Communication and Miscommunication

Communication and Miscommunication

Damian Gordon

Hearing

Seeing

Smell

TouchTaste

Communication is a Series of Experiences of:

6 Ways of Using Non-verbal Communication Skills Effectively

1. Eye contact2. Facial expressions3. Gestures4. Posture and body

orientation5. Proximity6. Paralinguistic

Non-verbal Communication Skills

Non-verbal communication

1) Eye Contact

The eyes are most expressive and direct part of our body.

Different types of eye contact:Action Result

Direct eye contact Confidence

Looking downwards Listening carefully, guilt/shame

Single eyebrow raised Doubt, scepticism

Both eyebrows raised Admiring, encouragement

Bent eyebrows Sudden focus, intesity

Tears Emotional - joy or pain

…and many more

Smile constitutes the largest part of facial expression

Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:

◦ Happiness

◦ Friendliness

◦ Warmth

◦ Liking

◦ Affiliation


2) Facial Expression

Head nods, a form of gestures, communicate positive reinforcement to students and indicate that you are listening.

A lively and animated communication style captures peoples' attention, makes the material more interesting, facilitates understanding and provides a bit of entertainment.

If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated.


3) Gestures


4) Posture and Body Orientation

You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand and sit.

Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates to your audience that you are approachable, receptive and friendly.

Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided; it communicates disinterest to your audience

Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with audience

You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading your audience‘s space

Some of these are:◦ rocking◦ leg swinging◦ tapping◦ gaze aversion◦ sitting back◦ clasping hands behind head


5) Proximty

Vocal elements, such as:

◦ Tone

◦ Pitch

◦ Rhythm

◦ Timbre

◦ Loudness

◦ Inflection


6) Paralinguistic

...is a dynamic process ...expresses our thoughts and feelings

HOW you say things is as important as WHAT you say

How it is received depends on the receivers state of mind

Communication

Aristotle’s Speaker-Centered Model Greek philosopher-teacher

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Aristotle’s definition of

rhetoric is one of the earliest definitions of communication

“Rhetoric” is “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion” (Rhetoric 1335b).

Aristotle attempted to work out a theory of communication and language.

Aristotle’s Speaker-Centered Model

Logos◦ the matter under discussion

Pathos◦ the reader's stake in that

matter Ethos

◦ the claims of the author

The Shannon-Weaver Model

Schramm’s Model of Communication

Wilburn Schramm proposed this model in 1955 Considered to be the best of all the theories since it is evolved and comprehensive

For public speaking◦ A good structure for public speaking:

◦BEGINING◦MIDDLE◦END

Communication

BEGINING◦Start with a sentence telling your audience what the main point of your talk is. “Today I going to be speaking about ...”

Communication

BEGINING

Communication

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen

For those of you who don’t know me already, my name’s…

This morning I’d like to discuss / report on / present…..

If you have any questions, I’ll happily answer them as we go

Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end

OK, let’s get started As you know, I’m… What I’d like to do

today is talk to you about / show you…

Feel free to ask any questions you like as we go along

And don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of time left over for questions at the end

MIDDLE◦Speak slowly◦If you speak fast it seems like what you have to say isn’t important.

Communication

MIDDLE◦Speak definitely◦Speak in a way that shows you believe in what you say, and you feel passionate about it.

Communication

MIDDLE◦Speak concisely◦Try to avoid waffling, or repeating the same phrases over and over again. Get to the point.

Communication

MIDDLE◦Use silence◦Don’t be afraid just to be quiet for a few seconds if you can’t think of anything to say, it helps focus people.

Communication

END◦Let the audience know you are finishing, “Well, I have covered my main points and I just want to conclude by …”

◦Smile. ◦Pause. ◦Thank the audience for their attention and invite questions.

Communication

Communication ExerciseDamian Gordon

Step 1. Tell the person to; Draw an upside isosceles triangle

Step 2. Tell the person to; Draw a line bisecting the angle on the

bottom, this line reaches one third of the way up to the centre of the triangle

Step 2. Tell the person to; Sitting on the top of the line add a circle

half the width of the triangle at this point.

