Employability Skills III: Communication skills

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. You talk all day, but does everyone understand you the way you mean it? This unit teaches you to communicate clearly. Today we cover the whole unit: the communication cycle, the methods, the barriers, writing skills and good speaking habits.

Let us begin with the meaning. Communication is sharing ideas, facts or feelings with another person. It is complete only when the message is understood the way the sender meant it. You need it in school, at home and in every job, from a call centre to a hospital.

Communication moves in a cycle. The sender is the person who has an idea to share. Encoding means turning that idea into words, gestures or pictures. The channel is the path, like a phone call, an email or a face to face talk. Decoding means the receiver works out what the message means. Finally, the receiver replies, and this reply is called feedback.

Feedback closes the cycle, so let us look at it closely. Feedback tells the sender whether the message was understood. Good feedback is specific, so it says exactly what was good or what needs change. It is timely, which means it is given soon, not weeks later. And it is polite, talking about the work, never attacking the person.

There are three main methods of communication. Verbal communication uses words, either spoken or written, like a phone call or a letter. Non verbal communication uses the body, like facial expressions, gestures, posture and tone of voice. Visual communication uses pictures, charts and signs, like a traffic signal or a map.

Non verbal signals often speak louder than words. Steady eye contact shows that you are paying attention and feel confident. A straight posture, while sitting or standing, looks alert and respectful. Hand gestures and facial expressions add meaning to your words. And your tone of voice can change the message, because thank you said angrily does not sound thankful.

To make any message effective, remember the seven Cs. Clear means easy to understand, concise means short, and concrete means using exact facts. Correct means free of errors, and coherent means the points connect logically. Complete means nothing important is missing, and courteous means polite and respectful.

A barrier is anything that blocks or twists a message. Physical barriers include noise and distance, so move to a quiet place. Linguistic barriers come from difficult words or an unfamiliar language, so use simple words. Interpersonal barriers are feelings like anger or fear, so stay calm and listen. Organisational barriers come from too many levels of bosses, so allow direct talk. Cultural barriers arise from different customs, so respect other cultures.

The unit also builds basic writing skills, starting with the sentence. A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. The subject tells who or what the sentence is about, like Riya. The predicate tells what the subject does, like plays chess. Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark.

Words play different roles, called parts of speech. A noun names a person, place or thing, like school. A pronoun replaces a noun, like she instead of Riya. A verb shows an action, like writes. An adjective describes a noun, like a tall building. An adverb describes a verb, like she writes quickly. Prepositions and conjunctions also join words, like in, on, and, but.

Sentences also have different kinds, based on their purpose. A statement gives information, like I like tea. A question asks something and ends with a question mark. A command, also called an imperative sentence, gives an order or a request. An exclamation shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation mark.

Sentences come together to make a paragraph. Start with a topic sentence, which states the main idea. Then add supporting sentences with facts, reasons and examples. End with a concluding sentence that sums up the idea in fresh words.

Finally, the unit practises everyday speaking. Greet people politely, for example, Good morning, Ma'am. When you introduce yourself, share your name, your class or role, and one interest. Ask open questions, which start with what, why or how, and cannot be answered with just yes or no. And listen actively, which means giving full attention and understanding before you reply.

Pause and predict. Aman messages his manager, pls send file asap. The manager is confused and a little annoyed. Which Cs are missing? It is not clear, because we do not know which file. It is also not courteous, because it has no greeting and uses careless short forms.

Let us revise this unit. The communication cycle has a sender, a message, a channel, a receiver and feedback. The three methods are verbal, non verbal and visual. Follow the seven Cs, and find and remove barriers. Write complete sentences and well built paragraphs. And speak politely, greet well and listen actively.