Career Success Begins With Communication Skills

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CHAPTER 1

• Career Success Begins With Communication Skills

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Good communication skills are essential for

• Job placement
• Job performance
• Career advancement
• Success in the new world of work

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Build Your Career Communication Skills
Your Guide
Textbook
Your Coach
Instructor
See http//www.meguffey.com
Bonus Resources
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The Process of Communication
Verbally or nonverbally. By speaking, writing,
gesturing.
How may the sender encode a message?
Letters, e-mail, IM, memos, TV, telephone, voice,
body. Others?
What kinds of channels carry messages?
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The Process of Communication
Hearing, reading, observing
How does a receiver decode a message?
When a message is understood as the sender
intended it to be.
When is communication successful?
Ask questions, check reactions, dont dominate
the exchange.
How can a communicator provide for feedback?
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Barriers to Effective Listening
Physical barriers hearing disabilities, noisy surroundings
Psychological barriers tuning out ideas that counter our values
Language problems unfamiliar or charged words
Nonverbal distractions clothing, mannerisms, appearance
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Keys to Building Powerful Listening Skills

• Stop talking.
• Control your surroundings.
• Establish a receptive mind-set.
• Keep an open mind.
• Listen for main points.
• Capitalize on lag time.

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Keys to Building Powerful Listening Skills

• Listen between the lines.
• Judge ideas, not appearances.
• Hold your fire.
• Take selective notes.
• Provide feedback.

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Nonverbal Communication

• Eye contact, facial expression, and posture and
  gestures send silent messages.

• Time, space, and territory send silent messages.
• Time (punctuality and structure)
• Space (arrangement of objects)
• Territory (privacy zones)

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Nonverbal Communication

• Appearance sends silent messages.
• Appearance of business documents
• Appearance of people

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Keys to Building Strong Nonverbal Skills

• Establish and maintain eye contact.
• Use posture to show interest.
• Improve your decoding skills.
• Probe for more information.
• Avoid assigning nonverbal meanings out of context.

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Keys to Building Strong Nonverbal Skills

• Associate with people from diverse cultures.
• Appreciate the power of appearance.
• Observe yourself on videotape.
• Enlist friends and family.

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Dimensions of Culture
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Proverbs Reflect Culture
What do these U.S. proverbs indicate about this
culture and what it values?

1. The squeaking wheel gets the grease.
2. Waste not, want not.
3. He who holds the gold makes the rules.
4. If at first you dont succeed, try, try again.
5. The early bird gets the worm.

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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Oral Messages
• Use simple English.
• Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
• Encourage accurate feedback.
• Check frequently for comprehension.

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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Oral Messages
• Observe eye messages.
• Accept blame.
• Listen without interrupting.
• Smile when appropriate.
• Follow up in writing.

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Improving Communication With Multicultural
Audiences

• Written Messages
• Consider local styles.
• Consider hiring a translator.
• Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Avoid ambiguous wording.
• Follow up in writing.
• Cite numbers carefully.

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Improving Communication Among Diverse Workplace
Audiences

• Understand the value of differences.
• Seek training.
• Learn about your own cultural self.
• Make fewer workplace assumptions.
• Build on similarities.

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• END