Communication skills

Careers Skills Library: Communication Skills, Second Edition
Copyright © 1998, 2004 by Facts On File, Inc.
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132 West 31st Street
New York NY 10001
Communication skills.—2nd ed.
p. cm.—(Career skills library)
Rev. ed. of: Communication skills / Richard Worth. c1998.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Writing with a purpose—Speaking with conviction—
Communicating confidence—Is anybody listening?—Making meetings
work.
ISBN 0-8160-5517-3 (hc)
1. Business communication. 2. Commercial correspondence. 3. Public
speaking. 4. Listening. [1. Business communication. 2. Listening. 3.
Vocational guidance.] I. Worth, Richard. Communication skills. II. J.G.
Ferguson Publishing Company. III. Series.
HF5718.W67 2004
651.7—dc22 2003015064
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Text design by David Strelecky
Cover design by Cathy Rincon
First edition by Richard Worth
Printed in the United States of America
MP FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 Writing with a Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Speaking with Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3 Communicating Effectively . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4 Is Anybody Listening? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5 Making Meetings Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

1
INTRODUCTION
C
ommunication is a vital part of our daily rou-
tines. We sit in school and listen to teachers. We
read books and magazines. We talk to friends, watch
television, and communicate over the Internet.
The workplace is no different. Experts tell us that
70–80 percent of our working time is spent in some
kind of communication. We’re reading and writing
memos, listening to our coworkers, or having one-to-
one conversations with our supervisors.
Communication involves at least two people: the
sender and the receiver. In this book, we’ll look at
four types of communication between senders and
receivers: writing, speaking, listening, and conduct-
ing meetings. Each one is important to your success
in the workplace.
For example, a poorly written cover letter can pre-
vent you from being hired for a job. On the other
hand, the ability to write effectively and make clear
presentations can make the difference between your
being promoted or being left behind. As Ken Matejka
and Diane Ramos explain in their book Hook ‘Em:
Speaking and Writing to Catch and Keep a Business
Audience, “You need effective, persuasive communi-
cation skills for career advancement.”
2 Communication Skills
Communication skills are especially important when collaborating with a classmate on a
project. (Corbis)
A communication skill that’s often overlooked is
listening. Yet recent surveys tell us that we spend 45
percent of our time listening. Do we listen carefully
to what people are telling us? According to one study,
we hear only one quarter of what’s being said. The
rest of the time we’re daydreaming or just tuned out
completely.
One sales manager in a printing company tells the
story of needing a job rushed through in 24 hours so
his best customer could have it on time. He gave
careful instructions about the project to the produc-
tion supervisor. But before he could finish, the super-
visor had already stopped listening. He assumed that
Introduction 3
HOW WE SPEND OUR
COMMUNICATION TIME
writing 9%
reading 16%
talking 30%
listening 45%
the customer wanted the job three days later, which
was the usual deadline for most of these projects.
When the sales manager went to pick up the job the
next day, it wasn’t ready. As a result, he almost lost
the customer. Unfortunately, stories like these are
common in many organizations.
Listening, writing, and speaking are all skills we
use in meetings. Today, meetings are a common
method for making decisions. More and more work
is done by teams of people who come from different
areas of a company. They accomplish many of their
tasks in team meetings. In these situations, we must
be able to speak and write clearly so others can
understand us and listen carefully to what they say.
Sadly, we waste many hours in meetings because of
poor communication. A study by one university esti-
mated that $37 billion is lost annually through
unproductive meetings.
FACT
A recent survey by Beta Research Corp., on
behalf of the New York Times, asked several
hundred hiring managers to name the most
important behaviors that job seekers should
demonstrate during an interview. “Effective
communication skills” and “confidence in their
abilities” topped the managers’ lists.
Listening,
writing,and
speaking are
all skills we use
in meetings.
4 Communication Skills
Whether you’re writing, listening, speaking, or
attending meetings, communication skills are critical
to your success in the workplace. In this book, we’ll
look at some of the skills that will enable your com-
munications to be more successful. These include:
Understanding the purpose of a
communication
Analyzing the audience
Communicating with words as well as with
body language
Giving each communication greater impact
Introduction 5

WRITING WITH
A PURPOSE
J
ill’s boss asked her to write a memo on a school-to-
work program. The company where Jill worked was
a leader in the computer software field. A school-to-
work program would give young people in school a
chance to be employed part time and to learn the
software business. If their work was good, the com-
pany might hire them for full-time jobs after they
graduated.
“Keep the memo short,” Jill’s boss told her. “And
stick to the point.”
Jill was supposed to explain the type of program her
company should start. She sat down at her computer
and began to write. On the first page, she talked about
her own experience in a school-to-work program.
Then she described what two of her friends had done
in their programs. They had worked part time in other
companies. Next she wrote about several school-to-
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