Make sure you know your staff and how they like to be communicated to.

This tutorial really opened my eyes to the implications of good or bad communication skills. Before completeing this module, I understood the importance of good communication, but I never knew that certain forms of communication work better in different situations. For example if you want someone to remember something that should be done in the future, written communication is the best form, rather then orally communicating something that could easily be forgotten. Another big thing I took from this tutorial is not "dump and run" This is when you just dump information on people without considering their feedback, when asking for them to take action.I know that I'm a huge offender of doing this. I rarely solict feedback from others when I'm in charge of getting others to do something.

I think a big problem is allowing participants to get "off topic" during discussions and it is important to redirect discussions to achieve your goals.

One of the problems I find is that when you are dealing with nonverbal communication, is that it’s to easy to misinterpret the information. You begin to read between the lines and next thing you know you’re telling yourself a story with new meanings and tones.

You must not stop listening if the information makes you uncomfortable, or if the information is too difficult. Also, you must not predict what you think a meeting is about or what you think will be said. If you practice selective listening, you will miss important parts of the message.

Excellent information!

Anybody have any tips for negotiating with someone who doesn't want to even start negotiations? For example a car sales person who says "car price is as marked", or a landlord who wont return calls to negotiate a lease?

Great lesson very informative!!!

It is important to realize that facial expressions say more than words and students know exactly what you are saying by looking at your face. Sometimes it may be best to be a "poker" face -- however, for most people, this is a difficult task.

I found this tutorial very helpful.I have never had the need to organize or conduct a meeting.This forum has given me a real heads up.

Get the audience involved by asking questions. Spewing knowledge can be boring, but helping your audience to discover the answers will keep them engaged. You can ask yes/no questions to quickly "poll" the audience and encourange a larger group response, or more open ended questions if you are looking for more detailed answers for smaller group involvment.

When writing a communication, what strategies do you use to effectively organize your material?

What aspects must we consider when ensuring that a delivered communication is not misunderstood?

I believe that confidence goes along way. I have a troubled time speaking in crowds of people knowing or not knowing the subjct of discussion, but what I came to reaize is that if you put on confidence it helps you get through

Communication is about getting your message sent and recieved. The more we practice "good" communication skills, the easier it will be for us to teach, learn, and succeed.

To be an effective listener you have to stop talking

I had a fear of public speaking and I realized in life you need to have the confidence to talk effectively to people in a public setting. I am an Admissions Representative and have been for 5 years and to be effective in promoting your product which in my case is an Education, I need to be confident in what I am saying or you will lose the interest of the prospect very quickly! To be effective you need to have the prospect interact with you because if you do all the talking and not enough of listening you will not be effective. You need to be a Great Listener as well as observer because if you are losing the prospects interests you need to adapt and change your approach to regain their interest. Is there anyone that feels they do too much talking and not enough listening? I used too but realized I am now a better listener.

Before addressing a new class, I like to practice my first day presentation at home, before I even get to school. I also use note cards and other props...Even though I have done the same class several times, it helps to avoid "dead space" and verbal clutter ("...um....um..."

Most people read the first paragraph of a given communique intently and the rest with varying degrees of enthusiasm. I think the first paragraph is what sets the tone for the rest of the email/report/story etc. and it must get the message communicated clearly and to the point

At most jobs I have worked, I've noticed that most problems arise from poor communication. I'm glad to see these topics outlined here and can use these not only in the classroom, but at my job as well