HOW TO COMMUNICATE IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

HOW TO COMMUNICATE IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

As a professional, the demands on your time and job are many. You may be prepared for some of the demands and you may be given short notice for other requirements such as conducting a seminar, speaking at meeting, making a presentation or engaging in a group discussion or interview. All such situations require you to communicate your thoughts or opinion or idea to you. Here is a list of guidelines for how to communicate in such situations.

Face-to-face : Be simple and direct in your responses. Match your non verbal cues with what you are saying. Use hand gestures or other body language to give a positive impression about your intent. Even if you disagree about something, say so in clear terms but use appropriate language without getting too personal. Stay focussed on the topic, not on the person.

Public Speaking : Prepare, if you have the time, with good research and mentally organise your thoughts in a structured and cohesive manner. Articulate clearly as you will be speaking to an audience when people may have difficulty understanding your accent. Use audio-visual aids to support what you want to say. Make eye contact with different members of the audience but do not stay focussed on one person for too long or it will make them uncomfortable. Avoid long winded sentences. If reading out from a prepared speech, practice to get the right pause and modulate your voice accordingly. Underline the key points and emphasise them when you read them out. You must being a certain amount of passion into your speech or you will lose the attention of the audience. While taking questions, keep your responses brief and to the point. Do not show impatience even if the audience asks simple questions to issues that you may have discussed in your speech. Treat the audience with respect.

Group Discussion: In a group discussion, a small group of people interact face-to-face to exchange
information or attempt to find a solution to a problem. No one is assigned the role of a leader but as the discussion proceeds one person may emerge as the leader. For a group discussion to be an effective exercise it must have people with diversity of opinion, knowledge and skill, but with a shared, common agenda. To participate in a group discussion you must be sensitive to the group dynamics. Each participant must get a fair chance to speak and articulate their thoughts and opinions. Because of the semi-formal nature of such discussions, such discussions enable people to clearly articulate and express their opinions.
If you have to intervene, do so without annoying the speaker. You may make notes but remain attentive to what is being said. Your body language should show interest and openness to discussing things. A defensive posture will create a negative impression and may not take the discussion further.

Interview : An interview is usually associated with a job interview where one representing an organisation assesses the other person (the applicant). Some interview situations may have one interviewee and more than one inter viewer. Interviews are useful to elicit information that is not otherwise available in written records. Depending on the nature of the interview and the role you are playing (the one who is questioning or responding), you will encounter direct questions, open-ended questions, closed questions or loaded questions. Sometimes interviews are used as research techniques to collect data or gather customer feedback. When you use the interview method to gather data from the respondent or customer, you should keep a few things in mind. Never take on a superior attitude. Frame questions that elicit the required information. To make it easier for the respondent you may give choices to the respondent. In some cases when the respondent is not familiar with the terms being used or unable to understand the question, rephrase it, and repeat the question if required. During any interview do not enter into an argument or lengthy discussion. Avoid questions that may embarrass the respondent.

Meetings : Whether you are chairing a meeting or participating in it, follow certain protocol to ensure that the meeting achieves its objective. First you must clearly understand the objective of the meeting. If chairing, it is your responsibility to ensure that the objective is clearly articulated. Use simple language (The purpose of this meeting is to…, We have called this meeting to…). Explain why the participants are present and their role in the meeting. You will also have to act as a moderator and ensure that everyone gets a fair chance to speak. Know when to cut a discussion short or avoid heated arguments. As a participant, you must use active listening skills and demonstrate your interest in the topic with appropriate body language. Raise your hand or use appropriate gestures when you want to speak. Do not get too personal. Stick to the topic of discussion. Volunteer information, even if you think it is insignificant.

Sometimes that may be of value to the group. If you are chairing the meeting, always remember to close the meeting with an appropriate summary and action points so that there is clarity about who does what and by what time. Thank everyone for attending.