Principles of Effective Communication (P2)

Principles of Effective Communication (P2)

Introduction

This section is based on the how to communicate effectively and the principles of effective communication.

There are three different types of communication:

-       General communication

-       Interpersonal communication

-       Written communication

 

General Communication

 

Communication is based around information that is exchanged between people. There is a constant flow of information being given and received. General communication skills apply to all types of communication.

For communication to be successful there must be an audience for your message to be communicated to. For example if a presentation is towards adults, language and terminology will more advanced, sentences will be more fluid and more complex.   Whereas a presentation to children would be simple, short and easily understandable with the use of small words.

In the Rainbow organisation general communication would be used and essential with staff and clients. Information has to be understood especially in a teaching and learning environment. If the clients do not understand for example what a program on a computer is, they won’t be able to run, open, update and install one.

Volunteers would use general communication with each other; an example would be a staff member asking the manager what clients they will take on.

There would be a constant flow of general information with the clients and staff. Clients would ask questions and respond to questions in the company. Staff would ask and respond to questions also.   General communication is needed, without it information would not be exchanged and understood. General communication is necessary so that people obtain information and gain information. In Rainbow without general communication there would be no work done.

General Communication Skills

There are many skills to consider when dealing with general communication.  I will discuss two in detail below:

Adapting to suit an audience

Voice modulation

 

This is when the presenter changes the pitch of their voice to make the presentation sound more interesting, sound better and get a better point across. If a teacher for example talked in one pitch the whole presentation the class would be very bored and lose interest. Change in pitch keeps the audience interested, and they understand is better.  When communicating the correct pitch must be used – therefore the pitch should not be too high.  Modulating the voice means to pause at certain points to allow the audience to understand what you are saying.  Pausing at certain points allows the audience to think about what you have said. 

Voice modulation is important because it keeps the audience listening. It keeps them from getting bored and confused. Voice modulation helps with understanding and alertness. If the reader speaks in the same tone then the listener will not realize the subject has change or else they will not notice a change in emotion or feeling. The reader is limiting the audience of understanding.

Pitch change is when sound goes from high to low or low to high. Change in pitch can have a great effect on the listener sub-conscious. For example if a person is talking in a low pitch, slow and drone and suddenly changes to fast and high; the audience will be surprised and think that someone is wrong.

Terminology

 

The presenter has to be able to get the right balance of terminology when speaking to the audience, in the example of the teacher; speaking to children the terminology has to be simple, simple so that the children know exactly what is being explained to them, if the teacher is speaking to staff then the terminology will be more complex. The presenter meeting at the same level of the audience is key. If the presenter talks to the children using terminology too complex and complicated then the children will not have a clue what is going on.

Likewise in Rainbow, if the terminology used is too simple for staff then they will not get the full detail and understand what is needed on the subject, they will be more likely to get bored also.

The volunteer needs to be careful with the terminology they use when dealing with the clients – they should not use complicated terminology and technical terms as it is likely to confuse the client.

Format

 

Format is the way the communication is presented. Examples of different formats would be using:

-       rhymes,

-       music,

-       slideshows,

-       speech,

-       Written document.

Adapting to format to suit the audience is important in understanding what is being discussed.

Engaging an audience 

 

Question and Answer

 

Engaging with the audience is good as it keeps the audience on their toes and keeps them focused on the presentation. If the presenter is asking questions then this keeps them focused and keeps them listening in case they are asked a question.

There are different types of question that can be used when dealing with an audience:

-       Open questions

-       Closed questions

-       Probing questions

Open questions require a length answer.  Different people may have different viewpoints.

Closed questions require a short answer and are used to find out if someone knows the answer.

Probing questions are used to make the person think more on what they already know.

Keeping the audience entertained is good as it makes them actually want to listen to the presentation. This can be done by playing music, videos, images and even holding an object up in front of the audience.   If the presenter does not engage with the audience properly they may not listen or engage with the presenter. When the presenter is engaging with the audience they are making them alert. If the listener is not engaged then they may stray off and not be alert. They may get distracted.

 

Interpersonal Communication

Introduction

 

Interpersonal communication is based on thought, feelings and emotions. For example if a person is to talk to another person about someone they do not like, this will trigger an emotion and will be different from a person that does like them. It is based face to face.

Interpersonal communication is necessary because the clients will feel that they can ask questions if needed. They have to feel like they can approach volunteers if there is a problem. Staff at Rainbow must feel that they are being listened to.  The managers need to have good interpersonal communication skills so that they understand what their staff are talking about.  Interpersonal skills take in talking and listening and are key to communication. 

Interpersonal Communication is used through verbal communication; however there is a communication barrier when it comes to different languages, understanding of speech, disabilities and illnesses. There are ways of overcoming these barriers of communication such as sign language, translation and lip reading.

