Making Friends: Basic Communication
Aim:
To study and learn basics of communication skills “How to Start a Conversation or making friends”?.
Introduction:
The term “functional” means providing learners with the skills and abilities they need to take an active and responsible role in their communities, everyday life, the workplace and educational settings. Functional English requires learners to communicate in ways that make them effective and involved as citizens, to operate confidently and to convey their ideas and opinions clearly.
The aim of functional English is to encourage learners to demonstrate their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in a range of contexts for various purposes. These skills are of vital importance in building careers and to increase an individual’s general quality of life.
How to Start a Conversation
Starting a conversation can be one of the most stressful things in life, but also one of the most rewarding. Being good at starting conversation is essential in our
career, romance and many other aspects of life, so start mingling
Conversation Starting Tips
- Research interesting things to talk about.
- Before you approach somebody to talk, relax.
- Ask interesting questions.
- Don’t focus on seeming clever.
- Be prepared to listen.
- Avoid controversial subjects, complaining or gossip.
- Be yourself!
Starting a Conversation
- You’ve done your prep work.
- Now you’re out and about, and ready to mingle!
- Before you approach anybody, relax.
- If you’re tense, you’ll make other people tense.
- Calm down, try to think of this as an enjoyable experience, and let your body language become very casual and welcoming.
- Remember, there’s really nothing to be so afraid of.
- Even if the conversation is a little dull or awkward, it’s hardly the end of the world.
- If you spot a stranger you want to talk to, give them a quick but thorough look to see if you can get any ideas about their possible interests.
- A band t-shirt is an obvious sign about the kind of music that person likes.
10.Look for other clues in the person’s clothing.
11.You can also check out your surroundings for possible things to talk about.
12.Is there anything interesting in the area? Is there some sort of unusual art or Architecture nearby?
13.Do you have any mutual friends there?
14.Say hello and shake their hand, if the circumstances seem appropriate.
15.In certain situations, shaking hands could seem too formal.
16.In other situations, it could seem too personal.
17.If you know you have some common ground with the person, you can start by Focusing on that.
18.Talk about your neighborhood, a teacher you share, something at work, etc
19.If the person has nice clothing, you can start a conversation with a compliment and a question. When you have nothing to Talk About “I like your coat! Where did you get that?”
20.Complimenting their clothing is one thing, but you should avoid commenting on the person’s physical appearance too soon. Telling somebody they have nice eyes when you just met could seem creepy.
21.Don’t compliment the person for something unless you really mean it. If you give them a false compliment and they see through it, you’ll look like you’re trying to scam them for some reason.
22.Don’t go into the conversation trying to sound clever. Be ready to listen.
23.Focus on questions to get things going. Ask about the person, and if a certain subject seems to bring them to life, follow up on it.
24.If you want to have an interesting conversation, ask interesting questions.
25.If the other person is just answering “yes” or “no” a lot, your questions probably aren’t open-ended enough.
26.If you’re paying attention to the other person, you won’t be focused on yourself, so you’re less likely to be nervous.
Responding to a conversation
Effective Responses:
- Understanding: It is a feelings-oriented which conveys sensitivity and understanding. Understanding is empathy or accurately tuning into what the other person is feeling at the time.
- Clarification: It indicates your intent to comprehend what the other is saying, and checking it out to ensure your perceptions. Clarification responses reinforce your desire to see from the others point of view.
- Self-disclosure: It is sharing something about yourself that relates directly to the conversation your personal beliefs, attitudes values or an even an event from your past.
- Questions: Question response seeks to elicit information and allows them to develop a point.
- Information Giving: It involves relating facts in an objective manner without judgment or evaluation. This response is useful in giving both positive and negative feedback.
- Reassurance: These responses reduce anxiety, diffuse intense feeling and express confidence.
- Analytical: The intent of this response is to analyze, explain or interpret the other person’s behavior and feelings.
- Advice giving: It implies that you are in a position to know the reasons for the other person’s problems, and what she ought, must or should do about them. Using the Right Body Language. Body language is a form of non-verbal communication involving the use of stylized gestures, postures, and physiologic signs which act as
cues to other people. Humans, unconsciously, send and receive nonverbal signals all the time Understanding body language
Ways to Improve Body Language
- Don’t cross your arms or legs- Keep your arms and legs open.
- Have eye contact, but don’t stare – If there are several people you are talking to, give them all some eye contact to create a better connection and see if they are listening.
- Don’t be afraid to take up some space -.
- Relax your shoulders
- Nod when they are talking – nod once in a while to signal that you are listening.
- Don’t slouch; sit up straight – but in a relaxed way, not in a too tense manner.
- Lean, but not too much – If you want to show that you are interested in what
- Someone is saying, lean toward the person talking.
- Smile and laugh – lighten up, don’t take yourself too seriously. Relax a bit, smile and laugh when someone says something funny.
- Don’t touch your face – it might make you seem nervous and can be distracting for the listeners or the people in the conversation.
- Keep your head up – Don’t keep your eyes on the ground, it might make you seem insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight and your eyes towards the horizon.
- Slow down a bit – this goes for many things
13.Don’t fidget – try to avoid, phase out or transform fidgety movement and nervous tricks such as shaking your leg or tapping your fingers against the table rapidly.
14.Use your hands more confidently – instead of fidgeting with your hands and scratching your face use them to communicate what you are trying to say. - Use your hands to describe something or to add weight to a point you are trying to make.
16.Keep a good attitude – last but not least, keep a positive, open and relaxed attitude
17.Don’t stand too close – one of the things we learned from Seinfeld is that everybody gets weirder out by a close-talker. Let people have their personal space, don’t invade it.
Report:
Thus we studied and learn basics of communication skills “How to start a conversation or making friends”.
First Year B Pharm Notes, Syllabus, Books, PDF Subjectwise/Topicwise
Suggested readings:
