Principles of Effective Communication

Throughout this task I will be analysing the different principles of effective communication and their roles in aiding individuals successfully convey and interpret information.

General

General communication describes the exchange of information between parties, covering methods and techniques that are applicable to any scenario, both in written and interpersonal communication.

 These skills are necessary to effectively convey informaiton to several individuals with varying levels of understanding of the subject.

They also help speakers maintain the audience's interest through the use of technology or other participation techniques.

General communication is used between staff and clients to convey instructions in an easy to understand manner to volunteers or clients, making it easier for clients to learn what steps must be taken to listen to the audiobooks. Additionally it can be used between staff, such as a full time employee giving instructions to volunteers in understandable terms.

 

 

Adaption

Adaption is the act of changing the way in which you communicate to help the recipitent

 

Terminology

When addressing an audience it is vital that the terms and jargon used are not too advanced or too simple.

If the presentation is too advanced those listening will become confused and lose interest, resulting in a bored audience and reducing the amount of information that is successfully conveyed.

Additionally audience members may become frustrated and then angry due to their inability to understand the terms being used.

The reverse can have even more pronounced effects on the audience, with presentations that are too simple conveying only a sense of patronisation to those listening.

If an audience feels they are being patronised they can become irate as they may feel that their time is being wasted.

This can grow to anger directed at the speaker for being what the audience perceives as condescending, serving only to further disconnect their attention from what is being said.

To prevent the occurance of such scenarios the speaking party should be aware of the target audience and their knowledge level concerning the topic being presented.

 

Vocal Modulation

Variance in a speaker's voice is essential to maintain an audience's attention.

Varying the pitch and frequency of speech allows emphasis to be placed on important words or phrases, to make them more memorable for the audience.

A sudden change in pitch will grab the attention of the audience, highlighting an important point.

Changes in pitch throughout speech further serve to subtly convey the speaker's opinion on topics, where a lowered pitch is commonly a sign of negativity and vice versa.

Speech with a lack of modulation rapidly bores any audience, as it is an incredibly dull monotone which draws no additional stress to points and takes no pauses to let what has been said sink in.

 

Engaging the Audience

Use of Technology

Powerpoint software is one of the most commonly used tools to aid presentations, as it allows the information to be displayed on a large screen or other surface.

This creates a synergy between the information that is being conveyed through speech and what is written.

Additionally diagrams, charts, images and video clips can be utilised within the powerpoint to further capture the attention of the audience.

The use of images etc is effective as it can make audience members who are of different learning styles more receptive to the information being conveyed.

For example, visual learners will be more receptive to a presentation that makes use of graphical content such as charts and diagrams.

 

Audience Participation

One of the most effective methods to engage an audience is the use of

participation events, such as Q&As or quizzing audience members.

By asking audience members questions they are forced to keep paying attention for fear of being singalled out and giving a wrong answer.

This plays on the fact that most people wish to avoid what they perceive as the embarrassment that would be caused by wrongly answering.

  

Question and Answer sessions aim to increase audience participation by making members contemplate on any queries they may have, meaning they are actively reflecting on the presented material.

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication skills are used in situations where two or more people are interacting in person. Good interpersonal skills will allow an individual to effectively convey their points in a conversation, as well as making it easier to express personal opinions and influence the opinions of others.

These skills are also used to form and maintain relationships in addition to allowing for improved emotional support of others.

Interpersonal communication occurs in Rainbow between staff in day to day operations such as management meetings and in the office. Staff may talk to eachother and volunteers about new clients and their work schedules, as well as answering any queires posed by volunteers.

Interpersonal communication will be frequently used between volunteers and clients during home visits when the volunteers demonstrate how to use the CDs in person.

Methods

Speech

Verbal communication is the most common form of interaction and one of the most effective. The abilitiy to vary pitch, tone, tempo etc allows people to convey an incredible variety of information easily tailored to new situations. Verbal exchanges may also be adapted to suit the audience by using different vocabulary or simpler terms.

Signing

Sign languages are used by or to communicate with the deaf or dumb. There are a number of different languages used globally, most of them using body language and movement to express meaning.

Lip Reading

Lip reading is a method of understanding speech commonly used by those with hearing impairments. The lipreader observes the movement of the speaker's lips, tongue and other body movements to interpret what is being said.

