Unit 1 Communication and Employability Skills
General Communication Skills
The way that General Communication Skills affect communication can be a result of differing Cultural views, in the case of this, an author should be cautious when writing to a perspective that will not offend anyone with these types of views. When addressing a group that consists of people of different cultures it is probably a good idea to present yourself as if you were towards anyone of a general audience.Clarifying what you are saying by making it understandable is an important attribute to have when addressing people as to not ramble on about unimportant details, this will keep the other person engaged and interested in what you are saying, keeping a conversation as short yet detailed enough for interest is a very important attribute to have in communication.
Questioning in Communication can be a positive way to engage people in conversation since this can give an idea to the speaker on what their attitudes to certain subjects are, allowing the speaker to adapt future speech to better suit a more general audience since they will now have a more accurate viewpoint on how to address people in a respectful way with this knowledge.
Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills are defined by the use of Communication and Listening skills and a persons interactions and attitudes towards other people, whether they be towards a single individual or towards a large audience. People with these skills are valued by employers since these individuals tend to work well in a team which is an attribute valued in a working environment.The use of Positive and Negative language when engaging their audience will be a way of bringing across effective communication. This is a simple way to demonstrate whether an opinion on a subject is positive or negative, this can be determined by tone of voice, talking speed and the way this person will be directly addressing another using physical body language. Understanding the distinctions between the moods conveyed by a person using these is a good way to overcome barriers that may otherwise result in misunderstanding.
Engaging an audience is a positive attribute to use when communicating with others, since this shows a sense of confidence within the speaker, these are commonly used when addressing a large group of people but it is still important to show confidence in communication since this demonstrates that the speaker knows what they are talking about, giving those being spoken to the incentive to listen to what they are saying.
Engaging an audience with questions, whether they be rhetoric or not, is a good way to demonstrate a point or purpose towards to audience, since asking questions persuades an audience to think about what they are being told, the aforementioned rhetorical questions can be demonstrated by a fast response, perhaps with another question, bringing about a string of questions tells an audience that these are questions that you want them to think about and create answers for themselves, this type of communication not only presents an active engagement for the audience by also allows the speaker to present an applicable statement rather than an allegorical one, making the audience appreciate that you are teaching them something without explicitly stating what it is you will be teaching them.
Communication in Writing
Communication in writing is different through traditional speech communication, in a speech, you can be as detailed as desired to present the valued information to keep audience interest, (although limitations can arise when addressing a smaller crowd or someone who clearly isn't interested) the ultimate goal regardless is usually to present a key message or several key messages that should be thought provoking towards your audience.Similarly to the usage of interpersonal skills, the use of offering an applicable viewpoint towards a work rather than creating a blatant allegory is a strong way to get an audience to think about what you are trying to communicate, this way they will be persuaded to look over your work and engage in the speech more.
Structuring in writing and even speech, should be considered when working on a communication project, for example; if the introduction to a document is disproportionate (IE; A long and detailed intro when compared with a less informative main body of writing) then this presents a case of poor structure, the main point of written communication should have a lead-in to convey the intended message or allied audience mindset. Structure ties into Relevance, is what is being written important to the ultimate message that is being conveyed? If not then that section could have probably been cut out. Making sure there is a proper and relevant lead-in towards the main message of the written work is a common way to gather audience interest on the main focus of the work, the introduction can consist of speech that is related to the main purpose of the document and can convey the authors experiences with themes or information that is related to the main Subject Matter.
However, the biggest problem that exists in Writing which is not so prevalent in other communication methods is that it is much easier to make mistakes on this, so people are more open minded to judge what is being written. Spelling Errors are an easy way to lose interest from a reader, to them, an error symbolizes the idea that the author does not actually care about what they are writing, a common argument when criticizing errors is 'If the Author does not care, then why should I?' Even a small spelling error can cause a reader to lose interest, especially if this occurs early in the written work. A way to overcome this problem is to proofread your work, this means to look over what has been written and check to see that there are not any spelling mistakes. This should likely be done with the Author and an additional Third Party so the Author has a second opinion. Common Mistakes include improper capitalization and using improper grammar in an incorrect context (For Example (In the context of character dialogue); "We spoke silently to each other for the rest of the movie" when referring to a quiet conversation would be incorrect, since this is impossible. The correct way of writing this would be: "We whispered to each other for the rest of the movie").
Finally, the use of emoticons should not be used in professional work under any circumstance (unless that professional work is describing the usage of emoticons in an informative manner). That is not to say that they should not be used in any manner of communication at all however, in the usage of short messages, commonly used in Social Media and Instant Messaging services, the use of Emoticons can be extremely useful, especially in cases where there are applied wording limits. In these usages, Emoticons are a perfect way to sum up a thought or Emotion without wasting time writing an overly long message, Summing up your feelings as ' :-) ' is much quicker and convenient than writing something along the lines of: 'I really enjoyed this.'
Barriers to Communication and how to Overcome them.
Language
When addressing someone who speaks a different language to you, It is important to remember that this person may have difficulty understanding differences in accents and pronunciation, this can limit how someone can react to what is being said since certain words may not be familiar to them.There are several ways to overcome this Limitation, when speaking, it is important to do so slowly, so the other person may take time to take in what is being said to them, asking for clarification on anything at the end of speech sections may also help overcome this limitation. Avoiding the use of slang will improve conversation since these are definitely words that a speaker of a different language will not be able to understand. Using someone fluent in Both Languages to act as a Translator is an alternative option to overcoming this problem.
