptable social behaviour, in Britain it is normal to
drink Alcohol and kiss your partner in public, but in Saudi Arabia it is not
and that behaviour will be punished.
Modulating Voice
Modulating
your voice is changing the volume that you are speaking at, this is done to
account for the recipient being close or far away, for example you will have to
speak louder to someone across the room, but you wouldn’t speak that loud if
they were right in front of you.
Terminology
Terminology
is the slang or jargon that we use, this links in with Cultural Differences and
Adapting, as other people may not know the terminology you use, such as people
in other countries. Also when IT staff speak about IT they use jargon such as
WAN, LAN and RAM, but if the recipient does not know much about IT then they
will not understand the jargon used.
Format
Format
is how the interaction between the recipient and the speaker occurs; the format
could be a face to face conversation, an email, instant messaging, texting or a
phone call. The format is dependent upon
the relationship and urgency of the recipient and speaker. For example an
important business message would use an email format or something formal,
whereas organising a little football match between friends would be done over
text messages and would use slang as it is informal and between friends.
Accuracy
Accuracy
is making sure that the information you are giving to someone is correct. It is
also making sure that you are using the correct language for the recipient, as
words can often have different or slightly different meanings depending upon
the location, because of this saying something in Britain that is a compliment
could be offensive somewhere else, so it is about making sure the language you
use is accurate for the recipient that is receiving it.
Adapting
Adapting
your terminology and conversational skills to suit the recipient is important
because different cultures will not understand the slang that is common in your
vocabulary, for example different countries would not understand British slang,
and for this reason the speaker must use a word that is not slang in place of
the slang word to avoid confusion.
Engaging Audience
Engaging
the audience is making sure the recipients are not bored of what you are saying
and ensuring they are interested. It is making sure you have the audience’s
attention at all times. For example being a charismatic speaker will capture
the audience’s attention.
Changing Intonation
Changing
the intonation of your voice is just adjusting the volume you speak to someone
as you get further or closer away, for example you could start a conversation
with someone across the room and as you walk towards them you gradually lower
you voice, otherwise you would be shouting in their face.
Use of Technology
When
engaging a large audience the speaker can use technology to reinforce their
point. They can use PowerPoint's, a projector and a large screen to play a
slideshow over the back of a speech.
Question and Answer
Questions
and answers are a good way to engage the audience as it forces the recipients
to interact with the speaker
Interpersonal
Skills
Verbal Exchanges
Verbal
exchanges is speaking to someone via speech and is a face to face conversation.
Signing
Signing
is used to communicate with people with hearing difficulties, this is a useful
thing to be able to do as co-workers or customers may have hearing difficulties
and may communicate through signing, although they will often have a reader or
a hearing aid it is still valuable to be able to communicate with them without
such aids. Signing is the movement of the body, specifically the hands, to
translate.
Lip Reading
Lip
Reading is used by people with hearing difficulties to understand what people
communicating with them are saying, it is used to understand what a person is
saying.
Body Language
Body
language is used to indicate emotions in a face to face conversation, it is
often sub consciously done but a person’s body language will portray what kind
of mood they are in. For example someone who is happy will smile and be intent
on listening, but someone who is bored will not be looking at the speaker and
will not be listening closely.
Use of Intonation
Intonation
can be used to make your message have different effects, by shouting something
and speaking faster you convey urgency but by casually saying something at a
moderate volume conveys being relaxed.
Positive Language
Positive
language encourages the audience to participate in the discussion and
reinforces positive emotions, it is positive, helpful and encourages further
discussion/action.
Negative Language
Negative
language is telling the audience what they can’t do, and speaking with a
negative undertone of blame, bureaucracy etc…
Active Engagement
Active
engagement is constantly engaging with the audience and involving them in the
conversation so they are not sat there disinterested.
Nodding
Nodding
indicates that the recipient understands what is being said and is listening,
it could also indicate agreeing with what is being said but for the most part
it simply means understanding.
