IntroductIon

In the present time, a thorough knowledge of language with

communication skills is very important in any occupation or
business. As a student, you may study any language, but it is
important that you are able to read, write, speak and listen well in
order to communicate properly. Speaking more than one language
can help you to communicate well with people around the world.
Learning English can help you to
communicate with people who
understand English besides the
mother tongue i.e., the language
one has been exposed to since
birth.
SeSSIon 1: MethodS of coMMunIcatIon
The word ‘communication’ comes from the Latin word
commūnicāre, meaning ‘to share’.
Being able to communicate effectively is one of the
most important life skills. Communication skills are
needed to communicate effectively with people and
customers. This module aims to help you improve your
communication skills.
Clear and concise communication is of immense importance
in work and business environment as there are several
parties involved. Various stakeholders, like, customers,
employees, vendors, media, etc., are always sending
important information to each other.
 Communication has three important parts:
1. Transmitting — The sender transmits the
message through one medium or another.
2. Listening — The receiver listens or
understands the message.
3. Feedback — The receiver conveys their
understanding of the message to the sender in
the form of feedback to complete the
communication cycle.
Communication Process and Elements
Let us see the process of communication in detail.

Information Behaviour/
/ Input Output
The Channel—
What I speaking, writing
mean graphic, video, What
etc. I understand

Coding The Message De-coding

The At least some

The
Messenger code in common Recepient
Sender
Sender sends a
message
Message (Encoding)
Giving Information
channel

Receiver
A Channel is used
Communication
to transfer the
starts with message
sender

Reply to Sender
(Encoding)

Receiver replies Channel

Receiving Information
to the sender Message is
received by the
receiver
The various elements of a communication cycle
are:
Sender: the person beginning the
communication.
Message: the information that the sender
wants to convey.
Channel: the means by which the information
is sent.
Receiver: the person to whom the message is sent.
Feedback: the receiver’s acknowledgement and
response to the message.
.

