Effective Communication
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
South African (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
effective communication. Getting your message across getting your message across highlights the importance of effective written communication skills. This cannot be stressed enough. Written communication plays a major role in today's environment, especially with all the additional technological platforms we use to communicate, Catherine Pulsipher has been quoted as saying. Communication is one of the most important skills you require for a successful life. By the end of this module, you will be able to understand and describe the communication process. Identify common mistakes made during communication. Identify your audience that you're communicating with. Choose the correct format for effective communication. Ensure the correct structure of your communication and ensure that you receive a response to your communication. Topic one. Understanding the communication process To understand communication, let us look at what it means communication. Define the word. Communication is derived from two Latin words. Commun ists now and communicate a verb which means commonality and to make common. Respective communication refers to the sharing of information or knowledge or meaning. Therefore, communication has been defined as a transaction process of sharing, meaning with others through which we make sense out of the world and share that sense with others. this illustration shows how the communication process works. One, the sender has an idea in mind and intends to express it in the form of a message to. The message is encoded when the idea is converted into a written oral or non verbal code. Three. The message is then sent via a communication channel, which may be a message, email or presentation. Four. The message is delivered to the receiver who must then decode or read the message and extract the meaning of the message. Five. The receiver, once having read the message, can then respond to the message. Sender. This is called feedback, and so the communication process continued. Six. The response from the receiver is an indication that the original communication was received and understood. Seven. In this process, there is also the noise factor, which both the sender and receiver need to deal with. The noise factor is best explained as barriers to effective communication. These will be covered in detail later in the module and topic. One assessment called to action. Let us see how much you remember. Please complete the following assessment by correctly sequencing the statements below Topic two. Common communication errors. Writing skills are an important part of communication. Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message clearly to a larger audience than through face to face or telephone conversations. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are the most common mistakes in written communication, which results in the message not being understood or misinterpreted. Your reader will form an opinion of you. The author, based on the content and presentation and errors, are likely to lead them to form a negative impression. If you are unconvinced about the importance of accurate writing, think of the clues we use to identify spam emails, phishing websites and counterfeit products, all identified by poor grammar and spelling. As a rule, it is always recommended you reread your written communication before sending it or hitting the send button. In the case of emails, as it is likely there will be errors. Do not assume that spelling and grammar checkers will identify all mistakes, as many incorrect words can indeed be spelled correctly. For example, when there is used instead of their or principal instead of principal or entire words may be missing, take a break before rereading and checking your writing as you're more likely to notice problems when you read it fresh. Even if you know spelling and grammar rules, you should still double check your work or even better, have someone else proof. Read it. Our brains work faster than our fingers can type and accidental typographical errors. Typos inevitably creep in. You really do not want that awkward moment when you spell a word so wrong that even auto correct is like I got nothing, man, common mistakes and how to avoid them. The correct use of capital letters is important. Let us look at when to use capital letters to start a sentence. There are no exceptions to this rule. This means that after a full stop, you always use a capital letter. If the previous sentence ends with a question mark or an exclamation mark, you should also use a capital letter as a question mark or an exclamation mark have the same impact as a full stop at the end of a sentence over using Capital letters is rude. Writing entirely in block capitals is shouting, and it is rude. We have all done it left the caps lock on while typing, but in email, etiquette, online chats and or forum posts. Writing in capitals is the online equivalent of shouting. It is rude, so best not to do it. Unless you really do want to shout at someone, even then, consider whether you would really do it if that person were in front of you and whether it will get you anywhere. Although it is usually best to avoid writing in capitals, it can be useful to write odd words in capitals to give them emphasis. Help you are going to love the surprise reading block capitals is more difficult as all the letters are the same height, so you will make your point much more easily if you use lower case. Using capitals for proper now owns proper now owns nearly always start with a capital letter. There are exceptions to this rule in marketing. Sometimes lower case characters are purposefully used for some proper announce. Examples include iPhone, eBay and OneWorld Alliance. However, in most cases, proper noun, start with a capital letter. Caution is needed when you are referring to a specific place or think if you use the more general noun rather than the proper noun, this should not be capitalised. The word I is not a proper noun. It is a pronoun in English. I is always capitalised in many other languages. The equivalent word is not capitalised. Using cliches in your writing is not advised. What is a cliche? A cliche is a word or phrase that has been overused in writing. Cliches such as leave no stone unturned have been used so much in writing that they have lost all their effectiveness. These phrases have become weak and meaningless, contribute nothing to the message you are trying to convey and can be viewed as padding. Text, which is full of cliches, makes the writer appear lazy and uncreative and will kill the significance of the writing. If you want your writing to be fresh and interesting, you should avoid using cliches. Try rephrasing your text to make it more concise and original. Examples of cliches to avoid The following list is by no means comprehensive, but does highlight some common cliches. Sleeping like the dead actions speak louder than words. Two wrongs do not make a right Never say never. Laughter is the best medicine. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. The use of gender neutral language may seem unnecessary. However, the traditional use of the word man to represent both men and women is seen as outdated. The consistent use of masculine pronouns provides an impression that women are excluded from the group, which could result in a negative response from women readers. In professional writing. It is now considered good practise to write in general neutral terms. So how do we change words into gender neutral language? Examples of how to change words into gender neutral language chairman, chair or chairperson, post mint post worker, steward or stewardess, flight attendant, actress, actor, policeman, police or law enforcement officer? There are more concise lists available. Should you wish to do research? End topic to assessment. Call to action. Let us see how much you remember by answering the following questions. Start of assessment. Click on the link below Topic three. Know your audience. Your communication skills are fundamental in representing you, and it is important that you retain self awareness when it comes to how you communicate in written form. Knowing your audience is key to effective communication. Understanding your audience. When writing helps you determine the tone of your message. Formal or informal, it will determine the information you include in the message. It will influence the format of your written communication, even when writing to an individual bear in mind that your words might be copied and pasted into another format or pass to another audience. So it is better to be mindful of this wider audience than to ignore it completely. We have all looked at a blank page or email screen and felt intimidated as to what to say and how to begin. A good starting point is always your audience. Who is your audience, your peers, classroom friends, teachers or coaches? Or are you writing to prospective tertiary education institutions? Ask yourself, What is it you want your reader to know first? What do they need to know? It is also especially important that you identify when your tone must be formal or informal. The tone of your communication is also influenced by who your audience is and the message you are wanting to communicate. For example, an email to a friend regarding your evening plans would be an informal tone, but an email to give feedback on a group assignment would have a formal tone. Let us see how much you remember by answering the following question topic for Know your medium. In the past, written word was read in print form only, and the author maintained some control over how the reader received the material and the order in which it was presented. However, with increase in media outlets for communication, writers need to be aware of how their writing will be broadcast. As a result of these new mediums available to read from, it is important to note that people read differently on computer screens compared to print research has proven people do not read written material on websites in the same way as they do in print. Research has shown that reading from a computer monitor increases eyestrain and fatigue. That reading from a monitor is slower typically about 25% than from print, and that Web users often scan centre left right rather than left to right. As in print, use the following guidelines. You can apply them whether you are writing material for the Web or for emails, which will also be read from a computer monitor. Emails lean towards a less formal style than printed letters, but unless you are already familiar with the reader it is safer to assume a formal style for initial communication. Firstly, long runs of text should be broken up with headings and subheadings, since this makes it easier for the reader to find the information they are looking for. Secondly, Web content should be shorter than its paper equivalent by as much as 50%. Thirdly, content written for the Web should have simplest sentence structures and short paragraphs than content written for print. Lastly, keywords and messages can be highlighted using a bold typeface to ensure they stand out. Let's see how much you remember by answering the following question. Topic five. The Importance of Structured Communication The structure of your document is especially important. It needs to be easy to read and have a logical flow. One. All the information needs to be clear to the reader to using proper paragraphs with headings. Subtitles. Bullet points and numbering wherever possible will really help the information. Be more understandable. Number three. Your headings need to be punchy and interesting to engage your audience. Four. Use questions as headers to create leading content that encourages the reader to learn more. Five. Use visual aids to assist in getting your point across, as well as to break up text heavy documents. This will help to present statistics and concepts in a way that is more reader friendly. We have all found ourselves frustrated when someone won't get to the point. Sometimes we cannot even tell what someone is trying to say, because there is no structure to their writing. This is why you should always aim to be concise and focused in your communication. One way you can do this is to think about how you structure your message, ensuring that you include all the key information and get to the point quickly. You can use a beginning, middle ending structure as follows. Beginning introduced the topic and establish what information is shared. Middle fill in the details of what is new and unknown to readers ending finish with the reason that you are communicating. This structure helps to make sure that you only include relevant information that you do not get distracted from what you are trying to convey and that you deliver a complete message. Make sure you read your work back to yourself before sharing it, and ask yourself if you would be happy to receive the document and whether anything could be written more sensitively or neutrally. An important lesson for communication skills is ensure that you are getting your key points across quickly and efficiently While ensuring your work is written professionally. Try writing down everything as you think it, and then go back over the document and take out the words that are unnecessary. The length of your communication is key. Longer does not mean better. Knowing when to stop applies to written communication. You cannot just keep rambling on and on. The beauty of effective written communication can be seen in its presentation. How concisely you managed to accommodate all the information that you need to give is what shows how proficient your writing communication is. Let us see how much you remember by answering the following true or false questions. Topic six Use plain English Writing in plain English enables the reader to understand the message the first time they read it. It uses short, clear sentences and everyday words without unnecessary jargon. Communication must be hot, honest, open and two way Dan Oswald. When you first write a document, do not worry too much about using planing, but just get the words down and your message across. To use plain English, you may need to edit your writing several times or even ask someone else to read it for you. Here are four tips on how to review your work one. Take a break before rereading your written work so that you can look at it with fresh eyes to delete unnecessary words. Look for extra words that you do not really need, such as in order to instead of just two together with or in conjunction with instead of with on its own. Three. Shorten your sentences. You may find that in some places you made a point but then had to qualify it by explaining background information as an afterthought in lots of sub clauses. If you have reorder the information and use less sentences to rewrite it for, repeat these stages until you are happy with the text. Remember that the point of plain English is to communicate clearly and concisely with your intended audience. Let's see how much you remember by answering the following questions