UNIT – I

COMMUNICATION SKILL
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION
Communication refers to the process of exchanging information, ideas or thought from one person
to the other in a meaningful way.

Importance of communication :
communication. Communication skills are needed to:
 Inform: You may be required to give facts or information to someone.
 Influence: You may be required to influence someone in an indirect or important way.
 Express feelings: Talking about your feelings is a healthy way to express them.

Elements of communication :
 Sender: the person or entity originating the communication.
 Message: the information that the sender wishes to convey.
 Encoding: how the sender chooses to bring the message into a form appropriate for sending.
 Channel: the means by which the message is sent.
 Receiver: the person or entity to whom the message is sent.
 Decoding: how the receiver interprets and understands the message.
 Feedback: the receiver's response to the message.
Perspectives of communication :

Perspectives are ideas, views, or fixed ways of thinking. These sometimes affect our communication.

Some of the factors that affect the perspectives in communication, these are
 Language : Language can act as a barrier to communicate what one wishes to convey.
 Visual Perception : It is the ability to see and interpret the visual information that surrounds us.
 Past Experience : Letting our earlier experience stop us from understanding or communicating clearly.
 Prejudice : A certain fixed way of thinking will prevent understanding the right meaning of the message.
 Feelings : Our feelings and emotions, such as lack of interest or not trusting the other person affect communication.
 Environment : All of us communicate differently in different environments..
 Personal factors : Personal factors include your own feelings, habits and ways of thinking.
 Culture : Signs’ which have a different meaning in different cultures.
Effective communication :
Effective communications refers to the right way of communication that makes the right impact and
delivers the right message across.
To have effective communication, one should follow the 7C’s of communication principle
 METHODS OF COMMUNICATION
1. Verbal Communication :

Verbal communication is a type of communication where in the message is conveyed through spoken
words. The sender may communicate in the form of speeches, discussions, presentations and conversations.
The important forms of verbal communication are
 Oral Communication : Communication which involves Face-to-face conversation, Talking on a phone, Classroom
teaching, business discussion and public speeches etc.
 Written Communication : Communication which involves Writing letters, notes, email, SMS, Books and
newspapers etc.

Advantages :
 Conveying our message is easy and quick.
 It promote a secure exchange of ideas.
 It is a cheaper way of communication.
 You can keep updating your speech according to the response you get from the audience.
Disadvantages :
 The lingual and cultural difference of the speaker and listener may result in miscommunication.
 In has no legal validity.
 Public Speaking :

Speaking in front of a large group makes most people nervous. You can use the 3Ps (Prepare, Practice,
Perform) method to get over your fears, and become a confident and effective speaker.
 2. Non - Verbal Communication :

Non – Verbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages without using words. We
send signals and messages to others, through expressions, gestures and body postures.
The important forms of Non - Verbal communication are
In our day-to-day communication, it is observed that most of the communication is done using body
movements (face, arms, movements, etc.) and voice control (voice, tone, pauses, etc.).

Advantages :

 Non – Verbal communications are easy to give..

 Usually time does not waste.
 Even illiterate people can pick up non – verbal communication.

Disadvantages :

 Long and detailed messages cannot be communicated non verbally.

 It is difficult for some people to understand.
 Types of Non - Verbal Communication :

 Facial Expression : A facial expression many a times shows the feelings of a person.
 Posture : Postures are positions of the body. They show our confidence and feelings.
 Gestures or Body Language : Gestures describe movements of parts of the body, especially hands or head, to
express an idea or meaning. This includes waving, pointing and using our hands when speaking.
 Touch : We communicate a great deal through our touch, such as shaking hands and patting on the back.
 Space : The space between two persons while communicating, generally depends on the intimacy or closeness
between them.
 Eye Contact : Maintaining an eye contact with the person you are talking indicates interest, whereas, looking
away can make the other person feel ignored.
 Paralanguage : Paralanguage is the tone of our voice, speed and volume that makes a difference in the meaning of
the communication. Speaking too fast may show excitement or nervousness. Speaking too slow may show
seriousness, sadness or making a point.
3. Visual Communication :

Visual communication is a type of communication in which the messages are conveyed through pictures,
signboards, logos etc. through any visual medium.
The main advantage of this type of communication is that you do not need to know any particular
language for understanding it. It is simple, easy to understand and remains same across different places.
WRITING SKILL & PARTS OF SPEECH
When we talk or write in English, we use sentences to express ourselves. Sentences are important because
if you do not clearly write sentences then, the meaning of the same cannot be understood clearly.
A sentence always begins with a capital letter, and it always ends with a question mark, full stop or
exclamation mark.

