User:Rhkwong/sandbox

Why do we need communication skills?
The ability to communicate effectively is essential for success. Academic achievement, getting a job, keeping it, growing with it, even the enjoyment and satisfaction we find in our work and leisure lives, all depend on successful communication. Our knowledge, ideas and values mean little if we are unable to share them. The ability to communicate effectively is not a gift one is born with. It is a skill, an acquired skill that we can learn. For some this learning comes relatively easily, for most of us it is an ongoing process that requires conscious effort. This handbook cannot begin to cover the topic of professional communication fully, rather it will provide a concise overview of some important points and provide some tips you may find useful. We’re going to consider some general principles and touch on aspects of • writing (including writing for newspapers) • public speaking • visual aids (including poster presentations) • electronic communication. The focus will be on the public communication most of us have to do during our learning or working days – writing reports, essays, proposals, letters, memos, articles or e-mail messages, making presentations, giving talks, preparing illustrative materials, and creating web resources. In all these, we usually have two messages we wish to convey. The first is our overt message, what we are communicating. The second is the subliminal message of credibility and expertise that reflects on us personally and makes what we have to say worthy of attention.

Communication concepts
To communicate effectively you need to be familiar with the process and the variables involved. The basic communication process includes

a source → a message → a channel → a receiver

The source is you, including your communication skills, your attitudes and your purpose, as well as your knowledge of the subject, your audience, and the context in which you are communicating.

The message includes the code or language you are using as well as the message’s treatment, that is, what content is selected and how it’s organized. You can think of the channel as both the senses and the medium of communication used. Seeing and hearing, for instance, are the senses variously involved in reading the printed page, listening to a tape or speaker, watching a video. Generally, the more channels we use, that is, the more senses we stimulate, the more effective the communication. Keep Marshall McLuhan’s aphorism “the medium is the message” in mind. McLuhan overstates his point but, by affecting different senses and thus our perception of reality, the media or technology used can itself influence the message we receive and how we respond to it. Recall that radio and print reports of the Ethiopian drought and famine a few years ago were largely ignored. We really didn’t receive the message until it was conveyed through photos and TV video footage.

Receivers are the final link in the communication process. They must accurately receive and decipher your message. How well your audience understands the message you intend will depend not only on the previous factors, but also their own knowledge, attitudes and context. They will, in fact, reconstruct your message in the context of their own understanding and thinking processes; these may well differ from your own.

The process of communication is on-going and dynamic, is irreversible, requires perception of meaning, and occurs in a situational context. There are many barriers to effective, accurate communication. These can be mechanical (such as static), involve differing perceptions or values (not having the same understandings), or be a matter of semantics, that is, the use of words, images, or examples that are beyond the receiver’s intellectual or cultural ability to understand.

However, you cannot not communicate. Every word, every gesture communicates something to the receivers, to your audience. And once communicated, they cannot be retracted. You want to communicate your intended message and enhance your professional reputation. You do not want to be remembered for a lackluster presentation and a garbled message. First impressions are difficult to overcome! Communicating well benefits you, your audience, and society as a whole.

Thinking about communication as a process is useful because it helps explain why we must establish the purpose and goals of our message, why we need to know our audience, what media we select, what meaning is perceived, and more.

Know your purpose
Why are you preparing this communication? What is your purpose – are you analyzing? evaluating? assessing feasibility? describing? advocating? What outcome are you looking for – to create awareness? to increase the level of information and knowledge? to change attitudes? to stimulate action? The first two are general educational purposes. The next two, however, go beyond education to include communication for influencing. For these, ways of getting attention and building favorable attitudes become essential parts of the process.

What message do you want your audience to take away?

Know your audience
Identify who you are trying to reach with your message – your professors? your peers? your employers? a diverse group with differing knowledge, perspectives and interests? the general public? concerned citizens? What is their background? Will they understand technical material or professional jargon? What is their point of view? How large is your audience? What do they expect from you? What are their information needs? What do they already know? What do they want to get out of it? Their purpose may be quite different from yours. Understanding their collective and individual needs and backgrounds – and adapting your content and approach accordingly – will help you ensure that your intended message is received. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes.

Be clear and concise
Don’t waste your audience’s time! You need a clear, concise and easy to understand message. Follow the KISS principle. The acronym KISS has a number of interpretations but we’ll consider it here to mean Keep It Simple and Straightforward! Keeping it simple doesn’t mean that it is elementary or trivialized. It means that you use plain language or explicit images effectively to convey your message. You should be able to summarize your main point or message in two or three concise sentences. If you can’t, your message is probably diffuse and possibly incoherent; it may not be understood and will certainly lack impact.

Writing
We'll focus on writing a report, not because it is the only document you write but because it provides a fairly comprehensive example of the principles of effective writing that apply to all documents you produce – reports, scientific papers, essays, letters, memos, proposals, emails, even web pages. The word “report” comes from the Latin “reportare” which means “to bring back.” This is precisely what reports do. They bring back answers, information or opinions. Keeping the purpose of a report in mind helps you stay focused on what is important – the facts, the delineation of an issue or opinion, and the conclusions or recommendations. You must express these in an unambiguous way. A report should be complete, clear, concise and easy- to-read. Remember the KISS principle! There are 6 steps involved in effective writing: Preparation, Research, Organization, Writing the text, Revising, and Preparing the presentation copy.

Preparation
Review the general principles. Review the general principles. In part, your purpose and audience dictate this. Overall it is determined by what is appropriate. This may depend on how the document will be used, what you’ve been asked to do, how the success of the document will be judged, or your own constraints of time and resources. You may wish to give a brief overview of everything or focus only on a key point or two. If your readers are the general public, for instance, it is doubtful that every technical detail will interest them. They’ll probably want only to know about things that are meaningful to them. In preparing your message content, ask yourself: How new is this material to the audience? Have they heard it before? What do they know about it? Does it cover something they’re already doing? How complex is the material? How much do they need to know? What will it mean to them? How can I tell them what they need to know
 * 1) Know your purpose
 * 1) Know your audience
 * 1) Determine the scope of your coverage

Research

 * 1) Gather your data and information.
 * 2) Search the data banks, go to the library, do your homework.
 * 3) Jot down your ideas.

Organization
Decide how to develop your material. Alternatives include: • chronological order (how things developed over time) • sequence (step by step) • order of importance (usually most important to least important) • cause and effect • comparison (point out differences or similarities to something else the reader is familiar with) • analysis (overview information followed by in-depth consideration of specifics, interrelationships and implications). 2. Makeanoutline. For a piece of any length, consider not only headings but subheadings. These serve as guideposts for the reader, making it easier to read and follow. However, any more than three levels of headings may be confusing. Your headings, subheadings and captions should be as descriptive as possible. “We have a problem” grabs a reader’s attention more than “Introduction.” 3. Consider the use of illustrations. Depending on content and appropriateness, drawings, pictures, tables, graphs, flow charts or other illustrations can help provide clarity, ease of understanding and visual relief from the printed word. Plan where you’ll place them. 4. Consider the overall length of your report. If it runs to more than three or four pages you will need to put a summary of essential information up front where a busy person can quickly read it and determine if they want to know more.