COMMUNICATION SKILLS

&
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ENHANCEMENT
Part 1

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 COMMUNICATION SKILLS

In this module, the participants will:

• Understand what communication is.

• Understand and appreciate the role and importance of non-verbal / body
language in communication.
• Understand and practice active listening.
• Understand and appreciate the feedback response mechanism

Before we understand clearly what communication is all about, we have a very interesting
law of communication, which is called Murphy’s laws of communication. It states that
-

• Communication usually fails - except by chance

• If any message can be understood in many ways, it will usually be
understood in the way that can cause the most harm

Studies have shown that if seven messages are sent, only one gets through effectively!

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Communication is the basic need of human beings. Whatever knowledge we possess or

acquire has to be shared and applied in one way or the other. We will not be able to take
benefit of our knowledge till the time we are able to express and apply it.

This world is all about human interactions. As a professional, your communication skills
have a direct influence on:

 Internal & External customers

 Relationship with clients, colleagues & others

• Your & your company’s image and reputation

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COMMUNICATION GOALS

COMMUNICATION THEORY

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Communication is all about sharing or exchange of information (i.e. thoughts, ideas, and
opinions) between two or more persons so that there is common understanding between
them”. The most important features are:

Sharing- This is an integral part of communication. In fact, it is the foundation of

communication. Some even go so far as to say that sharing itself is communication.

Common understanding- This is very important because words mean different things
to different people with different cultures.

Suppose we make the statement: “Ahmedabad is a dry city.” What does it indicate? It can
either indicate lack of water, or rainfall, or liquor, or life itself. One has to be very specific
if one has to make others understand.

Let us also consider this aspect - Do we really require two persons to communicate? For
all practical purposes, communication would require two or more people.

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WHAT MAKES A PERSON EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR?

 An effective presenter
 An active listener
 A quick thinker
 A good negotiator

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

We all feel that words are the most important part of communication but the fact is that
words only play a small role in the success of communication.

• We may have observed that some people use very difficult words in their
communication but unfortunately, most of the people are not able to understand
the message. This means that the communication is not successful.

 Many a time, the most important thing is not ‘what you say’ but ‘how you say’.

 Research has shown that in actual face-to-face contact, the success of

communication is broken down into 3 components –

 Words

 Tone of voice

 Gestures or Body Language

As we can observe from the following diagram, words contribute only 7% whereas out
tone i.e. the way we speak has 38% contribution and our postures and gestures i.e.
body language contribute 55%.

This clearly indicates the importance of body language in our communication.

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HOW DOES COMMUNICATION START?

When someone wants to say something, he becomes the sender. This sender should have
someone to listen to and this person becomes the receiver. When the sender talks and the
receiver listens to that, communication takes place. It can either be one-way
communication or a two-way communication. In one-way communication, the receiver
may or may not understand the message whereas, in two-way communication, there is
some degree of understanding between the sender and the receiver. One-way
communication is generally not very effective since there is no way one can get to know
whether the sender and the receiver understand each other or not.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION –

ONE-WAY COMMUNICATION –

 Transfer of information in one direction only, from the sender to the receiver.

 There is no opportunity for the receiver to give feedback to the sender.

 It's often used as an announcement.

 Examples: Emails, Television, newspaper, recorded music on the CDs.

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TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION –

 This is defined as a type of communication in which both the parties are involved
in the conversation/share of information.

 It is also referred to as Interpersonal communication.

 Examples: Chat rooms and Instant Messaging, Telephone conversations,

classroom lectures.

FEEDBACK

Feedback information relates to persons regarding the good or bad effects of their
behavior. The action or behavior is continued or modified based on this feedback.

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The three characteristics of feedback are

• Feedback is always given by an outside source

• Feedback points out the gaps, if any, between the intentions and the effects; thus
the corrective action can be taken.

• Feedback gives rise to different perspectives, leading to collation, discussion and

holistic results.

The tool we use for giving feedback is called the feedback response. It is a four step
model, and can be used for all situations, whether negative or positive feedback is to be
given. The four steps are as follows:

1. Behavior description- In this step, we tell the other person exactly what he said
or did.

2. Feelings - In this step, we tell the other person what we felt because of his action
or behavior.

3. Impact - In this step, we tell the other person what was, or would be the effect of
his action or behavior.

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 4. Request - In this step, we request the other person for a change in his action or
behavior which would correct the situation.

Receiving Feedback

• Accept the feedback gracefully

• Paraphrase the feedback

• While paraphrasing, maintain a neutral or positive body language.

• Ask the other person for specific behavior description

• Reassure him that this information is for taking correct action.

• Explain your point of view and actions.

• Thank the other person for his feedback

SPEECH STRUCTURING

Whenever we express any idea, it is very important to ensure that it is clear and flows in a
logical sequence. Any message or speech will have three parts –

» Introduction

» Body

» Conclusion

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IMPORTANT TIPS

• Introduction should present a general overview regarding the topic

• Body should comprise your views regarding the topic. Care should be taken on the
following –
• Do not elaborate on two viewpoints simultaneously

• Use the transition/connecting words like besides, furthermore,

moreover, however, meanwhile, similarly etc.

• Use relevant examples

• Add humour where ever possible

• Don’t digress from the main topic

• Conclusion is the gist of the entire speech and should be crisp and precise

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TRANSITION WORDS

Transition words are those that enable people to move from one point to another. You
should use a wide variety of transition words for various situations. A comprehensive list
of such words is as follows -

Stating Your Opinion

In my opinion, According to me,

In my view, To me,

From my point of view, I think

It seems to me that I believe

From my perspective To my way of thinking

It appears that I suppose

I realize I understand

I imagine I feel

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 Giving Examples

For example, For instance,

such as In other words,

As like

that is namely

To illustrate To paraphrase

Generalizing

Generally, Generally speaking,

Overall, On the whole,

In general, By and large,

It seems to me that I believe

All in all, Basically,

Essentially, As a rule,

All things considered For the most part

Expressing Certainty

Certainly, Undoubtedly,

Doubtless, No doubt,

Definitely, Of course,

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 Showing effect

Therefore, As a result,

Consequently, For this reason,

Thus, So,

Thereby Eventually,

Hence, The reason why

Adding Information

Furthermore In addition

Also And

Moreover Similarly

Likewise As well as

Besides Too

Even What’s more

Concluding

To summarize In conclusion

Lastly, Finally,

To conclude with, In short,

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SAMPLE MESSAGE/SPEECH

Let’s take a sample topic to explain the concept. Let’s assume that you have to
speak on the following topic –

Some people say that as computers are being used more and more in education,
there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom. What is your opinion?

We can now divide the topic in 3 different parts –

INTRODUCTION

There is no doubt that education and the learning process have changed since the
introduction of computers. Though experts systems have made computers more
intelligent, they have not yet become a substitute of the human interaction in the
learning process. In my opinion; what can be expected, is a change of the teachers’ role
but not their disappearance from the classroom.

BODY OF THE MESSAGE/SPEECH –

Nobody can argue that the acquisition of knowledge is more fun and easier with
computers. This, accompanied with the relaxing attitude and software interactivity,
usually results in better grasping of new knowledge.

But, besides the increasing complexity and behavior of intelligent software, the need of
human interaction in the learning process will always be present, at least in the
foreseeable future. There is the necessity for a human being to be able to determine what
the specifics needs of each individual are. The expertise of a teacher in how to explain and
adapt complex concepts to different individuals can hardly be mimicked by a computer,
no matter how sophisticated its software is.

As computers are becoming a common tool for teaching, teachers should be more aware
of their role as guides in the acquisition of knowledge rather than transmitters of facts.
They have to be open minded to the changes that are taking place, keep updated and
serve as a problem solvers in the learning process, thus allowing students to discover the
facts for themselves.

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CONCLUSION -

To summarize, in my personal view, teachers play and will play an important role in the
classroom. No matter how complex computers become, there will be no replacement for
the human interaction.

FORMAL COMMUNICATION

Formal communication is exchange of information in an official way. It helps to maintain

a professional relationship with several members of an organization. It follows a proper
chain to transmit instruction from the higher level to the lower.

Importance
1. Reduces errors and miscommunication.

2. Disciplined workflow

3. More efficient

4. Improves coordination among teammates.

5. It enhances credibility
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Types –

A. Vertical

B. Horizontal

C. Diagonal

INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

Informal Communication is the unofficial form of communication that deals with

flexibility and helps in maintaining personal relationship.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

An informational exchange between two or more persons is referred to as interpersonal

communication. It is the method through which individuals exchange feelings and
information.

Four principles of interpersonal communication –

1. It’s inescapable

2. It’s irreversible

3. It’s complicated

4. It’s contextual

It’s inescapable: You cannot communicate if your body sends a message that you are
silent. Not only words but tone of voice, gesture, posture, and facial expression counts a
lot.

It’s irreversible: Once something has been said, we cannot really take it back. Its effect
will always remain.

It’s complicated: Effective communication is not that simple and sometimes even simple
requests become complex.
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It’s contextual: Environmental, psychological, and contextual; all these situation matter.
This will also decide what you speak and how your message is understood.

INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

In this type, communication that takes place within one’s own self. The person acts as
both sender and receiver of the message.

Types –

1. Self-awareness

2. Perception

3. Expectations

Skills that need to be developed –

• Openness to change

• Adaptability

• Confidence

• Visualization

• Recall and memory

• Self-Discipline

• Positivity

• Resilience

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Organizational communication

This is one of the most effective components in a workplace that helps the proper
functioning of an organization. It is a sub field of general communication.

The four important principles of effective organizational

communication are as follows –

1. It should be timely since the information that is not passed on at the appropriate
time may not be any use.

2. The person who is communicating should always be honest and should not try to
camouflage it.

3. It should be reliable so that the accurate information is shared and it should also
build trust between 2 people.

4. It is very important for the communicator to be interactive since any message kept
to one’s own self would not meet the objectives of the communication.

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PRONUNCIATION – Part 1

OBJECTIVE: TO LEARN SYLLABLES AND BREAKING THE WORDS INTO

SYLLABLES.

 PRONUNCIATION is a very important part of English Language.

 In English we have the concept of Syllables. PRONUNCIATION is dependent on

the concept of Syllables.

 A syllable is essentially that part of a word which is made up of a combination of

each vowel sound and the consonant sounds associated with it. See the following
examples.

Look at the word Dictionary. Speech wise it can be divided into;

DIC-TION-ARY

That means that these are the three independent sounds within the one word dictionary.
Therefore, DICTIONARY is a three-syllable word. Notice the sound components
comprising of a word. Try to separate them into vowel and consonant sounds. You
will discover there are three vowel sounds and 6 consonants. The vowel sounds
are in Oral form such as Ih –uh – Aeh covered/surrounded by the consonants
D,C,T,N,R,Y.

 Each and every word in English can be broken down sound wise into single
syllables.

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  There are words, which are one syllable, two syllables, three syllables, four
syllables, five syllable and so on.

 Practice with the following table

Some examples of words with one, two, three and four syllable for practice -

One Syllable Words Two Syllable Words Three Syllable Four Syllable Words
Words
Boy Na-tion Ad-di-tion Au-to-ma-ted
Cut Ad-vise Ad-van-tage Ex-pi-ra-tion
Bus Ad-dress Ex-ten-tion Re-cog-ni-tion
Down A-rea En-cour-age Im-me-dia-tely
Bill Bat-tery For-war-ding In-for-ma-tion
Shun Mo-del Re-cor-ded E-lec-tron-ic
Check Ma-nual In-dus-try E-mer-gen-cy
Dish Ques-tion I-ni-tial Des-ti-na-tion
Shirt Re-bate Re-pre-sent En-cour-age-ment
Hill Pre-fer Re-cog-nize Na-vi-ga-tion

PRONUNCIATION – 2

OBJECTIVE: TO LEARN PRONUNCIATION BASED ON SYLLABLES AND STRESSES.

SYLLABLE STRESSES AND PRONUNCIATION

 We have learnt how to divide the words into syllables.

 We have also learnt that the pronunciation depends upon the syllables and syllable
stresses.

 Every word has one syllable that is stressed while the others are unstressed.

RULES THAT GOVERN THE STRESSES ON SYLLABLES

 The following are the rules that govern the stresses on syllables. (In the examples
the stressed syllables will appear in bold)

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 »The longest vowel sound is generally the stressed syllable. e.g. Dic-tion-ary,
Ap-pro-pri-ate

»In the words ending in –tion, the syllable before –tion is the stressed one.
e.g. Ter-mi-na-tion, A-ni-ma-tion, Me-di-ta-tion

»In words ending with logy the syllable before –logy is the stressed one.
e.g. Bio-logy, Zoo-logy, The-o-logy, Psy-cho-logy

» In words ending with -ics the syllable before –ics is the stressed one.
e.g. Phy-sics, A-cro-bat-ics, He-ro-ics

»All words ending with en/on with be pronounced without the vowel sound
preceding ‘n’ e.g Garden-Gardn, Pardon-Pardn

WORDS WHICH CAN BE PRONOUNCED IN DIFFERENT WAYS

 There are certain words in English which can be pronounced in more than one
ways changing the stressed syllable. However with change in pronunciation, the
meaning changes. Some examples are:

» Atmosphere: Refers to the geological meaning.

Atmosphere: Refers to the social meaning.

» Conduct: Verb; means to hold/carry out.

Conduct: Noun; refers to behavior

» Process: Noun; refers to the method.

Process: Verb; refers to fabrication/manufacture

» Present: Noun: The gift item

Present: Verb: To gift

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