Techniques

Body Language

When communicating in person body language plays an important role. If a person is maintaining eye contact, not fidgeting and leaning towards the speaker then they will appear more interested in what is being said. This is picked up by the speaker as a sign that they are being listened to, encouraging them to continue. This is opposed to a listener who fidgets, does not look at the speaker and generally faces in another direction, discouraging the speaker and impeding communication.

Intonation

Variance in tone when speaking is a useful tool to convey the speaker's feelings on what is being said. By speaking in higher tones they convey a positive attitude, where a lower tone will carry negative associations. Intonation can also convey the meaning of phrases, most notably questions, where the tone will rise at the end of the sentence.

Postive Language

The choice of words used in communication can have a large impact on how information is received. An example of this is the reinforcement of positive or negative attitudes through the structuring of phrases, using the positives of words such as can and will. Doing this while avoiding negative words such as can't and won't creates an overall positive attitude that will be conveyed through the speech.

Negative Language

Creating a negative attitude simply requires the use of words such as can't,  never and won't as well avoiding positive suggestions or constructive additions to the conversation. Negative language will often be used in a lowered intonation to further convey the sense of unwillingness to communicate.

Active Engagement

Reacting to what has been said by summarising confirms that the listener has paid attention to and understood what has been said.

Paraphrasing is similar to a summary, giving the listener a chance to reflect on what has been said and to show the speaker how they have interpreted it.

This allows both parties to ensure that they are on the same page and acts as a sign that they are ready to continue without someone being left behind.

Answering or asking  questions actively engages listeners in the discussion, highlighting their interest in the topic.

Questioning

Open Questions:

                              These questions give the respondents control over the conversation, an effective tool to capture their attention. They will usually receive long answers containing the respondent's opinions.

Closed Questions:

                              These will be answered with a short answer, conveying facts. They are effective to gather factual information quickly in a conversation.

Probing Questions:

                             These are follow up questions intended to make the respondent expand upon an earlier answer, allowing the conversation to continue with increased depth concerning the topic. Probing questions are useful for increasing the respondent's understanding of the subject.

Written

Written communication is any form of communication that takes place through a text based medium. It is fundamentally different from the other forms of communication as it requires a firm grasp of the language's vocabulary and grammar, allowing the author to correctly convey their intended message to the recipients without cuasing confusion as neither visual nor oral cues can be made use of.

Written communication may be necessary in scenarios where the author is unable to to interact personally with the audience; be it due to the distance between them or in cases where a message is to be conveyed to a large number of people, such as a memo being sent to all employees in a business.

In Rainbow, written communication may be used between volunteers and clients to arrange meetings or provide technical support without requiring a home visit. An example of this would be in a scenario where a client requires assistance but is unable to communicate verbally on the phone due to prior engagements. An email sent by a Rainbow volunteer would allow the client to read the instructions in their own time when it suits them.

Written communication between staff would occur when management sends memos to the employees or volunteers. It may also occur between volunteers and full time employees when the volunteers send a report of their work with clients to be entered into Rainbow's database.

 

Proofreading

When communicating through text proofreading the document is an important step that must be taken to ensure effective communication.

Before sending the document to the recipient, reading over the contents allows the author to spell check their work as well as alerting them to any formatting errors they may have missed when writing.

Additionally this gives them the opportunity to add details or remove redundant sections, optimising the document so that it is as easy for the recipient to read as possible.

Documents that have not been proofread tend to contain noticeable errors, which impede effective communication; as such all documents should be proofread, minimizing the risk of causing confusion due to incorrect grammar or spelling.

In the Rainbow organisation proofreading will be used to ensure that documents sent to clients are presented in a manner that portrays the organisation as being professional, as well as being easy for clients to understand.

Stucture

Structuring a document correctly makes it much easier to read than one with poor structure. This means making use of formatting techniques such as bold, italic and underlined text to draw attention to important areas.

Use of headings and subheadings is a very important structuring technique that presents the document in a well laid out and logical format, allowing readers to easily find areas containing the information they desire.

Documents containing lists or instructions should make use of bullet points and numbering, allowing the information to be presented in a logically progressive format that is easy to read and understand.

If Rainbow's documents were not presented in a well structured manner it would lead to their portrayal as unprofessional, hurting their public image. This is one reason why it is important to structure documents correctly, as it creates a professional image that has a positive impact on the organisation.