Choosing the right method of communication depends

on
• target audience
• costs
• kind/type of information
• urgency/priority
The methods of communication you choose could affect your
relationship with peers, supervisors and customers. It is,
therefore, vital that you spend considerable time and consider all
factors choosing the right methods to aid you in your tasks
SeSSIon 2: Verbal coMMunIcatIon
Verbal communication includes sounds, words,
language, and speech. Speaking is one of the
most effective and commonly used way of
communicating. It helps in expressing our
emotions in words. By improving your verbal
communication skills you will build rapport, and
have a better connect.
Advantages of Verbal Communication
It is an easy mode of communication in which you can
exchange ideas by saying what you want and get a
quick response. Verbal communication also enables
you to keep changing your interaction as per the other
person’s response.
Disadvantages of Verbal
Communication
Since verbal communication depends on
written or spoken words, sometimes the
meanings can be confusing and difficult to
understand if the right words are not used.
Mastering Verbal Communication
Most people tend to get nervous while
speaking in front of a large group, or even
while speaking to their teachers, managers or
supervisors. However, if you focus on the
points given in Table 1.3, you can enhance
and master your verbal communication
skills.
 SeSSIon 3: non-Verbal coMMunIcatIon
Non-verbal communication is the expression or exchange of
information or messages without using any spoken or written word.
In other words, we send signals and messages to others, through
expressions, gestures, postures, touch, space, eye contact and
para language. In this session,
you will learn about the
importance of different types
of non-verbal communication
skills and also know the
correct body language to be
used for communication
Importance of Non-verbal Communication
In our day-to-day communication
•55% communicationis doneusing body movements,
face, arms, etc.
•38% communication is done using voice, tone, pauses, etc.
•only 7% communication is done using words.
• Our message becomes more effective if we use the right
gestures while communicating.
• If we know about non-verbal communication, we can
understand our audience’s reaction and adjust our
interaction accordingly.
• Using the right gestures and postures is a sign of
professionalism and etiquette.
• If verbal messages are obstructed by noise or distance,
etc., we can use our hand movements to exchange
messages. For example, placing a finger on the lips
indicates the need for silence while nodding the head is
the same as saying ‘yes’.
 Visual Communication
Visual communication proves to be effective since it involves interchanging
messages only through images or pictures and therefore, you do not need to
know any particular language for understanding it. It is simple and remains
consistent across different places.
 SeSSIon 4: coMMunIcatIon cycle and
IMportance of feedback
Feedback is an important part of the communication cycle. For
effective communication, it is important that the sender
receives an acknowledgement from
the receiver about getting the message across.
While a sender sends information, the receiver
provides feedback on the received message.
Translated to the work environment, when you
observe someone perform their work and then,
communicate with them to help improve their
performances, you are giving feedback. Feedback
can be positive or negative. A good feedback is
always
• specific
• helpful
• kind
 Feedback
Feedback, if shared properly, can help reinforce existing
strengths and can increase the recipient’s abilities to
rectify errors. It can have a long-term effect in managing and achieving
goals.
A good feedback is one that is:
• Specific: Avoid general comments. Try to include examples to clarify your
statement. Offering alternatives rather than just giving advice allows the
receiver to decide what to do with your feedback.
• Timely: Being prompt is the key, since feedback loses its impact if delayed
for too long.
• Polite: While it is important to share feedback, the recipient should not feel
offended by the language of the feedback.
• Offering continuing support: Feedback sharing should be a continuous
process. After offering feedback, let recipients know you are available for
support.
 Importance of Feedback
Feedback is the final component and one of the most important factors in
the process of communication since it is defined as the response given by
the receiver to the sender. Let us look at certain reasons why feedback is
important.
• It validates effective listening: The person providing the feedback knows
they have been understood (or received) and that their feedback provides
some value.
• It motivates: Feedback can motivate people to build better work
relationships and continue the good work that is being appreciated.
• It is always there: Every time you speak to a person, we communicate
feedback so it is impossible not to provide one.
• It boosts learning: Feedback is important to remain focussed on goals, plan
better and develop improved products and services.
• It improves performance: Feedback can help to form better decisions to
improve and increase performance.
SeSSIon 5: barrIerS to effectIVe coMMunIcatIon
What is Effective Communication?
We now know that there are different methods of
communication: non-verbal, verbal and visual.
However, all these methods can only be effective if we
follow the basic principles of professional
communication skills. These can be abbreviated as 7
Cs i.e., Clear, Concise, Concrete, Correct, Coherent,
Complete and Courteous
Absence of any of these 7Cs can lead to
miscommunication. Let us take a closer look at certain
barriers to effective communication.
Barriers to Effective Communication
Physical Barriers
Physical barrier is the environmental and natural condition that
act as a barrier in communication in sending message from
sender to receiver. Not being able to see gestures, posture and
general body language can make communication less effective.
For example, text messages are often less effective than face-to-
face communication.
Linguistic Barriers
The inability to communicate using a language is known as
language barrier to communication. Language barriers are the
most common communication barriers, which cause
misunderstandings and misinterpretations between people. For
example, slang, professional jargon and regional colloquialisms
can make communication difficult.
Interpersonal Barriers
Barriers to interpersonal communication occur when the sender’s
message is received differently from how it was intended. It is also very
difficult to communicate with someone who is not willing to talk or
express their feelings and views. Stage fear, lack of will to communicate,
personal differences can create interpersonal barriers to communication.
Organisational Barriers
Organisations are designed on the basis of formal hierarchical structures
that follow performance standards, rules and regulations, procedures,
policies, behavioural norms, etc. All these affect the free flow of
communication in organisations and therefore, need to be suitably
managed. Superior-subordinate relationships in a formal organisational
structure can be a barrier to free flow of communication. Also, sometimes
due to the stringent rules, the employees find it difficult to communicate
with their peers too.
Cultural Barriers
Cultural barriers is when people of different cultures are unable
to understand each other’s customs, resulting in
inconveniences and difficulties.People sometimes make
stereotypical assumptions about others based on their cultural
background, this leads to difference in opinions and can be a
major barrier to effective communication. Although there are
certain barriers to effective communication, you can
always overcome these barriers by following some
best practices of effective
communication that are listed here.
 Ways to Overcome Barriers to
Effective Communication
• Use simple language
• Do not form assumptions on culture, religion or
geography
• Try to communicate in person as much as possible
• Use visuals
• Take help of a translator to overcome differences in language
•Be respectful of other’s opinions
 sessioN 6: WritiNg skills — Parts of sPeech
Writing skills are part of verbal communication and include
e-mails, letters, notes, articles, SMS/chat, blogs, etc. In all
these forms of written communication, we use sentences to
express ourselves. Sentences are important because they
help to clearly present the message. We all know that a
sentence is a group of words that communicates a complete
thought. For example, Pooja goes to school. On the other
hand, a group of words, which does not make complete
sense, is known as a phrase. For example, Pooja goes. A
sentence always begins with a capital letter, and it always
ends with a question mark, full stop or exclamation mark
Capitalisation
We know that all sentences begin with capital
letters. However, there are certain other points
in a sentence where we should use capital
letters. ‘TINS’is a set of
simple rules that help you capitalise words
correctly. Each letter in the word TINS refers to
one capitalisation rule
Punctuation
Certain set of marks, such as full stop, comma,
question mark, exclamation mark and apostrophe
are used in communication to separate parts of a
sentence for better clarity of message.
 Basic Parts of Speech
The part of speech indicates how a particular word functions in meaning as well
as grammatically within the sentence. Some examples are nouns, pronouns,
adjectives, verbs and adverbs
Types of Objects
In a sentence, there can be two types of objects —
Direct and Indirect. The objects provided in the above
examples are called direct objects since they are
directly ‘acted on’ by the verb. On the other hand, an
indirect object answers questions, such as ‘to/ for
who.’
For example, in the sentence “She bought a bicycle for
her son.” The verb is ‘bought’.
What did she buy? A bicycle. For who? For her son.
Here, ‘bicycle’ is the direct object and ‘her son’ is the
indirect object. Some sentences only have direct
objects while some have both direct and indirect
objects.
 Active and Passive Sentences
Read aloud the sentence shown in Figure 1.11.
What is the difference between the two
sentences?
1. Radha is reading a book.
2. A book is being read by Radha.
The action (verb) in both sentences is reading a book. But the
‘subject’ of both sentences is different. In the first sentence, the
subject (Radha) does the action. In the second sentence, the subject
(a book) receives the action.
 Sentences where the subject does an action are known to be in
the Active voice, whereas sentences in which the subject receives
an action are known to be in the Passive voice.
 So, now we know that there are active voice and
passive voice sentences. Besides these, we also have
other types of sentences which are based on the
purpose that the sentences serve while
communicating.
Paragraph
By now, you have understood how to form correct sentences
by identifying the various components that make up a
sentence. Just as a group of words form a sentence, a group
of sentences forms a paragraph. However, to qualify as a
paragraph, all the sentences within it must have a common
idea or theme.
For example, if you are writing about your best friend, the first
paragraph can be of sentences about the name, age, personality,
friendship duration and other such details. In the next paragraph
you can use sentences to describe what qualities you like about your
best friend and how valuable your friendship is