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    Communication Skills For Lawyers

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    Dunstan Shetui
    Communication is defined as the process of sharing meaning between people through sending and receiving messages. It involves five essential elements: a sender, a message, a channel, a receiver, and feedback. Verbal communication uses words, both spoken and written, while nonverbal communication conveys meaning through body language, gestures, facial expressions, and other non-word methods. Studies have found that over 50% of emotional communication occurs nonverbally, showing the importance of both verbal and nonverbal skills in effective communication. This course aims to help students develop key communication abilities like reading, listening, speaking, and mastering grammar to improve their competence in sharing information with others.

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    Communication Skills For Lawyers

    Uploaded by

    Dunstan Shetui
    121 views22 pages
    Communication is defined as the process of sharing meaning between people through sending and receiving messages. It involves five essential elements: a sender, a message, a channel, a receiver, and feedback. Verbal communication uses words, both spoken and written, while nonverbal communication conveys meaning through body language, gestures, facial expressions, and other non-word methods. Studies have found that over 50% of emotional communication occurs nonverbally, showing the importance of both verbal and nonverbal skills in effective communication. This course aims to help students develop key communication abilities like reading, listening, speaking, and mastering grammar to improve their competence in sharing information with others.

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    COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR LAWYERS

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    Communication is defined as the process of sharing meaning between people through sending and receiving messages. It involves five essential elements: a sender, a message, a channel, a receiver, and feedback. Verbal communication uses words, both spoken and written, while nonverbal communication conveys meaning through body language, gestures, facial expressions, and other non-word methods. Studies have found that over 50% of emotional communication occurs nonverbally, showing the importance of both verbal and nonverbal skills in effective communication. This course aims to help students develop key communication abilities like reading, listening, speaking, and mastering grammar to improve their competence in sharing information with others.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    121 views22 pages

    Communication Skills For Lawyers

    Uploaded by

    Dunstan Shetui
    Communication is defined as the process of sharing meaning between people through sending and receiving messages. It involves five essential elements: a sender, a message, a channel, a receiver, and feedback. Verbal communication uses words, both spoken and written, while nonverbal communication conveys meaning through body language, gestures, facial expressions, and other non-word methods. Studies have found that over 50% of emotional communication occurs nonverbally, showing the importance of both verbal and nonverbal skills in effective communication. This course aims to help students develop key communication abilities like reading, listening, speaking, and mastering grammar to improve their competence in sharing information with others.

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    The Open University of

    Tanzania

    OFC 017
    COMMUNICATION SKILLS
    (INCLUDING ENGLISH GRAMMAR)
    Part One
    Essentials of Communication
    LECTURE 1
    MEANING AND ASPECTS OF
    COMMUNICATION
    OBJECTIVES

    After studying this unit you should be able to:


    (i) Define communication;
    (ii) Describe the process of communication;
    (iii) Describe essential elements of communication;
    (iv) Explain the importance of communication
    INTRODUCTION
    The term is quite familiar to most of us.
    It refers to an activity that people perform everyday.
    Actually it is said that as humans we begin to communicate the
    moment we are born.
    For example, the cry of a baby draws the attention of its mother thus
    making the mother to either feed or comfort it.
    In this case the baby’s cry communicates a message to its mother.
    INTRODUCTION
    Communication refers to an activity or process that serves to connect people
    through space and time.
    All communication involves a person understanding others and having others
    understanding him/her. In this way it unites person and person, person and
    group or group and group.
    Studies have found out however that even through people communicate since
    their infancy, they are not as affective as they should be,
    The process of transmitting information from an individual (or group) to another
    is a very complex process as it involves different stages hence the purpose of
    this unit of study, to train you on how best to communicate with others.
    MEANING OF COMMUNICATION
    The word communication derives from the word “common” which infers to share, exchange,
    send along, transmit, talk, gesture, write, put in use, relate, etc.
    Humans communicate in order to share knowledge and experiences.
    Since time immemorial human beings are known to have communicated in a number of ways.
    In the tradition African society people used to communicate in different ways.
    For example in some communities, a certain form of wailing or cry denoted occurrence of
    a dangerous situation in the society, like an attack by a wild animal or some other calamity.
    Likewise different forms of drum-beat carried different messages
    e.g. joy and celebration, sorrow and grief, invitation and reception. In some cases the drum
    was used to announce the demise of the ruler of the land like the chief or king.
    MEANING OF COMMUNICATION
    In modern times, communication between people and groups has
    evolved very much especially after the establishment of the print,
    audio and the visual media.
    Further more the advent of the internet has, metaphorically
    speaking, reduced the size of the world by making it possible for
    people from different places in the world to carry out face-to-face
    interaction.
    What is communication?
    • In this unit, the term communication is used to refer to the process
    by which people are able to transfer meaning between themselves.
    • It is the process that allows people to share information ideas and
    feelings.
    • Where no meaning is transferred no communication has taken
    place.
    • Communication is a learnt skill.
    • Most people are born with the physical ability to talk but we
    must learn to speak well and communicate effectively.
    What is communication?
    Speaking, listening and our ability to understand verbal and non-verbal meanings are skills we
    develop in various ways.
    We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modelling our behaviours
    based on what we see.
    Communication as an academic discipline embraces a large body of study and knowledge that
    relate to all the ways we communicate.
    It focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various
    contexts, cultures, channels and media.
    In all, the field promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.
    WHY IS COMMUNICATION
    IMPORTANT?
    • In our daily undertakings, we spend most of the time communicating with one another. It is
    estimated that 75% of a person’s day is spent communicating in some way.
    • Most of our communication time is in spent in listening and speaking, while a minority of that
    time is spent in reading and writing.
    • These communication actions reflect skills which foster our personal, academic and
    professional success.
    • The ability to speak clearly and eloquently on one hand and to write effectively on the other,
    have been recognized as the hallmarks of an educated person.
    • Put in other words, these actions of communication are central in determining a person’s ability
    to succeed or fail in life.
    • Explore how you interact with others in various kinds of contexts as a university student, an
    employee or member of society in general.
    • Who do you interact with and what information is exchanged?
    ESSENTIALS OF
    COMMUNICATION
    The purpose of communication is to pass on your intended meaning
    to others.
    Studies conducted on the way communication takes place have
    shown that it is a well defined process that comprises a number of
    components.
    The main components of communication are summarized in the
    following diagram which shows that communication takes place
    through a staged process of five essential elements shown below:
    The communication Process

