Download “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can`t get them across, your

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you
anywhere."
-- Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca
To develop effective communication skills…..
The following figure shows a communication model with nine elements. Two represent the
major parties in a communication – sender and receiver. Two represent the major
communication tools – message and media. Four represent major communication functions –
encoding, decoding, response and feedback. The last element in the system is noise (random
and competing messages that may interfere with the intended communication).
Message
Encoding
Decoding
SENDER
RECEIVER
Media
NOISE
Feedback
Response
FFeedba
ck
The model underscores the key factors in effective communication. Sender must know what
Respons
audiences they want toFeedback
reach and what responses they want to get. They must encode their
e
messages in a way that understands how the target audience usually decodes messages. They
must transmit the message through efficient media that reach the target audience and develop
feedback channels to monitor the responses.
For a message to be effective, the sender’s encoding process must mesh with the receiver’s
decoding process. The more the sender’s field of experience overlaps with that of the receiver,
the more effective the message is likely to be. This puts a burden on communicators from one
social stratum (such as advertising people) who wants to communicate effectively with another
stratum (such as factory workers).
The sender’s task is to get his or her message through to the receiver. The target audience may
not receive the intended message for any of the three reasons:
1.
Selective Attention
2.
People are bombarded with 1,600 commercial messages a day, of which 80 are
consciously noticed and about 12 provoke some reaction. Selective attention explains
why ads with bold headlines promising something, such as “How to Make A Million,”
have a high likelihood of grabbing attention.
Selective Distortion
Receivers will hear what fits into their belief system. As a result, receivers often add
things to the message that are not there (amplification) and do not notice other things that
are there (leveling). The communicator’s task is to strive for simplicity, clarity, interest
and repetition to get the main points across.
3.
Selective Retention
People will retain in long-term memory only a small fraction of the messages that reach
them. If the receiver’s initial attitude towards the object is positive and he or she
rehearses support arguments, the message is likely to be accepted and have high recall. If
the initial attitude is negative and the person rehearses counter arguments, the message is
likely to be rejected .
The communicator considers audience traits that correlate with persuasibility and uses them to
guide message and media development. People of high education or intelligence are thought to
be less persuasible, but the evidence is inconclusive. Those who accept external standards to
guide their behavior and who have a weak self-concept appear to be more persuasible, as do
persons who have low self-confidence.
Fiske and Hartley have outlined some general factors that influence the effectiveness of a
communication :
 The greater the monopoly of the communication source over the recipient, the greater the
recipient’s change or effect in favor of the course.
 Communication effects are greatest where the message is in line with the receiver’s existing
opinions, beliefs, and dispositions.
 Communication can produce the most effective shifts on unfamiliar, lightly felt, peripheral
issues, which do not lie at the center of the recipient’s value system.
 Communication is more likely to be effective where the source is believed to have expertise,
high status, objectivity, or likability, but particularly where the source has power and can be
identified with.
 The social context group, or reference group will mediate the communication and influence
whether or not the communication is accepted.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
A good public speech has :
 A proper structure, introduction, main body and conclusion – your speech should have a
proper structure without which the people may just not understand the content and the aim of
the speech.
 Proper eye contact – Unless you maintain a proper eye contact, people will lose interest in
your speech and delivery, and there will be a gap between you and the audience.
 Effective use of language – The use of language is the key to a speech. It must be relevant
to whatever is being spoken.
 Proper choice of words – You should not use high flown words unless required, also, the
topic and the target audience are the key determiners in this case.
 Authentic and relevant facts – Facts, figures, numbers, statistics, etc. always put life into a
speech. You must use them but only when relevant.
A Public Speech is evaluated on the following parameters :
Delivery – Some people are not able to make an impression even after knowing a lot of facts and
being very knowledgeable. The problem is delivery. The delivery should be such that it keeps
the listeners’ interest alive.
Content – The content generally should be logical, well researched, balanced, mature and
relevant.
Structure – This demands proper sequence, relevant examples/illustrations keeping in mind that
no important detail is missed out.
An Ideal Public Speech
Interest – Time Graph for an Ideal Public Speech
100%
Interest
IV
0%
II
III
Time
Stage 1 – Introduction: This
I is an exercise to build interest of the audience. This should
introduce the topic such that while you discuss the main points later nobody feels lost because of
being uninformed.
Stage 2 – Body of the speech: This, in fact, is the soul of the speech. It should be clearly
understood that if this part of the speech is flawed, you cannot make an impression, howsoever
you may try to create one.
Stage 3 – Elucidation: This should involve clarifications, examples, references and all that
which can put life into the speech. Touching on the final aspects of the human psyche can be a
great pull-off.
Stage 4- Conclusion: A speech must have a proper conclusion. The audience must not feel left
out in a mass of data. This can come by way of knowing the proper objective of your speech in
the first place. Remember, this stage can help you earn tremendous confidence of the audience.
Practical Aspect
 Attire – Your attire should suit the occasion. It should generally not be gaudy, flashy, etc. It
should be in tune with the purpose of your presence.
 Written Material – Some people may like to use the written material like a piece of paper or
cue cards to facilitate themselves. In such a case you should remember, that you should not
be put ill at ease while using any written material whatsoever.
 Span of speech – There is no hard and fast rule that can decide how long or short the speech
should be. It should be subjectively decided by the purpose of the speech, the interest level
of the audience, the target audience etc. Remember, even a very spicy speech can become
dull if pulled on for very long.
 Target Audience – This is a crucial determiner of your speech, it’s content, it’s length and
the message you want to drive home.
Final Summary – The final learnings can be summarised as
 To be a good speaker, understand your audience well. Understand their expectations and
prepare accordingly.
 Give yourself some time for preparations. Talk to people who are good at public speaking
and try to pick up the relevant cues.
 Do your homework well. Any research required should be completed well before the public
speech.
 Take care of the specific points discussed earlier in this hand out.
 Maintain good body language and proper eye contact throughout the speech.
 End on a pleasant and cheerful note.