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Effective Business Communication

Overview

This basic course on Effective Business communication will focus on aspects of communication cycle, types, and styles. It will also focus on Grammar and Pronunciation, along with Listening skills.

However, mentioned below are some tasks that need to be done for the next 30-days, as this is a self-help course. In order to become fluent in a language, we need to constantly practice.

Tasks

Try to speak in English as much as possible.
Wren & Martin English Grammar Book to be used.
Reading the English Newspaper (Editorial Column) for 30 minutes, in front of the mirror out loud. Record yourself and compare your style with a newspaper reader. If possible, try to use their style in the initial days.
Watching English News (like BBC/CNN) for 30 minutes every day.
For English Comprehension, do listening exercises on any of the online listening labs.
Doing 5 exercises/each topic/ each day for Articles, Prepositions, Subject-Verb Agreement & Tenses.
Studying the following chapters in Wren & Martin Grammar Book:

A. GRAMMAR
(1) Articles (Chapter 14)
(2) Active & Passive Voice (Chapter 22)
(3) Tense (Chapters 24, 25 & 26)
(4) The Gerund (Chapter 30)
(5) The Preposition (Chapter 38)

B. COMPOSITION – Part II
(1) Agreement of the Verb with the Subject

Objective

To consider verbal and non-verbal communication methods.
To understand and practice effective listening skills.
To communicate in clear, respectful and non-judgmental ways.
To know when to seek advice.

What is Communication?

The process of communication is what allows us to interact with other people; without it, we would be unable to share knowledge and experiences with anything outside of ourselves. Common forms of communication include speaking, writing, gestures, touch and broadcasting.

Why are Communication Skills Important?

To get your message across to others clearly and unambiguously.
Successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information.
To convey your thoughts and ideas effectively.
Unsuccessful communication results in

(1) Communication Breakdown
(2) Ideas that do not reflect your own
(3) Roadblocks, personally and professionally

Communication Cycle

Step 1. Aim

Step 2. Compose

Step 3. Transmit

Step 4. Feedback

Step 5. Analyze/Learn/Change

Step 6. Improve

Types of Communication

Verbal Communication - Sounds, words, language and speaking.
Non-verbal Communication - Physical ways of communication, like, tone of the voice, touch, smell and body motion.
Written Communication - Writing the words which you want to communicate.
Visual Communication - Visual display of information, like, topography, photography, signs, symbols and designs. Television and video clips are the electronic form of visual communication.

Passive Communication

Passive communicators will often:

Fail to assert for themselves.
Allow others to deliberately or inadvertently infringe on their rights.
Fail to express their feelings, needs, or opinions.
Tend to speak softly or apologetically.
Exhibit poor eye contact and slumped body posture.

The impact on passive communicators is that these individuals:

Often feel anxious.
Often feel resentful (but are unaware of it).
Often feel confused.

Aggressive Communication

Aggressive communicators will often:

Try to dominate others.
Speak in a loud, demanding, and overbearing voice.
Act threateningly and rudely.
Not listen well.
Interrupt frequently.
Have piercing eye contact and an overbearing posture.

The impact on aggressive communicators is that these individuals:

Become alienated from others.
Alienate others.
Generate fear and hatred in others.
Always blame others instead of owning their issues.

Assertive Communication

Assertive communicators will:

State feelings, needs and wants clearly, appropriately, and respectfully.
Listen well without interrupting.
Speak in a calm and clear tone of voice.
Have a relaxed body posture.
Feel competent and in control.
Not allow others to abuse or manipulate them.
Stand up for their rights.

The impact on assertive communicators is that these individuals:

Feel connected to others and in control of their lives.
Create a respectful environment for others to grow and mature.

General Rules of Communication

Rule #1. Find angles or hooks that interest you. Ask yourself "What's in this for me? How can I benefit from this? “

Rule #2. Focus on their content.

Rule #3. Hold your fire until the speaker is finished.

Rule #4. Listen for ideas, not facts.

Rule #5. Use an appropriate form of notetaking.

Rule #6. Practice and work at listening.

Rule #7. Resist distractions.

Rule #8. Keep your mind open.

Rule #9. Be an active listener.

Rule #10. Exercise your mind.

Articles

An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun. The articles in the English language are the and a/an.

Articles are usually characterized as either definite or indefinite.

Definite article
A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener.

Example: - “The children know the fastest way home.”

Indefinite article
An indefinite article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener.
The form an is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as in an hour), and a before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in a European).

Example: - “She had a house so large that an elephant would get lost without a map.”

Prepositions

Prepositions are the words that indicate location. Usually, prepositions show this location in the physical world.

Examples:
“At midnight, Jill craved mashed potatoes with grape jelly.”

“In the spring, I always vow to plant tomatoes but end up buying them at the supermarket.”

Tenses

A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place. Some typical tenses are present, past, and future.

Tenses are broadly classified as present, past, or future. In absolute-tense systems, these indicate the temporal distance from the time of utterance. In relative tense systems, they indicate temporal distance from a point of time established in the discourse.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Present tense verbs in English should agree with the subject of the sentence.

Singular subjects use singular verbs

Jack robs liquor stores (s on the verb)

Plural subjects use plural verbs

Bonnie and Clyde rob banks (no s on the verb)

*Ignore words that come between the subject and the verb

Sounds

It is important to know Vowel and Consonant Sounds as: -

To minimize MTI/FLI.
To eradicate generalization of sounds.

Examples:
“Sleep in heavenly peace.” – Generalize with short vowel sound.

“You are correct.” – Generalize with harsh consonant sound.

Syllable

“A syllable is unit of sound made from a single vowel, or single vowel/consonant combination.”

Syllable Stress
“Syllables break our words up into sections which can be stressed, or unstressed. Which syllable is stressed, alters the pronunciation of the word.”

Rules of Syllable Stress

One word has only one stress.
We can break a word into syllables, by counting the number of vowel sounds or the number of jaw drops.
For disyllabic nouns and adjectives, the stress is on the first syllable.
For disyllabic verbs, the stress is on the second syllable.

Pen-ultimate Rule: Words ending with {-ic, -tion, -sion,-cian} , will have the stress on the second last syllable.

Ante- penultimate Rule: Words ending with {-cy, -ty, -phy, -gy, -al}, will have the stress on the third last syllable.

For compound nouns, the stress is on the first syllable.
For compound adjectives and verbs, the stress is on the second syllable.

Attributes of Good Verbal Communication

Pronunciation
Enunciation
Stress
Rhythm
Intonation
Rate of Speech
Pause Management
Voice Modulation

Active Listening

“It’s a communication skill that involves both the speaker and the receiver. The receiver tries to understand what feelings, thoughts, and beliefs are being communicated and accepts it.”

In active listening you will:

Listen for the content of the message.
Listen for the feelings of the speaker.
Listen without making any judgment.
Respond to the feelings of the speakers.
Note the speaker’s cues, both verbal and nonverbal.
Ask open questions.

Listening Techniques

Encouraging
The purpose is to convey interest and to keep the person talking.

Restating
The purpose is to show that you are listening and understanding.

Reflecting
The purpose is to show that you are listening and understand what they are feeling.

Summarizing
The purpose is to pull important ideas, facts, etc. together, to establish a basis for further discussion and to review progress.

Barriers to Listening

Physiological Barriers
Physical Barriers
Attitudinal Barriers
Wrong Assumptions
Cultural Barriers
Gender Barriers
Lack of Training
Bad Listening Skills

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