Interpersonal communication can build friendships and relationships. Using interpersonal communication can help motivate others and gives a better exchange of information to the other person. If a person is positive then information will be more effective. If they are negative it will not be as effective.

 

Interpersonal Communication Skills

There are many skills to consider when dealing with interpersonal communication.  I will discuss two in detail below:

 

Methods of Interpersonal Communication

 

Verbal

 

Communication that is verbally exchanged is the use of talking and listening. When one person is talking to the other they are assuming that the other person is listening and that they are going to have a reply to what they are talking to them about. There are barriers to verbal communication that can be overcome such as different language, hearing impairment and deaf.   Verbal communication can take the form of different language such as Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese to name a few.

 

Signing

 

Sign language is used to communicate with someone who has a hearing impairment, or who is completely deaf. Sign language makes the deaf person understand fully what the person is trying to say. Sign language is a combination of hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arm, body and facial expressions to fluidly communicate through speaker’s thoughts.   British Sign Language is a popular sign language. 

 

Lip reading 

 

Lip reading is a way of the person with the hearing disability can understand what the person is saying by looking at the persons lips and sounding out the words in their head to give them a word or sentence. The reader will understand and notice syllables, rhythm and phrasing.

When communicating in Rainbow, it is important that the Volunteers consider all of these methods when communicating with other staff and clients.

 

Positive Language

 

Positive language is coming from a positive attitude in which the person has. For example a glass half full/half empty can be seen different by people depending on their attitude.

The person with a positive attitude will talk with a positive language and say that the glass is half full.

Other positive language examples would be:

-       "it can be fixed",

-        "I will reach my goal"

-       and "I can do this”.

When talking to others they will encourage the person for example a personal trainer will always use positive language when his client is on the treadmill and they are struggling - the trainer will encourage them and say things like "You can do this". Positive language should always be used because it is more effective has a better outcome.

It could be used for many things and for many reasons. In the rainbow organisation, there is a sense and need for relationships between the staff and the client. This relationship will make the process of dealing with and helping clients more effective and more enjoyable for both the staff and the client. Positive attitudes and language as well as a positive aura are good to have so that the clients are motivated and have a more enjoyable experience.

In the Rainbow organisaiton, positive language can tell the client what the goal is and how to achieve it.  When a problem is met, positive language explains alternatives.  Using positive language to other staff and the clients of rainbow sounds helpful and encouraging rather than inflexible and unfriendly.

Written Communication 

 

Written communication is used in forms of handwriting and typing. Skills are required to do this. It requires a good knowledge of vocabulary and grammar of the language. The written word should convey the intended message, doing this is a skill.

Introduction

Written communication

Written communication is used to communicate via handwriting it or typing it. An example of written communication would be someone writing a letter to someone or typing an email to send to another person. The downside to written communication is visual cues such as body language or oral cues such as tone of voice cannot be used to aid the communication. The communication relies on spelling, grammar, punctuation and written content to convey the correct message.


There are many different types of written communication that could be used in the Rainbow organisation:


- Emails between staff and clients.


- Letters to clients.


- Blogs for keeping the public up to date with the charity activities.


- Press releases for local papers when advertising.


- Posters for advertising events.


There are many skills associated with written communication, which are important when creating written documents for the Rainbow charity.

 

Document Structure

Structure to writing is important. Paragraphs and a certain amount of structure are needed in order for the reader to get the best understanding out of it. An example of a good structure would be use of paragraphs and if the writer is writing about how to burn a disk; the first paragraph could be used for why burn and what you need to burn. The second paragraph could then be how it is done.


Written documents should be well presented, if done on a computer it should have a header/footer title and in a nice format. Use of bullet points and numbers when necessary. Bullet points could be used for when a staff member is describing the hardware of a computer.


Document structure; this is the structure of a document with the use of heading and subheadings, use of bullet points and numbering, well presented and consistent layout, use of formatting such as bold, italic and underline, logical order and the use of a template structure.


Bold, italic and underline should be used to make titles and words stand out.

Tables should be presented to show the reader information in a form of a table that makes it more understandable to them.

Template structures should be used with professional documents such as emails, letters, invoices and time sheets.

Note Taking

Note taking is used to aid memory and to summarise long documents or key points. People take notes so that they can look back on it and understand. Note taking is short and usually bullet pointed. Note taking can be done in handwriting or on the computer.

A person can also note take notes on the hard copy by:

-       writing over it with a different colour of pen,

-       highlighting,

-       circling

-       and underling key points, dates and times.

    

In written documents using reviewing to annotate the electronic document with your comments. Electronic annotation is a useful method as it allows the person to email a document back to the originator and suggest changes to a word document and use track changes.

In the rainbow company note taking would occur frequently. Notes would be taken internally, this is from staff to staff and from externally, this is from staff to client. Example when clients are taking notes on what is software and hardware. Another example would be staff members taking notes in meetings.