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Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
Communication
Presented by Valencia Grant
Director
Viva New Media! Limited, a Marketing/PR consultancy
and publisher of www.caribfashiontv.com
Youth Taking Charge
• In keeping with the theme of the Rotary Youth
Leadership Awards – Youth Taking Charge – I’d
like to talk to you about how you can use
communication to take charge of situations,
i.e. to assume control or command of
interactions
in
your
social/personal/professional life.
Youth Taking Charge
• Bear in mind that when I say assume control
or command of a situation, I don’t mean
taking charge of it by being domineering or by
exerting a dominating influence over the
people involved. After all, communicating is
about give and take; it’s about talking and
listening. More importantly, communication is
the engine of life as we know it.
Youth Taking Charge
• It is therefore important to note that when I
say I’d like to talk to you…let me rephrase
that…when I say I’d like to talk with you (since
effective
communication
is
two-way
interaction) about how you can use
communication to take charge of situations, I
mean how you can claim the power to direct
or
determine
your
social/personal/professional life through your
interactions.
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION
AND HOW IT WORKS
• Communication
is
simply
the
activity
of
communicating; the activity of conveying information.
• Communication is two-way because once we distribute
certain information to someone there’s almost always
a response from that person as to how s/he can meet
our needs, why that’s not possible, what s/he is willing
to do to meet our needs, etc.
• Therefore, we always communicate with an end result
in mind.
• Simply put, effective communication entails diplomacy
(tact and skill in dealing with people).
MAKING COMMUNICATION WORK
IN YOUR BEST INTEREST
• Much of your time dealing with people will be spent listening since
communication involves two-way interaction, i.e. information is
transmitted (verbal as well as non-verbal signals are sent out) and the
person(s) receiving those signals process them (through listening and
analyzing) before responding.
• People usually respond in their own best interests, so learning to analyze
verbal and non-verbal signals is necessary for effective communication to
take place. Remember, effective communication is powerful because it
can help you achieve your goals.
• You should therefore never cut people off or interrupt them while they’re
talking, and never ask a question without waiting for an answer. Always
maintain eye contact! Eye contact indicates interest and confidence. Plus,
you need your eyes to help you assess the other person’s body language.
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT
COMMUNICATION
• Effective communication is powerful because it can help
you achieve your goals. Firstly, you have to know what you
want and be motivated enough to change the manner in
which you communicate in order to achieve positive
outcomes.
• Another important thing you need in order to communicate
effectively is all of the facts. You need to do research. You
need to have all the information laid out in front of you
before you can communicate effectively, whether you’re
writing a history essay, preparing for a job interview or
deciding the extent of your future interactions with
someone.
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT
COMMUNICATION
• Communication is indeed very powerful! It affects the
way people view you and respond to you.
• Communicating in anger rarely ends well. My advice:
just don’t do it! Know your Achilles’ heel (e.g. e-mail)
and avoid it when you’re angry.
• You should remember that effective communication
entails negotiation. If you approach someone in anger,
chances are they will respond angrily. You will
therefore get stuck at an impasse.
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT
COMMUNICATION
• Remember that everyone has a point of view.
Everyone has feelings. You can’t take back words. You
can backpedal and apologize for your words. However,
you can never erase them, particularly when they are
sent via e-mail and other forms of media
communication.
• That’s not to say you shouldn’t express your feelings.
Just cool off first then go into the discussions with your
research and positive outcomes in mind. Positivity
begets positively and negativity begets negativity.
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATIONS
NETWORK/CHAIN
• I think it is truly a testament to the power of
communication that every modern mass
communication technology was developed
not from the work of one person, but as a
result of many inventors who built upon the
breakthroughs of earlier pioneers as well as
their contemporaries. These inventors relied
upon facts and research before venturing out
to change the world.
COMMUNICATING
WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING
• Social networking, electronic mailing, instant messaging,
video chat, and texting communication services – like all
other methods of mass communication before them – have
revolutionized modern communication. It is now up to all
of us to use them responsibly.
• Cyber bullying, cyber stalking, sexting, pornography and
invasion of privacy are attendant realities of these new
forms of mass media communication. The new media
certainly didn’t create bullying, stalking, pornography and
invasion of privacy. Unfortunately, some people – including
teenagers, children, pedophiles, pornographers and even
parents – are using these so-called new media to amplify
these practices.
YOUTH, TAKE CHARGE!
• I implore you young people to take charge of your
personal and mass communications, by conveying
information that serves to build up rather than break
down your communities and classmates.
• Communication is a very powerful tool, and we each
have a remote-control switch in our hands. Therefore,
it behooves us to amplify its most productive – and not
destructive – features.
Youth, take charge!
RESOURCES TO IMPROVE YOUR
COMMUNICATIONS
• I didn’t touch on Persuasive Writing and Effective
Public Speaking, two expansive topics. For further
reading, I recommend the DK Essential Managers
series. www.dk.com I have the following books in the
series:
1. Effective Communication
2. Presenting
3. How to Delegate
4. Working with Difficult People
5. Negotiating
6. Effective Public Relations