    SENDER MESSAGE CHANNEL RECEIVER

    FEEDBACK
    The communication Process
    Sender
    This is the source where information comes from; it could be an individual speaking, writing,
    signaling or gesturing.
    Message
    This refers to the ideas, data or feelings that the sender intends to share with others.
    Channel
    This is the route travelled by or used to send the message as it goes from the sender to the
    receiver. It refers to the form in which the idea, or feeling is delivered across. In spoken
    communication this could include face-to-face, meetings, telephone or video conferencing. In
    written communication it includes letters, emails, memos and reports.
    The communication Process
    Receiver
    This refers to one or more individuals for whom the message is
    intended. This is the goal to which the message is targeted.
    Feedback
    This refers to the verbal or non-verbal reactions from the audience
    who receive the message. This gauges whether or not the receiver
    has understood the message.
    The communication Process
    Noise
    This is the interference that keeps the message from being understood. Interference
    to communication may be physical or psychological in nature.
    Physical interference keeps a message from being heard properly. Psychological interference
    occurs when the communication receivers are distracted by feelings that disturb the mind of
    the receiver.
    This explains for instance, why a hungry person cannot be able to read, listen or write
    effectively.
    MAIN CATEGORIES OF
    COMMUNICATION
    We send or receive information through a number of ways.
    These ways can be categorized as verbal-communication and non verbal-communication.
    In order to become a successful communicator you should make sure that you understand well
    the verbal and non-verbal communication strategies of communication.
    In any organization like a school or workplaces, these types of communication are continually
    exchanged often times without much planning or even thought that such communications are
    taking place.
    MAIN CATEGORIES OF
    COMMUNICATION
    Verbal communication
    This refers to the various modes of sending and receiving by using words. This includes both
    spoken and written modes of communication.
    Nonverbal Communication
    This refers to forms of communication which make use of body movements or gestures instead
    of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language, or other forms of communication.
    It includes all manners of interaction that allows us to communicate without using words.
    Facial expressions, gestures, and eye contact are examples of nonverbal communication.
    MAIN CATEGORIES OF
    COMMUNICATION
    Non-verbal language is important in one-on-one communications, and may be even more
    important in group communications.
    In group situations, often only one person at a time is speaking, while non-verbal response is
    coming from each individual in the group.
    The larger the group, the more impact body language may have.
    In social communication we understand spoken remarks within the context of an exchange of
    ideas between rational and emotional beings in a social situation.
    We become aware not only of what one says, but what one does by uttering such a remark, and
    the effect they might bring about by such a remark.
    MAIN CATEGORIES OF
    COMMUNICATION
    There are many reasons to believe that verbal language is not always
    adequate. Communication experts have conducted studies to try to
    find out which communication mode is practised more in our daily
    life?”
    Is it verbal communication or non-verbal communication?
    One such study revealed that almost 55% of what we emotionally
    try to communicate in a conversation is communicated through
    facial expressions and gestures (Mehrabian, 1972).
    MAIN CATEGORIES OF
    COMMUNICATION
    It was shown that the total impact of a message is about 7 percent
    verbal (words only) and 38 percent vocal (including tone of voice,
    inflection, and other sounds) and 55 percent non-verbal.
    Another study also done in the United States showed that 93
    percent of a message was transmitted by the speaker’s tone of voice
    and facial expressions.
    Only 7 percent of the person’s attitude was conveyed by words.
    These studies draw us to conclude that apparently, we express our
    emotions and attitudes more non-verbally than verbally.
    COMMUNICATION SKILLS

    Your ability to transfer meaning or information to others


    and from them to you requires you to master
    communication skills which include reading, listening,
    thinking, studying, writing, remembering, speaking and
    mastery of the grammar of the particular language you
    communicate in.
    Hence these aspects form the main body of the subject
    matter of this course unit.
    REFERENCES

    Albert Mehrabian (1972); Nonverbal Communication. Chicago:


    Aldine- Atherton,
    Argyle, M. (1990); Bodily communication (2nd edition). New
    York: International Universities Press.
    Livingston, Drs. Sharon and Glen (2004); How to Use Body language.
    Psy Tech Inc.

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