©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be …college.cengage.com/coursemate/business_communication/... · 2014-06-27 · ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. ©denphumi/ThinkStock 1

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Ch. 1 / Slide 2

What Are Communication Skills?

Traditional

abilities

New

requirements

Reading

Listening

Nonverbal skills

Speaking

Writing

Media savvy

Good judgment online:

• Maintaining positive image and presence

• Protecting employer’s reputation


The Digital Revolution and You

• Even technical fields require

communication skills.

• Businesses use a variety of media

and messages.

• Professional, businesslike writing

is in your future.


Skills Employers Want

• Excellent oral and written

communication skills

• Ability to work in teams

• Professionalism and work ethic

• Critical thinking and analytical

reasoning

• Unblemished social media presence


Your Education Drives Your Income

Advantages of a college degree

• Higher lifetime earnings

• Less unemployment

• Wider variety of career options

• Access to highest-paying,

fastest-growing careers


Meeting the Challenges of the Information Age

Significant Trends

• Rapidly changing communication technologies

• Self-directed work groups and virtual teams

• Growing workforce diversity

• Heightened global competition

• Renewed emphasis on ethics

• Flattened management hierarchies

• “Anytime, anywhere” and nonterritoral offices


Listening: A Career-Critical Skill

• Many of us are poor listeners.

• We listen at only 25 to 50 percent

efficiency.

• Poor listening skills affect

professional relationships.

• Costly errors may result from poor

listening habits.


Ten Keys to Building Powerful Listening Skills

1. Stop talking and let others speak.

2. Control external and internal

distractions.

3. Be receptive and keep an open mind.

4. Listen for main points.

5. Capitalize on lag time.


Ten Keys to Building Powerful Listening Skills

6. Listen between the lines.

7. Judge ideas, not appearances.

8. Avoid interrupting.

9. Take selective notes to ensure

retention.

10. Provide feedback and confirmation.


Building Strong Nonverbal Skills

• Establish and maintain eye contact.

• Use posture to show interest.

• Reduce or eliminate physical barriers.

• Improve your decoding skills.

• Probe for more information.


Building Strong Nonverbal Skills

• Interpret nonverbal meanings in

context.

• Associate with people from diverse

cultures.

• Appreciate the power of appearance.

• Observe yourself on video.

• Enlist friends and family.


High and Low Context

High-context cultures Low-context cultures

• Tend to be logical, linear, and action oriented

• Favor explicit messages that they consider to be objective, professional, and efficient

• Tend to be relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative

• Leave much unsaid and transmit communication cues by posture, voice inflection, gestures, and facial expression


Individualism and Collectivism

High-context cultures Low-context cultures

• Tend to prefer initiative, self-assertion, and personal achievement

• Believe in individual action and personal responsibility

• Desire a large degree of freedom in their personal lives

• Tend to prefer group values, duties, and decisions

• Emphasize membership in organizations, groups, and teams

• Encourage acceptance of group values, duties, and decisions


Communication Style

Low-context cultures High-context cultures

• Rely on nonverbal cues and the total picture to communicate

• Meanings are embedded at many sociocultural levels

• Emphasize words, directness, and openness

• Tend to be informal, impatient, and literal


Improving Intercultural Effectiveness

• Curb ethnocentrism.

• Understand generalizations and

stereotyping.

• Practice empathy.

• Build cultural self-awareness.

• Remain open minded.


Enhancing Intercultural Oral Communication

• Encourage accurate feedback.

• Speak slowly and enunciate

clearly.

• Use simple English.

• Check for comprehension.


Enhancing Intercultural Oral Communication

• Listen without interrupting.

• Smile when appropriate.

• Observe eye messages.

• Follow up in writing.

• Accept blame.


Improving Intercultural Written Communication

• Consider local styles and conventions.

• Hire a translator.

• Use short sentences and short

paragraphs.

• Avoid ambiguous wording.

• Cite numbers carefully.


Growing Workforce Diversity

Benefits to consumers, work teams, and businesses:

• A diverse staff is better able to respond to

increasingly diverse customer base

locally and globally.

• Team members with various experiences

are more likely to create products that

consumers demand.

• Consumers want to deal with companies

respecting their values.


Tips for Communicating With Diverse Audiences on the Job

• Seek training.

• Understand the value of differences.

• Learn about your cultural self.

• Make fewer assumptions.

• Build on similarities.

©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. ©denphumi/ThinkStock

Ch. 1 / Slide 21

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©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be …college.cengage.com/coursemate/business_communication/... · 2014-06-27 · ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved