This project is funded by
the European Union
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The project is implemented by the Consortium of
Podlaska Regional Development Foundation (Poland) and DAS.AM (Armenia)
Objectives
After the training participants are able to:
 Understand process of communication
 Develop their communication strategy – design message and
communication channel towards specific target audiences
 Build the brand of their organisations
 Effectively use social media
 Apply the EU communications & visibility guidelines
Outline
 Communication process
 Verbal and nonverbal communication
 Active listening
 Presentation skills
 Internal communication
 Communication strategy
 Elements of Public Relations (PR)
 Brand building
 Social media
 Communication & Visibility in EU-funded projects
Communication as a Process
What is communication?
 A process where information is exchanged
between at least two people resulting in
a common understanding.
 The successful transfer of information in such
a way that is received, understood and
correctly acted upon.
Why do we need it?
 Communication as a proccess has
a social character, it requires our involvment
 Mutual understanding is its main purpose
(but we also communicate to persuade,
evaluate, inform, motivate, solve a problem)
 It helps us to avoid chaos and frustration
 EFFECTIVE communication skills are critical
element in your career and personal life.
We all must use a variety of communication
techniques to both – understand and be
understood!
How does it often look in practice?
Sender failures:
 Poorly transmitted message,
e.g. ambiguity, inconsistency
Receiver failures:
 Failure to listen carefully,
misinterpretation, passive
listening
Types of communication
 Interpersonal communication
(at least two persons in a meaningful exchange)
 Nonverbal communication
 Intrapersonal communication (self-talk –
the communication we have with ourselves)
Let’s begin with self-assessment
Omówid dwiczenie
Communication preparation
Communication preparation and an effective
beginning – recap
 Thought structure and preparation
 Clear goal in mind
 Positive intentions
 Communicate to understandand and be understood
 Openness to what other is saying and flexibility
 Common ground
 Respect and acceptance for other point of view
 Choosing right medium of communication
Communication medium
Oral
Advantages:
• It’s convenient for a quick feedback and immediate exchange
of opinions.
• Easy to perform.
Disadvantages:
• It can be inaccurate.
• There is no permanent note or proof left.
Communication medium
Written
Advantages:
• It’s usually more accurate.
• There is note, proof left.
Disadvantages:
• NOT convenient for a quick feedback and
of opinions.
• More difficult and time consuming.
exchange
Effectiveness of communication vs. length of communication channel
The more intermediaries, the more distortion
The more counterparts, the more channels, the more noise
1
3
6
10
3 Component Communication Model (one-sided)
Sender
Intended
Message
Message
Receiver
Perceived
Message
Ćwiczenie mojego kochania - kwadraty
4 Component Communication Model (two -sided)
Sender
Message
Intended
Message
Receiver
Perceived
Message
Feedback
FLIPCHART – SCHEMAT + FILTERS +
(KOD + KODOWANIE/DEKODOWANIE + KANAŁ KOMUNIKACYJNY)
4 Component Communication Model (two -sided)
Message
Sender
Intended
Message
Expression
Message
Channel
Feedback
Receiver
Reception
Perceived
Message
Noises
All possible interruptions from our surroundings constrict
receiving the message by the receiver.
• Phisical noise – e.g. when other people talk in the same
room,
• Technical noise – e.g. bad line during the phone
conversation,
• Social noise – e.g. caused by cultural or social differences,
• Psychological noise – e.g. excessive emotions, prejudices,
nervousness;
Other barriers to effective communication
 Differences in the mental set of perception between people
 Language barrier
 Incompatibility between verbal and non-verbal message (interview- postawa
vs. język of confidence)
 Receiver is not paying attention to the sender
 Lack of trust (judgement, pomysł a pomysłodowca, partnership) between the
individuals attempting to communicate
 Hereditary differences causing misinterpretations between
the sender and receiver (born to the culture of teens working from 18’)
 Embarrassement (creates interference)
 Tendency to tell people what they want to hear
 Difficulties in expression or reluctance to communicate (not communicat.at all!)
Communication channels
Sender, whilst coding information, uses the three possible channels:
 Verbal – factual content (WORDS)
 Vocal – voice use (TONE, INTONATION, ARTICULATION, TEMPO, PAUSES, etc.)
 Visual – information gained whilst observing the sender (BODY LANGUAGE)
Listening
„Most people do not
listen with the intent to
understand; they listen
with the intent to reply.”
Stephen R. Covey
Listening improvement – technique 1
One of the techiques of active listening is PARAPHRASE - confirming in your own words what you have just heard.
(Example: Kochanie, zlew jest pełen naczyo! Parafraza: Jeśli dobrze rozumiem, chcesz,
bym je zmył?), cierpliwośd, życzliwośd, zrozumienie, pomoc – gdy ktoś usłyszy ‘siebie’)
You can do it with sentences like this:







If I understand you well...
So, it is about...
From what you said I understood...
You state that...
In other words, what you mean is...
I understand that you are convinced that...
I would like to be sure, that saying so, you mean this...
Listening improvement – technique 2
We say „I” to not to make the other feeling judged, but at the
same time we want say what we are not happy about. We
talk about our troubles, impressions, feelings and emotions
using the communicate „I”, eg.
„I feel sad when you don’t keep your promises”. (zamiast: Ty –
znowu to zrobiłeś, You ALWAYS..., You NEVER...)
Naming feelings helps us also recognise what our interlocutor
feels. It builds atmosphere of acceptance and understanding.
We do not judge the other person feelings, while naming
them!!!
„I see/understand that you angry, but I do not agree you talk
to me that way”.
Communication improvement – technique 3
FACTS
FEELINGS – „I”
EXPECTATIONS
How to listen more effectively
 Keep friendly eye contact
 Talk less, listen more
 Show empathy
 Reasure non-verbaly
 Smile 
 Make sure you understood well (paraphrase)
 Ask questions (clarify)
 Stay interested
 Be active
 Use ‘I’ statements
 Do not finish sentence for the other
 PRACTICE
More than words
TONE OF
VOICE
INTONATION
PAUSE
BODY
POSTURE
NON–VERBAL
COMMUNICATION
BODY
GESTURE
EYE
CONTACT
Posture
It can be a source of information about relatively
permanent characteristcs of a person and also
show its temper or actual emotional state in this
moment.
Body posture one shows - can also have a
habitual character, what becomes then less
credible source of information about personal
characteristics or states.
Body language and the appearance
What does my mimic say?
Persons mimics is a reflection of its emotional states.
Basic group of emotions (fear, joy, curiosity, anger, aversion, sadness) are
reflected in biologically determined and cogenital facial expressions.
Influence of a culture, in which individual was raised, affects situations in
which the mimics will be shown and how much one is able to control it.
(rozpoznad Polaka na ulicy w IE, grymasy, historia zaklęta na twarzy, narodu i osobista)
Eye contact
 Keeping it for more than 60% of a contact time can mean more
interest in a speaker than the message he is trying to get accross.
 Keeping it for less than 15% of a contact time can signalize lack
of interest in a topic.
 Eye contact under 2 s. can be perceived as dismissive.
 Looking for more than 12 s. can be perceived as an aggression.
 During the public speaking speaker ought to keep an eye
contact for about 90% of the speech.
Presentation skills
Remember the worst speech
you have heard
Remember the best speech
you have heard
Discussion in two groups
Best
Worst
speech
speech
Stages of a good presentation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Clarify the goals
Preparation (collecting materials)
Make the structure
Clarify the structure of the presentation
Prepare materials for the presentation
Practice
Planning and managing the audience
Presentation structure
1. What should my listeners DO?
2. Why DON’T they do it?
3. LESS general, MORE concrete
Stanislavski’s Method
A project is a series of activities
aimed at bringing about clearly specified objectives
within a time-period and with a defined budget.
