Career frustrations

How many  times in your life have you walked out of a first encounter with another person feeling you could have done things differently?

In addition to what we say, there are things we could have done (or even taking the time to notice) that would have made the encounter more positive, effective or advantageous four ourselves.

And very few of these encounters are as critical as career encounters.

Career Toolbox

The article below from Careerealism.com, the article proposes adding a new skill to your arsenal of relational tools, situational awareness.  Situational awareness is not about being self conscious, it’s about paying attention.  And paying attention requires practice.

You’ll find when practicing situational awareness that your stress level goes down and you’re able to access a variety of other skills. And you’ll have a better chance for more positive career opportunities.

Using Situational Awareness in Your Career | CAREEREALISM

www.careerealism.com10/31/11

CAREEREALISM.com is a world-ranked career management blog that provides personal branding tips and job search advice from proven, approved career experts. Sign-up » now to get our articles sent to your e-mail inbox. …

In today’s hyper-competitive job market, adding a new skill (for free) to your career toolbox can make the difference between frustration or success.

Product Description

Tailored to the needs of professionals, Guide to Managerial Communication is a brief, practical text for effective written and oral communication in a managerial, business, government, or professional context. The Eighth Edition adds contemporary content throughout.

KEY TOPICS: Communication Strategy; Writing: Composing Efficiently; Writing: Macro Issues; Speaking: Verbal Structure; Speaking: Visual Aids; Speaking: Nonverbal Skills; Inclusive Langu… More >>

Guide to Managerial Communication

MO 561 Group Project – Well produced and interesting video offering some quick tips on email etiquette (yes, some still need help).

Useful tip – Think before your hit send.

• ISBN13: 9781591391135
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Product Description

Effective communication is a vital skill for everyone in business today. Great communicators have a distinct advantage in building influence and jumpstarting their careers.

This practical guide offers readers a clear and comprehensive overview on how to communicate effectively for every business situation, from sensitive feedback to employees to persuasive communications for customers. It offers advice for improving writing skills, oral presentations, and one-on-one… More >>

Business Communication

By M.Srinivasa Rao

The ability or the skill to transfer one’s thoughts, ideas and information from the sender to the receiver with the latter being understood the same effectively and efficiently is known as communication skills. It is one of the greatest skills of the soft skills and its importance is growing rapidly due to the rising complexities as a result of technological inventions.

In corporate terminology, communication is the process of exchange of information from the sender to the receiver and vice versa. There are different types of communication such as downward communication, upward communication, horizontal communication, crosswise communication, verbal communication; written communication etc., In downward communication, the flow of information is from the people at the superior level to the people at the subordinate level. On the other hand, in upward communication, the flow of information is from the subordinate level to the superior level. In horizontal information, the flow of information is from the people of same level to that of their counterparts at the same level. In crosswise communication, the flow of information is from one level to any other level which is either diagonal or crosswise without any reporting relationship. In verbal communication, the flow of communication, which is transferred orally to any level, and it is the most effective one as one can communicate effectively with one’s body language so as to have profound impact on the receiver. Whenever, there is a need to record the information in black and white, and then people go for written communication in which the communication is through mass mailing in written form.

Any communication has seven elements, apart from the noise, which is known as the barrier in communication and also can be treated as the eight element of communication. The first element being the thought or an idea, the second is encoding the same, third is the transmission of the message or the channel, fourth being the reception of the message and the decoding the same is the fifth element, understanding of the decoded idea or thought is the sixth element and the last and final element i.e. seventh element is the feedback of the receiver to the sender as a sign of confirmation of the communication. Any effective communication must possess the seven elements and the communication is complete with the combination of these seven elements. In case, if there is any gap between the sender and receiver or vice versa then there is communication gap or miscommunication or which is technically called as noise. The so called eighth element is the culprit of communication and all efforts must be made to eliminate it.

Every leader or manager must have great command over communication skills as communication takes major portion of time in any organization. It is aptly said, ‘Communication is the life blood of an organization’. It is through communication all the people are connected in the organization and all the activities are coordinated to achieve their goals and objectives.

The media of communication is divided into verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Both the oral and written communication falls in the fold of verbal communication. The non-verbal communication is divided into body language and sign language and the latter is further divided into visual signs and audio signs. As it is quite obvious, oral communication is the exchange of ideas, thoughts and information in oral form and if it is in written mode, it is known as written communication. A person must be strong at both oral and written forms. When an individual work in the capacity of a manager he will be required to give presentations frequently and he must be in a position to deliver the same effectively. Similarly, he may be asked to write reports on various projects or tasks and possession of written communication is sine quo non.

It is said that 93 per cent of our communication belongs to body language and the systematic study of body language is known as kinesics. It shows the impact of our body language. It is the combination of facial expressions, eye movements, gestures, posture, tone control and our over all physical features. The oral language is always supported by body language and there has to be consistency in both oral and body language, otherwise, it will give rise to credibility crisis. For instance, when an autocratic manager of an industry talks about the application of participative type of management hereafter by thumping his desk physically with force is an indication of inconsistency in his body language with that of his oral language. In a nutshell, our body language conveys our true intentions unconsciously although we may consciously speak orally different. Body movements and gestures contain 55 per cent, voice tone and inflection contains 38 per cent and the combination of the both is 93 per cent, which conveys our body language. While the rest 7 per cent belongs to verbal communication. The combination all the percentages becomes 100 per cent which becomes the media of communication.

