Communication Skills by Akhtar Abbas

What is communication? Defining communication: Communication is a systematic exchange of information, ideas, feelings and emotions between sender(s) and receiver(s) through verbal and/or non-verbal actions

What is communication? Communication among Animals Gestures, Calls, Perceptive Skills Communication among Humans Verbal: written and oral Non-verbal: Body Language

Communication Skills Acquired and/or learnt knowledge of performing communication effectively Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing

Process of Communication Source Message/Code Encoding Channel Context Receiver Decoding Feedback

Barriers to Communication

Barriers to Communication Non-Linguistic Barriers Affective Filter Stereotypes Cultural Differences Physical Environment Linguistic Barriers Accent/Pronunciation Difficult Jargon/Vocabulary

Developing Communication Skills Being Listener Develop positive attitudes Show solidarity Negotiate Being Speaker confidence building Capacity building Being learner

Oral Presentation What is the purpose of presentation? Explaining a procedure Trying to convince or persuade Giving information Prepare Planning and preparation Checklist Consider the context Consider the audience Consider your appearance Consider the goals/aims/objectives Mechanics: duration, templates (if PPT), handouts, tasks, documents, place of presentation etc

Structure and content of an Effective Presentation Beginning (Introduction) Middle (Body) and End (Conclusion) Content: Beginning (Introduction) Get the audience attention: well, ok, shall we start etc Greet audience: Hello, Good Morning, esteemed guests etc Introduce yourself (name, position, and organization): good morning every one, let me introduce myself first…..em…I am…..from….and…. Give title and introduce the subject: the subject of my presentation is……….etc Give your objectives/goals/aims: Announce your outline: I have divided my presentation into 5 parts as can be seen in the slide……etc

Structure and content of an Effective Presentation 2. Middle (Body of Presentation) Transitioning from introduction to the body: fine…let us move on to the second part….etc Follow Grice Maxims: Quality, Quantity, Relevance and Manner c. Keep Audience’ Attention and Interest (see page 20)

Structure and content of an Effective Presentation Dealing Visuals (tables and graphs, illustrations) Indicative statement: as it can be seen in figure…. The data provided in the table shows…… Summary statement: The table shows the relation ship between language and gender. Discussion Recommendations/Implications/Suggestions/ if required

Structure and content of an Effective Presentation 3. Ending (Conclusion)