Busniess Communication skills

Handout

On

Business Communication Skills

for

ASCENDAS

T 1

Your expectations from the workshop

What do you mean by communication?

Effective Communication

Introduction

Communication is vital to the survival and success of mortgage professionals. In spite of this, few understand what communication is and how it works — opening a competitive opportunity for the mortgage origination marketers who master this most central process of building lucrative customer relationships.

Defining communication

Communication as the exchange of information and transmission of meaning. In interpersonal communications we communicate to exchange information with others, direct action, share information, build trust, and foster acceptance.

Communication is a cyclical process that involves exchanging messages between senders and receivers. However, effective communication requires much more than just talking at someone.

It’s not what you say, but how you say it

Media channel:

The sender sends the encoded message through a media channel to the receiver. In interpersonal communications, common media channels include face-to-face, telephone, letter, and email. Additional media in the marketing communications mix includes print, broadcast, and Internet.

The channel directly affects the quality of communication between sender and receiver
Receiver and decoding:

The receiver is primarily the person for whom the message is meant but is also anyone who is exposed to a message. In marketing communications, the intended receiver is often called the target audience, which is the group most likely to positively respond to a message. The receiver reconstructs the message into something that resembles the sender’s original idea, a process called decoding.

Noise:

Unfortunately, the information sent is not necessarily the information received. All communication takes place in environments containing distractions that hinder successful communications. This “noise” can severely hinder successful communication if not addressed and minimized.

.Feedback:

The manner and degree to which a receiver responds to the message is called feedback. Feedback is an essential step for transitioning from a one-way communication to a two-way approach that can strengthen the connection between sender and receiver.

By soliciting and properly decoding feedback, a sender can understand whether and how the message was received, and to what degree it was effective. This allows the sender an opportunity to adjust the message to better match the receiver’s needs. In a marketing communications environment, feedback also helps the sender determine whether the message touched the intended targets. Soliciting and properly interpreting feedback are vital steps to measuring the effectiveness of marketing communications activities.

EXERCISE- 15 MINutes

(TO BE DONE INDIVIDUALLY)

Give Bullet Points only.- 5 pts at least

Self Check:

How do you rate yourselves on communication skills on the scale of 10 and why?

What are the short comings and Strengths?

How do you rate your listening skills?

Non- Verbal Communication

Replacing speech

Communication can be done without speaking. For example:

· Pointing with feet, legs, hands, head or whole body

· Gestures with fingers, hands and arms

· Tilting of head

· Movement of any combination of the 90 muscles in the face

Replacement for speech can be direct one-for-one gestures with clear meaning or may be less obvious or conscious movements that signal requests, attitudes and intent.

Controlling conversation

Conversation is a process of turn-taking in talking. Non-verbal signals are used a great deal in requesting, offering and managing control of who is speaking. This includes:

· Butting into speech to take control

· Speaking louder or faster to retain control

· Pausing to allow others to butt in

· Stopping to request others to speak

· Leaning forward and moving to request speaking

· Looking away or moving back to show non-readiness to listen

Conveying personality and status

Non-verbal communication extends beyond bodily actions to anything that sends messages. This includes much about who you are, and in particular where you fit into the social hierarchy. Such items include:

· Dress, including style, tidiness, coordination.

· Personal adornments, from jewellery to watches and badges.

· Office and desk space at work, including size and type of computer, chair, etc.

· Items owned, from cameras to cars to houses.

Expressing emotion

Emotions are particularly expressed through non-verbal communication, where the voice and body can tell a lot more about how you feel than your words. In particular, if you feel unable to express emotions verbally, your words and body language can easily conflict, sending messages that may be interpreted as stress or deceit.

So when we communicate usage of whole body and align it with your words is to be done.

Watch yourself to understand what your subconscious is thinking and feeling -- it is not always obvious to your conscious mind.

Also watch other people, of course, reading the deeper meaning of what they do not say.

Using Body Language

Body language is an important part of communication which, according to at least one study, constitutes around 55% of what we are communicating. If you wish to communicate well, then it makes sense to understand how you can (and can't) use your body to say what you mean.

Message clusters

Body language comes in clusters of signals and postures, depending on the internal emotions and mental states. Recognizing a whole cluster is thus far more reliable than trying to interpret individual elements.

§ Aggressive body language: Showing physical threat

§ Bored body language: Just not being interested.

§ Closed body language: Many reasons are closed.

§ Deceptive body language: Seeking to cover up lying or other deception.

§ Defensive body language: Protecting self from attack.

§ Emotional body language: Identifying feelings.

§ Evaluating body language: Judging and deciding about something.

§ Open body language: Many reasons for being open.

§ Power body language: Demonstrating one's power.

§ Ready body language: Wanting to act and waiting for the trigger.

§ Relaxed body language: Comfortable and unstressed.

§ Romantic body language: Showing attraction to others.

