Effective communication skills are critical for careers and personal relationships. Communication involves both sending and receiving information between people through various mediums and sensory channels. Some common barriers to good communication include misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and failing to actively listen. Developing strong communication abilities requires recognizing flaws, practicing techniques like questioning and paraphrasing, and gaining feedback to improve over time. Public speaking is also an important skill that benefits from thorough preparation, an engaging presentation style, and managing nerves.

1. Improving Communication
Skills

2. A Thought
A man is seldom better than his conversation
- German Proverb

3. Communication Skills Overview
Effective communication skills are a
critical element in your career and
personal lives.
We all must use a variety of
communication techniques to both
understand and be understood.

4. What is Communication?
Communication is the process of sending and
receiving information among people…
Feedback
receiver sender
Medium
Encode Decode
SENDER RECEIVER

5. Most common ways to communicate
es
lImag
V isua
ing
Speak
Bod
y La n
Writing gua
ge

6. Communication Goals
To change behavior
To get and give
To get action
Information
To persuade To ensure understanding

7. Distortions in Communication

8. We need to improve communication... as
70 % of our communication efforts are:
 misunderstood
 misinterpreted
 rejected
 distorted or
 not heard
6 people talking in a 2 people conversation!!

9. Critical success factor
The majority of your perceived ability comes from
how you communicate
55% Tonal
38% Visual
7% Verbal
93% of all Communication is non verbal - SKILL

10. Listening and Speaking are used a lot…
50%
45%
45%
40%
35%
30%
30%
25%
20%
16%
15%
9%
10%
5%
0%
Writing Reading Speaking Listening

11. … But not taught enough
50%
45%
45%
40%
Am
35% ou
nt
30% tau 30%
gh
25% t
20%
16%
15%
9%
10%
5%
0%
Writing Reading Speaking Listening

12. Common Communication Errors:
 Finishing others’ sentences
 Preparing our response before someone has
completed speaking
 Multitasking while ‘listening’
 Filtering content or meaning based on the
speaker
 Speaking for others (we…)

13. A Good Algorithm
Communication is a two way process!
In order to have good communication:
 Listen to Understand
 Understand before speaking
 Speak to be understood
 Seek understanding before proceeding
 Repeat

14. How can it be improved
 Recognition
 Pavlov study
 Not being judgmental
 Stop egocentric communication

15. What today’s workshop can achieve
 Provide ‘knowledge’ about communication
 Give insight on ‘skills’ needed
 Suggest ways of going about it
What you need to do:
 Learn the tools
 Take up every opportunity
 Practice, Practice, Practice!

16. Observe
PARIS
IN THE
THE SPRING
GOD IS NOWHERE

17. Why is communication important
 Inspires confidence
 Builds respect in business and social life
 Helps make friends
 Develops a distinct personality
 Reveals your ability to others

18. Essentials of good communication
 Knowledge
 Spontaneity in conversation
 Level of conversation
 Organising your thoughts
 Participating in discussions
 Body Language
 Show v Tell
 Being a good listener
 Listening v hearing

19. How to be an active listener
 Set the stage
 Ensure mutual understanding
 Understand body language
 Suspend judgment
 Behaviors that hinder effective listening
 Act distracted (look at your watch!)
 Tell your own story without acknowledging theirs
 Give no response
 Invalidate response, be negative
 Interrupt
 Criticize

20. Techniques to improve listening skills
SUMMARIZE
SUMMARIZE
PARAPHRASE
PARAPHRASE
Pull together
Pull together
Restate what was
Restate what was the main points
said in your own the main points
said in your own of a speaker
of a speaker
words
words
QUESTION
QUESTION
Challenge speaker
Challenge speaker
to think further,
to think further,
clarifying both your
clarifying both your
and their
and their
understanding
understanding

21. Two basic types of questions
1. Closed questions:
 Get a one-word response and inhibit thought.
 Questions begin with who, when and which
2. Open-ended questions:
 Invite unique thought, reflection or an explanation.
 Questions begin with how, what and how come (not why!).

22. Practice Questioning
 Rephrase the following closed questions to
make them open-ended:
1. Are you feeling tired?
2. Isn’t it a nice day?
3. Was the last activity useful?
4. Is there anything bothering you?
5. So everything is fine, then?

23. Adding colour to communication
 Images – Describe,
relive
 Show, don’t tell
 Use audience’s senses
 Sight
 Sound
 Touch
 Taste
 Smell

24. Improving communication
 Don’t use cliches
 Brevity
 Sincerity
 Don’t praise yourself
 Avoid argument
 Be tactful
 Silence
 Enunciation
 Clear, loud, syllables. Flexibility of tone

25. Practice
 For distinct enunciation, every word, every syllable,
every sound, must be given it proper form and value.
 Think of the mouth chamber as a mold, in which the
correct form is given to every sound.
 Will you please move your lips more noticeably?
 The teeth should never be kept closed in speech.
 Through practices, we can learn to speak more
rapidly, but still with perfect distinctness

26. Ways to gain effective conversation
 Good use of English – avoid errors
 Improved vocabulary – overlook v oversee
 Avoid old phrases
 Use humour
 Add interesting story
 Improve clarity of voice – practice

27. Public Speaking

28. What does the graphic tell you about
this speaker

29. The 5-P‘s
 Prior
 Preparation
 Prevents
 Poor
 Performance

30. From effective conversation to speech
 Overcoming Fear
 #1 fear
 Idea of speech
 Know your subject
 Know the audience
 Target their interest
 Organising the speech
 Tell them…

31. Developing Your Presentation
 What is your goal?
 Research your topic
 Develop an outline
 Create or locate learning aids

32. AIDA
POWERFUL opener
ttention
CLEAR connector
nterest
MAIN BODY
esire
POWERFUL close
ction

33. AIDA
Establish credentials
ttention
(Me, You, What)
Key point
Create +ve expectations
nterest Paint the future benefits
WIFM
The facts
The facts
esire  3
 advantages
 benefits
Me, You, What
ction is required

34. Developing Your Presentation
Making the Presentation Interesting
 Informative
 Fun
 Variety
 Energy
 Audience Interaction

35. Practicing Your Presentation
 Simulate the
presentation setting
 Practice aloud
 Practice standing up
 Time your presentation
 Memorize your opening
few sentences
 Watch yourself in a
mirror

36. Presenting
 Stage fright
 Feelings follow action
 Talk ‘to’, not ‘at’
 Eye contact
 Don’t judge your audience
 Pause
 Volume
 Pace

37. Summary
He who fails to prepare, prepares to fail!