English for Oral Communication - Cover up for Topic

TOPIC 1 - Communication:  An Overview


Types of Communication

• Oral Communication - Face-to-face, meetings, voice mail message, teleconferencing, oral presentation and public speaking.
• Written Communication - Letters, faxes, memos, email, reports, MoM, tables, diagrams news releases, charts and graph.
• Non-Verbal Communication - Appearance, posture, eye contact, nervousness, grooming and dressing.

The Purposes of Communication

• To inquire - obtaining information in various way by asking questions or through formulating questionnaires.
• To inform - entails the dissemination of information using different channels of communication.
• To persuade - aims to influence people and bring them round to your way of thinking.
• To develop goodwill - involves maintaining and forming cordial and harmonious relationship with people you are communicating.

TOPIC 2 - Oral Communication:  Some Basic Principles

According to Devito (2009), effective listening comprises 5 components:

Receiving --- Understanding --- Remembering --- Evaluating --- Responding

Understand Needs (Pyramid)

1)  Self-Actualisation

2)  Esteem 

3)  Social

4)  Security

5)  Physical

INTERFERENCE IN COMMUNICATION

According to Devito (2009):

• Physical interference - loud music, the sound of traffic from a busy road, static coming from a faulty loudspeaker system, or loud drilling from a nearby construction site.
• Physiological interference - hearing-impaired (hearing problem), short tongue, or suffer from short-term memory loss.
• Psychological interference - biases, prejudices, narrow-mindedness, and extreme emotional behaviour.
• Semantic interference - speaker and listener operate on different meaning system.  What a speaker says can be interpreted differently, thus resulting in misunderstanding.

TOPIC 6 - Speaking in A Social Context

SPEAKING IN CROSS-CULTURAL SITUATION

When you interact with people from different cultural, religious and ethnic groups, remember to be mindful of the following:

• The different social and cultural practices; 
• The different significant religious holidays; and
• Language and expressions which may be difficult for people of a different country to understand.

TOPIC 7 - Group Interaction Skills

NEGOTIATING

Ask for approval from second party.  Negotiation is aimed at resolving conflict among people.  Most negotiation are to do with people, time and money.  You can either negotiate for a win-win situation where all parties win; or a win-lose situation; or even a lose-lose situation.  But whatever the situation, an important part of any negotiation is the presentation of alternatives.

TOPIC 8 - Public Speaking

HOW TO BUILD CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

• Change the Way You Think - think positively and do not intimidated by other speakers.
• Systemic Desensitisation - is to used to treat many fears.  It focuses on reducing the physical symptoms related to anxiety associated with any event, and teaches people how to relax.
• Skills Training - go for skills training if you feel that you will benefit from it.  skills training in public speaking will teach you ways to organise ideas as well as prepare and deliver speeches.
• Prepare and Practise Your Speech - practise many times on presentation and remember the main points, write down notes on cue cards, and express what you have to say naturally.
• Relaxation Techniques - to help you release tension when you are about to give a speech.  A simple one is to breathe deeply and then exhale slowly.
• Gain Experience - the best way to minimise fear or anxiety is to get as much public speaking experience as you can.  With experience, your initial fears will give way to comfort, confidence and even enjoyment.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPEECHES

There are 4 types of speeches:

• The Informative Speech - aim to increase your listeners' knowledge, understanding or abilities pertaining to a particular issue, topic or skill.
• The Persuasive Speech - aims to influence listeners; attitudes, behaviours, beliefs or even values.
• The negotiation Speech - used in situations where you have to resolve conflict, negotiate, mediate, or be the third-party for intervention in a crisis situation.
• The Argumentative Speech - is often used to deal with conflicting opinions or beliefs.  Mainly concern with reaching conclusions through logical reasoning based on evidence.

TOPIC 8 - Preparing An Oral Presentation

The need for Visual Aids

The way we take in information during a presentation is one of the factors why visual aids are important.

In short, visual aids are used for various reasons:

• First - enhance the audience's comprehension of the subject matter.
• Secondly - helps listeners to be more focused as they can catch their attention and hold it for a longer period of time.
• Thirdly - add authenticity, beauty, credibility and variety to the entire presentation.

TOPIC 10 - Making The Conclusion

GIVING THE CONCLUSION

• First - summarise the main points of your presentation.
• Second - thank the audience for being good listeners.

Note:  Please be informed that all the informations provided is only for my revision purposes.  


Thank you.  

lot of luv in the air ~~~ YuNNa =)