Communication and Social Styles Presenter: Joseph Walk jrw15@psu.edu October 16, 2013

1. Communication and Social StylesPresenter: Joseph Walkjrw15@psu.eduOctober 16, 2013

2. Welcome! Today’s session will help you to: Examine a communication model. Identify barriers to effective communication. Learn active listen techniques to successfully respond to others. Recognize the importance of asking questions.

3. Welcome! Today’s session will help you to: Discover ways that our perceptions affect communication. Complete the social styles inventory to discover your interpersonal style and gain insight into your behavioral strengths and weaknesses.

4. Your Role Participate in activities. Learn from everyone. Apply information to personal situations. Be challenged. Have fun!

5. Miscommunication Exercise Describe a recent conversation in which there was a miscommunication.

6. Why Communication is Important Communication is a necessary tool for understanding. Miscommunication may actually be a cause of conflict, stress, or misunderstandings.

7. Communication is Interpersonal Communication is a two-way process (sending and receiving) by which ideas are transmitted from one person to another.

8. Communication is Interpersonal Try to accomplish four basic things: Be understood. Understand others. Be accepted. Get something done.

9. context interprets message verbal message experience culture sender semantics receiver non-verbal message values intelligence message intent message content barriers Feedback… verbal and non-verbal message environmental physiological psychological social syntax errors

10. Factors Influencing Communication Context. Interpretation. Feedback. Barriers. Semantics. Jargon. Acronyms.

11. Semantics What are semantics? The meaning we attach to words. “Pass.” “Cool.” “Shoot.” “Hanger.”

12. Jargon Potentially confusing phrases we use (typically at work or in a hobby) that others outside our group may not immediately understand. “Pedagogy.” “Execute a four-ship closed pattern.” “Kerf.” What is some jargon at your workplace?

13. Acronyms New “words” formed by using the first letter of each word in a phrase. Radio detection and ranging. Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Penn State…GURU and ANGEL GURU – “General University Reference Utility” ANGEL – “A New Global Environment for Learning” What are some acronyms at your workplace?

14. What is “active listening?”

16. ActiveListening Active listening is a deliberate process through which we seek to understand the true meaning of the conversation and the emotions behind the thoughts.

17. Active Listening Active listeners internalize the speaker’s feelings and try to see things from his or her perspective. Active listeners appreciate both the meaning and the feelings behind what the speaker is saying.

18. Active Listening By understanding the speaker’s attitudes and feelings, we can better understand his or her point of view.

19. Verbal The words we say.

20. Verbal Language The actual words we speak. Not… Gestures. Facial expressions. Other forms of non-verbal or paralanguage.

21. Non-verbal What we see.

22. Power of Non-verbals Difficult to separate the verbal from the non-verbal. Frequently unaware of the non-verbal impressions we are creating. We are always communicating non-verbally, whether we intend to or not.

23. Power of Non-verbals You cannot not communicate.

24. Non-verbal Communication Non-verbal communication is anything that can be “perceived” by the other person.

25. Non-verbal Communication Facial expression. Eye contact. Body movement and gestures. Touching behavior. Stance.

26. Non-verbal Communication Personal space. Voice characteristics. Use of pauses. Physical appearance. Clothing and jewelry. Physical distance from the other person.

27. Non-verbals and Diversity Non-verbal behaviors differ from culture to culture. What is acceptable non-verbal behavior in one culture may be unacceptable in another.

28. Gesture - Japan I’m angry.

29. Gesture - France I don’t believe you.

30. With a little practice, we can interpret non-verbals. Ready?

35. Paralanguage Messages we send by “how” we communicate.

36. Defining Paralanguage Communicate many emotions through the voice. Paralanguage is the ability of the voice to affect how something is said.

37. Defining Paralanguage Rate of speech. Diction and pronunciation. Tone. Rhythm and inflection. Volume. Use of pauses, hesitation, sighs, fillers.

38. Verbal, Non-verbal, and Paralanguage What percent of meaning comes from each of the following? Verbals _________ Non-verbals _________ Paralanguage _________ 7% 38% 55% 100%

39. Perceptions Two or more people looking at the same situation or object may interpret that situation differently. Formed by our values, experiences, culture, and expectations.

40. Perception and Communication People must communicate to get work done. The better the understanding, the better the efficiency, effectiveness, and creativity. Communication is a mutually influencing process.

41. Perception and Communication We form beliefs and knowledge about fellow workers based on our interactions with them. We know what the person is like, what he or she will do in a given situation, and how the person views us.

42. Perception and Communication Our “reality” affects what we see and hear and (therefore) how we respond to situations. We reject “wrong” information rather than change our beliefs.

43. Perception and Communication If you think someone is unable to handle a difficult assignment, you are likely to see his or her inability to do so. Pygmalion Effect.

45. Perception and Reality This picture shows two images at the same time. In any given situation two or more interpretations are often possible. Both interpretations may be “correct.” Once we “see” a situation in one way, it may be difficult to see the same situation in any other way.

48. Is Perception Reality? Al is Mark’s supervisor. They are standing near the water cooler and, with loud voices and strong gestures, they are talking to each other. If you don’t hear them, what might you conclude?

49. Is Perception Reality? They are angry with each other. They are shouting and gesturing because their work environment is noisy. One may draw an inaccurate conclusion. Maybe they both came from a culture where loud speaking and constant gesturing is the norm.

50. Asking Questions Questions help us gain information, insight, and understanding. It is valuable to ask open-ended questions. Open-closed sentence exercise.