The Importance of Communication Skills

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The Importance of Communication Skills
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Humans are social animals. Whenever we are in
the company of others, we are communicating...  
?       ?       ?      
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Why are communication skills important?

• They improve relationships
• Develops respect
• Develops empathy for others
• Allows us to function more effectively in social
  situations
• Helps us to succeed in life (school, work, etc)

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• How do humans communicate?
•  a) Verbal Language noise and sounds
• b) Non-verbal
• Written word
• Body Language
• Eye contact
• Haptics (touch)
• Proxemics (proximity to each other)
• Kinesics (all human behaviour except touch)
• Symbols
• Gestures posture

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Continued...

• Tone/pitch/tempo
• Posture Eg. Tapping foot, slumped, upright
• Expression crying, excited, fear

http//www.youtube.com/watch?vpRZqRjxkHpk
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Paul Ekmans Experiment

• Humans everywhere use similar expressions to
  demonstrate 6 basic emotions
• Fear
• Anger
• Disgust
• Sadness
• Surprise
• Happiness

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Overcoming Barriers to Communication

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What are some of the barriers?

• Noise pollution
• People do not always share the same
  vocabulary/dialect/language
• Jargon, Slang, Acronyms, Legal-eze
• No feedback (one-way versus two-way)
• Interpretation of non-verbal communication
• Perception
• Fear an inability to speak, or fear of
  repercussions

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• Humans do use symbols in much of their
  communications. Experts say that humans differ
  from animals because they learn based on a series
  of learned symbols/responses and not from
  instinct.
• However, 90 of human communication is
  non-verbal. Humans have their own series of
  learned signals which represent meaning to
  communicate to others.
• Feedback is essential to effective
  communication!!

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The Power of the Face (Learn 360 clip, 5 mins)