Guidelines: The oral presentation to the candidate’s peers should be based on a written item from the module such as the case study, the critique/review or the specialist report. Use visual aids, and include the opportunity for the candidate to answer questions from the audience. The oral presentation should be recorded on video tape.
Assessment Criteria:
Clarity of speech, tone, inflection, breathing, voice, pace, confidence (15)
Use of language-formal/informal, appropriate to audience (10)
Command of subject, captures and sustains interest (15)
Timing and structure (10)
You have the option on presenting some of your previous work. You can pick
from the case study, critique review or specialist report. It is up to you which one
you pick although I encourage students to present their work on the case study
because it is fresh and since they put so much work into their
case study, you might as well show off your work, This is at your discretion
however.
Here are some behaviours discussed from presentation coach Doug Jeffries
regarding how to make your presentations more effective.
Your target market will affect how you pitch the presentation. To appeal to everyone will diminish thescope of your presentation. Are you dealing with people who know nothing about what you present? If so, how will you pitch it accordingly? Are they experts about what you are presenting? How will that change how you use language? What kind of education does your audience have? What is the generalage group? How will that effect the delivery of your presentation?
Youtube Video: Target Market Research-Identifying your Target Audience
Here are some slides (there is no audio in this clip) showing how to have more of a command overyour presentation Remember to structure your presentation with an introduction, body and conclusion.
Timing is essential. Going over or under time shows a lack of preparation and gives the audience theimpression that the presentation was composed at the last minute. This videoshows a feature on Powerpoint 2007 to rehearse your timings and to deliver a more effective presentation.
Presenting your CV can seem a daunting
task. It is important not to just run through what is just on the CV,
the employer has that already. Now is your chance to shine and give them
a fuller picture of your job potential.
Have a look at
this video from Brightwater Recruitment where 2 candidates are taken
through a presentation class. Is there anything you could learn from the
feedback they were given? Youtube Video Jobs Club Presenting Masterclass
Here
are 2 videos below from www.gradireland.com highlighting some of the
big mistakes which graduates often make as well as dealing with
competency based interviews.
Here
are some of the top questions being asked in interviews. Put your own
style on how you answer them but it is more important than ever to
prepare as interviewers want to be able to hire the best people for
their job. Youtube Video Top 36 Interview Questions
Guidelines: A case study on information flow within an organization familiar to the learnerThe case study will provide evidence of research and analytical skills, knowledge of communications theory and ability to present information visually. It should be word processed, with graphics/diagrams/charts etc. Assessment Criteria: Research skills, notes, sources etc (50)
Analysis of situation, conclusions and recommendations (70) Knowledge of communications theory, use of terms, key players/factors identified, application theory (60) Use of graphs/charts/diagrams to explain findings clearly (40)
The word communication means to share, impart or make common. It comes from the Latin word communicaire. Communication is an active process that is continually changing and evolving. How well we communicate is often determined by how easily we can share or impart information or find common ground with other people.
Language changes overtime and someone like Shakespeare may have difficulty understanding “textspeak”. Everytime we speak we put together a selection of words we may have never used before. 2 people communicating with each other may have no idea where they will end up in conversation.
What Reasons Do We Have to Communicate?
-Survival
-Co-operation
-Personal needs
-Relationships
-Persuasion
-Power
-Societal needs
-Economy (buying and selling)
-Information
-Making sense of the world
-Decision making
-Self-expression
Discuss in class examples of the reasons for communication as highlighted above. Can you give a real world example as to why any of the points above are reasons to communicate?
Have a look at this video made by the Infoasaid project to highlight the importance of two way communication to humanitarian organisation's emergency programs when natural disasters occur.
How the audience, message and channel elements factor into the communication process:
The Communication Process
Lets say the person on the left in the diagram above wants to send a message to the person the right.The man on the left has to decide what language the man on the right will need in order to understand the message.Also the man on the left has to take into account societal factors such as the relationship between them and the context of the message These 3 factors of language, relationship with each other as well as the context of the conversation will influence the tone of their conversation. Next, the appropriate channel needs to be selected to communicate the message. Typical channels of communication include: Writing, face-to-face speaking, having a telephone conversation, video-call, email, fax, SMS or even through instant online messaging providers such as Instant Messenger.The man on the right may give feedback to the man on the left to further his understanding of the message and having more clarity regarding the appropriate response. The picture below gives another explanation of the communication process.