Step 3. Tell the person to; In the circle add three black circles in an

inverted triangle shape (each circle about 1/5 of the size of the main circle).

Step 4. Tell the person to; Add two squares approximately the same

size as the circle in the middle, each overlaid on the top two corners of the triangle

Step 5. Tell the person to; Add two semi-circles (or arches) to the top

of the centre circle, each above the black points inside the circle

Step 6. Tell the person to; Now cover with white fur

Now let’s try one...

Divide into groups of 4

2 will act as watchers

2 will act as artists (who can’t ask questions)

Instructions

Divide into groups of 4

2 will act as watchers

2 will act as artists (who can’t ask questions)

Instructions

How to write an e-mail

How to write an e-mail Writing e-mails is a skill It takes practice With email, you can't assume anything

about a sender's location, time, frame of mind, profession, interests, or future value to you. This means, among other things, that you need to be very, very careful about giving your receivers some context.

How to write an e-mailSubject Lines

Need help with timetable

Re: Need help with timetable

Fwd: Need help with timetable

URGENT: Need help with timetable

REQ: Need help with timetable

FYI: Need help with timetable


Mr./Ms. [Full name],

[Body of e-mail].

Regards,

Your nameStudent NumberDT211/1


Quoting an e-mail

> I am e-mailing you to request if you > you have finished it

yes


Change pronouns

> I am e-mailing you to request if you > you have finished [the assignment]

yes

How to write an e-mail Short Paragraphs

◦ Frequently email messages will be read in a document window with scrollbars. While scrollbars are nice, it makes it harder to visually track long paragraphs. Consider breaking up your paragraphs to only a few sentences apiece.

How to write an e-mail Line Length

◦ Some mail clients do not automatically wrap (adjust what words go on what line). This means that if there is a mismatch between your client's and your correspondent's in how they wrap lines, your correspondent may end up with a message that looks messy.

How to write an e-mail Line Length

◦ You should try to keep your lines under sixty characters long. This is to leave a little room for the indentation or quote marks your correspondents may want if they need to quote pieces of your message in their replies.

How to write an e-mail Smileys

◦ A facial gestures can be represented with what is called a "smiley": a textual drawing of a facial expression. The most common are;

:-) ;-) :-(

How to write an e-mail Language

◦ The biggest status cue is your competence with the language.


◦ If you have lots of misspellings, your subjects do not agree with your verbs, or you use the wrong word, people may assume that you are uneducated. From that, they may infer that you are not very clever. It doesn't matter that the correlation between language ability and intelligence is weak (especially among non-native speakers); lots of people will make that inference anyway.


◦ Furthermore, some people are literally insulted by getting email with errors, especially typographical errors. They feel that it is disrespectful to send email with blatant errors. (Note that you can use this to your advantage. If you want to flaunt your superior status, you can insert some typos deliberately.)

How to write an e-mail Acronyms

◦ BTW - By The Way ◦ FYI - For Your Information ◦ IMHO - In My Humble/Honest Opinion ◦ RTFM - Read The Manual ("Manual" here refers to any

documentation) ◦ LOL - [I] Laughed Out Loud [at what you wrote] ◦ RSN - Real Soon Now ◦ ROTFL - [I am] Rolling On The Floor Laughing [at what you

wrote]

These are less common, but show up occasionally: ◦ TTFN - Ta-Ta For Now ◦ TIA - Thanks In Advance (also sometimes written

advTHANKSance)

You have over 630 muscles in your body. It takes the interaction of 72 different muscles

to produce human speech.

Eye muscles are the busiest muscles in the body.◦ Scientists estimate they move more than 100,000

times a day.

You have over 30 muscles in your face to help you smile or frown.◦ 17 muscles to smile◦ 43 muscles frown◦ So... smile everytime you see someone – it’s easier!

Finally... some body Facts

Education

Communication and Miscommunication