Culture
Culture can be a problem when speaking to people since it is important to remember that people of different cultures may interpret things differently to those who are non-religious due to the subject matter or offhand comments being against what their cultural beliefs stand for. A lot of problems involving communication within the workplace stem from stereotyping and inaccurate assumptions based from these stereotypes, these problems can come from prejudice.A way to overcome this problem is to think about what will be said beforehand and then be prepared to not make assumptions on any emotional or behavioral differences that may not seem apparent to the average person. Treating everyone as an equal regardless of culture is the simplest way to overcome this problem. Understanding where these differences of cultures lie is the first step to overcoming communication issues.
Bias
Bias is a difficult communication barrier to overcome, since this largely stems from an individual's personal experiences with other people. Sometimes a person may have been raised to have a biased viewpoint towards other people, others may have their bias rooted from a personal experience. Either way, this can cause problems since this means that a person may be treated differently from others from this particular reason.Overcoming this barrier can be difficult, since changes take time to take true effect, but the best way to overcome this is to acknowledge what your personal biases are first and to think and understand why people may have differing viewpoints, Then altering the notes on how you will present your message to factor into something that everyone can relate to in order to get the best impression from other people.
Misinformation
Misinformation is a leading factor towards Stereotyping since this can be used to generate a negative impression of people in different cultures. It can also cause communication problems by giving false or incorrect instructions. Misunderstanding instructions is a leading factor to creating this communication barrier and can result in incorrect instructions being given to others, culminating in a failed project or goal.To overcome this barrier, it is important to ensure that all information presented is correct and conveyed in a simplistic and easy to understand manner, it is important to remember not to write instructions as too complex since this can make a listener think that the information is more convoluted than it really is. Try reading out your instructions to yourself to clarify how informative they are and make any adjustments so that they can convey the most accurate instructions possible.
Disabilities
Disabilities can affect communication in the most obvious ways, A Mute person obviously will not be able to speak so unless you know sign language, the conversation will be rather one sided. But the primary communication barrier in this category is Deafness; without hearing a person may not be able to understand the words that are being spoken to them properly, written words will likely understandable to them but unless the speaker is clear then this will continue to be a barrier to these people. Blind people are the opposite, they will be able to communicate through speech properly but written text (unless written in braille) will be a barrier for them. Mental Disability can cause insufficient speech skills and rejection from people in society can cause a lack of confidence in communication.Ways to overcome the various ways of Disability barriers can include; communicating in writing for Mute people (Unless it is a one-way conversation). Using dialogue only when communicating with the Blind, in the context of written work this should be done in Braille or, in the case of websites; should have audio support options to speak the words written on the screen. Speak with trust and confidence with those with Mental Disabilities to convince them to accept you as someone they would be willing to have a conversation with. For Deaf people, it is important to communicate with them by facing them directly, or at least at an angle where they can clearly lip read from you, otherwise a sign language translator can be used.
Non-Verbal Communication
Not being able to see gestures or understand tone in non-verbal communication is a significant barrier within this category. In Speech, using a particular tone of voice can indicate a type of attitude the receiving person can express, for example; sarcasm is easy to identify and understand when spoken. In writing however, this is a different story; Tones such as sarcasm are harder to identify unless the receiving individual is a close friend who understands your mannerisms, so making a sarcastic comment in a written form of communication can be taken at face value and treated deadly seriously, the repercussions of this depending on the context could be unfortunate.The ways to overcome this in written communication can be to either not make sarcastic comments at all (This is the definitive option when dealing with professional work) or to make use of Emoticons. Emoticons, such as the smiley face " :) " are a good way to express emotions in a written context since these are short and to the point, making them a suitable way of dealing with barriers in non-verbal communication ;)
Use of Jargon
Jargon refers to the use of technical words or expressions that are difficult to understand. When in conversation it is important to remember that it is likely that the people in conversation may not understand what is being said to them. Furthermore, the message of the conversation can be lost in the muddled delivery of the conversation.Keeping dialogue simple and easy of others to understand is a good way to keep what is being said both memorable and easy to identify, technical terms can be used, but keeping these restrained is a great way to make the conversation easy to remember and sound smarter. When applied to written communication this should likely be kept simplistic, since people are more willing to read a shorter message than a long, over-explained message.
Noise
An Abundance of Noise in a communication environment can cause distractions and possibly derail the subject of communication that is happening.To overcome this, any external sound sources should be muted and any sound sources in the nearby surrounding area should be shut down if possible, if communication is occurring in a public area, then these options may not be possible and instead, a better solution may be to move to a different area.
Trust
Trust is one of the most important factors in Communication, knowing who to trust will affect an individuals confidence and how they speak to others. An Unfamiliar person will not be approached with the same degree of confidence as someone who is a familiar. A lack of trust can result in miscommunication and a confused or unclear message.To overcome this barrier it helps if you have a good relationship with the speaker beforehand. If this person is an unfamiliar face, then try talking to them in a trustworthy way that tells them that you are the type of person they can speak to in confidence. Keeping a consistent tone in communication is a strong way to build trust since it tells the other person that you are not putting on a facade to gain trust and this will make them believe what you say. Not doing so will appear alien to the other person and produce the opposite effect of a lack of trust between you two.
Written by Ryan Cooke.