Summarising
Summarising
is briefly explaining the main points or ideas of something, without having to
go into too much detail, it is used to give a brief analysis rather than an in
depth study. For example at the end of a report on a book there will be a
conclusion where the author would briefly summarise the points expressed in the
main body of the report.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing
is using different words so that the recipient understands what is being said
more clearly, this is often used to get around using jargon and slang.
Barriers
Barriers
such as language barriers can stop people from communicating, this is caused
when two people who speak different languages want to communicate, and to get
around this you can use an interpreter. For example if a French customer
doesn’t speak any English then someone who speaks both languages can translate.
There are also barriers such as background noise, distractions, lack of
concentration.
Background Noise
Background
noise is when there are other conversations or commotions going on around a
conversation, in the background. This can make it hard for all parties trying
to communicate. To get around this the conversation should be moved to a
quitter area. Background noise only occurs in face to face conversations or
phone calls. For example in classroom there is a lot of noise, making it hard
for someone having a phone call to hear the person on the other end.
Distractions
Distractions
are things that take your attention away from what you’re supposed to be doing.
For example trying to do work and being distracted by someone talking to you.
Lack of Concentration
Lack
of concentration is not being able to continually work on a task because of
distractions. For example not being able to concentrate because of background
noise.
Open
Open
ended questions allowed for the recipient to give a longer answer and elaborate
more than simply just answering the question, they can move the question onto
other similar subjects while still answering the original question. Open ended
questions allow for more interaction between the recipient and the speaker.
Closed
Closed
questions only allow for the original question to be answered, these are used
to get short answers.
Probing
Probing
questions are used to try and gain more information about something by getting
deeper into the subject and asking more questions about it, therefore probing
for newer information. This can be used if the audience isn’t forthcoming with
information.
Speed of Response
Speed
of Response allows the speaker to check how interested the audience is by how
fast they answer the questions, if the audience
Communicate
in Writing
Emoticons
Emoticons
are used to display an emotion to the recipient, they are sent inside the
message. For example congratulating someone on a birthday could be accompanied
by a smiley face emoticon to convey happiness.
Letter
A
letter is a message that must be sent and delivered to the right address to be
read, it is often used when either do not have access to the internet or it is
to formal of a message to send over email. For example a letter can be used to
congratulate someone on a momentous occasion such as a Birthday.
Fax
A
fax is used to send a physical message from one fax machine to another, the
first fax machine copies the message, sends it to the second fax machine which
then prints it out.
Email
Emails
are used to send a message to someone that is delivered instantly but does not
have to be read instantly, it can sit in the inbox of the recipient for a long
time before being opened. They are also stored which allows for the message to
be re-read. For example email can be used to send a message to someone in
another time zone.
Grammar
Using
the correct grammar is important because the reader will not get distracted by your
mistakes, it also shows professionalism. It is also important so you put across
the correct message.
Spelling
Spelling
is important because if you misspell something then it could be used in a
different context and the misspelled word will have a different meaning.
Consistent misspelling can also make the original point of the message hard to
get across. An example of misspelling would be using the wrong ‘There’ ‘Their’
and ‘They’re’.
Structure
The
structure of a message is important because if a message is poorly structured
it will be hard to get the point of the message across. For example when
writing a report you must structure the report so that there is an
introduction, a main body and then a conclusion.
Identifying Relevance
Making
sure what you are writing is relevant to the initial point is important because
if you go off on a tangent then the message will be longer and the reader may
lose interest. It is also unprofessional to go off on a tangent. For example
writing a report on Windows and then start writing about Macs.
Proofreading
Proofreading
is checking for spelling or grammar errors, often it is used when such errors
would look unprofessional. For example proofreading is done when an article is
sent off for publishing.
Alternative Viewpoints
Alternative
viewpoints is looking at something from the point of someone else, what may
make sense to the writer may read differently to the reader so it is important
to ensure that what is written will not cause offense to the reader, even if not
intended.
Note Taking
Note
taking is writing down what someone is saying in brief written words for the
purpose of remembering what was being said at a later date.
Capitalisation
Capitalising
the correct words shows professional as if you do not then it shows that you do
not have a good understand of the English language.
