1. Communicating For Results
Eleventh Edition
Communicating For Results 6
Anxiety, Technology, and Other Communication Obstacles

2. LeMessurier: Real-Life Case
Orjan F. Elingvag/Dagens Naringsiv/Corbis
“An Engineer’s Experience”
Review the real-life case.
Answer the questions for Ch. 6 (pg. 104):
– Which type anxiety probably gave LeMessurier the most trouble? – Did technology work for or against him? What if today’s social media existed then? – What role did other obstacles like poor instructions play?

3. 6 Really? Communication barriers are like roadblocks—they
bring communication to a complete halt.
Communication obstacles are more like potholes:
they can cause uncomfortable bumps and jars, but
with patience and training, you can learn to avoid
them.
Chapter 6.

4. Obstacles to Communication
Preview:
Covered in this chapter . . .
Communicator anxiety
Communication technology
Vague instructions
Jumping to conclusions
Bypassing
Sexual harassment

5. Anxiety as a Communication Obstacle

6. People With High Anxiety . . .
What else can you add to this list?
Are perceived as less competent
Are less likely to be offered an interview
Make poorer impressions in interviews
Hold lower status & lower-paying jobs
Experience less job satisfaction
Jan Schenders/Tetra images/Jupiter images

7. What Causes Anxiety? Lack of preparation‒#1 cause
An interaction of several factors . . .
Lack of preparation‒#1 cause
New or different situations
Negative experiences
Genetic endowment (communibiology)
Jan Schenders/Tetra images/Jupiter images

8. Types of Anxiety
Types include . . .
Situational – anxiety caused by factors present in a specific speaking situation.
Trait – internal anxieties an individual brings to the speaking
situation.
Phovoir/Shutterstock.com

9. Managing Situational Anxiety
Prepare and practice!
Warm up
Use deep breathing
Use a relaxing introduction
Concentrate on meaning
Use visual aids
Use positive imagery

10. Did You Know? “ The only difference between
the pros and the novices is that
the pros have trained their
butterflies to fly in formation.”
Edward R. Murrow

11. Managing Trait Anxiety
Use positive imagery or visualization>
© Annie Dowie

12. Positive Imagery Defined
For speaker anxiety . . .
“Creating a positive, vivid & detailed mental image of yourself confidently (giving a successful presentation/or performing/or competing).”

13. We act as the person we “see” ourselves to be.

14. Visualization Key Words (say it) + Vivid Mental Pictures (see it)
Feelings (feel it) =
Confidence

15. Three Steps to Positive Imagery
Step One: Prepare
(1) Look into future 2 or 3 months.
(2) Picture self as speaker you want to be.
(3) Select characteristics needing work (such as enjoying speaking, good volume, or gestures).

16. Three Steps to Positive Imagery
Step One: Prepare
Step Two: Write statements
(1) Use characteristics to write five to ten positive statements—“My delivery is dynamic and enthusiastic while speaking.”
(2) Avoid words like will, want, or hope—make statements sound like they are already true:
–Weak: “I hope I will use good gestures”
–Strong: “When I speak, my gestures are natural and relaxed.”

17. Three Steps to Positive Imagery
Step One: Prepare
Step Two: Write statements
Step Three: Read, visualize, and feel
–Read statements twice a day for 4 weeks.
–As you read, visualize with detail & clarity.
–As you read, feel confident as well.
–Say, see, and feel is the key to confidence.
–See pages 167168 for more details.

18. Sample Positive Statements
I feel as relaxed and confident giving a formal speech as I do entertaining good friends in my own living room.
I enjoy giving presentations regardless of the size of the audience.
I am a warm, relaxed, and entertaining speaker.
When I’m in front of a group, words flow easily for me.
People respond well to my presentations.
Anxiety, which is a form of excitement, is a good thing because it gives me extra energy and power as a speaker.

19. Managing Trait Anxiety (cont.)
Use positive imagery or visualization
Use your imagination
See yourself as speaker you want to be
Picture yourself being successful
Remember: Words + vivid mental pictures + feelings = confidence
Read a positive imagery exercise (or write your own, pg. 168)
© Annie Dowie

20. Other Anxiety Reduction Methods
To train your butterflies, try one of the following (Table 6.1):
Relaxation with deep breathing
Cognitive restructuring of self-talk
Skills training (like this course)
. . . “the widest possible combination of methods” is often the most effective in reducing apprehension (Bodie, 2010, p. 91).

21. Technology as a Communication Obstacle

22. Polishing Career Skills6
Polishing Career Skills
Do you leverage the power of social media?
How ready are you to leverage the power of social media? Find out by taking this survey : 1 = NA 2= No 3= No, but I will soon 4= partially done 5= completely done
1. I have read 1015 profiles in my field to see what makes them either good or not so good and will use this information to write my profile.
2. I have a powerful LinkedIn profile
3. I have researched for keywords used in my field of study and added them to my profile.
4. I update my profile every two months to keep it current for search engines
5. I have joined a “group” on LinkedIn and made sure that my posts show me as an interested and valuable person to know.
6. I have received some good “recommendations” on LinkedIn
7. I have added a quality head-and-shoulder photo to my LinkedIn profile
8. I have added experiences and skills to my profile and given examples to illustrate them when possible.
9. I have updated my resume and attached it to my LinkedIn profile
10. I update my resume every 2 months or even more often when job-hunting
11. I have used my LinkedIn (or other social media profile) to build a similar (but not exact) profile on Google+ or Facebook.
12. I have looked carefully at my pictures and posts on Facebook and Twitter and have removed any that do not support me as a quality job candidate.
Total your scores and see p. 178 for assessment instructions.

23. Ask Yourself Three Questions
To keep social media from becoming an obstacle . . .
If I were an employer, how would I react to posts on my social media sites?
What should I remove, if anything?
Why do employers care so much about what I post on social media?
See page 172 for what to remove from your social media sites.

24. Contacts into Relationships?
Ques: Why and how can you use social media to make contacts
into relationships? (See pg. 173)

25. Social Media Resume?
Ques: How do you make your resume stand out from the millions of profiles and resumes on social media? (Pg. 174)

26. Building a LinkedIn Profile?
Five ways to build a dynamic and searchable profile (pg ) . . .
Begin with a clear position or title
Add quality photo—a head-and-shoulder shot.
Add work experience and skills.
Use “real-sounding” language (not jargon).
Write summary in the first person—show your personality.
Profiles with a good photo are 11 times more likely to be clicked on and read (See LinkedIn Activity,
pg. 192).

27. Disadvantages to E-mail
Disadvantages to , IM, & Blogs . . .
It is legal for employers to inspect employee
Senders seldom proofread for content or tone
People respond to , IM’s, & blogs even when uncertain or angry
Since can be read multiple times, its “tone” is critical.

28. Videoconferencing Less emotion and conflict
Characteristics of electronic meetings . . .
Less emotion and conflict
Participation more organized
Decision-making equal to face-to-face
Participation more equal
Less satisfying than face-to-face

29. Other Communication Obstacles

30. Vague Instructions Begin with overall picture Use minimum words
For clear instructions, follow these rules . . .
Begin with overall picture
Use minimum words
Use good delivery techniques
Make words specific & easy to understand
Number or “signpost” objects/steps
Use simple comparisons
Use repetition
End with summary
Give instructions to draw these objects;
See p. 182 in book.

31. 6 Awareness Check Jumping to Conclusions . . .
STORY: J.R. Ramos is V.P. of Development at an international game-development company. A Skype meeting with four of J.R.’s managers revealed a serious scheduling problem at the Taiwan manufacturing plant. Nguyen is dispatched with a translator to “assist” Barkley who is on site. One manager was tasked with monitoring the work and reporting daily to J.R.
STATEMENTS
___ The manufacturing problem is in Vietnam.
___ Nguyen was authorized to fire Barkley if appropriate.
___ Barkley was part of the Skype meeting.
___ Three managers are men.
___ JR found out about the problem during a meeting.
___ Barkley is in Taiwan.
___ J.R. sent his manager to Taiwan.
___ The person responsible for reporting daily to J.R. was a supervisor.
___ The problem was related to scheduling.
___ The company produces online games.
___ Barkley is one of the managers.
*Story from unknown source.
Check page 185 for additional information; see answers in back of book.

32. 6 Awareness Check Bypassing . . .
Compare answers with classmates; see p. 187

33. Sexual Harassment Defined
“Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly
‒ affects an individual’s employment,
‒ unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work
performance, or
‒ creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”
U.S. EECO, 2016

34. Sexual Harassment Concepts
Previous definition includes two basic concepts . . .
Quid pro quo‒promise of rewards (promotion or perks) or threat (loss of job)
Hostile work environment‒when conditions are “intimidating, hostile, or offensive”
(See p. 189 for discussion of Walmart’s
problems with sexual harassment.)

35. Handling Sexual Harassment
Which of these seem the most important? Difficult?
Review organizational policies
Project friendly but professional image
Confront harasser in assertive manner
State behavior, what is wrong, what you expect
Document incidents of harassment
Report incident to supervisor
Weigh consequences of further action

36. For More Group Activities
See pages 190192 in your book . . .
Technology activity
Positive imagery & confidence activities
Self-nudging activity
LinkedIn activity
Harassment activity
Unit II, real-life activity (review pg. 103)

37. 6
The End