Entrepreneurship Development and Communication Skill 3(2+1)

Lesson 11. Communication process

11.2 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD COMMUNICATOR:

An Active Listener: He must be an active listener. He must be attentive while listening to someone. He should be able to understand the difference between hearing and listening. He must not listen for the sake of listening but should try to interpret in his mind. Overall, he should be successfully able to decode the encoded message. This depends on his listening skill and approach.

An Effective Presenter: Generally, most of the people like to acquire knowledge. They keep attempting to gather as much information as they can. But, when it comes to sharing the information or knowledge, they fail. The reason is that they lack the skill of transforming the information. To have certain knowledge is something different from being able to share the same knowledge successfully. So, one needs to be effective presenter. For that, one requires self-confidence, accuracy, proper timing, etc.

A Quick Thinker: In order to be good communicator, one must be having thinking power. After thinking, one must be able to express one’s thoughts quickly. Every time, we cannot depend upon our past memory, sometimes quick thinking helps us in communication.

A Win-Win Negotiator: Negotiation is very important part of communication. During the interviews sometimes we need to argue and negotiate. Ultimately, we need to have convincing power. This leads to successful negotiation in the end.

Source:

Source includes the reasons for communication, topic and content for communication usefulness of the communication, etc. The person who initiates communication on the basis of reason, content and usefulness of communication can be considered as the source of communication.

Encoding:

The process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end can be considered as encoding. It shows the ability to convey the information. But, while encoding one must eliminate sources of confusion. e.g. cultural issues, mistaken assumptions, and missing information. Before encoding, one must know the audience.

Channels for Verbal Communication:

Face-To-Face meetings, telephones, video conferencing, lecture, interview, oral examination, discussion, debate, speech, etc can be considered as channels for verbal communication.

Channels for Written Communication:

Letters, E-Mails, memos, reports and other forms of Digital communication etc can be considered as channels for written communication.

11.3 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF VERBAL COMMUNICATION:

Strength- In verbal communication, body language plays a vital role. We can covey a large number of messages using effective body language and it makes an unforgettable impact on the mind of the opposite persons.

Weakness- It is not possible to give long list of directions using verbal communication. We cannot go on speaking every time. Only verbal communication can create chaos while it reaches the last person. Every person’s thought process influences the individual understanding during verbal communication.

11.4 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION:

Strength- Written communication is a proof of communication. Whatever we write, it becomes a proof forever. That is why, the government depends and believes more in paper work rather than the other form of communication. Not only that, the majority of worldwide business and correspondence also is based on written communication.

Weakness- Written word cannot show a person’s actual feelings. Sometimes it leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. It is also dependent on the various punctuation marks, symbols and all that. So, if one is not clear with all this, it can convey wrong message.

11.5 EFFECTIVE DECODING:

Listen actively:

One should make others comfortable by selecting appropriate behaviour that suits one’s personality while listening. (Ideally nodding head). People can speak @ 100 to 175 WPM but can listen intelligently @ 300 WPM. So, one should develop the ability to concentrate on different spoken words at a time. If it is difficult to concentrate then one should repeat the speakers’ words in mind. One part of human mind pays attention, so it is easy to go into mind drift. One must listen with a purpose. Because listening without purpose can be considered as hearing and not listening.

Reading information carefully:

One should read the information with care. One should try to understand the hidden message while reading something. One must not remain under any kind of confusion or dilemma. As and when one feels, one should ask question for better understanding. It will solve almost all the confusion.

11.6 INFLUENCES AFFECTING THE RECEIVER:

The prior knowledge can influence the receiver’s understanding of the message. Sometimes the blockages in the receiver’s mind can also affect the understanding ability of the receiver. The surrounding disturbances can cause problems for receiver and he may not receive the exact or correct message.

11.7 FEEDBACK:

Feedback can be Verbal Reactions and Non-Verbal Reactions. It can be Positive or negative. Remember that what someone says and what we hear can be amazingly different. So, one must respond. One should repeat back or summarize to ensure that one understands. One should restate and ask, "Have I understood correctly?"

11.8 CONTEXT:

The sender needs to communicate the context to the receiver for better clarity in the communication process. He should keep in mind various cultures such as corporate, International, Regional culture, etc. this will help him to communicate accordingly. Further this will help him to use the most appropriate language as per the surrounding culture. i.e. Location or place (Restaurant, Office, Auditorium, Room, etc) and as per the situation.

11.9 SIX WAYS OF USING NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS EFFECTIVELY:

EYE CONTACT:

Eye is a direct and most expressive part of our body through which we can convey various messages at a time.

Different ways of Eye Contact

–  Direct Eye Contact: (Shows confidence)

–   Looking downwards (Listening carefully or Guilty)

–   Single raised eyebrow (Doubting)

–   Both raised eyebrows (Admiring)

–   Bent eyebrows (Sudden focus)

–   Tears coming out (Emotional either happy or hurt)

FACIAL EXPRESSION:

Facial expressions are very much important for an effective and successful communication. It makes the whole process of communication interesting. Smile covers the most part of facial expression. Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits happiness, friendliness, warmth, liking, affiliation. Even the negative feelings such as disliking, hatred, sorrow and disinterest can also be conveyed through facial expressions.

GESTURES:

If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. A lively and animated communication captures the attention of the listeners, makes the communication more interesting and provides a bit of entertainment. Head nods, a form of gestures and positive reinforcement to the listener indicate that you are listening.

POSTURE AND BODY ORIENTATION:

You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand and sit. Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates to the listener that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Furthermore, interpersonal closeness results when face to face communication occurs. Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it communicates disinterest to your audience.

PROXIMITY:

Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with audience. One should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading young audience‘s space. Some of these are rocking and leg swinging and to counteract this one should move around the classroom to increase interaction with the students. Increasing proximity enables one to make better eye contact and increases the opportunities for students to speak.

Paralinguistic:
This facet of nonverbal communication includes such vocal elements as

• Tone, Pitch, Rhythm, Loudness, Inflection, etc.

  Reference:-
  

   http://www.pathways.cu.edu.eg/subpages/downloads/Communication_Chapter_1.pdf dated 18/03/2013

  http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C,%20Communication%20Schooling%20V1%20N1%202010.pdf dated 18/03/2013