Communication Skills

Eng. Adel Samir Ibrahim

 Communication is the transmission of an idea or
feeling so that the sender & receiver share the same
understanding.
 Communication is not a mysterious process.
 It takes place when the ideas
from your mind are transferred
to another’s & arrive intact,
complete, & clear.
 Exchange information  Negotiate
 Motivate  Give advice
 Cheat  Sell
 Praise  Greet
 Make arrangements  Abuse
 Persuade  …& more
Mistakes at work is due to poor communication
Basic Communication Principles
 Everything we do is communication.

 The way we begin our message often determines the outcome of the
communication.

 The way message is delivered always effects the way message is

received.

 The real communication is the message received, not the message

intended.

 Communication is two way street – we have to give as well as gather

information.
 Writing
9% Speaking
30%
Reading
16%

Listening
45%
 Language differences  Distractions
 Cultural differences  Noise
 Poor listening skills  Assumptions
 Use of jargon  Misconceptions
 Inappropriate medium  Emotions
Communication failure can cause…
 Loss of business/Friendship
 Mistakes, inefficiencies
 Lowered productivity
 Poor coordination and cooperation
 Damaged personal or company image
 Frustration, hostility
Communication failure can cause…
 Dissatisfaction with others
 Lowered morale
 Loss of team spirit
 High employee turnover
 Conflict and arguments
 Drop in self esteem and confidence
 7%
38%
Vocal (Tone, Inflection..etc.)

Verbal (Words Only)

Visual (Non Verbal)

55%
 Eliminate Noise

 Get Feedback – Verbal & Body Signals

 Speak Slowly & Rephrase your sentence

 Don’t Talk down to the other person

 Listen Carefully & Patiently

 Of
Effective Speaking
Clear
Concise
Courteous
Complete
Concrete
Correct
When Giving Information…..

 Use precise, memorable and powerful words

 Support your words with visual aids

 Give demonstration

 Provide examples/metaphors/analogies

 Use the other person “language”

1. Soften the (you)s or change them into (I)s to avoid sounding
pushy
 Instead of : ‘You’ll have to….’, say ‘Could you….’ Or ‘Would you be
able to….’

2. Focus on the solution, not the problem

 Instead of ‘We’re out of milk….’, say ‘I will pop down the shop for
some milk’.

3. Turn (can’t)s into (can)s

 Instead of ‘We can’t do that until next week’, say ‘We’ll be able to
do that next week’.
4. Always take responsibility – don’t lay blame
 Instead if “It’s not my fault”, say “Here’s what I can do to fix that”.

5. Always say what do you want, not what you don’t want
 Instead of “Don’t drive too fast”, say “Drive carefully”

6. Focus on the future, not the past

 Instead of “I’ve told you before not to……”, say “From now on…….”

7. Always Share information rather than argue or accuse

 Instead of “No, you’re wrong”, say “I see it like this….”
EXPLORE
AFFIRM
REFLECT
SILENCE
 Hearing – Physical process, natural, & passive

 Listening – Physical as well as mental process,

active, learned process, i.e. it’s a skill

A Tip:
 Listening is hard. You must choose to
participate in the process of listening.
 The process of recognizing, understanding, and accurately
interpreting communicated messages and responding to
spoken and/or nonverbal messages.

 Giving undivided attention to a speaker in a genuine

effort to understand the speaker's point of view. This
involves giving them your full attention and the use of
verbal encouragers such as “Yes”, “Aha” and “Mmm”.

 It also includes non-verbal acknowledgements such as

nodding, smiling and positive body language.
 Hearing

Interpretation

Active
Evaluation Listening
Respond
1. It forces people to listen attentively to others.

2. It avoids misunderstandings, as people have to

confirm that they do really understand what
another person has said.

