Communication Skills

-By Priyanshi Bhardwaj

Methods of
Communication
The word ‘communication’ comes from the
Latin word commūnicāre, meaning ‘to share’.
Being able to communicate effectively is one
of the most important life skills.

Communication skills are needed to

communicate effectively with people and
customers.
Communication has three important parts:

1. Transmitting—The sender transmits the message

through one medium or another.

2. Listening— The receiver listens or understands the

message.

3. Feedback—The receiver conveys their understanding

of the message to the sender in the form of feedback
to complete the communication cycle.
• Customer (to a retail associate): Do you have
the textbook of Beauty Therapist, published by
National Council of Educational Research and
Training?
• Salesperson : Let me check. In the above
conversation, the information is being
transmitted orally by the customer.
Example • The salesperson is the listener in this case. The
discussion about book is the message.
• Salesperson: Yes, we have the textbook of
Beauty Therapist.
• Customer: Please give me one copy of the
textbook. I want to purchase it.
In the above conversation, the receiver’s response
(i.e., the salesperson) is the feedback.

This is an example of a communication between the

customer and the salesperson.

The process of conveying a message is complete

only when the person receiving it has understood
the message in its entirety.

In this case, the customer understood that the book

store has the textbook and they can get a copy of
the same.
Communication
Process and
Elements
• Sender: the person beginning the
communication.
The various • Message: the information that the sender
wants to convey. Channel: the means by
elements of a which the information is sent.
communication • Receiver: the person to whom the message
cycle are is sent.
• Feedback: the receiver’s acknowledgement
and response to the message.
Without the different
methods of
We are constantly use communication
some form of available today, it would
communication or be challenging to carry
another to send a out business as
message across. proficiently as it is done
today and with the
same swiftness.
Methods of
Communication
Choosing the right method of communication depends on
• target audience
• costs
• kind/type of information
• urgency/priority
• The methods of communication you choose could affect your
relationship with peers, supervisors and customers. It is, therefore, vital
that you spend considerable time and consider all factors choosing the
right methods to aid you in your tasks.
Verbal communication includes
sounds, words, language, and speech.

Speaking is one of the most effective

and commonly used way of
Verbal communicating.

Communication
It helps in expressing our emotions in
words.

By improving your verbal

communication skills you will build
rapport, and have a better connect.
Advantages of Verbal
Communication

It is an easy mode of communication in

which you can exchange ideas by saying
what you want and get a quick response.

Verbal communication also enables you

to keep changing your interaction as per
the other person’s response.
• Since verbal communication
Disadvantages of depends on written or spoken
words, sometimes the meanings
Verbal can be confusing and difficult to
Communication understand if the right words are
not used.
• Most people tend to get
Mastering Verbal nervous while speaking in front
of a large group, or even while
Communication speaking to their teachers,
managers or supervisors.
Non-Verbal
Communication
Non-verbal communication In other words, we send
is the expression or signals and messages to
exchange of information or others, through
messages without using expressions, gestures,
any spoken or written postures, touch, space, eye
word. contact and para language.
Importance of Non-verbal Communication

• 55% communication is done using

body movements, face, arms, etc.
In our day-to- • 38% communication is done using
day voice, tone, pauses, etc.
communication • only 7% communication is done
using words.
• Our message becomes more effective if we use
the right gestures while communicating.
• If we know about non-verbal communication,
we can understand our audience’s reaction and
adjust our interaction accordingly.
• Using the right gestures and postures is a sign of
professionalism and etiquette.
• If verbal messages are obstructed by noise or
distance, etc., we can use our hand movements
to exchange messages. For example, placing a
finger on the lips indicates the need for silence
while nodding the head is the same as saying
‘yes’.
Types of Non-Verbal
Communication
Visual Communication
Visual communication
proves to be effective
since it involves
interchanging messages It is simple and remains
only through images or consistent across
pictures and therefore, different places.
you do not need to know
any particular language
for understanding it.
Communication Cycle
and Importance of
Feedback
For effective communication,
it is important that the
Feedback is an important
sender receives an
part of the communication
acknowledgement from the
cycle.
receiver about getting the
message across.
While a sender sends information, the receiver provides feedback on
the received message.

Translated to the work environment, when you observe someone

perform their work and then, communicate with them to help
improve their performances, you are giving feedback.

Feedback can be positive or negative.

A good feedback is always

• specific
• helpful
• kind
Feedback

Feedback, if shared
properly, can help
It can have a long-
reinforce existing
term effect in
strengths and can
managing and
increase the
achieving goals.
recipient’s abilities
to rectify errors.
• Specific: Avoid general comments. Try to
include examples to clarify your statement.
Offering alternatives rather than just giving
advice allows the receiver to decide what
to do with your feedback.

A good • Timely: Being prompt is the key, since

feedback loses its impact if delayed for too
feedback is one long.
• Polite: While it is important to share
that is feedback, the recipient should not feel
offended by the language of the feedback.
• Offering continuing support: Feedback
sharing should be a continuous process.
After offering feedback, let recipients know
you are available for support.
• Feedback is the final component and
Importance of one of the most important factors in
the process of communication since it
Feedback is defined as the response given by the
receiver to the sender.
• It validates effective listening: The person
providing the feedback knows they have
been understood (or received) and that their
feedback provides some value.
• It motivates: Feedback can motivate people
to build better work relationships and
continue the good work that is being
appreciated.
• It is always there: Every time you speak to a
person, we communicate feedback so it is
impossible not to provide one.
• It boosts learning: Feedback is important to
remain focused on goals, plan better and
develop improved products and services.
• It improves performance: Feedback can help
to form better decisions to improve and
increase performance.
Barriers to Effective
Communication
We now know that there are
different methods of
communication: non-verbal,
verbal and visual.
What is Effective
Communication? However, all these methods can
only be effective if we follow the
basic principles of professional
communication skills. These can
be abbreviated as 7 Cs.
• Absence of any of these 7Cs can
lead to miscommunication. Let us
take a closer look at certain
barriers to effective
communication.
Barriers to Effective
Communication
Physical barrier is the environmental
and natural condition that act as a
barrier in communication in sending
message from sender to receiver.

