This document discusses effective communication skills. It begins by defining communication and describing its forms such as verbal, non-verbal, and written. It then lists three key elements of effective communication - listening, non-verbal communication, and managing stress. Next, it explains the importance of emotional awareness and outlines important skills of an effective communicator such as framing messages clearly and listening actively. Finally, it discusses how effective communication is critical for good customer service.

1. BASIC COMPETENCIES
MODULE TITLE: PARTICIPATING IN WORKPLACE
COMMUNICATION
UNIT OF COMPETENCY: PARTICIPATE IN WORKPLACE
COMMUNICATION
MODULE DESCRIPTION: This module covers the
knowledge, skills, attitudes and
values needed to gather,
interpret, and convey
information in response to
workplace requirements.

2. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Learning Objectives:
After viewing this information sheet, You must be able to:
1. understand what is effective communication;
2. analyze the importance of developing effective
communication skills
3. enumerate and explain the important skills for
becoming an effective communicator.

3. Definition of Communication
Communication is a process of exchanging information, ideas,
thoughts, feelings and emotions through speech, signals, writing,
or behavior. It is a transaction between two or more people, with
all participants having an active role in the process. In the
communication process, a speaker also known as the sender
(encoder) encodes a message and then using a medium/channel
sends it to the listener/receiver (decoder), and through active
listening decodes the message and after processing information,
sends back an appropriate feedback / reply using a
medium/channel.

4. Forms of Communication
Verbal
•refers to spoken verbal communication
•relies on both words, visual aids and non-verbal elements
to support the conveyance of the meaning
Non-Verbal
•conveys meaning in the form of non-word messages,
gesture, body language, posture, facial expression, eye
contact, clothing, hairstyle, tone of voice.
Written
•entails transmission of message in black and white
•it mainly consists of diagrams, pictures, graphs.

5. Elements of Effective
Communication Skills
Listening
Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective
communication. Successful listening means not just
understanding the words or the information being communicated,
but also understanding how the speaker feels about what they’re
communicating. Listening is critical because it provides direction.
It helps to form good relationships and to encourage more open
communication.

6. Effective listening can:
Make the speaker feel heard and understood, which can help
build a stronger, deeper connection between you.
Create an environment where everyone feels safe to express
ideas, opinions, and feelings, or plan and problem solve in creative
ways.
Save time by helping clarify information, avoid conflicts and
misunderstandings.
Relieve negative emotions. When emotions are running high, if
the speaker feels that he or she has been truly heard, it can help to
calm them down, relieve negative feelings, and allow for real
understanding or problem solving to begin.

8. Non-Verbal Communication
Wordless communication, or body language, includes facial
expressions, body movement and gestures, eye contact, posture,
the tone of your voice, and even your muscle tension and
breathing. The way you look, listen, move, and react to another
person tells them more about how you’re feeling than words alone
ever can.

9. Managing Stress
In small doses, stress can help you perform under pressure.
However, when stress becomes constant and overwhelming, it
can hamper effective communication by disrupting your
capacity to think clearly and creatively, and act appropriately.
When you’re stressed, you’re more likely to misread other
people, send confusing or off-putting nonverbal signals, and
lapse into unhealthy knee-jerk patterns of behavior.

10. Emotional Awareness
the consciousness of your moment-to-moment emotional experience
and the ability to manage all of your feelings appropriately is the
basis for effective communication.
•Understand and empathize
•Understand yourself
•Stay motivated to understand and empathize
•Communicate clearly and effectively, even when delivering
negative messages
•Build strong, trusting, and rewarding relationships, think
creatively, solve problems, and resolve conflicts

11. Important Skills of an Effective
Communicator
• The ability to understand the situation, the message, the
listener, and the quality of the communication.
• The ability to frame a message clearly, concisely, and directly.
• The ability to ask or tell someone to do something without
evoking negative emotions on either side.
• The capacity to listen actively.
• The ability to be attentive and observant.
• The confidence to be sure of the message and convincing in
relaying it.

12. Communication and Customer Care
Effective communication is a critical component of customer
service for small organizations. Customer service efforts are
designed to ensure the prompt and efficient delivery of quality
products and services to customers, as well as the effective
recovery from any service-related issues that may arise. In
dealing with customers, communication is essential, whether it
is face-to-face, over the phone, via email or, increasingly,
through online channels.

13. Achieving Good Communication
•Stay Focused
•Listen Carefully
•Respond to Criticism with Empathy
•Be patient
•Use simple and understandable words
•Observe a pleasant/conversational tone