Web Based Communication Channels

Reducing Barriers

Reducing Barriers

General Communication

With all barriers there is a solution to reducing the impact on it such as in general communication a way to reduce the impact on the problems with technology is to always have a backup plan for if the technology doesn’t work. If you have time and you are able to do this you should go into the room that you are going to be using and test all the equipment to make sure it works, then if it doesn’t you have time to get it fixed or find someone to help you. Another problem is if the person is unable to access the internet at home, this could be a problem if you want people to go onto a website for help. A way round this is to print out the web page for them to take home for them to read. You should always design your communication in mind of people with disabilities so they are not left behind, so if you know who your audience is you should try to make it more user friendly for them as if you have a class with knowledgeable people and those who aren’t they could hold back the class.

Interpersonal Communication

A way to reduce barriers in interpersonal communication e.g the background noise is to make sure you are in an area where there is little or no background noise, it you know there is going to be background noise you should try to arrange a different location so you wont have any noise. Failing that there are a few ways to drown out the noise like closing windows and doors. A way to reduce the barrier of body language is to express the right emotion for what you are doing, if you come into the room looking angry people will think that you aren’t in a good mood and that will sometime change there emotion. One way to practise good body language is to practise in front of someone or you if you can’t do that you can do it in front of a mirror.

Written Communication

A way to reduce the barriers to written communication is to basically structure your information appropriately by including paragraphs and subheadings if necessary this will help people understand what you are talking about. If you don’t know how to structure you work you can find templates online or use the ones built into Microsoft word. Also if you don’t know how to spell a word or you are unsure you can always look it up in the dictionary or get a friend to read over it to check for spelling and grammar as they are more likely to find a mistake before you. Having bad spelling could lead to people to think it is a different word which could get people lost.

Principles of Effective communications

General Communication

Engaging the audience

Engaging the audience is key to communicating effectively, it is important as if you are trying to get something across to your audience you want people to be listening and engaged in what you are saying. There are a few ways of doing this, one is to ask questions. Asking questions will keep the audience engaged in what you have to say in case they are asked a question.

Another way to engage the audience is by voice modulating, this just means changing the pitch and tone of your voice accordingly. This is effective because if you were to speak in the same tone the whole time the audience would find it boring and will zone out of what you have to say, this is not what you want so you should regularly change the pitch and tone according to what you are talking about.

Accuracy

Have accuracy is knowing what you are talking about and being able to give facts about the subject. Its is important to be as accurate as you possibly can as you are passing this information on to other people who will then possibly pass it on to others. On way to be accurate is to research the subject and to double check that you have got the information from a reliable source.

Interpersonal Communication

Technics and cues

There are different types of technics and cues that people use to help communicate with other. One thing that most people do without even knowing is the difference in there body language, your body language can be important when trying to get a point across. Your body language is what tells the other person what sort of a mood you are in whether you are happy or sad and it can tell you what sort of point you are try to give across such as if it is sad you will act sad by lowering your tone and if it is a happy point you may raise your tone. Your body language is the first thing a person will see so having the right body language is important for a good first impression.

Methods

There are different methods to communicate to others for example you can just talk to the other person face to face, this is called verbal exchange this is where two or more people have a conversation together. But for people who cant talk or if you are talking to someone who have a hearing impairment then you would use sign language, this is a way in which people can communicate to each other if they are unable to do it verbally. Another way for someone who finds it hard to hear to communicate with someone who is talking is to read there lips, this is were someone looks at the lips of the person who is talking and can understand what they are saying.

Employee Attributes

Employee attributes	Example	Why employer’s value it
Specific attributes
1.Specific to the job	A good knowledge of IT.	For this job the employer would value this because a part of the job is to go to the clients house and teach them to load the CD and to listen to it so it is important that the volenteer knows how to do this so that they are able to teach it right. Anopther thing the volunteer will need to do is to make a CD so it is important that the volunteer knows how to do this.
General attributes
1.General (soft skill)	Time management	The employer would value this as if you are required to go to multiple houses in the one day you need to be able to allocate the right amount of time to each client so you can go to all the clients that need your help.
Personal attitudes
1.	Interpersonal Skills	The employee would need to have good interpersonal skills as if you are going round to someones house would would need to be nice and plesent to the client as they are unable to do some things.
2.	Trusting	You need to be trusted when it comes to this job as the the employer needs to be able to trust you to go to the clients house and to do the right thing as you are on your own.