Characteristics of an effective communicator:

• He must be very clear in his mind what he wants to convey so as to reach the audience effectively.
• The language must be simple, straight and should hit the bull’s eye. It is the quality not the quantity of the message that counts.
• He must demonstrate his confidence by way of his body language and must radiate energy and enthusiasm so as to create positive impact in the minds of the receivers.
• He must assess the maturity level of the audience and must communicate accordingly.
• He must not use loaded language with phrases or complicated terminology or jargon to avoid confusion.
• Must organize his mind properly with thorough preparation and enough home work to make it reachable and everlasting.
• All out sincere efforts are to be made to prevent barriers in communication.
• Must be total consistency in his verbal and body language
• Should adjust his tone level as per the message of his speech, with pauses and emphasis where ever it is essential.
• Must have ability to raise the curiosity level of the audience.

All efforts must be made to enhance the quality of communication from time to time with innovative methods and approaches. For instance, Swami Vivekananda referred the audience at the Chicago conference as the brothers and sisters of the world, which is still memorable even today. He was a great communicator and speaker.

When Stephen had beaten Abraham Lincoln. A. Douglas in the race for the US Senate, he admonished his followers,” not to give up after one or one hundred defeats”. He was also a great communicator and motivator.

Communication skill is one of the top ten soft skills without which soft skills are irrelevant. Those who are qualified in their academics and try for placement, the interviewing officer lays more emphasis on this ability. A weak communicator creates problems for himself and for others. The interviewing officer can not afford to take a risk by accommodating a poor communicator. Good communication is a feature of effective personality development. Those who want to succeed in their careers; it is imperative to possess good communication skills.

Forms of Communication

The process of communication involves encoding and sending of a message by the sender and transmission of the same via a communication channel for being received by the receiver who is responsible for decoding and processing of the transmitted information and replying back via a communication channel.

• Verbal Communication: This can be further differentiated into oral and written communication. Oral communication lays emphasis on speaking words which are utilized for face-to-face, on-the-phone, voice chat or Internet communication. The effectiveness of these words depends upon pitch, speed, voice modulation, clarity and volume of speaking.

Written communication includes communication by email or snail mail. The writing style, grammar, language precision, grammar and vocabulary used are important facets of written communication. Pictorial representations, paintings, photographs, signboards, sketch and symbolic communication also falls under this category. Humans have used this for recording history through cave writing dating back to more than a million years.

• Body Language: This includes communication through a person’s body language through the body movements, postures and hand gestures. Facial expressions play an important part in conveying the intensity of the communication. Emotions can be independently conveyed through a hug, a smile or hand gestures such as a handshake. Accurate reading of a person’s body language helps in indicating whether they are angry, upset, stressed out, nervous, relaxed, happy, tired or sad.

On The Basis Of Purpose Served

• Restrained Communication: This kind of communication occurs in a predefined formal format with a straightforward, precise and stringent tone attached to it, for communicating in a corporate environment. The communication style is very official in these cases involving meetings, corporate letters, written memos and official conferences.
• Unrestrained Communication: This includes cases of free communication being employed by people for creating an informal rapport with one another. This communication type is not bounded by the limits of time, subjects or place and is devoid of any rigid guidelines and rules to be followed while communicating. The foremost requirement in this kind of communication is that the involved parties must properly understand each other.

On The Basis Of Technology

• Electronic or Digital Communication: This includes communication through modern technological tools like computers, faxes, satellite television, telephone, radio, cellular phone and e-mail. These technologies have helped mankind in fulfilling its quest for efficient communication.

Communication is an integral part of the lives of every human being. The technological advances in the field of communication have provided us with wonderful resources and tools leading to the enhancement of our lives aided by convenient communication.

Amongst all the above communication forms, face-to-face communication is probably the best communication type. It helps in keeping the emotions, thoughts and feelings intact between two human beings and make accurate perceptions about each other which is a rather difficult task in modern technological methods because of the absence of humanness in them.

Effective communication is not just about speaking correctly, but its also about respecting others’ opinions. Learn how did people communicate in the past and what are the top communication strategies to improve your presence in this present World.

Get to learn about different types of communication and how to improve your communication skills at http://www.communication-type.com/

Here’s some tips on how to develop good eye contact while speakings from a communications specialist  Tracy Goodwin

Bio: Tracy has a masters in corporate communication and ten years experience in professional speaking. Filmmaker: MAKE | MEDIA

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www.Presentation411.com

Do you want to improve your public speaking skills?

Do you want to develop public speaking skills?

Learn Presentation Skills from the Toastmasters International 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren LaCroix.

He started with severe stage fright and over came his fear of public speaking to triumph over 25000 speaking contestants from 14 countries

Enjoy this excerpt from a DVD program from this outstanding speaker.

J. Douglas Jefferys offers a variety of concise and effective tips to improve your public speaking skills.

Three minutes, well worth it.

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