Projects can vary significantly in their
objectives, scope and scale.
The principles of good presentation
6Ws
Warming up
Who am I?
Why me?
What is my subject?
What is in it for you?
Where are we going from here?
Elevator Pitch
•
•
•
•
<60 seconds
“Wow” element – your strongest side
What will it give to your partner?
Your goal
Internal Communication
What is internal communication?
Internal communications (internal Public Relations) is
a management function, which – through active
communicating to internal stakeholders of the
organisation (managers, employees, partners, peers,
volunteers…)
–
influences
their
involvement,
commitment, motivation, sharing common values and
loyalty, and thus – supports achieving organisational
goals.
Internal communication - goals
• To support implementation of strategic plan
• To manage organisation effectively
• To motivate internal stakeholders
• To delegate duties and responsibilities
• To create organisational culture
• To communicate, support and manage changes
(i.e. starting new projects)
• To build trust and
• To resolve conflicts
• …
Internal communication - tools
Traditional
• notice boards
• newsletters
• posters
• leaflets and flyers
• contests/quiz’s
Electronic tools
• intranet
• e-newsletter
• social media
• blog
• video/podcasts
Face-to-Face
• team meetings/briefings
• special events
• visiting branches (road show)
What is conflict?
Conflict is a struggle or clash between two or more people,
which is accompanied by tension, emotions, disagreement;
in a result of that mutual relations of sides become
interrupted or broken.
When does the conflict appear?
 Sides depends on each other
 One of the sides sees that its
goals and actions do not agree
with goals and actions of the
other side
 One of the sides makes it
difficult to achieve goals by the
other
Types of conflict
 Internal conflict of an employee
 Conflict in a group (team)
 Conflict in the organisation
 Conflict between organisations
For one moment become the most conflict person
Conflict is GOOD and DESIRABLE
 Recognition of a problem
 Explaining situation
 New solutions
 Selfknowledge
 Changes
 Curiosity invigoration
 Stimulation of development
 Enhancing integration in the
organisation
Avoidance
• I avoid necessity of solving conflict
• „It’s not my business”
• „Conflicts are bad, they cause loads of tension
• Interpersonal problems are not solved and they are a reason of expressed frustration!
Accommodation
• I do not want to hurt the other party
• „My business is not that important to risk our relationship wellbeing”
• „Good relationship maintenence is most important thing”
• We can be used by the other party
Competition
• I want to achieve my goals!
• „I know what’s right. Do not underestimate my judgement and my position”
• „It’s better to hurt someone then give up on the goal you want to achieve”
• The other party feels defeated, and even humiliated
Compromise
• We want to come to agreement
• „Let’s find the solution which satisfy both parties, so we could come back
to our routine
• Long lasting conflicts make people not concentrate on their work and
leave them with negative feelings
• The parties of the conflict seek for the first satisfying solution of the
conflict, but not the optimal one!
Cooperation
• We want to mutually solve the problem
• „These are my needs. What are yours?”
• „I do want to find the best (probable) solution”, „Let’s face facts”
• Goals and interests of both sides are eaqual
• We probably will solve the problem. Both parties will identify with the decision
made and they will not feel treated unfair
Adjust the style of solving a problem to situation
Situation
Avoidance
Accomodation
Competition
Compromise
Cooperation
Importance of
an issue
small
small
big
average
big
Importance of
relationships
small
big
small
average
big
Power we
have
equal
small
big
equal
doesn’t
matter
Time limit
big
big
big
average
small
Conequences of overusing some styles
AVOIDANCE
• Decision paralysis
• Giving the initiative in the others hands
• Not solved and growing conflicts, more and more of them
COMPETITION
• Cause that one can have enemies
• Unable seeing other people and organisations businesses
COMPROMISE
• Make it difficult to find innovative solutions
• Both parties of a conflict needs to give something up!
Confrontation
 the act of confronting
 the state of being confronted,
 a hostile or argumentative situation or meeting between
opposing parties;
Although confrontation — a face-to-face discussion
among people in conflict — is often seen as negative,
when properly used it is a part of effective
communication.
When shoud we confront

Do not confront someone when you are angry

Do confront someone when you are:
• in control,
• can express your feelings constructively,
• and have a well-thought-out reason for doing so.
How to confront?
 Express feelings constructively
 Think before you speak
 Understand the situation and person
 Be empathetic
 Proceed gradually
Do’s of confronting
 Do convey that you value your relationship with the person.
 Do go slowly and think what you want to communicate.
 Do try to understand the other’s person position.
 Do listen carefully - what the other person is trying to
communicate.
Don’t’s of confronting
 Don’t communicate the solution. Rather focus on a problem.
 Don’t stop communicating.
 Don’t use „put-downs”.
 Don’t rely on non-verbal hints to communicate your thoughts.
The „Sandwich approach” to constructive criticism
 A positive statement
(“Sally, you are really working hard out there.”)
 Future oriented instruction
(“Next time try to slow down and follow through on your
movement.”)
 A compliment
(“You’re getting there; keep up the good work!”)
Ground rules/ team principles with Dilt’s Pyramid
Purpose
Identity
Values
Beliefs
Skills
Bahaviour
Environment
In a conflict situation always think about what is COMMON
and not about differences.
Internal communication
Effective team meetings/internal presentations
Nothing is as bad for managing organisation as
ineffective team meetings
Effective team meetings/internal
presentations
Benefits:
• Increased performance. People will be more able to
work to their full potential and accomplish their tasks
and targets with a greater level of consistency and
certainty.
• Higher morale. Team-spirit, motivation, enthusiasm
and a sense of involvement it the organisation will be
heightened.
Effective team meetings/internal
presentations
• Greater understanding. Internal stakeholders will have a
better knowledge of what is happening in their
organisation and why, as well as what their particular
tasks and responsibilities are.
• Enhanced relationship. Different levels of the
organisation’s hierarchy will be better equipped to listen
to, co-operate with and appreciate the importance of each
other’s roles and points of view.
• Improved efficiency. Stakeholders at different levels of the
organisation’s hierarchy will be more able to quickly
communicate with and respond to one another’s needs,
problems and objectives.
Effective team meetings/internal presentations
Effective team meeting begins with a combination of:
PROPER PREPARATION
of
INFORMATION
that is
SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERED
within a meeting that has both
STRUCTURE
and
IMPACT
Effective team meetings/internal presentations
• What is my objective?
• How can this objective be achieved?
• Why does this objective need to be achieved?
• Where will the tasks needed to accomplish this objective be
carried out?
• Who will be responsible for doing which part particular
tasks?
• When will these tasks be attempted and over what time
period do they have to be achieved?
Effective team meetings/internal presentations
How long? Not so short that you cannot convey or obtain
information in the detail required, and not so long that you
give people too much information to digest or loose their
patience.
“It’s simple! Aim to finish talking before they
finish listening.”
HANDOUT - PLANNER
Communication strategy
Media vs Organization
Media vs Organization
Journalists can ask difficult
questions
Organizations can’t answer
“No comment”
Strong communication strategy
•
•
•
•
•
Step 1: Define your objective.
Step 2: Determine your targets.
Step 3: Define your story.
Step 4: Carefully choose your channels.
Step 5: Ensure that your budget matches your
ambitions.
• Step 6: Measure the outcomes.
Media
Advantages
• Media can approach the big
audience
• Media can increase the
importance of the issue
Disadvantages
• Media doesn’t like long
speeches
• Media can confuse the issue
• Media prefers information +
entertainment
10 Principles of Media
1. Journalists never stop working
2. You are the organization and source of information
3. Treat journalists as individuals
4. Treat them professionally
5. Don’t be skeptical
6. Become a trustworthy source
7. Inform journalists, even if you don’t have any news
8. Don’t expect that news will be accepted with agreement
9. Never lie
10. Don’t try to buy journalists
Advantages and disadvantages of different
types of media – Websites
Advantages
• Cheap
• Fast channel
• Flexible
• Reactive
• Accessibility/many target
groups
Disadvantages
• Requires updating
• The target group has to search
for it
• Difficult to control the
receivers
Brochure/leaflet
Advantages
• Directly to the target group
• Reactive
• Can be kept (as opposed to a
letter)
• Use of graphics
Disadvantages
• Difficult when dealing with a
broad target group
• Expensive
• Requires professional support
• Difficult to update
• Distribution…
Advertising
Advantages
• Increased visibility
• Easy to control messages
• Effective if the choice of
media is well-prepared
Disadvantages
• Costs
• Requires professional support
• Not as credible as the press
coverage
Press coverage
Advantages
• Low costs
• Increased attention
• Great credibility
Disadvantages
• Difficult to control messages
• Time-consuming
• Requires a network
• Requires a ”good story”
– Conflict
– Sensation
– Timeliness
Articles/ Video footage
Advantages
• Control of the message
• Good in professional
relations
• Great credibility
Disadvantages
• Difficult to reach a broad target
group
• Not suitable for big audiences
Letters (e-mail)
Advantages
• Directly to the receiver
• Does not require professional
support
• No production costs
Disadvantages
• May seem intrusive
Information meetings/arrangements
Advantages
• Intimacy
• Easy to provide in-depth
information
Disadvantages
• Time-consuming
• Requires great effort and
motivation on behalf of the
target group
Personal meetings
Advantages
• Intimacy
• Suitable for a small and welldefined target group
• Detailed information
Disadvantages
• Time-consuming
• Requires efforts from the
target group to be present
People love images
•
•
•
•
•
Pictures
Video footage
Examples
Models
Tools
Aristotle's principle
Ethos
(soul)
Pathos
Logos
(heart)
(brain)
Connection with Media
•
•
•
•
Event (exhibition, festival, etc.)
Informative tours
Media reception
Press conference
Event (exhibition, festival, etc.)
Information +Image
• Individual connection
• Getting contacts
• Trustworthy environment
• Presentation to the target group
• Entertainment
Media reception
The most widespread type of reception for media:
• Media lunch - participation of the key persons of the organization and a
few journalists
• Purpose – improve the level of loyalty of the media towards the
organization
• Advantage - Journalists can ask all their questions and discuss issues
• It is very important – The organization can assess the emotional scale of
media and react properly
Media kit
• Press release
• Information about the organization
• Biography of the directors/presidents of the organization
• Speeches, announcements, articles, etc.
• Photos, videos on the subject
• Statistics or research
• Historical overview
It is desirable to provide all materials in one folder, give it to the journalists or
send via e-mail with an introductory text
Press release
It is required when an event has taken place or th eorganization wants to
provide its position
SOLAADS
• S – subject
• O – organisation
• L – location
• A – advantages
• A – applications
• D – details
• S – source
Press release
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Who
What
When
Where
How
Why
So What
7 questions
Lead
Story
End
Press release
• No more than 1 page
• Attach the photos (small size)
• Make in bold the key words in the text: organization’s
name, speech of the president, product name.
• Starts with the logo, then date and place followed by
“Press release”
• At the end of the document there should be
information about the contact person (phone number,
e-mail, position etc.)
• People, numbers and other interesting topics are very
interesting for journalists
Media release
Types of Press Release
• Release in the format of SOLAADS: Ideally it must not exceed a page.
• Background informational: These releases are not intended for publication.
They are being constantly updated.
• Technical releases with summaries.
• Summarized release is being attached to a speech or report (presentations,
annual reports, drafts of upcoming speeches, etc.)
• Big materials attached to photos.
• Brief notification in one sentence or paragraph
Effective written communication
What is a project proposal?
Project proposal is a written offer
submitted to potential donor
which contains the ways of achieving
defined objectives within proposed
time and budget
Effective written communication
How to write project proposals?
• fill in the whole available space with meaningful and easy
digestible information
• maximum of content – minimum of words
• apply the ’KISS’ formula (short sentences, plain language)
• avoid fog
• use the key words and expressions typical/common for specific
programme or sector
• avoid jargon
• think (and write) positive: solve problems, take up challenges,
DO NOT excuse nor justify yourself
Answer 5 questions
Brand ….
•
•
•
•
•
is not only a product
is not only a service
is not your organization
is not your employees (with exceptions)
it is something that people feel when they
hear about you organization
What is you brand?
1 word
Why is it unique?
What do people know about your
brand?
Whom is you brand?
How long will the Brand live?
The circle of Brand
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
New idea
Introduction to society
Increase
Maturity
Decrease
Innovation
Reintroduction
Ikigaj
Information transfer is the oldest profession
Information transfer
changes from
century to century
Social Networks Top List
Facebook
1,710,000,000
YouTube
1,000,000,000
Instagram
500,000,000
Twitter
313,000,000
Reddit
234,000,000
Vine
200,000,000
Ask.fm
160,000,000
Tumblr
115,000,000
Flickr
112,000,000
Google+
111,000,000
LinkedIn
106,000,000
Pinterest
100,000,000
VK
90,000,000
ClassMates
57,000,000
Meetup
27,500,000
September, 2016
Features of videos
• Ordinary people don’t watch the video if it’s
more than 2 minutes.
Till 30 sec- 90% audience
Till 2 min- 65% audience
Till 5 min- 50% audience
• The most important moment of the video is
the first 8 seconds
Live stream
• People love live stream
• Live stream increases the audience and
interest to your organization
• Youtube
• Facebook
• Periscope
• Vimeo
Editing Videos
• Moviemaker
• Videopad
Photos are powerful
http://www.adme.ru/
Information with photos
• Increase the audience in 90%
• 80% of audience look only at the photos of the
article and the headline
• People prefer photos to videos
Photos
Photo+Video
Gif photos
Google: the best PR tool
• Google drive- all documents in one place,
• Google form- surveys
• Google analytics- website statistics
Wikipedia
• Google loves wiki
• No money
• You can upload the text you want
Advertisement in Facebook
Communication & Visibility in EU-funded projects
• all actions/projects that are wholly or partially funded
by the EU must incorporate information and communication
activities designed to raise the awareness of specific
audiences of the EU support…
• rules and guidelines: Communication and Visibility Manual
for European Union External Actions
• guidelines/instructions for applicants within specific action,
programme, grant scheme, etc.
Communication & Visibility in EU-funded projects
• all actions/projects that are wholly or partially funded
by the EU must incorporate information and communication
activities designed to raise the awareness of specific
audiences of the EU support…
• rules and guidelines: Communication and Visibility Manual
for European Union External Actions
• guidelines/instructions for applicants within specific action,
programme, grant scheme, etc.
Communication & Visibility in EU-funded projects
Compulsory:
• phrase: „This project/programme is funded
by the European Union”
and
• the EU flag
Communication & Visibility in EU-funded projects
Communication Activities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Press releases
Press conferences
Press visits
Leaflets, brochures and newsletters
Web sites
Display panels
Commemorative plaques
Communication & Visibility in EU-funded projects
Communication Activities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Banners
Veficles, supplies and equipment
Promotional items
Photographs
Audiovisual productions
Public events abd visits
Information campaigns
HANDOUT
This project is funded by
the European Union
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
THANK YOU!
The project is implemented by the Consortium of
Podlaska Regional Development Foundation (Poland) and DAS.AM (Armenia)