Barriers in Communication

Barriers in Communication

What are barriers in communication?

A barrier in communication can be many things but mainly it is just the things that block your message from being heard or understood depending on the type of communication. "Obstacles in a workplace that prevents effective exchange of idea or thoughts" it the definition from The Business Dictionary. There are three main types of communication that can be effected by barriers these are General, Interpersonal and written. I will cover all three and naming a few barriers that you may find.

Barriers in general Communication

One barrier you may face in general communication it problems with technology, this could be one of two things one is if the audience you are communicating with, lets say you are teaching them something on photoshop and its there first time they are not going to familiar with the software so thing is a barrier, this means you can tell them to go ahead and work on there own. The other problem with technology is if the technology is faulty, this barrier is usually unexpected as a computer can break down at any time but it can be a big as if you are using the technology to demonstrate something you will no longer be able to. This means you will be unable to effectively communicate. Another barrier in general communication is if people have a disability such as dyslexia, this can be a barrier as if you are communicating with a lot of people and a few a dyslexic you may have to slow down your lesson and may not get through the amount of stuff you wanted to.

Barriers in interpersonal communications

One barrier that can effect interpersonal communication is background noise. You may not notice it but the background noise can be very distracting to the person receiving and giving out the information. Another barrier in interpersonal communication is you body language, things such as crossing your arms could give off a bad signal which could maybe put people of listening to you.

Barriers in written communication

One barrier to written communication is the structure of your information, having just a big page of text is off putting to read and doesn’t make it exciting which could put people off reading it which would mean your message wouldn’t get through. Another is your spelling and grammar, this is a barrier as if you don’t spell thing right the person may not know what you are talking about, and the grammar should be correct as it can be confusing for someone reading to understand if you haven’t worded thing correctly.

Learning Styles

Learning Styles

Learning styles are a way that you learn. It was best put by Ellis in 1985 “a learning style is more or less consistent way in which a person perceives, conceptualizes, organizes and recalls information.”There are many different types of learning style but I am only going to focus on 4. The four main learning styles I am going to discuses are Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and Verbal.

Visual Learner

Visual learners are people that you best work and learn with the likes of videos and diagrams. You can tell if you are a visual learner if you were asked to learn something and you were given a choice on how to do it, if you would rather look at a flow diagram or spider diagram of everything else you are a visual learner.

Auditory Learner

Auditory Learners learn better by listening to things. This could mean they would listen to podcasts often and enjoy learning that way. One thing about auditory learners is that they can remember important details from a conversation. They are usually musically talented as they can pick out tones in the music.

Kinesthetic Learner

Kinesthetic learners are those who learn best from doing things and getting involved. They would rather get in and do it for themselves, this would mean if they wanted to know how to drive they would much rather get in the car and do it than listen to someone giving them advice. One way for you to get an indication to whether you are a kinesthetic learner or not is if you fidget of move your feet when sitting down.

Verbal Learner

A verbal learner is someone who best learns by reading and writing. You will find that Verbal learners will write out key points for an exam before and read over them many time as this is how the information is best remembered for those tips of people.

My preferred learning style

I have done a few tests on the Internet to find out what my learning style is. In many I have found that I am a kinesthetic learner, as I have said before this means that I learn best by actually getting involved and doing things for myself. Now knowing how to tell what sort of a learner you are you will most likely be able to tell without having to do any sort of test. For example now if I think about the way I learn for instance at the tech, my course consists of various types of software programs such as Photoshop and flash, the lectures do a bit of everything just to suit all kinds of learner but the methods that I find easy to remember are the practical bits like actually getting on Photoshop and designing a poster or whatever it happens to be.

Another sign that I can now see is that I tend to shake my legs of fidget about, I cant really help this and most times I don’t even know I am doing it until someone points out.

Why is it best to know you're learning style?

Knowing your learning style is very important especially if you are still in school. It is important as it makes it easier for you when it comes to exams or just wanting to remember things as you can suit things around what you want. For example in my case when I’m learning Photoshop I can take the notes the lecturer has given out and put them into practise even if she doesn't go over the practical in class as this will help me to understand how it is done.

It is also good to tell your teacher or lecturer what sort of learner you are as he/she may spend more time on practical if you are a kinesthetiic learner like me or she could hand out more diagrams if you are a visual learner.

Find You're Learning Style

If you still don’t really know what sort of a learner you are you can take a quiz in the link below.

http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz