Life Skills Development/Module Three/Effective Communication

Content
Effective communication is the ability to interact with others in the process of expressing, forming and maintaining relationships. It involves listening, maintaing conversations, understanding and expressing your feelings. By so doing desired relationships are formed through the formulation of verbal and non-verbal messages. The quality of the communication often determines the quality of a relationship.

We communicate to:
 * have fun
 * express our feelings and thoughts
 * help others
 * learn more about ourselves
 * learn more about others
 * share the world with others
 * learn about the world around us
 * relax from the rigors of life
 * persuade and influence others
 * test and resist influence of other people on you

Components of effective Communication

 * Always use the pronoun 'I' to express your feelings about something or someone


 * Accept feelings. Respect  a persons right to express his/her emotions in an appropriate way


 * Be a good listener in order to acknowledge other people's feelings irrespective of how they have been communicated.


 * Be sure to communicate clearly so that you can be understood.
 * Be assertive. Be sure you stand up for what you believe in without hurting the other persons feelings.

How to effectively communicate

 * Be polite
 * Use words that are relevant to the situation
 * Dont shout at the person you are talking to
 * Avoid sarcasm
 * Be respectful
 * Use simple language
 * Listen

Objectives
Learners should :
 * 1) understand why effective communication is necessary
 * 2) discuss the elements and components of effective communication
 * 3) discuss how to effectively communicate with others
 * 4) demonstrate effective communication skills

Activities/Assignments
1. Learners will record on pieces of paper topics they are afraid to talk about without putting their names on the paper. These papers will be collected, scrambled and selected one at a time for discussion in your group.

2.Learners will share examples of times they were persuaded to do something e.g. smoke, drink, have sex, skip class.They will be asked to say why it was wrong to have given in to the persuasion and think what else they might be pressured into doing.

3. From the following list of persuasive statements formulate assertive responses

4.In groups of four learners will role play a scenario where they have been grounded by their parents for coming home after curfew hours the previous day. They need to negotiate with their parents as they would like to attend a sisters graduation.

Summary
Relationships are the essence of life. Every individual needs to know how to react appropriately in relationships in order to maximize their potential in their environment. They need friends to share their life with through activities, hopes, dreams, fears, joys and ambitions. It is necessary to listen keenly and communicate effectively feelings about somethings or someone whilst considering their feelings and although being assertive ensure that others are not hurt in the process.

Assessment
1.    From the following statements in column 1, formulate positive statements in column 2.

Assessment 2
Answer these questions independently, each of which is to be discuss before moving on to answering and discussing the next. For each statement write down whether you consider it to be true (T) or false(F). It is necessary to respond to all items.

1.   People”s thoughts can interfere with their listening   ---

2.   To be able to listen to others,people need to be able  to listen to themselves  -

3.   People may resist listening to others who blame and get angry with them -

4.   Being a good listener never requires self-discipline   -

5.   People who have something that they cannot wait to say  listen well--

6.   Fatigue never affects the quality of people’s listening--

7.   Effective listening entails making a series of correct choices in receiving what is being said ---

8.   People are more likely to hear messages which correspond with their view of themselves than messages which challenge their view --

9.   Listening to others does not involve paying attention to their voice quality and body language as well as to what they say -

10.  The way in which people listen is not affected by their prior life experience-

Assessment3
Communication Checklist
 * Do the following statements apply to you?
 * If it applies to you mark each statement in the box below by placing (T)TRUE or (F)FALSE and personal coments.

Check your impressions against those of a friend. Fold your paper to hide what you wrote and let your friend evaluate you. Record your friend's evaluation of you in your journal.

Support Materials

 * 1) Handouts
 * 2) Skits
 * 3) Power point presentation
 * 4) Animations