3. It tends to open people up, to get them to say

more.
 Paraphrasing meanings: Translate into your own words what the
speaker has said.
 Reflecting feelings: when someone is expressing emotion or feelings
or looks emotional (upset, angry, excited), convey your empathy and
encourage the speaker to continue.
 Reflecting facts: briefly summarize the content, or factual aspects,
of what the speaker has said.
 Synthesizing: blend several ideas of the speaker into one theme or
idea.
 Imagining out loud: imagine what it must be like to be in the
speaker’s place
 Attend physically – using the right body language helps us
to focus on the speaker and encourages the speaker to
give us more information.

 Attend mentally – follow the speaker’s flow of thought,

listen to understand, not to evaluate; listen first, then
assess.

 Check it verbally – paraphrase, clarify, probe further,

summarize your understanding.
× Interrupting.
× Jumping to conclusions.
× Finishing others’ sentences for them.
× Frequently (and often abruptly) changing the subject.
× Careless body language.
× Not responding to what others have said.
× Failing to ask questions and give feedback.
 Looking at the speaker in order to observe body language
and pick up subtle nuances of speech.
 Asking questions.
 Giving speakers time to articulate their thoughts.
 Letting people finish what they are saying before giving
their opinion.
 Remaining poised, calm, and emotionally controlled
 Looking alert and interested.
 Responding with positive nods and ‘uh-uhms’.
 Listen, don’t resist. Keep calm and keep breathing.
 Let your body language show you are receptive.
 Ask questions to make sure you’ve understood.
 Don’t be overly sensitive, self protective or careless.
 Does the person offering feedback know what they’re
talking about?
 Ask yourself “What other information do you have that
supports the feedback?”.
 If you’re tempted to ignore it, do you have evidence that
contradicts the feedback?
 Make sure your self image stays positive.
 Mentally examine your critic’s intentions so you will know how
best to deal with the information.
 Filter the criticism. Strain out emotion and find the facts, then
you can respond to the useful information.
 Ask questions until you understand what the speaker is trying to
tell you.
 Don’t make excuse. Listen to understand.
 Focus on the future: what can you do to improve?
 You have over 630 muscles in your body.
 Eye muscles are the busiest muscles in the body. Scientists
estimate they may move more than 100,000 times a day.
 You have over 30 muscles in your face to help you smile or
frown. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. SO
SMILE EVERYTIME YOU SEE SOMEONE.
 The strongest muscle in your body is your tongue. USE IT
EFFECTIVELY.
 It takes the interaction of 72 different muscles to produce
human speech.
 We talk for about 10-11 minutes a day, with average sentence
taking about 2.5 seconds, while we can make & recognize about
250’000 facial expressions.
 Women are more perceptive than men.
 An experiment was done with a muted movie, after the movie
women scored 87%, men 42%.
 Women are more brilliant with dealing in signs language.
 Brain scan shows that women have 14-16 areas for evaluation
people’s behavior, while men only have 4-6 areas.
 Women are multi-tracking while men can only do one task
successfully at the time.
 3 rules for accurate reading
 Read in clusters (3 gestures min.)
 Look for congruence
 Read gestures in context
 How to be become a good reader
 Watch people in parties, meetings, airports, crowds
 Watch your TV, with volume muted for some time then turn it on every several
minutes to check how accurate you are non-verbally reading
Notes
 Misreading is so easy

 Kids are easier to read

 Ordinary people can’t fake lies

The shoulder shrug gesture

Cluster of
Gestures

Cold…Not Defensive!
96% of Anglo-
Saxons

94% of
Europeans
 A B C D E F G

H I J K L M N O
Ordinary men
can’t do it in
Australia,
Texas or
Liverpool.
 The (V) Sign
The Ring

The Thumb-Up Sign

Personal Space
 Invasion may lead to
defensive reactions

The acceptable
conversational distance for
most of city residents.
When in crowded elevator keep these rules:
 No talking to anyone even that you know
 Avoid direct eye contact with anyone
 Maintain a “poker face”
 Keep busy in a book or a magazine
 In bigger crowd, NO body movements of any kind are
allowed
 Keep your eyes on the floor changing all the time
Two city men greeting Two men from country side greeting
each other each other
People from sparsely populated areas
Eng. Adel Samir Ibrahim