Not being able to see gestures,

posture and general body language
Physical Barriers can make communication less
effective.

For example, text messages are often

less effective than face-to-face
communication.
The inability to communicate using a language
is known as language barrier to
communication.

Language barriers are the most common

Linguistic communication barriers, which cause
misunderstandings and misinterpretations
Barriers between people.
For example, slang, professional jargon and
regional colloquialisms can make
communication difficult.
Barriers to interpersonal communication
occur when the sender’s message is received
differently from how it was intended.

Interpersonal It is also very difficult to communicate with

someone who is not willing to talk or express
Barriers their feelings and views.

Stage fear, lack of will to communicate,

personal differences can create interpersonal
barriers to communication.
• Organizations are designed on the basis of
formal hierarchical structures that follow
performance standards, rules and regulations,
procedures, policies, behavioral norms, etc.
• All these affect the free flow of communication
in organizations and therefore, need to be
Organizationa suitably managed.
l Barriers • Superior-subordinate relationships in a formal
organizational structure can be a barrier to free
flow of communication.
• Also, sometimes due to the stringent rules, the
employees find it difficult to communicate with
their peers too.
Cultural Barriers

• Cultural barriers is when people of different cultures are unable to

understand each other’s customs, resulting in inconveniences and
difficulties.
• People sometimes make stereotypical assumptions about others based on
their cultural background, this leads to difference in opinions and can be a
major barrier to effective communication.
• Although there are certain barriers to effective communication, you can
always overcome these barriers by following some best practices of
effective communication that are listed here.
Use Use simple language

Do not Do not form assumptions on culture, religion or geography

Ways to form

Overcome Try Try to communicate in person as much as possible

Barriers to
Effective Use Use visuals

Communication Take Take help of a translator to overcome differences in

language

Be Be respectful of other’s opinions

Writing Skills — Parts of
Speech
• Writing skills are part of verbal
communication and include e-mails,
letters, notes, articles, SMS/chat,
blogs, etc.
• In all these forms of written
communication, we use sentences to
express ourselves.
• Sentences are important because
they help to clearly present the
message.
• We all know that a sentence is a group of
words that communicates a complete thought.
• For example, Pooja goes to school. On the
other hand, a group of words, which does not
make complete sense, is known as a phrase.
• For example, Pooja goes.
• A sentence always begins with a capital
letter, and it always ends with a question
mark, full stop or exclamation mark.
• When will you complete your homework?
• I completed it yesterday.
• That is good!
Capitalization
• We know that all sentences begin with capital letters. However, there
are certain other points in a sentence where we should use capital
letters.
• ‘TINS’is a set of simple rules that help you capitalize words correctly.
Each letter in the word TINS refers to one capitalization rule as shown
in Table .
Punctuation

Certain set of marks, such as full

stop, comma, question mark,
exclamation mark and Some common punctuation
apostrophe are used in marks and their rules are shown
communication to separate here in Table 1.8.
parts of a sentence for better
clarity of message.
The part of speech indicates
how a particular word
functions in meaning as well
as grammatically within the
sentence.
Basic Parts of
Speech
Some examples are nouns,
pronouns, adjectives, verbs
and adverbs as shown in
Figure 1.8.
• Nouns – naming words- name, place , animal , thing:
• Pro nouns – replace nouns – Ria is going to school – SHE , IT, I, THEY,
THERE
• Adjectives- describing words –
• Verbs – action words –
• Adverbs – add meaning to the verb – who? When? How? – describing
word OF a verb
Supporting Parts of
Speech Types
• Articles – a, an, the : a book, an apple, the sun
• Conjunctions – link / join : and, because, but,
• Prepositions – where? When? How? – on, below, in, under, over, into,
above, beside, among, along , in front of
• Interjections – express emotions – wow! Oh no! help! Alas! Yay! Hurray!
Gosh!
Writing Skills—Sentences
Subject: Person or thing
that performs an action.

Verb: Describes the

Parts of a Sentence action.

Object: Person or thing

that receives the action.
In a sentence, there can be two types of
objects —Direct and Indirect.

The objects provided in the above

Types of examples are called direct objects since
Objects they are directly ‘acted on’ by the verb.

On the other hand, an indirect object

answers questions, such as ‘to/ for who.’
What did she buy? A bicycle.

For who? For her son.

Here, ‘bicycle’ is the direct object and

‘her son’ is the indirect object.

Some sentences only have direct objects

while some have both direct and indirect
objects.
Types of
Sentences
2. A book
1. Radha is
is being
reading a
read by
book.
Radha
The action (verb) in both sentences is
reading a book.

But the ‘subject’ of both sentences is

different.

In the first sentence, the subject (Radha)

does the action.

In the second sentence, the subject (a

book) receives the action.
• Sentences where the subject does an
action are known to be in the Active
voice, whereas sentences in which the
subject receives an action are known to
be in the Passive voice.
Paragraph

Just as a group of However, to qualify as

words form a a paragraph, all the
sentence, a group of sentences within it
sentences forms a must have a common
paragraph. idea or theme.
For example, if you are writing about your
best friend, the first paragraph can be of
sentences about the name, age, personality,
friendship duration and other such details.

In the next paragraph you can use sentences

to describe what qualities you like about your
best friend and how valuable your friendship
is.