Writing and Speaking > Developing Communication Skills for Students
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Anil Nigam
Have you read the story of the jackal that fell into the washer
man’s tub and was colored blue? Here I narrate it once again.
Once upon a time there lived a jackal that strayed into a city
in search of food. He was hungry and was being chased by a group
of dogs. He accidentally entered the house of a dyer and fell
into a vat of indigo (blue), and was stained blue from head to
toe. When he escaped from the house back into the forest, all
animals were surprised at his appearance and could not place its
identity. Taking advantage of the situation, the jackal decided
to play the situation to his advantage. He proclaimed that he
was Fierce Owl, sent by the king of Gods, Indra, to earth to
guard the forest.
The gullible animals believed the jackal. The jackal then
appointed the Lion as his Prime minister, tiger as his guardian
of the bedchamber and the elephant was made the doorkeeper. He
then drove all the jackals out of sight from the forest for fear
of being recognized. The animals would hunt food and bring it to
the self-proclaimed king and the king would distribute the food
to all equally just as a king would do. So he was leading a life
of luxury. One day a herd of jackals were passing by, howling to
their glory. Unable to control his natural instinct, Fierce Owl
showed his natural voice and howled at the top of his voice.
Hearing this howl, the animals realized that they had been
fooled by a jackal and killed the jackal instantly. Had he not
opened his mouth with out giving proper thought, he would not
have been killed.
No body knows what you are till the time you communicate with
them. Your success or failure is entirely dependent on what
impression you leave on others when you communicate with them.
Communication can be categorized as verbal and non-verbal even
your gestures and body language can speak a lot and will be
discussed in a later chapter. Here we will be talking about the
first type and we will broadly discuss the skills about which
you, as a student are more concerned.
Good Communication Skills are essential
Being an effective communicator takes real skill. Communication
skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going
basis. They are the heart of interpersonal skills and the
greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective
your communication will be.
To be effective in interviews or practical examinations you have
to communicate well. Here we look at basic communication dynamics, learning skills to improve your communication, using
effective communication to improve your personality and promote
interpersonal skills.
Communication Core Skills - The Essentials
Communication is Individual: We’re not all The Same. When you
look at communication, there is some thing more to merely
possessing good presentation skills. Key for successful
communication is to strike a good rapport with whom you are
communicating. Everyone communicates differently and sees the
world differently. The greatest skill you can have in order to
instantly and significantly improve you communications skills is
to understand the other person’s point view and how they see the
world. Then you can adjust your own communication to take that
into account.
You are the only one of you. There's never any one right way to
communicate. Authentic effective communication always happens
when we reply on those things we know to be true about or for
ourselves. Remember your personal style probably says more for
you that all the words you use can.
Interpersonal skills. Everything communicates. Remember! If you
aren't clear about what you mean and what your intention is, the
other person (or people) could easily (and sometimes
deliberately), misinterpret what you mean.
What you do matters, as much as what you say. It's now accepted
that the words account for only 7-11% of a communication. Your
behavior will 'read' unconsciously to other people and you can
certainly be more in charge of the reading matter!
Language is one of the most powerful reflections of how we think
and feel about others and ourselves. You need to be aware of the
padding, justifications and excuses you use and whether they are
appropriate. You can make a big impact simply by changing some
of your language and developing your verbal skills, this way you
can significantly improve your communication skills.
Communication Cycle: There is a neat communication cycle which
will help you to understand how to make communication work
better. It means that you can take responsibility for every
stage on the Communication Cycle. Typical Communication Cycle consists of following steps: -Spoken; Heard; Understood; Agreed to; Acted on and finally Implemented.
In a typical communication process one or more of the above
listed steps may be missing rendering the process ineffective
and inefficient.
Be aware of where you, or others, tend to fall off the cycle, as
that is where misunderstanding starts which eventually leads to
many problems.
Improving Communication Skills
Attitude: You can change the direction of a communication if you
change your attitude. There is no one attitude that's the
'right' one to have, though being direct and clear certainly
helps. Just listen to other’s point of view also and do not have
fixed ideas. Be prepared to change your line of argument if
necessary.
Effective Listening and Responding: You can have tremendous
influence on a communication as the listener and the responder.
