COMMUNICATION

The Communication Process All organizational communication is on a continuum Impersonal Interpersonal

Figure 4.2 Diagram of More Complex Communication Process

Filters/Blocks  Semantics  Emotions  Language/Culture  Attitudes  Role Expectations  Gender Specific Focus  Nonverbal Messages  Silent messages

Filters  The country club’s male golf pro charges $50 per hour for a golf lesson. A female pays this fee and begins her first lesson but does not understand the pro’s terminology.  Who is the sender? Receiver?  What filters may be present?  What can they do to overcome these?

Filters  A 25-year-old Hispanic salesman attempts to sell a 53-year-old Asian gentleman a $5,000 plasma TV made by Sony. English is the second language for both of them.  Who is the sender? Receiver?  What filters may be present?  What can they do to overcome these?

Nonverbal Communication

Verbal/Non-Verbal Vocal/Non-Vocal VocalNon-vocal VerbalSpoken wordsWritten words Non-verbalTone of voice Sighs Pitch Gestures Movement Facial expression

The Impact of Nonverbal Messages

Nonverbal Communication Characteristics

Types  Body Orientation  Posture  Gestures  Face and Eyes  Voice  Touch  Physical Attractiveness  Clothing  Distance  Territoriality  Time

Functions of nonverbal communication  Repeating  Substituting  Complementing  Accenting  Regulating  Contradicting

Nonverbal Activity  Leave the classroom for designated time  Discretely select an interpersonal conversation  Describe your context  Who? Where? What? How long?  Identify the type of nonverbal communication you observe  Describe the function  What do you think is being discussed?  Return to class

LISTENING

 Get a partner  Sit back to back  One calls, the other draws

Elements of Listening  Hearing  Attending  Understanding  Responding  Remembering

Elements of Listening

Reasons we don’t always listen  Message overload  Preoccupation  Waiting to pounce  Rapid thought  We can think up to 600 words per minutes, but can only talk up to 150 words per minute)  Effort  External noise  Attention span  Average adult’s attention span is 4 seconds

Active Listening  Created by Thomas Gordon in 1975  Defined as: a process of sending back to the speaker what the listener thinks the speaker meant, both literally and emotionally.  It does not mean repeating the speaker’s exact words. Instead, it is a process of putting into some meaningful whole your understanding of the speaker’s total message- both content and feelings.

Active Listening  Purposes:  Helps you check how accurately you have understood what the speaker said and meant  You express acceptance of the speaker’s feelings  You prompt the speaker to further explore her or his feelings or thoughts

Active Listening  Differs from “regular listening:  Listening: Seeks to learn/ relate/ manage tasks/ influence other  Active Listening: Checks accuracy of understanding Express acceptance of feelings Stimulate speaker to explore feelings and thoughts

Active Listening  3 techniques to use to demonstrate active listening  Paraphrase the speaker’s meaning State in your own words what you think the speaker ment Displays interests Be careful not to lead the speaker in the direction you want to go  Express understanding of the speaker’s feelings In addition to content, echo feelings You seem very angry.  Ask questions

Understanding Your Communication Style -Take Inventory

Communication Styles  Your communication style has an impact on those around you  “patterns of behavior others can observe”  Remains stable through life

Communication Styles  There are two dimensions of human behavior: 1) dominance 2) sociability

Communication Styles  4 basic styles: 1) Emotive 2) Director 3) Reflective 4) Supportive

Communication Style Preference  As you respond to this inventory, you are keeping your thoughts focused on your relationships.  Chose one answer in each box that describes you the most and one answer in each box that describes you the least.

If your highest letter is… then your communication style is… ABCDABCD  Emotive  Director  Reflective  Supportive Communication Style Preference – cont’d. Please form groups by your communication style.

Figure 3.5 When the dominance and sociability dimensions are combined, the framework for communication style classification is established. Source: Gerald L Manning and Barry Reece, Selling Today: Creating Customer Value, Ninth Edition, Copyright © Adapted by permission of Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. Emotive Reflective Supportive Director

Emotive  High Dominance and High Sociability  Spontaneous, boisterous behavior  Extrovert  Natural persuasiveness / leadership  Exaggerated hand / facial gestures  Outspoken, offensive

Rosie O’Donnell/Jim Carey

Director  High Dominance and Low Sociability  Projects a serious attitude  Expresses strong opinions  May project indifference  Determined to be on top  Will not admit wrong  Unfeeling when dealing with others

Judge Judy/ Martha Stewart

Reflective  Low Sociability and Low Dominance  Expresses opinions in formal, deliberate manner, slow decision maker  Seems preoccupied  Prefers orderliness  Quiet, likes to spend time alone  Long thinkers

Bill Gates/ Albert Einstein

Supportive  High Sociability and Low Dominance  Listens attentively, friendly  Avoids the use of power, agreeable  Makes and expresses decisions in a thoughtful, deliberate manner  Agreeable  Sincere interest in people

Meryl Streep/ Princess Diana

  What styles do you see here?  What elements of communication?

Style Flexing