Effective

Communication Skills

Student Success Workshop

Good

Communication Skills

ARE

Mutual Respect Skills.

What are your goals when

communicating with

someone?

Goals of Communication

1. To inform – you are providing information for use in decision making

2. To persuade – to reinforce or change a receiver’s belief about a topic

3. To build relationships – some messages that you send may have the goal of building good will between you and the receiver.

Barriers to Communication

Disinterest in the conversation

Lack of background information

Jumping to conclusions without waiting for the whole message

Fear

Distrust

Language differences

Badly expressed messages

Not listening

Arguing or debating

The essence of good

communication is to

understand each

other's meaning.

This requires effective

listening.

Active Listening

Be attentive

Be impartial

Reflect back

Summarize

Avoiding distractions

Paraphrase

Clarifying

Giving Feedback

Be specific

Useful – “I think it is good because …”

Not useful – “That is good.”

Focus on Behavior not the Person

Useful – “I think this report needs to focus more on …”

Not useful – “You really have done a poor job.”

Focus on Things the Person can Manage

Useful – “Perhaps if you …”

Not useful – “You should have stopped the person doing …”

Timeliness of the Feedback

When the person is receptive, or is seeking feedback.

Giving Feedback

Share Information / Experience

About what, not only why something could have been done differently.

Do Not Overload

Too much information, especially negative material, will overwhelm the person and make them feel bad about themselves

(One thing that could have been done differently is …)

Check that the Person Does Understand

Ask…”What did you understand from what was said?”

Remember, Feedback is Given to Help, not Hurt

Balance positive to negative feedback by at least 2:1

(2 positive comments for 1 negative comment)

Receiving Feedback

Receiving feedback (both positive

and negative) is usually much

harder than giving it, because it is

OUR feelings at stake!

Receiving Feedback

Hear / Really Listen – Don’t Debate

Listen to what is being said, without judgment of the speaker or yourself

Do not Interrupt, Try to be Receptive, be Calm

Let the person finish, assume they are trying to assist you

Seek Clarification

Be sure you understand what is actually being said, rather than responding to what you think or feel is being said

Open and Closed Questions

In order to gain more information, ask

questions that require more than a one

word answer.

A closed question allows a single word

answer, for example YES, NO or OK

An open question keeps the

communication going.

Open and Closed Questions

Examples:

Closed Question - Did you enjoy the dinner?

Open Question - What did you enjoy about the

meal?

Closed Questions – Are you feeling okay?

Open Questions - You seem a bit tired, what’s

up?

Information retrieved from:

Improving Your Interpersonal Skills, Effective Communication - The Art, Science, and Practice

http://new.slpl.org/slpl/interests/article240078069.asp.

http://online.nmit.vic.edu.au/police/comms/ohs/1_15.htm

http://www.mhca.org.au/Resources/CommunityDevelopment/documents/CDEPMod1-EffectiveCommunication_Overheads.pdf