When we get little or no response from the listener, we often
project our assumptions onto them about what they are thinking
(and usually we assume they aren't thinking good things about
us!).
Be Positive: Use affirmation and encouragement to get the best
out of any group that you may become member of. Notice when
others do things well (even if it's part of their daily
routine). This shows you're being attentive and considerate;
most people respond well when they know that others are aware of
what they do. This will do wonders for the students staying in
hostels and becoming members of diverse groups. It is also
important to have positive outlook about yourself and your
achievements what ever these may be. Essential Communication
Skills for students. As a student you have to pay special
attention to following skills: -Listening; Speaking ; Writing; Reading.
How to be an Effective Listener?
Be the kind of listener you want others to be when you are talking. Ask, “How would I want others to listen to me?” That’s how you can be an effective listener.
Speaking
This is the most important and most feared of skill. Recent
studies show that speaking in front of a group is by far the
greatest fear of most people. Although the fear of speaking is
common, studies show that one of the most admired qualities in
others is their ability to speak in front of a group.
Furthermore, other things being equal, the person who can
communicate ideas clearly will be more successful. In order to
speak well in front of any kind of audience one has to plan the
introduction, main body, concluding remarks, timings and mode of
delivery among many of other considerations. The first
consideration in planning the body of what you have to speak is
how to organize the main points, but organization of sub points
is also important. Arrangement of the main points and sub points
will help both the speaker and the audience remember the
material—the speaker while speaking, and the audience while
listening.
Most oral presentations, regardless of their length, can be
divided into two to five main points. Five is about the maximum
number of points from one talk that listeners can be expected to
remember.
You cannot speak well unless: You have prepared well,there is no short cut here; Are confident which comes through depth of knowledge; Have faith in audience, if you assume they are going to laugh at you in any case, you can not sound good. A rehearsal will help in boosting up confidence; Write points on which you are going to speak. It will not be a good idea to mug up the things you are going to say. It does not leave ant flexibility with you and if you forget you know what you will face.
There are two most Important points that should not be forgotten: (a)Key is to make it interactive so that it does not become monotonous. They do not loose interest because they are involved in it. (b)And Just “KISS” (Keep it Simple Stupid)
A word about Gestures
Gestures should form an essential part of the act and should
look natural and should be used to support your point. Gestures
may be used to clarify or emphasize ideas. By gestures we mean
the purposeful use of the hands, arms, shoulders, and head to
reinforce what is being said. Fidgeting with a paper clip,
rearranging and shuffling papers, and scratching your ear are
not gestures. They are not purposeful and they distract from the
verbal message. Placing both hands in your pockets, or behind
your back, or in front of you in a fig leaf position severely
limits their use for gesturing. Holding your shoulders and head
in one position during the talk will also rob you of an
effective means of strengthening your communication.
Consider the following suggestions for coping with nervousness.
Enthusiasm is the key when practice is over and you are ready
to deliver the talk. At times you may talk on subjects that you
find dull, but as you get more involved, the subject becomes
more interesting. There is no such thing as a dull subject, only
dull speakers. It is important to be enthusiastic about your
subject, because enthusiasm can replace fear. And the more
enthusiastic you are about the subject, the more involved the
audience will be both with you and what you are saying. Hold
good thoughts toward your audience. The listeners in the
audience are the same ones that you enjoy speaking with in a
less structured environment. Most audiences are made up of warm
human beings with an interest in what you have to say. They
rarely boo or throw vegetables. Most listeners have great
empathy for speakers and want them to do a good job.
Do not rush as you begin to speak. Many speakers are so anxious
to get started that they begin before they are really ready. The
little extra time taken to arrange your notes will generally pay
big dividends. When you are ready to begin, look at various
parts of the audience, take a deep breath, and begin to speak.
Author has 28 years of experience in the field of Teaching and
Management. He is M. Tech from IIT Kanpur and has worked in
different capacities including Signal corps Indian Army,
Regional Manager for a Telecom Company. Currently he is
Associate Professor with ITM, Gurgaon that is rated as best
Engineering colleges of North India.
for complete details please visit http://www.lulu.com/content/207853/
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