Objective: Students will evaluate and discuss communication techniques and the benefits to improving your communication ability. Bellwork: What are some keys to effective communication?

 a good listener? Are you a good communicator?  What are some traits of people who are good communicators?  What are some traits of people who are good listeners?

 Tell you partner about yourself something that is uncommon, interesting, or unknown about yourself.  Each person should learning something new about each other. Think of one specific thing to tell each other.  This will be something you will share with the class.  You have 3 minutes

 You must communicate to the group what you learned about your partner.  You cannot use WORDS or props to introduce your partner only actions.  Each partner has 1 minute to describe their partner  After 1 minute if the class hasn’t figured out, the timer will ring and you can use words to tell us.

 Listening is the most important thing you can do to significantly improve your communication skills.  Listening is not just about ‘hearing’ but about listening to the details.  By actively listening you may pick up important details others miss.  Listening is one of the highest courtesies you can pay another person, you may not agree but the fact you listened shows care and respect.  When actively listening what are some things you can ‘hear’ besides words?

 If you were in a room full of lawyers would you fully understand what they are talking about?  If we brought a Kindergartener into this room would they fully understand everything we are talking about?  Why or why not?

 This one is hard, but to maintain good communication you should always control your emotion, even when tempers flair.  Communication WILL fail when both parties become irrational and allow anger to take the place of good communication/listening techniques.

 Body language  Facial expressions  Hand gestures  What does this mean…  Eye-rolling  Not looking in the eyes when talking  Very animated tone

1. Pay Attention to Nonverbal Signals 2. Look for Incongruent Behaviors 3. Concentrate on Tone of Voice 4. Use Good Eye Contact 5. Ask Questions About Nonverbal Signals 6. Look at Signals as a Group – Individuals Signals may not mean anything 7. Consider Context

 Communication – The Art of Nonverbal Communication