Employability Skills II: Communication Skills-II

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Have you ever said something simple, and the other person understood something else? That gap costs marks, friendships and jobs. Today we revise the communication cycle and feedback, then learn barriers, the seven Cs and writing skills.

Communication means sharing ideas or information so that the other person understands. The sender is the person who has an idea to share. Encoding means turning that idea into words, signs or pictures. The channel is the medium, like a phone call, a letter or a face to face talk. Decoding means the receiver works out what the message means. Finally the receiver replies, and that reply is called feedback.

Without feedback, the sender never knows if the message worked. First, feedback shows whether the receiver understood correctly. Second, it lets the sender correct a mistake early, like a shopkeeper repeating your order. Third, it keeps the conversation going, so both people keep sharing.

Feedback can be of three kinds. Positive feedback praises or agrees, like a teacher saying well done on your project. Negative feedback points out what went wrong, and when given politely it helps us improve. No feedback means there is no reply, and this is the most confusing for the sender.

How should we give feedback to others? Make it specific, so say which paragraph needs work, not just that the essay is bad. Make it timely, because feedback a month later is useless. Keep it polite, and talk about the work, never insult the person.

A barrier is anything that stops a message from being understood. Physical barriers come from the surroundings, like traffic noise or a bad network. Linguistic barriers come from language, like a doctor using medical terms a patient does not know. Interpersonal barriers come from feelings, like anger, fear or lack of trust. Organisational barriers come from strict rules or too many levels in an office. Cultural barriers happen when customs differ, so a gesture that is friendly in one place may be rude in another.

Most barriers can be removed with a little care. Use simple words, and explain any difficult term. Choose a quiet place and a clear channel, so noise does not break the message. Stay calm, and listen fully before you reply. Respect the customs and beliefs of the other person. Finally, ask questions and check that the message was understood.

Good messages follow seven principles, called the seven Cs. Clear means the listener knows exactly what you want. Concise means short, without repeating yourself. Concrete means using exact facts, like saying the bus leaves at eight fifteen, not early morning. Correct means the facts, spelling and grammar have no mistakes.

Here are the other three Cs. Coherent means the ideas follow a logical order and connect to each other. Complete means the receiver has everything needed, like the date, time and place of a meeting. Courteous means polite and respectful, even when you disagree. Pause and think: an invitation that says come to my party on Sunday, which C is missing?

The answer is complete. The message has no time. It also has no place. So the guest must call back and ask, which wastes time for both people.

Now let us move to writing skills. A simple sentence usually has a subject, a verb and an object. The subject is the person or thing doing the action, here Riya. The verb is the action word, here plays. The object receives the action, here cricket.

Sentences are grouped by their purpose. A declarative sentence states a fact, like the exam starts on Monday. An interrogative sentence asks a question, like where is my book. An imperative sentence gives an order or a request, like please close the door. An exclamatory sentence shows strong feeling, like what a great match, and ends with an exclamation mark.

The same idea can be written in two voices. In active voice, the doer comes first, so Aman wrote a letter. In passive voice, the thing receiving the action comes first, so a letter was written by Aman. Active voice is shorter and clearer, so prefer it in most writing.

A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea. The topic sentence comes first and states that idea. Supporting sentences follow and give details, reasons or examples. The concluding sentence closes the paragraph and sums up the point.

Let us revise what we learned today. The communication cycle runs from sender to message, channel, receiver and feedback. Feedback can be positive, negative, or no feedback at all. Physical, linguistic, interpersonal, organisational and cultural barriers can all be removed with care. The seven Cs make every message effective. And good writing uses clear sentences, active voice and well built paragraphs.