Unit 5 : Getting the message across.

The ability to communicate is a critical requirement of good leaders.

It is estimated that 70% of your perceived ability, comes from how you communicate what you know and only 30% from what you actually know!

Unfair perhaps, but that is the reality!

For this reason Dr. John R. Thomas Associates as a company, has developed a modular course aimed at developing the Communication skills of people who in the past, have had very little opportunity to put such skills into practice.

This is a course developed and honed over many years both within industry and over repeated semesters at Premasters level at Swansea University Business School.

These techniques have proved particularly useful for people who need to build their confidence in communicating effectively.

We have found that delivering these modules in a series of 1 hour slots is the most effective mode of delivery.  After each module, the attendees are required to undertake exercises relevant to the techniques they have been taught.

These modules are therefore particularly suitable for presentation in webinar or online tutorial formats.

Module contents :

Element 1 : What is Communication?

In this module we examine:

• The Communication process (Sender, Receiver, Message and Channel)
• Choosing the method of communication
• Various learning styles : the VARK model
• The Johari Window: A model for self-understanding
• Handling conflict situations
• A model for assertive behaviour
• Dealing with difficult people
• Giving constructive criticism

• Coping with nervousness when facing an audience
• Structuring a presentation
• The 2 key factors of effective presentations
• Developing the presentation to suit your audience
• What can we learn from the Greeks and Romans? (Aristotle’s 3 essential elements of Pathos, Logos and Ethos and Cicero’s delivery technique)
• Non-verbal communication
• Using visual aids effectively

• The ‘genre’ of the report
• What makes a report effective?
• The method of structuring the report
• Presenting data effectively
• The structuring of paragraphs and sentences
• The importance of punctuation
• Using apostrophes correctly

• The 4 main types of listening
• Listening effectively
• Active listening
• The non-verbal behaviour aspects of listening
• The barriers to listening

The end result is that we want to develop people who are confident and effective in dealing and communicating effectively with others!

For a taster of the course content, click on the link below.

A taster of Communication skills