§ Submissive body language: Showing you are prepared to give in.

Emphasis with body language: Adding emphasis to what you are saying

You can amplify the words you emphasize with your body. In fact you probably do without noticing it. A slight nodding of the head, the beating of an outstretched finger, the thrust of an entire body.

TV presenters are interesting in how they create emphasis. They know that only their heads are in view, so they twist, turn and nod their heads far more than you or I

When emphasizing in two places, with the voice and with the body, beware of mixed messages. This includes emphasis from one whilst the other remains flat or stationary.

Small movements

For subtle emphasis with your body, do movement in the small, including:

· Turns of the wrist.

· Finger movement.

· Slight inclines of the head.

· Subtle facial expressions (the face is well-built for doing this).

Shaped movement

You can also do subtlety through the static shapes into which you put your body, for example:

· Cupped palm, as if holding something delicate.

· Rounded arms, as if embracing the other person.

· Pointing feet, legs or arms in a particular direction.

Gestures, the movement of arms and hands, are different from other body language in that they tend to have a far greater association with speech and language. Whilst the rest of the body indicates more general emotional state, gestures can have specific linguistic content.

Gestures have three phases: preparation, stroke and retraction. The real message is in the stroke, whilst the preparation and retraction elements consist of moving the arms to and from the rest position, to and from the start and end of the stroke.

Emblems

Emblems are specific gestures with specific meaning that are consciously used and consciously understood. They are used as substitutes for words and are close to sign language than everyday body language.

For example, holding up the hand with all fingers closed in except the index and second finger, which are spread apart, can mean 'V for victory' or 'peace' (if the palm is away from the body) or a rather rude dismissal if the palm is towards the body.

Iconic gestures

Iconic gestures or illustrators are closely related to speech, illustrating what is being said, painting with the hands, for example when a person illustrates a physical item by using the hands to show how big or small it is. Iconic gestures are different from other gestures in that they are used to show physical, concrete items.

Iconic gestures are useful as they add detail to the mental image that the person is trying convey. They also show the first person or second person viewpoint that the person is taking.

The timing of iconic gestures in synchronization with speech can show you whether they are unconscious or are being deliberately added for conscious effect. In an unconscious usage, the preparation for the gesture will start before the words are said, whilst in conscious usage there is a small lag between words and gesture (which can make the speaker appear manipulative).

Metaphoric gestures

When using metaphoric gestures, a concept is being explained. Gestures are in three-dimensional space and are used to shape and idea being explained, either with specific shapes such as finger pinches and physical shaping, or more general waving of hands that symbolizes the complexity of what is being explained

Regulators

Regulators are used to control turn-taking in conversation, for example in the way that as a person completes what they are saying and they may drop their arms, whilst a person wanting to speak may raise an arm as if to grasp the way forward.

Affect displays

Gestures can also be used to display emotion, from tightening of a fist to the many forms of self-touching and holding the self. Covering or rubbing eyes, ears or mouth can say 'I do not want to see/hear/say this'. Holding hands or the whole body can indicate anxiety as the person literally holds himself. Self-preening can show a desire to be liked and can indicate desire of another.

Beat gestures

Beat gestures are just that, rhythmic beating of a finger, hand or arm. They can be as short as a single beat or as long as needed to make a particular point.

Beating and repetition plays to primitive feelings of basic patterning, and can vary in sense according to the context. A beat is a staccato strike that creates emphasis and grabs attention. A short and single beat can mark an important point in a conversation, whilst repeated beats can hammer home a critical concept.

Greeting and departure

By far the most common touching ritual is greeting and departure, although the actual form of the ritual changes across countries. This may include shaking hands, hugging, kissing, rubbing noses and other touching.

When hold out your hand, you show that are not holding a weapon. When you allow others to touch you, you are indicating a level of trust.

Shaking hands

Shaking hands, although basically a ritual, may also contain significant acts of domination.

The 'power grip' grabs the other person's hand firmly and shakes vigorously. The 'vice grip' does this to extreme, intending to demonstrate strength by causing pain.

The 'hand on top' method offers the palm down, using the principle that being above the other person in any way symbolizes superiority. This is often combined with an elbow grab.

There is also domination in the duration of the shake. If you do not let go within the prescribed period, then you are taking control. Even for a second, this can send subtle power signals.

How Intonation Works

The full description of intonation patterns is very complex. Here, only some fundamental points will be explained.

Within each tone group, there will be the normal English combination of stressed (strong) and unstressed (weak) syllables.

It was the best car for them to buy.

· Within the tone group, one syllable will be even more strongly stressed than the other stressed syllables. This is called the nuclear syllable.

It was the best car for them to buy. (Buy is the nuclear syllable.)

The nuclear syllable carries the main focus of information. It also carries any new information.

We looked at the hatchback. (Hatchback is new information.)

The hatchback was old. (Hatchback is given information. Old is new information.)