1. VENTURING LEADERSHIP SKILLS COURSE

2. Session II: Communication Interrupt Me

3. Venturing Leadership Skills Course3 Learning Objectives At the end of this session each participant should be able to: Describe how it feels to talk to a poor listener. Demonstrate empathic listening. State how important body language is in communication.

4. Venturing Leadership Skills Course4 Activity – Part 1 Divide into pairs. One person will be designated as the speaker and the other as listener. You will get instructions for your partner to follow (don’t read them). The speaker will talk to the listener for 5 minutes about a recent vacation trip.

5. Venturing Leadership Skills Course5 Activity – Part 2 Speaker and listener trade roles. You will get new instructions for your partner to follow (don’t read them). The new speaker will talk to the new listener for 5 minutes about a recent vacation trip.

6. Venturing Leadership Skills Course6 Communication Reflection Questions How did you feel when you noticed that your partner wasn’t listening to you? When did you first realize that poor listening skills were being demonstrated? What were some poor speaking skills that made listening more difficult? Is listening more than just hearing?

7. Venturing Leadership Skills Course7 Empathetic Listening 1.Ignoring 2.Pretending 3.Selective listening 4.Empathetic listening We usually listen at one of four levels Define #1, #2, and #3

8. Venturing Leadership Skills Course8 Empathetic Listening What is empathic listening? Listen with intent to understand Get inside another person’s frame of reference Listen with your eyes and heart, not just your ears.

9. Venturing Leadership Skills Course9 Activity Look at the conversation on the Mirroring handout. We need one person to read each part.

10. Venturing Leadership Skills Course10 Empathetic Listening Reflection Question How can the skills of empathetic listening and mirroring make a leader more effective?

11. Venturing Leadership Skills Course11 Body Language Words Sounds Body Language What percentage of communication does each of these phrases represent? Discuss with 3 other people.

12. Venturing Leadership Skills Course12 Body Language

13. Venturing Leadership Skills Course13 One Act Play We need a volunteer to demonstrate communication by body language. Try to guess the meaning of each action as the actor is performing (we need a signal to know when each action starts and stops). We also need a volunteer to do an expressive reading while the acting is going on.

14. Venturing Leadership Skills Course14 One Act Play Reflection What was being communicated to you by the actor and the reader? Which person was easier to follow or understand? What was the reader’s message? What was the meaning of each of the actor’s actions?