Here is a video which uses the model of a message sent through a paper aeroplane to demonstrate the communication process:
Message: The information you want to communicate Encoding: The process of transferring info you wish to communicate into a form that can be sent and decoded at the other end. Encoding is is the process by which information from a source is converted into symbols to be communicated Channel: The method used to communicate eg face to face meetings, telephones & video conferencing, letters, emails, memos, reports Decoding: the process of transforming information from one format into another, usually information sent from the sender. Receiver: Must understand your message and is at the receiving end of the communication channel. They receive decoded messages or info from the sender. Sometimes, the receiver has to decode the message themselves
Example of positive feedback
Feedback: is the verbal and nonverbal reaction to a communicated message. Close attention to feedback can give the sender confidence that the message is understood. Feeding back part of the output so as to increase the input is positive feedback; feeding back part of the output in such a way as to partially oppose the input is negative feedback.
Context: the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (corporate culture, international culture). It can be the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background, or settings which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of the message
A famous still image capturing John McCain which went viral. It significantly damaged his chances of appearing strong in the US 2008 election
In order for the transfer of information to qualify as communication, the recipient must understand the meaning of the information transferred to them. If the recipient does not understand the meaning of the information conveyed to them, communication has not taken place. How is the communication process being hampered in this clip below from the TV show Fawlty Towers? Fawlty Towers - Communications Problems
Communication Flows in an Organization/Communication Routes
All organisations need to use communications to survive, some companies use communication better than others which can help to cut costs and maximise productivity. Others are slow regarding how information flows through the organisation and can be slower to react to sudden changes in the marketplace.
Communication routes within an organisation
In an organization, communication flows in 5 main directions-
The first 4 points are methods of internal communication as they happen within
the organisation 1 Downward Communication
This communication flow is used by the managers to transmit work-related information to the employees at lower levels. Employees require this information for performing their jobs and for meeting the expectations of their managers
Can you think of any disadvantages of downward communication?
Why Downward communication is used by managers
Providing feedback on employees performance
Giving job instructions
Providing a complete understanding of the employees job as well as to communicate to them how their job is related to other jobs in the organization.
Communicating the organizations mission and vision to the employees.
Highlighting areas of attention
Downward communication starts with top management and flows down through management levels to line workers and non-supervisory personnel.
The major purposes of downward communication are to advise, inform, direct, instruct, and evaluate employees and to provide organization members with information about organizational goals and policies.
Most effective if top managers communicate directly with their immediate supervisors and that those supervisors communicate with staff
Problems with Downward Communication
-Employees can feel confused, not informed or powerless and might fail to carry out their task
-No room for employee feedback
-Downward communication is likely to be filtered, modified, or halted at each level as managers decide what should be passed down to their employees.
-Sometimes, managers do not provide employees with the information they need to carry out their tasks effectively
-Managers often withhold information to keep employees dependent on them
2 Upward Communication
-Upward communication deals with the information flow from the bottom up, from the subordinates to the superiors -Upward communication is a response to the downward communication
A disadvantage of downward communication was the lack of feedback. Upward communication gives the employee a chance to comment or constructively criticise senior management's policies by reporting to their department managers, who in turn, report to the senior manager.
You can see how the communication process described earlier is becoming more relevant here as shown below
How do you think the communication process is used in upward communication?
Upward communication enables managers to understand if their messages have been heard and understood by employees.
Upward communications may include judgments, estimations, propositions complaints, grievance, appeals, report
Management can then be informed of the progress being made at lower level
or if they have suggestions to better implement management policies and strategies.
Advantages of Upward Communication
Employee morale is boosted
Communication is more efficient
Improvements can be made in the managerial decision making process
Greater co-ordination through the organisation.
Ideas and proposals are shared to give a greater knowledge of the people in your organisation
Saves time
Greater co-operation with team members
Helps collectively solve problems and conflicts within the organisation
Disadvantages of Upward Communication -Upward communication is likely to be filtered, condensed or altered by middle managers who see it as part of their job to protect upper management from nonessential data originating at the lower levels. -Middle managers may keep information that would reflect unfavourablyon themfor reaching their managers or claim the idea as their own
3 Lateral Communication
Communication is lateral (also known as horizontal) when it operates on the same level. They mat be in different functional levels, but in the hierarchical structure of the organisation, they are at the same level eg supervisors from different departments.
Information is often co-ordinated between departments at this level.
Advantages of Lateral communication
Tasks accomplished more effectively
Helps solve problems
Greater teamwork
Helps build goodwill between departments
Improvements in efficiency
4 Diagonal Communication
Communication that takes place between a manager and employees of other workgroups is called diagonal communication. It generally does not appear on organizational charts. For instance - To design a training module a training manager interacts with an Operations personnel to enquire about the way they perform their task.
5 External Communication
Communication with those outside the company is external communication. Suppliers and customers are communicated to by supervisors. For example to raise capital for the business, the manager may communicate with a bank manager.
Advantages of External Communication
It helps the sales volume of the organisation
Increases positive public relations (PR) with the customer
Operations run more efficiently
Helps profit
Helps achieve the goals of the organisation and increase customer satisfaction
The Differences between Formal and Informal communication
Formal Communication is concerned with the hierarchical chain of command. Communication flows depending on how the organisation has been formally arranged. eg where there are many departments and no flexibility in terms of job duties and responsibilities. Formal communication strictly adheres to the rules, conventions and ceremony of the organisation.Communication through a rigid channel of command can obstruct the flow of free communication.It is often considered to be time consuming and can lead to a lot of distortion.
Methods of formal communication include:
Department meetings
Conferences
Telephone calls
Company news bulletins
Special purpose publications and interviews
Informal Communication is often known as the grapevine. This style of
communication does not follow traditional authority lines like you would with formal communication.Informal communication occurs according to the needs of individuals. Often, this communication is oral.
When one person has some information of interest, they pass it along informally to a group
A disadvantage of informal communication is that the information may be based on rumour and therefore it may not be precise. This could harm and not help the organisation. Fixing the flow of communication after something has gone wrong is more difficult as it will be unclear where the responsibility for the communication originated from.
However, for the efficient working of any organisation both formal and informal communications are required
Perception
It is how we make sense of the world by how we see and perceive it
It is the way how we select, organise and interpret info through our senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch
Our senses are not always 100% reliable, sometimes we may filter out unnecessary info
Perceived Information is then integrated and analysed before a decision is made
Our perception is often our reality. Sometimes this can mean that we don't always see what is really there as our perceptions are often formed through our experience of life as shown in the diagram below
Perceptions in Advertising
Do companies try to manipulate our perceptions to purchase their product or message?
The Columbine high school shootings in the USA in 1999 saw the killing of 12 school students by two fellow classmates. Perceptions about what influenced them on this murder rampage abounded in the media, with blame attributed to violent computer games, angry music and in particular the musician Marilyn Manson. The allegations turned out to be unfounded. Celebrity documentary maker Michael Moore conducted an interview with Marilyn Manson about his thoughts on the shooting incident. Here is a snippet from that interview so you can see how perception can lead to unneccessary bias:
Universal facial expressions signify anger, fear, sadness, joy and disgust. Thus, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. Smiling is often contagious and a person will react favorably. We have 250,000 facial expressions.
Your eye-contact can give clear indicators regarding whether you are telling the truth or not.Have a look at these 2 short video clips to see what I mean:
Youtube Video
Anthony Weiner Scandal: Body Language Similarities to Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, Elliot Spitzer
-Your posture–including the pose, stance and bearing of the way you sit, slouch, stand, lean, bend, hold and move your body in space affects the way people perceive you.
-Mirroring the other person in your posture style, where your left side complements their right side can increase the likelihood of a favourable perception of the communicator.
-Displaying a forward lean or a decrease in a backwards lean also signify positive sentiment during communication.
A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express meaning. They may be articulated with the hands, arms or body, and also include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling one's eyes.
If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff an unanimated.
Touches that can be defined as communication include handshake, holding hands, kissing (cheek, lips, hand), back slapping, give five, a pat on the shoulder, and brushing an arm. The meaning conveyed from touch is highly dependent upon the context of the situation, the relationship between communicators, and the manner of touch.
Manage