Using Capitals :

It is easy to know what to capitalize if you remember the word ‘MINTS’. MINTS
is a set of simple rules that help you capitalize words correctly.
Punctuation :

It is a set of marks, such as the full stop and the comma, which help us separate parts of a sentence and
explain its meaning. Like uppercase letters, punctuation is also a very important part of sentences and has some rules.
Parts of Speech :

The different types of words we use in sentences are called parts of speech. These are,
COMMUNICATION STYLE - ASSERTIVENESS
A ‘style’ of communication includes verbal and non-verbal skills. Using the correct style of communication
makes your communication more effective as others will be able to clearly understand what you say and respond to you
in a better way.
Assertive Communication :

Being assertive is a healthier communication style. It involves,

 Expressing your views without disrespecting others or yourself,
 Respecting others,
 Communicating your opinion and wishes clearly,
 Being open to other’s points of view, and
 Finding a balance between your needs and other’s needs.

Advantages of Assertive Communication :

 Builds self-confidence,
 Builds self-respect,
 Prevents you from saying words or doing actions that you may regret later,
 Makes you and others feel positive,
 Makes sure that everyone expresses their ideas and meets the needs of all, and
 Helps you to become a more confident worker and a better communicator.
SAYING NO – REFUSAL SKILL
One of the important ways of being assertive is learning to say ‘no’ without upsetting others. Have you
faced situations where you wanted to say ‘no’, but found it difficult to say so as you did not want to be rude or upset the
other person. But it is important to say no in many situations.

How to Say “NO” ? :

 Some more examples of different ways of saying ‘no’ politely are listed here:
 I’m sorry I cannot come as I have other plans.
 I’m sorry but I have a meeting to attend.
 I have made other plans so I won’t be able to join you.
 I have an important meeting to attend so I won’t be able to join you.
 Thanks for asking, but I have to attend an important meeting.
 I would love to come, but I cannot miss the meeting with my manager.

Conjunctions :

Conjunctions are words such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘because’ and ‘so’ are used to connect two sentences.
Conjunctions are often used in sentences where you say no.
 WRITING SKILL & SENTENCE
Each sentences have a subject and a verb. Some also have an object. A subject is the person or thing that
does an action. A verb describes the action. Object is the person or thing that receives the action.

Type of Object :

The object in a sentence can be either direct or indirect.

 Direct objects are the ones directly ‘acted on’ by the action word (verb). A direct object answers the question
‘what?’.
 An indirect object answers questions, such as ‘to whom’ and ‘for whom’.
Type of Sentence :
Active or Passive Sentence :

Sentences where the subject does an action are known to be in the Active voice. Sentences in which the
subject receives an action are known to be in the Passive voice.
Type of Sentence (According to their purpose) :
PRONUNCIATION
If we do not say (or pronounce) words correctly, others cannot understand what we are saying. To
communicate well when you speak, you need to know how to pronounce words correctly. Correct pronunciation will
help you express yourself in a clear and confident manner. It will also help others to understand your words easily.
Sometimes words, which have different spellings may be pronounced in the same way. The best way to
learn correct pronunciation of words is to listen carefully. Ex – Sun or Son, Sail or Sale, Tail or Tale etc.

Phonetics :

We use sounds to speak. Every word is made up of one or more sounds. We put these sounds together to
pronounce words. Phonetics is the study of the sounds that we make when we speak.
The English alphabet has 26 letters, from A to Z. But each of these letters can be pronounced in different
ways in different words. We use 26 letters to write in English. But, we use more than 26 sounds when we speak
English. This is why a word’s spelling does not always match its pronunciation.

Ex – Different sounds of ‘a’ .

cat, apple and back, car, fast and park, call, ball and saw
GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS
A greeting Is a polite and friendly message to welcome someone or acknowledge their presence. Common
greetings are hi, hello, good morning, hey etc.
There are two ways of greeting, these are,
 Formal greetings : These are used if you do not know the person. It is used to greet senior, elderly people or people
with whom we have formal relations like teachers or customers. Ex - hi, hello, good morning, hey etc.
 Informal greetings are used when you talk to friends, family or a known person.

We use certain sentences to tell about ourselves or others, to people who do not know us. This is called an
Introduction. you need to ‘Introduce’ yourself. You can do this by telling your name and some general information like
about your hometown, your job or subjects as a student, your interests, etc.
ASKING QUESTIONS
A question is a sentence, phrase, or word that either asks for information or is used to test someone’s
knowledge. It may be a request for information about a person or a place or about how to do a task. We always use a
question mark (?) at the end of a question.

Asking questions helps us to

 Gain new knowledge, get information,
 Make sure that what we know is correct,
 Avoid doubts, confusion, misunderstanding,
 Start talking to people by asking about them and their ideas.
Types of Questions :
There are two basic types of questions: close-ended and open-ended.
 Questions that can be answered with a “yes” or a “no” are called close-ended question. That is because the answer
options are limited or closed.
 Sometimes, when we ask a question, we expect an answer with more details. These are called open-ended
questions because their answer options are not limited or closed.
Framing Close-ended Questions :
We can form close-ended questions by adding helping verbs (called auxiliary verbs) like Be, Do and
Have, Can, Shall, May, Should, Could etc.
Framing Open-ended Questions :

We can form open-ended questions by using question words, such as What, Why, Who, How, When and
Where.